The Power of The Network You Already Have

Flash forward and now with services such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, lists of these people are kept, neatly organised and fully searchable. I can go onto LinkedIn and quickly message contacts in a relevant industry, and easily find new people to reach out to with ideas for collaboration.

A good network is key. Just adding a tonne of contacts won't get you far, unless you nurture those connections. How many Connections do you have on LinkedIn? How many Followers on Twitter? Facebook Friends? This is your outreach!

Reach out to people already on your contact lists, especially if they are in a position to help you achieve a goal. For a lot of industries, this works particularly well on LinkedIn, where people are using the social network in a professional capacity. However other social networks may work better for different industries; for example I use Facebook more for music industry-related business, as not a lot of producers I work with use LinkedIn.

Don't worry if you've never spoken with the people you approach before - they accepted your request or you theirs, and so they should be open to a conversation at the very least. A good thing to start with may be: "Hey - I noticed we’re connected but I don’t think we’ve ever spoken - what’s that about?" A positive attitude will get you a long way if you put yourself out there and nurture your network.

Also, use the 'People You May Know' function - again, particularly on LinkedIn. You can view profiles of individuals that share a lot of connections, or are in the same sort of industry. I often reach out to those people to explain who I am and what I'm doing that may be relevant to them.

On Twitter you can organise people into lists, which is a great tool - I can quickly organise and see lists of record labels, house producers of a certain genre and anything else I dream up. You can then message or tweet these people, and you'll be surprised at the engagement rates!

What you should be aiming to do is to build a network of advocates - people who are aware of the things you do and/or are trying to achieve, and support you. They will help by spreading the word, and a large portion of the business is done on referrals.

Don't let your network sit there covered in spider webs. If you're one of those lucky people with 500+ connections on LinkedIn, start sending messages and see where your openness gets you. You may win new business. You may gain a new friend, or find the perfect new job. You might even end up helping somebody else achieve their goals.

The network that you already have is powerful. Make sure you utilise it.

1. Set short-term goals for yourself to catch up with people you have previously worked with, but that you may have lost touch with. Where are they now?
2. Write a message to a stranger on LinkedIn that you feel that it may be useful to know. Leave your comfort zone, and see what you can do when you put your mind to it.
3. Embrace new technology that facilitates easy networking - don't be a stranger to LinkedIn's mobile app!
4. Sync your phone and LinkedIn contacts - I found hundreds of people I'd conversed with over the years
6. Don't underestimate how powerful a tool twitter is. You can reach the mobile phone of almost anyone with a twitter account on the planet, simply by tweeting @ their username. Celebrities, politicians, Alan Sugar - the world is your oyster!