How to Network
By: "The Shaman of Sexxxy" Abel Carv
In the entertainment industry, the biggest question pondered by many is "how can I better get my name out?". This is a very important question as without eyes on you, it is quite impossible to earn money in this industry. Granted you first have to package yourself up to be a compelling product, networking is one of the best ways to "get more eyes on you."
Networking can be a very tricky thing to do for a multitude of reasons. One of the primary struggles in networking is that lot of people believe that numbers are everything, this is not true. It's true that you may have more viewability, but in the scheme of things you are sacrificing your quality. Chains are only as good as their weakest links and this applies to networks for models, fighters, and musicians as well. If you associate with people with less than savory tactics or bad reputations, then ultimately people will wonder if you have those traits, but if you associate with the rulers of your field, you may be able to rise up. The key to figuring out who is good and who is bad is simply to ask. If someone has a bad reputation everyone may not come right out and say so, but very few have a problem with giving an opinion on someone if you ask, the only problem with this is you may hear conflicting things to which you must make judgment calls. Once you discern who is good and who is bad for you to be associated with, you can start to positively build your web, but be careful, this is a never ending process.
Being able to discern positive people and negative people is important, but it is not the only piece of this puzzle. One must keep an open mind at all times. Friends may be great for business! For example, if you are a model and your friend is a printer, maybe they could help you print photos cheaper so that you can distribute them, or if you are a fighter, maybe you have a photographer friend who can take some photos of you to be on your fighter banner or on card posters. This does NOT mean use people. Just like you network, others network too so if you try to use or abuse people, they will talk and tell all their contacts, friends should be friends and will help each other out, but they do not live to help you benefit.
You are connected and have friends, you are done, right? WRONG! Now you must worry about your ethics. If you lie, cheat, or steal and do it publically, it will spread faster than your name can and it will probably get you blackballed, ending your career before it starts, but this doesn't mean that what is private is private. If you are a married pin up model that constantly talks about having high morals, but send nude selfies to men, not only are you being unethical, but sooner or later it will come to light. If you are a musician that steal's others' lyrics or leaves with others' scores you probably will find yourself sued. If you are a fighter that hurts his/her training partners, you will probably find yourself partnerless. If you are a model that shoots ideas to a photographer but goes and shoots those ideas with another photographer, you will be exposed. The prime point is people talk. You may think people don't like eachother or are in competition, but if someone is wronged or you are out of line, they will most likely than not make exceptions and talk about you. Do not fall prey to these mistakes, all the scenario's I listed know people that have done and they may not have fallen yet, but they are on their way.
Now that you have your morals, contacts, and friends in check, you're ready for the final piece, TIMING. Timing is everything. The brain is a wonderful thing and can multi-task, but as humans we only have so much of an attention span. If our feeds or markets are already over saturated, do not insert yourself right away. You are robbing yourself of veiwability. You may think that you will just repost or reshare or retalk to someone if you didn't get the results the first time, but you are running the risk of appearing repetitive or annoying; it is better to wait and get yourself out there at a meaningful time. It is human nature to want to have the spotlight to ourselves, and as entertainers, it is what we work for, however, it cannot always be on one person. Patience is important! Promoters like to term the term giving someone a "push" or "pushing" someone when they want them in the limelight, however they have honed their craft more likely than not and know how to do this. Do not get aggravated or feel that he/she is lazy or doing you wrong if you are left waiting, they either feel that your time is not yet or that the time in general is not right. As you progress, you will realize that their are certain days and times that will do better for your viewability than others, this will be an essential skill for you, but do remember others may find the same times as you are good for them to, so you may have to wait a time slot out or two in order to be effective.
I have given what I believe are the keys to networking and getting exposure. These are just my views and may not be right for everyone. Try them out, what is the harm in trying? Let me know how it works for you! If you have a disagreement, please post below. Also if you have other ideas or feel that I left something out let me know below too. Thank you!
Networking can be a very tricky thing to do for a multitude of reasons. One of the primary struggles in networking is that lot of people believe that numbers are everything, this is not true. It's true that you may have more viewability, but in the scheme of things you are sacrificing your quality. Chains are only as good as their weakest links and this applies to networks for models, fighters, and musicians as well. If you associate with people with less than savory tactics or bad reputations, then ultimately people will wonder if you have those traits, but if you associate with the rulers of your field, you may be able to rise up. The key to figuring out who is good and who is bad is simply to ask. If someone has a bad reputation everyone may not come right out and say so, but very few have a problem with giving an opinion on someone if you ask, the only problem with this is you may hear conflicting things to which you must make judgment calls. Once you discern who is good and who is bad for you to be associated with, you can start to positively build your web, but be careful, this is a never ending process.
Being able to discern positive people and negative people is important, but it is not the only piece of this puzzle. One must keep an open mind at all times. Friends may be great for business! For example, if you are a model and your friend is a printer, maybe they could help you print photos cheaper so that you can distribute them, or if you are a fighter, maybe you have a photographer friend who can take some photos of you to be on your fighter banner or on card posters. This does NOT mean use people. Just like you network, others network too so if you try to use or abuse people, they will talk and tell all their contacts, friends should be friends and will help each other out, but they do not live to help you benefit.
You are connected and have friends, you are done, right? WRONG! Now you must worry about your ethics. If you lie, cheat, or steal and do it publically, it will spread faster than your name can and it will probably get you blackballed, ending your career before it starts, but this doesn't mean that what is private is private. If you are a married pin up model that constantly talks about having high morals, but send nude selfies to men, not only are you being unethical, but sooner or later it will come to light. If you are a musician that steal's others' lyrics or leaves with others' scores you probably will find yourself sued. If you are a fighter that hurts his/her training partners, you will probably find yourself partnerless. If you are a model that shoots ideas to a photographer but goes and shoots those ideas with another photographer, you will be exposed. The prime point is people talk. You may think people don't like eachother or are in competition, but if someone is wronged or you are out of line, they will most likely than not make exceptions and talk about you. Do not fall prey to these mistakes, all the scenario's I listed know people that have done and they may not have fallen yet, but they are on their way.
Now that you have your morals, contacts, and friends in check, you're ready for the final piece, TIMING. Timing is everything. The brain is a wonderful thing and can multi-task, but as humans we only have so much of an attention span. If our feeds or markets are already over saturated, do not insert yourself right away. You are robbing yourself of veiwability. You may think that you will just repost or reshare or retalk to someone if you didn't get the results the first time, but you are running the risk of appearing repetitive or annoying; it is better to wait and get yourself out there at a meaningful time. It is human nature to want to have the spotlight to ourselves, and as entertainers, it is what we work for, however, it cannot always be on one person. Patience is important! Promoters like to term the term giving someone a "push" or "pushing" someone when they want them in the limelight, however they have honed their craft more likely than not and know how to do this. Do not get aggravated or feel that he/she is lazy or doing you wrong if you are left waiting, they either feel that your time is not yet or that the time in general is not right. As you progress, you will realize that their are certain days and times that will do better for your viewability than others, this will be an essential skill for you, but do remember others may find the same times as you are good for them to, so you may have to wait a time slot out or two in order to be effective.
I have given what I believe are the keys to networking and getting exposure. These are just my views and may not be right for everyone. Try them out, what is the harm in trying? Let me know how it works for you! If you have a disagreement, please post below. Also if you have other ideas or feel that I left something out let me know below too. Thank you!