This article was created in partnership with Shapr. Thank you for supporting the partners who make SitePoint possible.
Meeting new people can be fun, scary, exhilarating, and life-changing. It can open up new career opportunities, and sometimes even entirely new careers! To take advantage of the benefits of networking, it helps to make it a regular part of your week. Here are ten ways that networking can help you learn, collaborate and grow, and how Shapr, a mobile app, can help you facilitate that.
1. Build Your Confidence
Many freelancers find the lifestyle isolating. The silence can be unnerving, motivation can be difficult, and you may start to feel a little awkward around others.
The solution? Get together with someone in person over a coffee or meal, learn to break the ice, talk over problems, listen, and offer advice. Meeting new people will help build your confidence.
2. Be Inspired with New Ideas
Exchanging ideas with someone like-minded is inspiring, and someone from a different field can introduce you to new perspectives. A conversation with someone new can be energizing, fill your bank of new ideas, and propel you into your next project.
But where do you discover relevant, like-minded people? A new app I’ve discovered—Shapr—can introduce you.
When you meet, the conversation will be easy because you have things in common. Your profile includes 10 facts about you and your interests, and every day you’ll be introduced to 15-20 people whose interests matches yours.
3. Shape Your Life and Career
Network with people you can learn from—someone further along the road who can mentor you, or a peer you can trade stories with. The best way to discover pathways to a new career is by having coffee with someone who’s already there. Quality conversations will stick with you and shape the vision of where you want to go. Big picture conversations like that are motivating and encouraging.
4. Find Fulfilment Helping Others
Networking isn’t just about receiving—giving goes both ways. You can help to shape someone else’s life or career, and have their back in difficult times. Build your network on trust and cooperation.
Swipe right to connect, swipe left to pass. Shapr is designed to spark meaningful, mutually beneficial conversations that evolve into long-term relationships.
When both you and the other person swipe right, you’ll be notified. From there you can agree to a call, coffee, lunch, or drinks—however you feel comfortable meeting them.
5. Stay Current with Your Industry
To advance your career, you need to stay relevant. Increase your sources of information by meeting with others from your industry. Make friends with people outside of your age group—they can expose you to new ways of looking at your business and help you see the big picture.
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