Nurture Your Ecosystem: 7 Networking Tips

For years, networking felt like wearing someone else’s skin. Every event felt performative. Conversations felt transactional. And LinkedIn messages felt like an awkward telemarketer cold call with a desperate plea for just a moment of your time. It felt daunting, time-consuming, and just awkward. I thought that successful networking meant that I had to be someone else. Someone more interesting with a hustler, Wall Street mindset, but I was wrong. 

I challenged myself to network while staying true to who I am, and I learned some helpful tips along the way. I picked up a few tips from industry professionals, former teachers, and my online community that helped me feel more comfortable and genuine in how I network.

The first tip is inspired by this quote from Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, bestselling author, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "Networking is not about fishing with a net; it's about nurturing an ecosystem.” 

TIP #1: Lead with Curiosity, Not Opportunity

Networking becomes less daunting when your goals shift from finding an opportunity to learning about another person’s career trajectory, nonconventional job, and cool life experiences. Ask about their unique career path that led them to their current job, and the experiences that shaped them. When I had conversations and focused on my passions and things that I was curious about without fixating on making them like me enough to write me a referral, the conversation flowed more easily. I wasn’t performing, just learning and connecting. 

Start thinking of conversations as planting a seed, not making a transaction. It is also important not to force yourself to become someone that you are not in pursuit of an opportunity. An invasive species harms its environment. An inauthentic and forced version of yourself will do the same to your connections and ecosystem. Do what is natural and native to you!

TIP #2: Plant Where You Are Already Standing

Start networking locally by leveraging the community already around you. Some of the richest resources are people that you work with, go to school with, or see at your local bookstore. It is surprising the amount of cool and interesting things that people in your community are doing! A few of my former classmates started a freelance media/ content creation business; another created their own mini dramedy series. Your strongest connections may already be growing around you.

Try networking on a smaller scale by talking to people in your community. This is also good practice in forming genuine conversations, which is the foundation of networking. 

TIP #3: Grow Your Ecosystem One Conversation at a Time

Reach out to people on LinkedIn, IG, or other social media platforms. Reaching out on LinkedIn feels intimidating, but most professionals enjoy talking about their work. The first time I messaged someone for a coffee chat, I rewrote the message five times. I was sure that the message I spent an hour writing would go ignored, but it didn’t. We met and spent an hour talking about her aspirations and how she got her start in publishing. This changed my outlook on reaching out. Sometimes, your message might go ignored, but other times you get a response back. 

So, go ahead and reach out for a quick coffee chat. Introduce yourself and why you are reaching out, whether it’s because you think their job is interesting, want more insight on a post that they shared, or you want to know how they went from being a Mime in France to an IT specialist. Start the conversation. You never know what it might grow into.

TIP #4: Give More Than You Take

Always look for opportunities to help and give back while networking. A big part of networking is looking for opportunities to help others. Share new certificates that are useful for people looking to work in publishing. Share an internship or job opportunity with your community. Share advice for students looking to break into your industry. The goal is to cultivate healthy connections by being helpful to others. If you sow into the ecosystem, it will sow back into you!

Giving back also isn’t always about opening doors for someone. Sometimes it’s amplifying their work, introducing two people who should connect, celebrating others’ wins, and acknowledging something that they mentioned months ago. Generosity compounds. 

TIP #5: Tend the Relationships You Plant

I remember being a college student, unemployed, with nothing to give, struggling with how to give back while networking. It used to stump me very often. However, I learned that nurturing relationships with follow-ups, simple encouragement, and visibility costs you nothing. My favorite thing to do as a college student was to post on LinkedIn, sharing lessons and advice I learned from our guest speakers and professors. I would grab a punchy quote, break it down, and tag the guest speaker on LinkedIn. Not only does it draw attention to that person from your audience, but it's like a digital trace and reference point for any further conversation. You could also post about projects, research papers, etc. tagging those who helped you along the way. 

This isn't just for college students, but also working professionals (as long as the information isn’t confidential!). You can also nurture relationships by checking in, liking their posts, or making sure that you are celebrating them when you can. They got a promotion, send them a message congratulating them. They started a new business, then reach out and ask them how that’s been going for them. Everyone can benefit from a little encouragement and giving people their flowers. Sometimes networking is simply showing up for someone else.

TIP #6: Become Part of the Ecosystem

Volunteer where you want to put down roots. You should get involved in the community and industries that interest you by volunteering. If you like YPA, then write an article for us or go to our events. One way to nurture an ecosystem is to be a part of that ecosystem. You can meet new people in a casual environment, and you are naturally giving back when you volunteer your time to a community that speaks to you. Don't just join the community—help build it.

TIP #7: A Healthy Ecosystem isn’t Built in a Day. Play the Long Game

The biggest mistake that you can make is that your network will be built after one coffee chat or job offer. No, some opportunities come months or even years after that first initial contact. You have to be prepared for the possibility that your call might not result in an instant internship, but your name may come up six months or six years later for a new position because of your connections. Not every seed blooms immediately – and that's okay; it’s even normal. Your network will be stronger because it is not centered around one ask, but years of maintaining and introducing the right people to your community. Healthy ecosystems don’t grow overnight, and neither do meaningful careers and professional relationships. The best things take time. It's a popular cliché for a reason. 

BONUS TIP: Break free from the mindset that networking is fake. Sometimes it is not what you are doing, but how you are doing it. If it feels fake, then you need to reevaluate how you are approaching it. Now, if it feels awkward, then keep doing it until it starts to feel more familiar and aligned with who you are. 

Looking back, networking stopped feeling fake when I stopped treating it like collecting business cards. Networking grows from one meaningful conversation, generous act, follow-up after the other. If you focus on nurturing relationships instead of collecting connections, you will build something far more worthwhile than a network – you will build a community. Stop treating networking like fishing for opportunities and start treating it like tending a garden. 

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Iyoniah Teague is the Blog Manager at Young Publishers Association. She also works as an Administrative Assistant in the non-profit industry. She loves to spend her time reading small-town romances with magic and suspense, making new recipes at home, and advocating for social justice.