The Power of Affiliation

I still remember my first ASI (American Society for Indexing) conference in 1992 (long time ago). I was pregnant with my second child at the time, and the conference happened to occur in nearby San Antonio, Texas. This conference and the affiliations I was able to create by being there are what launched my book indexing business three years later. That business allowed me to basically work on flextime and be home for my children while doing work that kept my wacky indexer brain stimulated.

Affiliation and Visibility

A lot of new indexers and indexers-to-be ask about how to market themselves, often with a semi-desperate look in their eyes. But I’ve gotten much more business through my affiliations, rapport with clients, and general networking than by direct marketing, and not just when I had experience, but as the previous paragraph illustrates, from the very beginning.

Client Relationships

Both networking with professional colleagues and exquisite customer care are key to business success, but I think this is particularly true for micro-businesses like ours. Every index, every information architecture project is a custom job, so we have to have great relationships with clients in order to continue to get good work.

PI’s Association Advantages

The pinnacle of my success with affiliation occurred when I joined Potomac Indexing’s little group of partners in 2014. Working with these folks on a regular basis, along with the fifty-plus independent associates available to us creates a best-case affiliation scenario for PI’s business and our clients. I personally have learned tons about different subjects and approaches to indexing as a result of my association with this great group of professionals.

On the flip side, Potomac Indexing itself has benefited greatly from its associations, particularly with the American Society for Indexing, since that’s where almost all of our associates come from. In our group of associates and partners over the years, we have had the honor of access to eight former presidents of ASI, and on the other side of indexing experience, the opportunity to work with upcoming indexer minds just graduating from the ASI Training in Indexing Course.

I know we set up a lot of our affiliations online in virtual reality these days, but I actually still advocate going through the stresses of physical travel to meet people face to face (after the pandemic, that is). Those connections will always be the deepest and most long-lasting. So, get thee forth and meet folks! You can definitely join ASI or its sister Canadian, British, or Australian-New Zealand associations, or if you are an editor, I recommend the Editorial Freelancers Association and American Copy Editors Society. Also consider attending conferences for writers’ groups, publishing groups, or digital taxonomy/information architecture groups.

Start making those connections. They will pay off!