Networking
Posted On: 2006-12-11
Sometimes it sure beats families
Yeah I know, we're coming up to Christmas and that's a time for families to get together and have fun. So why are Steve and I wandering around looking glum and seeing nothing but doom and gloom because one family member wants to visit this Christmas?
Well it could be because when they come they come for six weeks at a time. It could also be that when they come they tend to disrupt our work rhythm completely. And it could also be that everyone else in the family works for a salary and probably doesn't understand some of the factors that can impact on people who work for themselves.
Six weeks of disruption is just not going to happen.
For some reason this little problem seemed to resonate with a piece I've just been reading on networking and a paraphrase of somebody's famous quote keeps going around in the back of my brain. We can't choose our relatives but we can choose who we network with.
And for us here in adult marketing networking can be vitally important. When people come into this industry they often have the idea that they will be a lone wolf - working alone without any real input or direct help from other people.
For many that seems to be the ideal situation. There are no office politics to deal with, no unreal expectations put on you by others. You are the captain of your own ship and you can take it wherever you want without having to worry too much about what others think, do or say.
That sounds like the ideal situation doesn't it? For many it must almost be the next best thing to heaven - especially if you've come from a very difficult work situation.
But it's not really the ideal situation at all. It undoubtedly was back in the early days of this business when making money was relatively easy, we hadn't already destroyed the market place's confidence in what we were selling and getting a good spot in the search engines was a piece of cake. Sadly, it's all very different these days.
These days things are much more complex. Understanding and making the search engines work for you is a much more complex proposition. Understanding the principles of marketing and how to make sales in a much more mature market place is far more difficult than it once was. And there are many other factors that have to be taken into account too.
In fact there are so many factors that impact on us these days that it's just about impossible for one person to be able to do everything they have to do to succeed. That's why we need to network. We individuals need the help of others within this industry to succeed and the only way to get that is to network with those who can help us.
But where do we go to network? The obvious answer is that we need to hit the various Webmaster boards and be prepared to share some of our hard-won information and experience with others. We need to stop thinking of ourselves in isolation and be prepared to think in terms of community.
Of course I'm not suggesting that we give away the recipe to the secret sauce that gets us that top spot on Google or the vital ingredient that makes our galleries and free sites the money making machines that they undoubtedly are. What we do need to do though is talk to other Webmasters, offer a little help and guidance now and again and watch to see who else is out there looking to network.
From those small steps it's possible to establish off-board links with others who can help you and you can help in return. If you work at it you can build a network of other webmasters that will last for years and will be mutually beneficial to everyone who is involved in the network.
For example Steve and I still regularly talk to five or six other Webmasters that we first had contact with back in 1998 and 1999. Together we share all sorts of information, links to important articles and our experiences with search engine rankings. Recently one of our clients wanted to buy a particular domain name and mentioned it to me.
The guy who owned it was part of our network so it only took an ICQ message to help our friend make a nice amount of cash from a domain name that was very important to a niche that only a few people work in. One day that guy will undoubtedly repay the favor by sending work our way or sending us to an important article on search engines.
Another Webmaster in our network was interested in selling a couple of domains and mentioned it to us. We knew someone else who wanted to buy similar domains and once again the network worked.
This is not an industry for lone wolves anymore. If you are not building your network then you are seriously missing out on so many important business opportunities that could boost your bottom line in the future.
So start building your network and your future today.