Mike Abasov

There is nothing more important for your success than networking. Your marks matter zilch. Your initial capital is irrelevant. In order to be successful, you need networking. In order to get your dream job, you need networking. 

You need networking, and there is no substitute for this need.

What can networking give you?

Every job I’ve had so far, I got because of the people I’d met. I’ve also gained a lot of knowledge and insights from these people. And opportunities present themselves all the time. 

Let’s look at a few examples.

When I was working as a freelancer, my classmate suggested bidding on a project for a company who’s owner was a family friend of his. This connection gave me an opportunity to rebrand one of the largest recycling companies in Ukraine.

My online efforts, such as blogging and participating in different forums and social networks, resulted in an unexpected proposal to work as a social media manager at uCoz.com. I wasn’t even looking for this job; the owner contacted me himself.

When going to meetups this summer, I’ve met people from HootSuite. Two weeks later I started my internship there, which resulted in an amazing part-time job.

On another note, even getting to know baristas at my local coffee shops gets me regular discounts and much better customer service.

What is it all about?

Networking is not about using people, and it’s purpose shouldn’t be selfish at all. I see networking as an opportunity to help others achieve their goals, which eventually leads to others helping you.

For instance, I’ve brought tens of contracts over the years to my freelance friends without asking (or hoping) for any reciprocity.

Consider it karma. You meet people; you help them; they help you. The act of helping is not always direct (me – you, you – me), but magically good things happen all the time.

Widening the net

The more people you know, the more opportunities present themselves. The deeper your connections with those people are, the better are the opportunities.

And, of course, the more interesting, influential and important those people are, the more awesome things await.

Hiring involves humans

You might think that marks are all that matters. You are mistaken. In the end, the act of hiring boils down to a small number of people involved in the decision. Knowing these people beforehand influences the outcome dramatically.

Your “A+” in “Chemistry 101” means nothing, when your competitor had a meaningful discussion with the CEO at a recent conference.

On the other hand, your “C” in “Managerial Economics” means nothing, if you were recommended to the business owner by her friend who is also your ex-boss.

4.0 GPA will not get you your dream job. You have to realize that, get over yourself and start doing something actually useful.

More posts to come

There is no way I can talk about everything networking-related in one post. But I have about 20 more posts to come in the future weeks.

The takeaway point of these few paragraphs is simple: networking is very important. As long as you understand it, you are half-way to success.

Please, if you have any questions about why or how to network correctly, ask them in the comments below or by contacting me directly. I’ll be happy to answer them for you and other readers.

Also, subscribe to my newsletter, if you don’t want to miss important tips on becoming successful and living the next level of learning!

You can make money on your passion, because I can.

I want to share a little example from my life about how being passionate, knowing everything about your passion and creating a community around it made me able to start making money on it. This is not a story of a 20-years-old CEO (not that impressive at all :-), but I find this example very motivating for myself.

4 years ago I got into making websites. I wanted to create a browser-based MMORPG. Well, that never happened. But I found a free web builder called uCoz. I started creating websites there, made one for my school, one for my gaming clan, later one for my university program. Fact is, I’ve created many. During all this, I’d been actively talking on different forums about uCoz, writing some scripts, and participating to the maximum. I was gaining expertise and building my brand, although at that time, I had no idea I was doing it.

In 2007 I got into blogging. I started writing about my life and about uCoz. Step by step, I started gaining some influence. I would express my thoughts on an update, share opinions and discuss them in the comments. I was building a community of great, interesting people who were making cool websites in this CMS.

The first bits of money came from freelancing. Being an expert in this system, I was able to get some cool contracts. My personal “Mona Lisa” was the new identity and web design for one of the largest recycling companies in Ukraine.

But then the real game-changer showed up when I started a project called U.Blogs (in Russian). Its goal was to unite all bloggers in uCoz and create an awesome community. During the next year, I took my passion to a completely new level, even did some interviews and podcasts on the topic. It felt great and I was proud of what I was doing.

Today I don’t manage U.Blogs and don’t blog about uCoz anymore. And I haven’t been an active member of the community either until April, when the company whose client I have been for 4 years proposed me a job. Today I’m a member of a great team, and I manage all types of uCoz’s social presence in the English part of the Internet. It’s not my dream job, but its an amazing experience and good money for something I love doing.

The main point of this post is that I wasn’t looking for this job; it found me. All because of my passion, my expertise and personal branding. I had no idea when I started 4 years ago that my hobby can take me to the point of making money. I didn’t know that I could cash in on my passion, but it happened. And I believe that it will happen again and again. And I believe that it can happen to you too! So get out and do something!