7 Ways to Network Without Actually Networking | May & June 2019

An article I wrote in January, "How Networking Gave Me One of the Best Years of my Life," made me realize that often I network effectively without having to do much that resembles the classic idea of networking. Each month I share specific examples of the "networking" I do that resulted in paid work, business opportunities and leads, fun collaborations, new friends, or interesting experiences. Click here to read last month's or the previous month for more networking without networking suggestions

As usual, I'd like to first acknowledge that everyone's situation is different. We all don't have the amount of time, network to draw from, family and friend support, or the experience I have that makes a lot of this possible. That said, my hope is that these stories and suggestions spark new ideas for each individual reader to apply in a way that fits their personal journey:

Edited/Directed 3 videos for Techstars, Workbar, and Blackstone Launchpad

As my team and I were still working on capturing footage for the Techstars Air Force Accelerator (our second year working with them), our contact at the program connected us with the folks running Blackstone Launchpad's Startup Weekend in Los Angeles at UCLA, who needed a video team for the event. Around that same time, I was contacted by a friend from Workbar who asked me to direct/edit a video for them as well. Agreeing to all three projects meant that over the course of the past 2-3 months, my team and I were in various stages of production for 3 projects together.

While all this was happening, I was (am) still working part time at my marketing job, traveling between LA and Boston, doing podcast interviews, and organizing events each month happening on both coasts.

All of this took a lot of time, sacrifice, and energy to pull off, and all of it was made possible by my network providing future opportunities for me.

Great, so what? The point is, from a networking without networking perspective, my network gave me opportunities that I chose to accept.

Bottom Line: Take the opportunities as they come and be ready to work hard. Each opportunity I accepted could very well lead to more opportunities since while working on each project I met a number of folks who will need videos in the future, I built strong relationships with the current clients who may hire us again in the future as well, and simply creating more content allows me more work to share with possible future clients.

Recorded Two Podcast Interviews

I recorded two new interviews with friends in Boston and in Los Angeles. The first was with a community-builder in Boston and the second was with a movie development executive in Hollywood. You can listen to them here.

Bottom Line: Recording podcasts are relatively easy to do and are easy ways to put out useful content for others that will stay on the internet for years to come. Moreover, I think the lesson is that engaging folks in your network that aren't exactly tied to your industry is a great way for you to leverage their networks thereby expanding your own.

Go See Shows

I met a woman who lives in the place I was staying for a video project who puts on regular comedy shows around LA and as we got to talking, she invited me to one she was putting on later in the week. It was at a place I had never been to, in an area I wasn't really familiar with, and the only person I knew who would be there was the woman who invited me.

A quick disclaimer: We all have different levels of comfort and different realities we have to consider when it comes to our own personal safety in this world. I am not suggesting folks meet strangers and go to some random event at a place that may or may not be safe, Please be safe!

Bottom Line: A great way to build a friendship/network is to simply show up. Support other's endeavors and their efforts. Showing up ends up being a pretty memorable thing because usually folks mention their projects to a lot of people, most of whom do not "show up".

And in this case, I was introduced to a fun new hidden gem of a venue, I got to experience some fantastic comedy, and my new friend comped my ticket. Also, in the days after that, my new friend and I had even more to talk about and to connect over, which helped solidify our friendship and helped build both of our networks.

Check in on Friends and Contacts

I sent a quick personal "check in" email to a friend just to see how life was going for them and aside from hearing their update, they also connected me to a friend of there's who they thought I should meet. A month later, that new connection and I are meeting this week to talk about possible video production work they need.

Bottom Line: Connect with people on a human level without a business agenda and business opportunities may happen as well.

Women In Tech Reunion Event

Around this exact time last year, I put on my first free freelance event since leaving my job as head of events at Workbar in February 2018. The day after that event, I set out on a cross country adventure to LA and back that you can read about in the article I mentioned earlier, "How Networking Gave Me One of the Best Years of my Life"

One year and 6 events on both coasts later, I decided to do another Women In Tech event again this year in order to "close out the chapter". I originally started to put on events last year for a number of reasons: It gave me something to focus on as I was searching for my next job, I thought it would help "get my name out there" via the promotion of each event, I thought it would help build mu network, that it might help me get a job by showing I was actively putting on events, and that it would be fun for me to do and helpful to others.

Putting on 6 events in 12 months was fun for me and helpful to others, but it was also a lot of work and a bit of a financial investment. Ultimately, organizing/promoting/executing these events did not help my job prospects, create any leads for freelance video or event gigs, no demonstrably "get my name out there". Because of all this, I've decided to stop putting on events for a while unless I get hired to do so.

Bottom Line: It's important to be clear about what you're putting your time and energy into and the ROI you're seeking to achieve with your networking and business endeavors. It's also important to "give it your best shot," and what that is exactly is up to you. I knew what I wanted the events to create for me and tried a number of different approaches to reach those goals. In the end, I decided that I'm not currently in a position to put that much time and energy into an endeavor that doesn't pay me or grow my network. My hope is to get to a point where I am financially stable (and have time) to put on events simply to help other, but I am not at that point yet.

It was fun to put on the events and it felt great to see the connections and the learning experiences for others, but that result alone was not enough for me to continue events at this point...but you never know what the future will hold.

For me, I was clear on what I was seeking to get out of the events, I tried a number of different approaches, gave it a good amount of time, and after thoughtful consideration I decided to spend my time and energy elsewhere.

Stay Open to Serendipity

At the beginning of last year, I left my job as head of events at Workbar. And since that time, I had not been in touch with any of my former co-workers.

Over a year later, I reached out to a former co-worker to be a guest on my podcast and to again be on my Women In Tech event panel. Right after the podcast was recorded, I got an email from another friend from Workbar who wanted me to do their video. From there, another friend asked to be a guest on my podcast.

Lastly, it turns out the final location we were capturing footage at for the Techstars Air Force Accelerator was at a coworking space run by one of my favorite people/coworker from Workbar as well as the person who originally hired me there.

No contact for over a year then a constant stream of reconnection in only a few months time. What the what?

On a related note, a video gig I was planning (and planning on) didn't come to fruition. But while it was disappointing to not to get to work on a cool project, the change of plans also made it possible for me to attend the film festival premiere of a music video that I directed/edited. More importantly, the change of plans allowed me the time to be able to travel to visit with my extended family...time well spent that I am grateful for.

Bottom Line: Who knows when/where connections from the past will show up so appreciate it when they do. Also, a lead, friend, or contact that you thought you'd never connect with again may just be right around the corner, so keep a "ya never know" attitude.

My seventh suggestion for how to network without networking is to write a blog about something you're passionate about, something you're interested in, or something you know a fair amount about.

Until next time...

About the Author

Jeremy Jed Hammel got his start working in TV production in the production offices for NBC Late Night, eventually doing some producing work for "Later" and talent research for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno".  He also worked in the production offices of the drama "ER." In the independent film realm, he has produced or directed 15+ short films that screened at over 140 film festivals including one that won Best Film at Comic-Con San Diego and has over 1 million views on Youtube.  On the commercial/corporate side of video production, Jeremy has produced, directed, or edited projects for clients such as Techstars Air Force Accelerator, Startup Institute, the Cambridge Innovation Center, UMASS-Lowell, and Alienware/Dell computer, among others.