12. How I'm growing my network without going to networking events
Rethinking how female tax professions build community in the modern online era
A newsletter & community for the female CPA, attorney or consultant in tax who wants to build your personal brand, grow your book of business & become a thought leader in your industry.
Regardless of what you do for work, if you want to grow professionally, you can’t do it alone. Because it is who you know that gets you places and what you know that keeps you there.
But, as an introvert, and now as a mom, I personally don’t have time (or frankly, interest) to attend traditional networking events or spend time golfing with potential clients.
Yet, if you’re a woman who works in tax, accounting, finance or consulting then you are likely in a client facing role that requires a certain level of network building, especially if you are a partner or want to be a partner someday.
So, I wanted to share how I’m growing my network, in hopes that it may inspire other women in tax and similar professions (and it likely doesn’t even require you to leave your house - you’re welcome, introverts! :))
1. Reframe how you think of networking
Networking is not about you. Yes, networking benefits you in the long-term, but it helps me to think of meeting someone new as an opportunity to seek to serve others and provide value.
It doesn’t even always have to be professional value. If someone mentioned in passing that they’re looking for a contractor to remodel their kitchen and I have a contact that I can recommend, I will offer to put them in touch with my contact. If I see someone get promoted or win an award, I’ll try to send them a congratulatory email or even a box of treats or flowers.
Go into everything seeking to give and serve. Think of it as growing a community of people who you can support and who hopefully can also support you back. That’s the key to networking authentically.
2. Start posting regularly on LinkedIn
I am going to become a broken record about this because I am so passionate about this - LinkedIn is the place for professionals to grow their networks, personal brands and a book of business.
I know, it’s intimidating to start: What will you post about? What if no one likes your posts? What if people make fun of you for it? When will you find the time?
I get it. I had all those same questions. But if you want to grow your personal brand and get more clients, then you must learn to use LinkedIn well. This is the future of networking. And the truth is, you overcome all those fears by starting and doing.
Because if you truly want to grow your book of business and establish a reputation as a subject matter expert in what you do, then you should already be spending at least a few hours a month on networking, but instead of having to go drive to some event and make small talk, you can instead spend that time batch writing LinkedIn posts to publish throughout the week or the month, and then put 15-20 minutes on your calendar a couple days a week to comment on other people’s posts.
So, to post 2-3 times a week, and engage with others, it’s not too much of an investment of time, especially if you’re already blocking time on your calendar to attend networking events in person.
So, if I was starting, here’s what I’d do:
Optimize your LinkedIn profile (here is the checklist from my career course with exact steps on how to build a personal brand on LinkedIn!)
Commit to posting 2-3 times per week. Your posts don’t have to be long or fancy. At first, just get into the habit of posting. Talk about what you’re working on (without revealing client information!), your take on an interesting article or news story, an update on the latest IRS guidance or a new tax bill Congress is working on, your favorite productivity tip, etc. Don’t overthink it. Just write and post. I promise, it gets easier with time!
Engage with others in your sphere on LinkedIn - follow other professionals and your ideal clients. Comment on the posts of those you follow.
HELPFUL TIP
Turn on creator mode on your LinkedIn profile to grow your reach and influence on LinkedIn - this will switch the default button on your LinkedIn profile from "Connect" to "Follow". As a LinkedIn creator, you can share the topics (hashtags) you post about the most. This will make it easier for other LinkedIn members to discover your content and follow you.
To turn on creator mode:
Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
Click View Profile.
Scroll down to Resources and click on Creator mode: Off.
Click Next on the Creator mode preview pop-up window.
Add topics (hashtags) to indicate the topics you post about the most - for example, mine are #tax, #womenatwork, #contentstrategy, #personalbranding, and #thoughtleadership because that’s what I want to be known for on LinkedIn & what I talk about most often on that platform.
Click Done.
Follow the prompts to turn on creator mode.
If you need ideas & motivation on this front, let’s connect on LinkedIn - I share regularly on how tax professionals can become thought leaders, including what to post on LinkedIn.
3. Build your personal brand your way
How do you prefer to communicate?
Personally, I’m a writer. It’s the easiest way for me to show up and share comfortably. That’s why I have this newsletter in written form and why my LinkedIn posts are usually only text.
But you may prefer verbal communication, in which case, maybe consider sharing your knowledge publicly via a newsletter with voice notes, speaking engagements, a podcast, or using a transcription app to type out your thoughts for you in written form.
If you aren’t shy about being on video, then maybe showing up on camera is the easiest way for you to share what you know: whether that’s on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or YouTube, just pull up your phone (no fancy equipment needed), hit record and share. Or, raise your hand at work to do internal and/or external webinars or virtual trainings.
Whichever way is easiest for you to show up, focus on that to build your personal brand by getting your knowledge out there into the world: online, at conferences, within your firm or company, and in your industry.
The goal is to get to the point where people can go, “If you need to know about X topic, you have to go to YOUR NAME HERE - she’s the best in this area.” And when people google what you do, you’re on the front page of Google and LinkedIn results.
But the only way you can build that kind of reputation (in addition to knowing your subject matter really well) is if other people know that you know what you’re talking about, and that’s going to require you to put yourself out there and share publicly what you know.
Even if you’re early in your career and don’t quite yet feel like a subject matter expert, that’s okay, grow your knowledge in public. As you learn,
Post about what’s impacting your clients on your social media
Offer to do a training internally on the technical issue you just spent hours researching
Raise your hand to speak at an industry conference
Submit an article to an industry publication
Show up as a guest on a webinar or podcast in your area of practice.
So, that’s the overview of my playbook for growing my professional network and it’s been giving me amazing dividends!
How have you grown your network? I’d love to hear your take on this!
Until next time,
YPS
How I can help
If you’re looking to grow your personal brand as a tax professional, I’d love to chat & help you create content that builds trust, grows your book of business, and positions you as thought leader in your industry.
That could look like revamping your LinkedIn profile, developing a LinkedIn content strategy, figuring out how to get you published in publications like TaxNotes or Bloomberg Tax, or generally figuring out how to build up your personal brand online!
Email me at yelenasheremeta@gmail.com.