Networks give you an unfair access to success

http://www.gigpeppers.com/networks-give-you-an-unfair-access-to-success/

by aqeel • 13 years ago

26 13 13 years ago

gigpeppers.com

GhotiFish• 13 years ago

I disagree, in order to get into a network, you have to build respect. What is that if not a job interview by proxy?

Further, the "objective" criteria we judge new people by are anything but fair, or even accurate.

I'm looking at you, interview questions.

IvarTJ• 13 years ago

While building respect is a great attitude, it is not the only thing that help you land in networks. The network connections of your family and the posh kids you went to school with also play a role.

jiggy2011• 13 years ago

About the value of blogs, what is the best way to blog in a way that gives you a decent chance of being read by "the people that matter"?

It feels like technical blogs are 10 a penny these days.

mindcrime4• 13 years ago

I think the most important thing is probably to produce high quality content, and write about "stuff" that people are interested in. Do at least basic (white hat) SEO to try to make your blog as discoverable as possible through organic search. Then start marketing the blog: Tweet about your new posts, and use relevant hashtags. Add your blog to any relevant blog directories. Share your entries in relevant sub-reddits, or here on HN, or wherever makes sense relative to your content. Share posts on G+ and, again, use relevant hashtags. If you're feeling ambitious, find other bloggers who cover a similar area, and email them and talk about writing a guest post for them. See if you can get somebody who is at least a "mini celebrity" to write a guest post for your blog. Record podcasts, screencasts and/or video blogs. Share the screencast / video blog posts through Youtube. Join relevant LinkedIn groups and share your blog posts with the group. Share on Facebook, G+ Communities, etc., etc...

Setup Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools for your blog so you can get an idea of what keywords are bringing people to you, and what content is attracting the most attention. Optimize based on your findings.

Anyway, that's just a handful of basic ideas. I'm far from an expert on SEO, content marketing, etc., but there's tons of good info our there on the net. Google "content marketing", "permission marketing" and/or "search engine marketing" for more ideas.

X43• 13 years ago

You suggest good SEO. Ok.

Counterexample, use the power of a Botnet to do something unorthodox, dive into the grayzone, get media attention. Hustle

Hitting the right persons nerves will again trigger success or failure. If you gain respect this way you probably will get attention. Your responsibility then is to react timely. If you do it wrong, you could get negative reactions, which could be good for SEO, but bad for credit/respect.

But the first thing I would suggest you to do in order to join a network is simply to join a related network that persons inside of your desired network are in. Sports/Clubs/Organizations/etc.

X43• 13 years ago

Bloggin will get people into your network, but will not allow you to join other networks. Except you hit one guys nerve.

mindcrime4• 13 years ago

Not directly, but it is a means to help establish overall credibility and reputation, which do come into play.

obviouslygreen• 13 years ago

It's understandable that the simple axiom "life isn't fair" is so hard to internalize until you've actually seen it in action. It is nice that this article gives at least a little depth to that, but the title is a bit of a no-brainer.

For people who don't understand it yet, this post is unlikely to help (but then, nothing will, and I won't fault the author for trying). For those of us who do, though, it's almost comically self-evident.

mindcrime4• 13 years ago

There's no question that networks help, although I guess you could quibble over whether it's "unfair" or not. But what comes up here on HN sometimes - and this is one place I disagree with michaelochurch - is the issue of gaining access to certain networks or individuals. I think MOC and some others feel like you're largely "in or out" now and forever, and that you can't find a way to forge a bridge into a network (say, local VC's) that you aren't already part of. I have not found this to be the case, at least here in the Raleigh / Durham, NC area.

Now, truth be told, if you're somebody "important" like a VC or a well known angel investor, you might not be seeking out "common people" to pull into your orbit, and when you're in a position where a lot of people are coming to you wanting something, you probably learn to be a bit more guarded and put up some filters. This may not be completely unlike the way some very attractive women put up what guys sometimes call a "bitch shield" when they get tired of getting hit on all the time.

