Nurturing my network

As an avid follower of the Capital Communicators blog (a communication professionals association), I have recently been captivated by the new tactic of one of their contributors. This tactic they call "nurturing my professional network" is essentially a pay it forward type of plan. Each day, the blogger extends help/expertise to one or more people in their network. This can be anything from sending a query over to a friend at a niche agency to connecting with colleagues over coffee. Reading this series has gotten me thinking, what's stopping me from doing this too?

So, I've decided that I, too, am going to try to "nurture my network." Not just my professional network, but that of everyone I know. I'm going to try to do 1 helpful thing every day that will, essentially, provide me with the satisfaction of helping others. For example, as I currently intern at a nonprofit where not everyone is communications oriented, I've become really close with my fellow PR intern. And as our internship is dwindling down these next couple weeks, we're both starting to panic a little about beginning the job search again. So when I found a dream entry-level position online with one of the most renowned PR agencies, believe you me, I was pretty excited. But then I sat back for a minute and wondered about LW (my co-intern). Knowing she would be equally as excited, I decided to pass this this opportunity on instead of just holding it back for myself. Now I know she may have eventually found it as well, but I thoroughly believe that relationship building is a fundamental part of PR. Thus, my small act may not get either of us very far, but at least we can empathize with eachother - working together to help build our futures.

If nothing else, extending some positive karma can't be a bad thing, right?


xoxo,