Prepare for Any Networking Event, Part 6: Follow up with new contacts, turn past conversations into opportunities
We’ve come to the last part of our Networking Prep, and I hope you’ve taken away some ideas that might serve you and your business now as you continue to grow as an editor.
If you haven’t read Parts 1 through 5 yet, you should! I think you’ll find some of the stories and situations relatable, and also, you’ll take away some new ideas you can start trying out today.
I’ve written before about conferences being great opportunities to learn and to meet talented and successful people who can inspire us to move forward with our goals and dreams. Some people are not able to attend a conference due to physical and health issues, and some of us are not ready to start attending in-person events. This can make networking seem harder. But there are many ways to network if you can’t attend an event in person (we hope to discuss this more in a future post).
In March 2022, Brittany and I attended the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Pub-U conference in Orlando, Florida, where our book, Networking for Freelance Editors, was nominated as a finalist for a Benjamin Franklin award. Initially, we hesitated about going because of budgets, family responsibilities, and of course, COVID exposure, but we also wondered “What if this is a really good opportunity we are passing up on? Is there a way to be there and take precautions at the same time?” After many conversations, we decided to step out of our comfort zone and go because the payoff could be greater than we imagined.
And it was!
Connect and Communicate
Right after the event, when people’s names were still fresh in my head, I reached out to those I’d met that I wanted to have in my network. I sent a short email saying how nice it had been to meet them (I made sure my signature line was updated and had all my contact info, especially social media handles), or I sent them a connection request on LinkedIn with a personal note reminding them of who I am and why I wanted to connect. The personal note is necessary, and is what will set me apart from other people trying to network with them. Whichever way I contact them, I try to add what was memorable about our meeting to help them recall it, too.
(Side note: When it comes to networking, one of my pet peeves is people who reach out to me on LinkedIn without taking the time to add a brief note stating why they want to connect with me. It only takes a few minutes to send a personalized message and it demonstrates you’re willing to invest something of yourself in this new connection.)
Back at home on Monday morning, after unpacking my suitcase, I went to my desk and unpacked my head, filtering through all the materials I’d gathered (not the notes I’d taken—that I will do on a different day). I separated key contacts whom I wanted to build collaborative relationships with from the contacts I wanted to follow because I could learn something from them. Then, I took my time to reach out to these key contacts, by writing a nice authentic email complimenting their skills and sharing with them what impact they had on me. I also wrote to a few presenters who blew my mind (like Ian Lamont from Lean Media, who gave us excellent Kindle Direct Publishing marketing advice). I made sure to add each one of them to my internal resources directory, as they can become referrals I can send to clients and colleagues when their services might be needed.
Follow and Support
After reaching out by email or LinkedIn with a personal note, I followed them on social media—not because I’m a digital tracker but because they’ve made an impact on me. I want to see how they use these platforms and support them and their organic growth. When I can, and if I have something constructive to add (emoji don’t count!), I’ll comment mindfully on their posts. Better yet, I’ll share their post on my feed if it’s aligned to my own content. A few of the people I met at the conference have books or courses coming out soon, so I signed up for their newsletter to stay informed about their endeavors—which become a source of inspiration for my own work and business direction. (Chapter 7 of Networking for Freelance Editors discusses this specifically.)
In my experience, every little bit of positive energy I put out there comes back to me in different and constructive ways. What’s more, through these new contacts I may learn of new and effective ways I can communicate with my clients and continue to bring them value.
Initiate and Participate
If I met a few like-minded people at the conference, I might offer to host a Zoom call where we can discuss a topic that is of interest to all of us, like publishing trends, inclusive language, or effective marketing. Or I might introduce two colleagues over a video call and spend a few minutes discussing what our favorite books or clients of the year have been and why. If a new contact I made is extremely knowledgeable in a subject that might be of interest to others, I’ll ask if I can recommend them as a presenter to an event organizer at one of the editorial associations I belong to (many times presenters receive an honorarium, which makes it worthwhile for everyone).
Case in point: That same Monday after I got back, someone I’d met at the conference reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in joining a post-conference Zoom recap with other people we had met at the event. It was just what I had in mind, but this person beat me to it, which was great! (Update: One of the people I met at the conference, and again at that recap meeting, recommended me to a client for a Spanish-language copyediting job a month later, and that job alone paid for all my conference expenses.)
Brittany and I had already planned to have a “conference download” with the other members of our mastermind group. It was important to us to share what we had learned, what we had liked, and what takeaways could help all of us as editors and small-business owners in the publishing world. It was a productive share because it stimulated new conversations on topics we don’t usually discuss. It made us realize that attending a publisher’s conference as an editor meant coming into direct contact with our target clients. It meant discovering new opportunities we were overlooking, which could pay off in the long run.
The opportunities to follow up with contacts we make at conferences (whether virtual or in person) are endless and so valuable in propelling our careers forward. When I learned that some of my colleagues couldn’t attend, I sent a short “conference report” to my local editorial chapter to share what I’d learned and liked, hoping I opened the “thought door” for other editors to consider attending conferences or learning more about some of the presenters.
My conference notebook where all my notes and thoughts get logged.
I have one “conference notebook” that I take to every conference and write my notes in. It’s nothing fancy as you can see, but it’s where I keep track of all my conference comments (I don’t use different notebooks because I usually don’t fill them completely and I hate to waste paper). This notebook sits on my bookshelf, and I reference it from time to time when I’m looking for valuable presentation notes, good quotes, or a name I’ve forgotten. I also go through this book at the beginning of the year when I’m planning out my business goals and the projects I want to do that year.
After logging each person’s information in my computer, I will drop the business card in the recycle bin unless it’s a beautiful one that inspires me in some way that I can repurpose as a bookmark. My own “discarding tendencies” have led me to design a square business card with a photo of a bright yellow sunflower from my garden on one side, and my contact information on the other. In my eyes, it’s a beautiful little picture, and I hope people feel inclined to keep it and stick it on their office wall or refrigerator because it’s something nice to look at. I like to reuse and repurpose whenever possible!
Take Pride and Keep Going
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve made just one solid new contact or twenty. Building good working relationships takes practice, and sometimes, it’s even a bit of trial and error. But when you’re prepared and you follow through, the chances of that work relationship becoming successful increase significantly, and you may get results earlier than expected.
Brittany and I say in our presentations, “It’s not about collecting, but about connecting.” Take pride in all the small steps you’ve taken to connect with other people. Know that you’re one step closer to reaching your goals—better yet, you’re also one step closer to helping someone else reach theirs.
Linda Ruggeri is a full-service editor and award-winning writer based out of Los Angeles. She coauthored Networking for Freelance Editors and the historical memoir Stepping Into Rural Wisconsin: Grandpa Charly’s Life Vignettes from Prussia to the Midwest. She can be found online at The Insightful Editor and on Instagram.