Organic Networking- Plant, Water, Cultivate, Harvest, Rest and Repeat.

Networking.  We’ve heard the term a gazillion times in our professional lives, but how often do we sit down and actually focus on building the network that is right for us?

Building a network can be done a thousand different ways- getting hammered at networking socials and talking to everyone in sight, going to multiple conferences in your niche, handing your business card to every breathing being that crosses your path or just talking about your business constantly.  To anyone that will listen.

Not really all that bad for building a network, though not ideal or necessarily efficient for building a quality network that makes engagement meaningful and enjoyable- for both parties.  And for those of us (yours truly included) who are slightly shy or introverted, building a network in that matter is not only daunting, but totally unnatural. Goes against our very fiber of being.

So, let’s look at networking from a different approach.  Let’s all be farmers for a minute and cultivate a garden of fabulous people to surround ourselves with- organically of course.

Plant.

We must plant the seeds that will grow our network. In order to plant those seeds, we must visualize what our garden will look like once the seeds start to sprout.

What will your ideal network look like?  Who are your Mavens, Connectors and Linchpins ?  Look at your industry and identify who are the big players.

Identify the qualities they embody. Write them down.  These qualities are important to your network for what reasons?  What, specifically, is the value of this person to your network?  Is it their experience, their passion, their network, their ability to innovate?  Shoot big, this is where you dream.  Even if this person doesn’t physically become part of your network, understanding why you value their work will allow you to identify their major contributions to society and, in turn, your life’s work.

If you could have your round-table of knights, who would they be and why would you invite them to sit at your table?  What type of conversation or innovation would you expect from them while sitting around your table?

Or, to stick with our garden theme- who would be the most nourishing people of sustenance that would give you the energy to move forward in your business and your life?

Now, look at how you might surround yourself with people that embody the qualities of your dream network.  It’s truly the qualities that these people embody that play a vital role in picking the right seeds for your garden.

Are you a budding entrepreneur looking to connect with innovators?  Check out a local TEDx event- or splurge for the mack-daddy TED conference and participate in the community.

Are you an amazing painter who is looking to connect with a mentor who can show you the ropes of producing art as both a creator and a business person?  Find a local art co-operative and become friends with the owner or person who started the co-op.  Volunteer, join the co-op and participate in the community.

When I reached a wall with my photography career and knew I wanted to pursue photojournalism as a professional, I knew that I needed a much stronger network of colleagues to work within.  I also needed the knowledge and skill level to participate in this community.  I returned to school at age 30 to study photojournalism at one of the top schools in the country.  And my network is one of the most valuable things I garnered from that time.  And these relationships go beyond the casual network of professionals, these are true friends and mentors who I cherish dearly and can turn to when I hit a career wall, or a “life” wall.

Physically plant yourself in situations that will allow you to cross paths with the people in your dream network- or with people that embody this network.  Have your knowledge and your expertise ready and plenty of professionally designed business cards ready to plant your seeds with.

My favorite tool for planting seeds is my Moo Card dispenser that attaches to my keychain.  When I engage in a meaningful conversation with someone and they begin to ask more about my work, or seem like a person who may gain from the work I’ve done- or merely a wonderful person to invite into my community, I just whip out my Moo Cards in their handy-dandy card holder and give them a card.  The action itself is a conversation piece- most people think I’m giving them a stick of gum or something.

Water.

Water is necessary for growth.  Without water, we shrivel and die.  But how do you water a network?  Damn good question, let’s think about this for a minute.

Add sustenance and nourishment to your seeds- to your network.  Be of service.  Not for the sake of “you scratch my back, now I’ll scratch yours” but because you’re a good human being and you want your network to grow into good seedlings and plants- you want to attract like-minded, good human beings as well.

Be human.  Be real.  Be genuine.

Offer help.  Offer guidance.  Offer advice.

Your water, your sustenance to your network needs to be free of chemicals, contaminants, free-radicals and other nasty trace chemicals we find in our water these days.  What exactly does that mean?

Don’t be the sleazy douche-bag salesman that gives people the hee-bee jee-bees and makes them swear off the art of conversation with strangers.

Don’t use unnatural methods for building your network.  Avoid the auto follower Twitter options, don’t spam people with your Facebook account and don’t add comments on blogs that don’t add to the community.  Taking this offline, don’t stalk people at networking functions, don’t get drunk and sleep with the most influential people at your networking event and don’t starf**k at conferences.  (read the comments- pretty funny!)

Just be genuine and your seeds will get the water they need.

Cultivate.

Again, this is pretty much what we just talked about- but take it to the next level.

By this point, you’ve planted the seeds, watered them, and your network is starting to grow.  This is a two way relationship at this point.  You’ve laid the groundwork, now keep the network growing by adding nutrients, trimming when necessary and keeping the pests at bay.

Interact with your network regularly through genuine conversations on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, emails and in person.  If your network is local, your interactions should be in person.  Be on everyone’s radar.  Be the go-to gal or guy.  Be reliable, interesting, dependable and fabulously creative.  Just be yourself and your cultivation will follow.

Harvest.

Harvesting may be tough with a network, lest you come across as a cannibal- or worse yet, a name-dropping spammer who just uses people to further their agenda.  That’s not why we build gardens.  Building relationships with people is not about using them as a means to an end.  If that’s why you’re building your garden, just go ahead, dump the Miracle-Grow on your precious plants and take a dive onto your pitch-fork.  Do us all a favor and don’t try to build your garden, OK?

Harvest your network with care and love. If you’ve grown organically and naturally, then when you need to call on your network to help you achieve a goal or grow your business, your network will respond.

For real life examples of this, look to Danielle LaPorte and her Firestarter Sessions, Chris Guillebeau and his small army or Naomi Dunford and her IttyBiz. ( affiliate links love in there!)  They each built an amazing network of people, grew it with care, cultivated with love (sometimes tough love) and then when they needed help from their network, people gave willingly- because they believe in the person behind the work and their contribution to the greater good.

Rest.

Well, resting is open for interpretation.  You don’t want to rest too much, your network may fall apart.  But, you don’t want to overwhelm your network, they may whither and die from overexposure.

Every good garden needs time to rest between harvest and planting.  Same goes with a network.  Resting does not have to mean disengagement, maybe just a change in approach or a more Zen approach to interaction mixed in with the regular network building.

Maybe rest just means having coffee with people in your network.  Or sharing a glass of wine in a non-professional setting.  Or maybe rest means learning to surf or ski with someone in your network and has nothing to actually do with your business or your network.  (yes, Skool of Life – I’m anxiously awaiting my surf lessons and I consider that rest!)

And, repeat.

So, dear seedlings and happy organic peeps, go forth and grow your network.  Use the basic principles of organic gardening and grow something special, meaningful and something that will nourish your soul in return.  Hell, why not plant an actual garden at the same time and take this little metaphor into the real world.  You may have to use a container garden, as winter is approaching, but all you need is a little soil, a seed, some water and a little love!

Go forth.  Plant.  Water.  Cultivate.  Harvest.  Rest.

Oh, and be fabulous in the process.

I’m open to any organic networking tips below- help us grow and leave a tip in the comment section below!

Organic Networking – Images by Crystal Street

The images in this article and slideshow are from my multimedia commercial work this past month and why things have been a little quiet here at the Storyteller.  The hay farm pictures are from my multimedia branding project for Westbrook Farms and the adorable little pigs are for a Whole Foods video I shoot and produced for their Farm to Market series.  Enjoy!