A family friend named Tracy works at a prestigious financial firm earning more money a year than I probably will see in three years combined. When I graduated college she constantly nagged me to start a blog to market my writing skills, but I resisted for about six months. Now, I'm starting to understand how right she was (no one can know how awesome you are if you don't give them a chance to discover you), so I called her up to ask what additional advice she would like to provide.
"Networking. Start a LinkedIn account and you'll quickly realize how many connections your friends and colleagues have to offer. Progressing in a profession is dependent on who you know and how you market yourself. And when I say "dependent on who you know," I don't mean it in the sense that you need to suck up to your boss so that she'll promote you. Contact and network anyone and everyone in your field so that they can share their knowledge and experiences with you. This way, you advance by your own intelligence and abilities, not by cheap flattery. Then find the best way to market yourself and put yourself out there in as many ways as possible so that the right people can find you, be intrigued and inspired by your passion and desire to help you advance."