But, at the same time, these people are human, and they are social creatures, and they ultimately need the people with good ideas and startups, just as much as they are needed in turn. And if you take the time to learn how they work, where they hang out, what events to attend, and you trawl your existing network and ask for connections, etc., you can reach a point where your network includes VC's, or angels, or CEO's of companies, or pretty much whatever. Treat people like people, not like caricatured images, ask politely for their assistance with something, demonstrate that you represent (at least potentially) some value to them, and most people will reciprocate, and the relationship can grow slowly over time. It is almost like dating in a sense.

Now what you can't necessarily do is develop a network of "all my Stanford alumnus friends" if you didn't attend Stanford, or whatever. But you can build a network of the kind of people you need to have relationships with... if it's hotshot engineers you feel like you need to connect with, go to the local LUG and JUG meetings, Perl Mongers meeting, Ruby Brigade meetings, Javascript meetups, Hadoop User's Group meetings, etc. And, like mentioned in TFA, start establishing your credibility in your field by blogging, tweeting, speaking publicly (speak at the aforementioned LUG, JUG, HUG, etc. meetings, for example) and other active steps. Write a book if you have to; self-publish on Lulu.com if you want to, and get an ISBN so it will be available on Amazon.com and via special order at retail book shops.

None of this stuff is easy but it's doable. Trust me, I know. I was the "country bumpkin" guy who grew up in Redneckville, NC, far away from anything or anybody technical, and after I moved to the RTP area, I did pretty much everything I just said (minus writing a book, which I'd still like to do, but don't have time right now). And while I'm not the most connected person in the world, I know many of the local VC's and angels, have friends who are VP's, CEO's, etc. of companies, and have a broad network of talented technical people that I have relationships with. It has taken work and taken time (and the journey isn't over) but you can "network up" with some effort in my experience.

Edit: Oh yeah, another thing you can do, although I really don't recommend this as purely an exercise in network building / PR: Run for public office. It varies by state, but here in NC, you can run for a statewide office, like, for example, Lieutenant Governor, just by filing some paperwork and paying the fee and - depending on whether you are associated with a party or not, and that party's status, possibly doing some petitioning. If you run as a Republican or Democrat, you will likely have a primary against the other members of that party who file for the same office. If you run as a 3rd party, like Libertarian, you're likely to be unopposed in the primary phase and will automatically go straight to the ballot in the general election. Anyway, once you file, you'll start getting surveys to fill out and invites to various candidate forums and events. Go to them and speak.

I did this (running for NC Lieutenant Governor as a Libertarian) and got about 126,000 votes, so at least a few people have heard my name out there. But, again, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this just as a way to network. Yeah, you'll meet a lot of people, and you will get a little bit of media coverage (even as a 3rd party unknown, the media don't totally exclude you, they just mostly exclude you) and you might even be on TV in a debate. But whether or not the people you meet doing this will help your later career or initiatives (unless you really want to be a politician) is subject to debate. And more than a few of the people you meet will automatically put you in the "enemy" bucket just due to party affiliation, so it could actually hurt you down the road. And you probably won't even know if it happens.

tomkarlo• 13 years ago

Just because "networks" have value doesn't mean they're in anyway "unfair". It's like saying that having a college degree is "unfair", because it makes you more qualified for a job than someone who doesn't have one.

There are lots of people who make their entire career out of leveraging their personal networks, from salespeople and recruiters to VCs and politicians. It's no coincidence that half that people I work with worked with each other at previous jobs.

Calling it a "network" devalues what it really is: a hard-won portfolio of people who you have relationships with involving trust and credibility. They know who you are and you know who they are, and that gives you both value. In an age of linkedin and networking events part of what's lost is that networking isn't just about knowing someone's email; it's about having a strong enough relationship with them that you can leverage that.

Networks give you an unfair access to success

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