#2 Twitter helps us build our network
How many times have you heard, “It isn’t what you know, it’s who you know”? We tend to look to our close network connections FIRST. I have been a Rotarian for 6 years. Rotary is a community service group made up of local business professionals. There are millions of Rotarians around the globe. If I need an accountant, an attorney, a real estate agent, a surgeon, I first check if I know anyone in Rotary…THEN I go to the yellow pages.
If we isolate ourselves and never network, we severely limit how many opportunities we will have to take our career to the next level. The Six Degrees of Separation is your best friend. If conferences need speakers or teachers, they will go to who they know first. I like to picture our writing career as one giant ring toss. The prize? The giant pink unicorn (successful writing career). How many rings do you want when you belly up to the line? One ring? Five? Or five THOUSAND? Every contact we make on Twitter is taking us closer to that tipping point that makes our career take off.
I will be speaking in LA at the Romantic Times Convention. Know how I got the job? DeeDee Scott was a friend of mine on Twitter. DeeDee happened to know the person responsible for finding speakers for the RT Con, and when asked, she recommended me. If I hadn’t been friends with DeeDee, the RT Convention wouldn’t have ever been on my radar. How many doors of opportunity do you think that convention, in turn, will open?
Increase your odds of success by making lots of connections and building strong networks.
Kristen Lamb is the author of the best-selling book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. She is currently represented by Gina Panettieri of Talcott Notch Literary. Kristen worked in international sales before transitioning into a career as an author, freelance editor and speaker. She takes her years of experience in sales & promotion and merges it with almost a decade as a writer to create a program designed to help authors construct a platform in the new paradigm of publishing. Kristen has guided writers of all levels, from unpublished green peas to NY Times best-selling big fish, how to use social media to create a solid platform and brand. Most importantly, Kristen helps authors of all levels connect to their READERS and then maintain a relationship that grows into a long-term fan base.
I haven’t started Twittering yet; but reading these top 5 reasons has helped give me the nudge to step my toe in the water. Thank you.