Top Five: Top 5 Ways to Engage Your Network

Tim Stephenson

MTNA Business Digest, Volume 4, Issue 4

July 2025

Networking, networking, networking: it’s an essential tool for professionals in any industry. But where should you start and how do you know if you’re doing it well?

When you hear the word “networking,” is your initial reaction negative or uncomfortable? I can completely relate! In the past, I have uttered the phrase, “I don’t like networking,” or “I am an introvert and don’t network,” more than a few times. What I didn’t realize then is each of us already has a network that doesn’t require attending networking events, selling ourselves, or being overtly charismatic.

For anyone that relates to the above, I would encourage you to think about this important question: Who is in your existing network and how are you engaging them? The best place to start is with people you already know—being thoughtful with the ways that you engage your existing network will inevitably lead to growth. Here are five easy ways to start!

Social Media

Social media can be divisive, but there’s no arguing it helps keep people connected. If you are a social media user, your friend list/followers/etc. is a great place to start when answering the question of who is in your existing network. No matter whether they are family, friends, neighbors, or others, they are members of your network, and you can engage them through the platform.

I am personally not a huge social media user and find it can be distracting, so I must plan when I am going to post. For me, posting once a month is plenty, and I make sure to cover one of the things I am doing professionally to remind my network I am active in the field. A post during recital season, a thankful message about your studio, or a fun video that illustrates a humorous aspect of being an educator are all easy ways to utilize social media to engage your network.

We won’t dive into the specifics of which platforms to use, but if you are a business owner running a private studio, you should consider using LinkedIn. This platform is still the go-to for the professional working world and it is not a stretch to say that your students’ parents or family members are likely LinkedIn users. Being on the platform makes it easy for them to find you and share your information with their networks, and it also shows that you view yourself as a working professional.

Newsletter/E-Newsletter

Sending out a newsletter is another great way to keep your network engaged with your professional and personal activities! Everyone has different levels of comfort when it comes to the content to include in a newsletter, but some basics could include a brief personal greeting, photos and a story from your most recent studio recital, a testimonial from a student or parent, or a listing of community events as well as personal updates. Be true to yourself!

E-newsletters are very popular and can be put together using your email platform, without the need for professional software or advanced editing skills. Personally, I have only ever managed to do a quarterly newsletter and that was enough to generate some interest from my network! Keep in mind an e-newsletter is less interactive than social media or in-person outreach; while you may not get immediate responses, you can trust your recipients are reading and will appreciate the updates!

While convenient and easy, an e-newsletter does require you to keep a record of your network and their contact information. (See more below)

Website/Youtube/Blog etc.

Online resources for sharing content are abundant and can be great for those who tend toward one medium or another. If you enjoy writing, a blog is an excellent way to keep in touch with your networks, and you can write about anything you like: weekly stories from lessons, a daily favorite piece/recording, or even silly things your students said this month. The possibilities are endless! On WordPress and other sites, your blog visitors can subscribe so that you don’t have to worry about tracking contact information.

If keeping up with a blog sounds taxing, you can try your hand at a different medium like video. For longer videos, YouTube is a great place to house your collection and, for shorter videos, social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are fun ways to engage your followers (i.e., your network!).

A place that can capture all this content and more is a personal website, which is one of the most effective ways to engage your network. While there is more work on the front end to prepare the website itself and create all the content, it then lives in perpetuity and you can continue to direct people to it through e-newsletters, social media, personal suggestions, and more!

Planned Gatherings & Events

The quintessential example of networking is attending events and meeting people “cold,” or without any prior connections. This can be really challenging, but a great way to engage your current network is to take the initiative to plan gatherings or events.

For studio teachers, inviting your entire network to attend a recital may seem silly, after all, not everyone lives in town or would be interested—but, you should still do it! The invitation shows both that you want them to be there and you are proud of the work you and your students are doing. And, you never know who might show up!

It certainly does not need to be formal, either. Planning casual get-togethers with your neighbors, getting dinner with a couple of fellow teachers, or inviting friends to join you at the farmers market are all ways of engaging your networks. It does not need to be more complicated than that!

Intentional Re-Connections

All of us have people in our networks that are not in our immediate area, which can make staying connected difficult. Out of the methods mentioned so far, I use social media as my primary way of engaging my network on a regular basis; however, sometimes I want to maintain deeper connections with important members of my network, like mentors, teachers, or even family members.

Each quarter, I have a short list of people (two or three) in my inner circle I need to call. Candidly, phone calls are not my favorite thing in the world, but it is so worth the extra effort to stay connected with members of my network who have given me valuable time, effort, and guidance.

Bonus: Organizing Your Network

At the beginning of this article, I posed the question: Who is in your existing network and how are you engaging them? We covered some useful ways to keep your network engaged, but identifying who is in your network is a vital part of the process too. Social media is a good place to start, but there are plenty of people that do not use it or different people that you are connected to on different platforms.

For broad coordination of multiple platforms/networks, I recommend using an organizational tool like Dex to help you track contact information, place of employment, education, location, and more for those in your network. There are several different platforms designed for this; getting started takes some time, but I have found it incredibly worth it to organize the full scope of the people in my network.

Tim Stephenson is a pianist, teacher and administrator on staff at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and on faculty at Pacific Piano School. Tim is currently a doctoral candidate at IU’s Jacobs School of Music.