Look at my Twitter stream.
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I last checked my feed 10 hours ago. 59 notifications in 10 hours. As I slept, kind folks like Corey Hinde Liked my Tweets, Retweeted me and chatted me up. Meaning I drove passive traffic and set myself up to drive passive sales during the past 10 hours, not spending a second on Twitter. 8 hours of sleep, and 2 hours of blogging.
Check out the comment I just received on Instagram.
When you have no friends, no network, this is the type of stuff you do; spamming strangers to pitch whatever you want to pitch.
I posted a picture of my eBook on Selz. Friends comment genuinely in response to such an image, sharing how they dig the cover, enjoyed reading the eBook, or perhaps they bought the eBook but had not dived in, yet. Friends care for each other. Friends promote each other’s success. People who do not make friends find themselves spamming strangers, guaranteeing online failure, finding spam folders, losing opportunities to build powerful bonds and becoming completely frustrated with the process.
Networking drips with generous benefits. Connected bloggers succeed. Peep the reasons.
1: Networking Makes Blogging Easier
Having 1, 10 or 100 friends promote you, endorse you, buy your stuff and hire you makes blogging easier.
100 is better than 1.
Having 100 friends promote you beats your own efforts, like, by a landslide.
I had 59 folks retweet or Like my stuff on Twitter during the past 10 hours. Easy traffic.
Of course, networking made it possible.
2: Networking Helps You Avoid Struggles
Strangers sit outside, looking in, leading to loads of struggles.
Someone emailed me a few moments ago about a potential sponsored post. I laid out terms, including how I need to disclose the sponsored post per US law. He is so afraid of the disclosure – fearing people won’t click his business link because of said disclosure – and he is so un-connected that he wanted me to note the post was a “collaborative post”. Isn’t fear funny? Blinds you from big business. If this dude networked generously, and built his travel blogger network, focusing on big dawgs, he would grow big business through genuine disclosures, boosting clicks and profits and losing the fear of a sponsored post disclosure, trusting his friends.
Network. Avoid struggles.
3: Be in 400,000 Places at Once
Alonzo Pichardo noted last week how his Online Success Chats Podcast broke 400,000 plays. Yep; that Jason Bateman look-alike cartoon figure is me, and I chatted with him for 13 of those 14 episodes. This is like being in 400,000 places at once, through each podcast play.
Networking opened the door for the opportunity. Alonzo and I were aware of each other, but connecting on Facebook over an old school rap comment sparked the flame that led to us promoting each other, helping each other out and eventually, the podcast chat series developed.
If you try to blog solo, you will be in so much trouble. If you network generously, helping bloggers and expecting nothing, you build your blogging success exponentially, over the long haul.
4: Increase Referral Profits
Cori Leigh asked me a question during my recent live broadcast on Facebook. One of her readers had mentioned they were interested in buying one of my eBooks. She wanted to know my suggestion. I directed her to:
How to Retire to a Life of Island Hopping through Smart Blogging
Once again; networking wins the day.
Cori and I connected more deeply by helping each other. She promotes me and generously comments on my live broadcasts. I happily link to her via my blog and guest posts.
Literally, there are zero drawbacks to networking. It’s all gravy.
Help bloggers by promoting them, by commenting genuinely on their blogs and by expecting nothing. This is true networking, a generous activity that opens so many blogging doors for you, it’ll make your head spin.
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