This point on working in your craft without networking hurts.
It hurts, of course, because I am not particularly good at networking.
Coming back day after day and producing is the part that I find easy.
Mentorship, working in a community, and collaboration is my difficult part.
But the potential value here, I believe, can make or break a career.
- Where would Jeff Goins be without Michael Hyatt?
- Where would Ryan Holiday be without Robert Greene?
- Where would Ernest Hemingway by without Gertrude Stein?
I need to think about this some more.
Without a network, creative work does not succeed. Exposure to the right networks can accelerate your success like few things can. This flies in the face of what we typically expect an artist to do or say. “All my great opportunities have come from friends,” Hank said. Great work does not come about through a single stroke of genius, but by the continual effort of a community. When the right people advocate for your work, your success becomes more likely. Being good is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Skill is a prerequisite for creative success, but talent is only part of the equation. The rest is network.
-Jeff Goins, Real Artists Don’t Starve