Networking
The Art of Making Friends
By: Jimi Heath Whitelaw

Ughh.. I use to hate networking, I dreaded it; but it is a NECESSITY in a town where relationships mean EVERYTHING. I really use to look at networking as a business. I mean, since I'm supposed to look at my songwriting adventure as its own business entity, I should be doing the same with networking and building relationships, right? WRONG.

I spent my first year in Nashville doing what I like to refer to as, "Star Stalking". I would find pro writers, artists, producers, publishers. Find out if they were married, what their spouses do for a living, if they had kids my age, what clubs they were in, what sports they played, etc..et al. Then I would set my sights on "infiltrating" their camps and inner circle of friends for an opportunity to meet and befriend them.

I failed miserably. Now when I say I failed, it's not to say that I wasn't able to sneak my way into getting cool introductions, etc. For example, I wanted to meet a hit songwriter that I admired, so I found out that his wife cuts hair at a very expensive salon here in Nashville. So I started getting $400.00 haircuts to talk her up. After $2000.00 in haircuts and losing 18 inches of hair later, I finally got to meet him…but guess what? We had nothing in common and I found very quickly that he couldn't even help me. I sacrificed a lot of time, money and hair to pursue a friendship that was based solely on my ulterior motives and it got me no where, really fast.

So what's the secret to effectively networking yourself in Music City? Be genuine. Be cool. Be yourself.

There's something magical about organically letting a relationship evolve here on the row. After tardo attempts to "meet the right people", I decided to just make friends. Forget about socially jockeying for connections and just see what happens. What happened? I made real friendships that mean so much more to me on a personal level than what could possibly turn into opportunities for me career wise. BUT, these same meaningful friendships overtime, have opened up doors to me that I couldn't have opened on my own.

Just remember, the most important part of this whole crazy career that we are pursuing is deriving really cool experiences and making really cool memories.

If you are new to town and want to meet people, here are a few rules I follow that keep me in line with my overall organic vision:

DON'T: Introduce yourself like this, "Hi, I'm Jimi, I'm a songwriter and I'm new to town and trying to meet people here."

DO: Introduce yourself: "hey, I'm Jimi, nice to meet ya". No matter WHO it is.

THE POINT: It's pretty much a given fact that anyone hanging around the row are probably here pursuing music in some respect. Having career vomit and introducing yourself as WHAT you are, rather than WHO you are screams GREEN.

DON'T: Ask someone what they do in the business.

DO: Ask someone about what they do for fun, etc.

THE POINT: Again, these are REAL people not JUST writers, producers, executives, etc. If you genuinely want to get to know someone, get to know WHO they are and not WHAT they do. Trust me, their peers aren't asking them questions like, "So how many holds do you have?" they're asking them, "So what did you do over the weekend?".

Bottom line folks? As with any friendship, as you get to know each other, they'll ask you what you're doing in town, etc and opportunities will organically present themselves. Just …BE PATIENT!