Networking with Content

Let's flip the script on your content and networking challenges.

I recently reviewed some notes from past strategy calls where I'd written many notes after one of my designer mentoring/coaching sessions that were all about how everyone freaks out when I talk about networking. (I use these notes to inform the language we use—we call this "address your audience," which essentially means "meet your people where they're at." I'll share more of that in the future.)

When folks hear me talk about networking, I can literally see them shut down. And I get it.

When I was just a baby marketer, one of the more hellacious parts of my first communications job was that I had to go to our monthly Chamber of Commerce mixers. I was supposed to hand out business cards and chat up potential sponsors for our events. Awkward! 😬

(Spoiler: I was terrible at hard-selling sponsorships, but everyone in town knew me thanks to those mixers, so when I left that terrible job, it was really easy to find a new one, ha!)

Or, on a more personal level, we've all experienced that gross situation in which someone friends us on Facebook or connects on LinkedIn and immediately hops into the DMs with a sales pitch. (No, I don't want your essential oils or ethernet cables—yes, these are both actual pitches that have landed in my inbox).

With all that being said, I love creating connections, and it's still one of the best marketing tactics I know. Which is, you know, old school networking with a softer name.

I believe that reframing networking is essential in this world of information overwhelm. We can only post so many Instagram Reels and buy so many digital ads before those fast funnels dry up or become financially and energetically unsustainable. (Seriously.)

That leaves us still having to talk to real people. #sorrynotsorry

And this is why I encourage many business owners to identify symbiotic people in their networks and build their communities. I literally make referrals on a daily basis when our clients at SM&Co ask for trusted professionals to help them with something outside our field of expertise or when we receive an inquiry that's a poor fit for us but could be an amazing fit for someone I know.

One of my very favorite client testimonials we've ever received was from the lovely Dr. Shaheen Khosla, who said:

"I have about 12 + posts and I try and write new ones every month. I have captured an audience with patients and other local doctors. It was the best thing to help my business."

Obviously, it's lovely feedback for us, but the nugget in that quotation that I love is how Shaheen artfully drew the line between creating content and networking with peers who could make referrals. When she wrote that last year, it was such a lightbulb moment for me.

Thanks to her clever content, she created an evergreen, networking-based marketing funnel that looked like this:

Search-Optimized Content > Professionals Serving the Same Audience > Referrals

This is effectively passive networking.

And the content piece "proved" to those potential connections that her business was truly one where they could send their people.

Cool, right?

The key takeaway here is that there are lots of ways to think about building your network that are far beyond viewing everyone we encounter with an extractive eye.

Do you struggle with the concept of networking as a piece of your marketing approach? Could rethinking how you define networking help you?

This article originally appeared in a different form in my Friday newsletter. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.