Back a few years ago, I quit writing articles. I was burned out, feeling like a hamster-writer on a wheel of articles that changed from month to month. Something needed to change, but I wasn’t sure what. All I knew was that I’d lost the passion.
I wrote a few articles between then and now, but nowhere near the volume I’d been at. This year, though, as I start to build my business back up, I see what was missing: human connections.
Previously my model was this: have an assignment, research and contact potential sources, stress when I didn’t hear back, follow up, sometimes find new ones. From month to month, it was lather, rinse, repeat.
Not until I reconnected with my now-collaborator did I start to get a clue. It wasn’t just because he’d kept in touch with me over the years and we’d built up a rapport. As he connected me with his contacts, I started to see how he incorporated humanness into his work.
It only starts with doing a good job, being someone whom everyone else can trust with work. The rest of it is about being a good person: asking about other people’s lives, sharing values. That’s how we came to be friends. And it’s a key component of Chris Brogan‘s advice about building professional networks.
As I move forward with my revitalized freelance career, I’m focusing on relationships, seeking out people with whom I can have long-term contact. I didn’t think about this before, but when I was dating – and even as a friend – I was, and am, extremely picky. I don’t want to waste time trying to bond with people who will end up being transient in my life, about whom I can sense this transience right from the get-go.
I’m sure I’ll continue to talk to people who will indeed be short-term contacts, but they won’t be the bulk of my business anymore. My core group, my collaborator(s) and their close connections, will be the people I’ll turn to first, the people I trust and – I hope, at least eventually – can use for a sounding board. As a freelancer, this might be the most important change I’ve ever made to my business model.
Your post struck a chord within me. I seem to be going through the same thing, but not in writing, at least not yet.
Barbara, about a year and a half ago I realized that I didn’t want to join any more new communities to meet lots more new people. I wanted to focus on the close friends I had already made. In fact I remember saying that to my collaborator months ago – it must have stuck in my subconscious until all these new opportunities started to crop up!
I’ve been consulting for more than 10 years and I’m pleased to say that many of my clients and partners are people with whom I’ve been working for that long or longer. In fact, my current client roster is made up of long-term contacts and people referred to me by them. It means a lot to me to be able to maintain long-term relationships with people, whether through business or friendship. After this long in the business, many of my clients have become friends…and some of my friends have become clients.
Working from home can be isolating. But I make many efforts to connect with people and I find this is really rewarding. I also have a ton of strategies for dealing with home office isolation. Still, the everyday hum-drum of a “regular” office job can be pretty isolating, too. At least, as a consultant and business owner, I can meet friends for lunch, coffee or a movie whenever I want. Today, I’m cutting work early so that I can take my kids to a birthday party.
You know Andrea, what’s funny is that although I knew of the 80/20 rule – I was thinking in terms of the people I actually work for, not my sources. I guess in a way, 80 percent of my work came from 20 percent of my contacts (the editors themselves) but source-wise… not nearly so much.
It’s hard because I think variety is important… if I consistently reported using the same sources, I run the risk of not getting different perspectives. (Not to mention other problems with credibility, which is one reason why I’ll be ghostwriting for my collaborator.) But at the same time, I burned out doing things the old way. I like the idea of a “nucleus” of sources and then branching out from them.
Thanks for the comment – I subscribed to your blog and am looking forward to reading more!