If you have spent any time with me lately, I’m confident I’ve been able to work the following quote into conversation. What can I say - I’m a dog with a bone when it comes to a new concept or an idea I’m turning over in my head.

"Your network is your net worth."

Widely popularized by Porter Gale, who has a book by the same title. (I’m currently on the waitlist at my local library.)

When I first started freelancing, the constant advice was to ‘tap in to your existing network.’ Excuse me? What existing network?
I had been head down, working away in a corporate job and focusing on getting things done within my company - I wasn’t spending time talking to people outside of work. Now, while this might be more of a workaholic cautionary tale than a best practice, I did come up short when it came time to go out on my own.

Because most of us only think about our network when we suddenly need something.

A new job, a recommendation, a favour or introduction.
Advice during a difficult situation.

That's usually when we start scrolling through our contacts wondering who we know.

The problem is that networking works much better before it becomes urgent.

Trying to take this ‘networking’ advice in my early freelancing days, I admit that I was paralyzed. I thought I needed to have all the answers, be an expert and craft the perfect LinkedIn post, boast strong, defensible opinions and have my elevator pitch down pat.

This is putting the cart before the horse a bit - when you’re starting out, or embarking on a new chapter, you probably don’t have everything figured out yet. So wouldn’t it be better to connect with other people first, and then listen to their advice without any preconceived notions?

So I moved into a more bottom-up networking approach -

These small touchpoints take time, and they can feel inconsequential compared to one big, viral post. But, if you are looking for a true, sustainable connection, they are incredibly rewarding.

One of the interesting things I've noticed is that people often say:

"I don't really have a network." (aka me, two paragraphs ago.)

And then they'll tell me about:

And I'll think:

"You just described a network."

Many of us are already surrounded by communities. We just don't think of them that way.

We think a network has to be formal. Professional. Strategic.

But sometimes it's simply a collection of people who know you, trust you, and are happy to see you succeed.

I know it’s hard to share the messy middle - the part where we’re working on a new project or changing something major, and we don’t feel like it’s ready to be talked about or shared. So we learn a new skill and keep it to ourselves.

Then, six months later we're surprised that nobody knows what we do.

The reality is that people can't connect opportunities to you if they don't know what you're interested in.

They can't make introductions.

They can't think of you when something comes up.

They can't help tell your story if you've never shared it.

Don't wait until you need your network to discover whether you have one. This week, why not try one of the following:

And don’t forget take a moment to appreciate the communities you're already part of.

You may have a much bigger network than you realize!