How To Grow Your Network When You Hate Networking

Nine ways I built a network without annoying people.

You know the guy who chats up strangers in the elevator and blankets a cocktail party with his business cards?

That’s not me.

I have zero interest in what most people think of as networking.

So I was caught off guard recently when a colleague said to me, “You’re so good at networking — how do you do it?”

I thought she was nuts.

But then, I realized I have built a substantial network of valuable relationships with a wide variety of people — I just didn’t do it in a traditional way.

Here’s how I did it and how you can do the same — even if you hate “networking.”

If you hate networking it’s probably in part because you dread the idea of pursuing people.

But that’s not the only way to network.

By publishing a newsletter that features ideas to help people learn, do, and become better at their work, art, and life, I created something that draws people into my network.

It does the work for me.

More than 14,000 people have subscribed to it and in doing so it’s led to thousands of interactions with people who are now part of my network.

Since it’s a weekly newsletter, it also gives me a recurring presence in my network’s inbox each week which keeps me on their radar as opposed to somebody who gave them a business card at a conference last year and then disappeared.

A newsletter is a great tool for growing your network, but it’s far from the only one.

Anything you create that provides value for others and can be shared will draw people into your network so you don’t…

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