It's essential that you take the time to get to know others in all areas of the industry. It's not something that will happen overnight. It's a day to day, inch by inch progression of reaching out and building that rolodex of contacts. Before you know it, a year or two will go by and all those people you have met along the way will add up to a support system of contacts that will help you achieve success.
I am building my network each day and I will continue to do so until I take my last breath. I am not a master schmoozer by any means. I just do my best to reach out and be helpful to others. From there the contacts build.
I think first about what I have to offer others, not what others can offer to me. And when I do ask for advice or help from my contacts, I make sure to be incredibly gracious about it. In fact, I go into it with the idea that I am lucky to get their support. I never demand it nor do I ever take my contacts for granted. They are taking time out of their incredibly busy days to give me support. It's important to honor their efforts. And if they ever ask anything of me, I do it right away with all my attention and support.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the networking that is required in this business. How do you remember everyone? How do you meet and interact with those who are much more successful than yourself? There's no magic answer, which is actually a blessing. This means that you and I have a real chance of figuring out "an" answer that works for us.
You need to try many different ways of reaching out and hone in on a few that work best for you. There's only so much time in the day for networking. So be careful about overextending yourself to the point that your work suffers. It's truly a combination of talent and who you know. So give yourself time to cultivate your talent each day but also build the rolodex one name at a time. Patience is a virtue in every aspect of your life, including your film career.
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