I love playing Instagram stories of friends, colleagues, actors and actresses and even of people I don’t personally know, but “know of”. My husband laughs at this idea, and asks me why I spend so much of my precious time “stalking” people 1) I don’t know personally, 2) I may never know personally and 3) I wouldn’t really care about and would actually forget in the near future.

But you see, little ol’ me knows the importance of connection. Back when I was in High School, my hobby was to look at the society pages of newspapers and magazines, and to memorize people’s names, who they were and what they do. I was just really fascinated with how each individual was unique, and how each had their “own thing”. I never knew that this was actually something that people do, which was public relations. The concept of public relations was still so foreign to me and to my young high school mind. But ever since I was young, I loved meeting people, learning their stories and connecting them with people who might be of help or of service to them. I was happy being the bridge to the fulfilment of discussions, deals and dreams.

I now gawk at how social media can bring people closer in a way with just mere @s, #s and links. I get to know people, because my friends tag them in their posts. I get to know brands because hashtags and links were used. The world is seemingly smaller, and everyone seems to know everyone else. You can just grab a bite with a friend after sending a message on Messenger or Viber. You can purchase an item online by clicking a button and sending funds via PayPal. You can build a community of people with the same likes and passions, by setting up a Facebook or Meet-up group. All of these are done in minutes, if not seconds. All of these tools are available for you to utilize and make the most out of. These tools help you build relationships — relationships that will mean a lot to your personal and professional life as a freelancer.

Building relationships, both online and offline, is an important part of your life as a freelancer. Even if you’re mostly online, it doesn’t mean that the basic human need of connecting with other “humans” is stripped off from you. As humans, we feel the need to connect with others. Now looking back at my career as a freelancer and now as an entrepreneur, these connections made such an impact to achieving success for different endeavors. Success is getting more clients, raking in more brand partners, having the right business partners, having the right suppliers, etc. All of these, I now enjoy, because of the network that I built and the relationships that I have established.

I want to share tips on how I built my network with you, and I am truly appreciative of PayPal for giving me the opportunity to do so. I will be one of the four speakers of the PayPal Summit: Freelancing Anywhere in the World that will be held on August 24, 2017 at The Manila Peninsula Rigodon Ballroom from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

I hope that you can make it to the event. Do let me know also, beforehand, if you have questions about networking and building partnerships and relationships. I will gladly share my thoughts on it at the event.

To sign up for the PayPal Freelancer Summit, please click here: http://bit.ly/PayPalGinger1

I’d love meet you personally so please don’t hesitate to approach me! Let’s take a selfie!

Love lots,

 

 

 

 

To sign up for a PayPal Account, CLICK HERE.