A network is very much like a spider web that interconnects with everyone that you associate with, help and befriend. Although commonly overlooked, it could very easily be the most important part of your preps that you’ll ever have.
To expound, if you are ever forced to choose between having a good network and losing everything that you have (to include the clothes on your back), you’d be better off sacrificing it all to keep the network.
Hello, my name is Kit Arthur. I am the CEO and founder of Tackleberry Solutions. We teach wartime tactics for civil and home defense purposes. Our goal is to save as many lives as we can by helping others and teaching them how to survive during dangerous times. Today I wanted to teach you why you should build a network and how to do it safely.
Why You Should Build a Network
Have you ever spent any time watching nature shows? If you do, you’ll notice that a predator will single out its prey and go after the weakest or the smallest of a herd. However, if the prey stands together to defend each other, they are able to stop the predator from achieving its goal.
Undoubtedly, when the predator wins, it gains strength. When it loses, it gets weaker. The same goes for real-life scenarios in the human world.
In my work, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard that famous line that you’re better off being the lone wolf than you are helping other people or working with anyone outside of your immediate family.
As a result, what I have to say, I share as lovingly as I possibly can. That type of thinking WILL get you killed. It doesn’t matter how well prepared you are. The lone wolf always dies. There is safety in numbers, my friend.
Addressing the #1 Reason Why Most People Don’t Network
For some reason, there are a lot of people out there that confuse networking with adopting millions of adult children or taking in every stray cat in the neighborhood. And their #1 reason for refusing to network is because they worry about carrying a burden that will cause them to go down with a sinking ship.
Furthermore, starvation, disease and having everything stolen are major concerns and rightly so. But, what if I were to tell you that there was a way to safely network with others to increase your own success and safety?
You see, there is a major difference between helping others and networking (although the two are related.) When you help someone, you’re giving them aid in an area that they cannot pay for or compensate on.
In contrast, when you’re networking, you’re finding other like-minded individuals and families that are just as concerned about being prepared for what may happen as you are. As a result, you are able to work out a system where you can watch each other’s back and trade either goods or services for things that you need.
For example, not only do I teach others how to protect themselves, but I’m a farmer as well. I am also friends with a nurse who is big into herbal medicine and other healthcare concerns. While I know a little bit about the medical area, she knows more. She also has dedicated more of her time into researching and creating at home remedies in the event of an emergency. As a result, we can help each other out in such a manner that it is mutually beneficial to both of us when times get hard. I can trade her food for medicine and medical aid.
In conjunction with that, I could go into infinite detail about how valuable a network is. However, each point would require lengthy explanations. (I’m actually planning on creating an eCourse on the very topic and how to do it; you can contact me if you’d like to learn more.) As a result I’m just going to list a few of the many benefits before moving on to the “how” of networking:
- Greater ability to barter and trade for what you need
- Have others that you can turn to when you’ve come across an unexpected burden that you cannot carry alone or don’t know how to handle (and vise versa)
- More eyes and ears to see danger coming
- Backup to help defend your home if you’re ever attacked
As I said before, networking can get on a much broader scale than that. To learn more about the intricacies of a network, I highly suggest you check out this article that I wrote on the topic. For now, I’m going to go into greater detail on how you can safely build and utilize your own network.
Earlier in the article, I mentioned that you’re much safer working with others than you would be going at it as a “lone wolf.” And while there certainly are risks in networking, it is far outweighed by the benefits. Furthermore, there are things that you can do to negate those risks.
How to Safely Network
After you’ve found people or individuals to include in your network, it is important to schedule regular times to meet and discuss important topics. Such as current concerns, plans for specific emergencies and how you can better help each other. I do this using a radio channel (more on this soon in another article.)
While you’ll never be able to trust someone 100%, it is important to give others the benefit of the doubt. If you’re working with those that have a similar mindset as you, they’re much less likely to pose as a threat. That being said, here are several red flags to be wary of:
- All talk and no action – you can encourage everyone that you are working with to get a radio and set up a communications system in the event that cell phones don’t work. This is something that takes study, work and an investment into the right radio equipment. If you have someone on your network that just can’t get around to do those things (or prepping in general), this is a warning sign that they aren’t fully committed to do their part and may end up as more of a burden when things really do get hard.
- Questions Everything/Devil’s Advocate – those that have a million concerns about how things should be ran or is standing up for the enemy, they have the potential to either be the enemy or become the enemy later.
- Trying to get too much into your personal game plan (constantly asking questions about your stuff) – this is someone who is less concerned about what they need to be doing and more concerned about what you are doing. If you’ve got someone asking a lot of questions or even inquiring to see if you would be willing to commit illegal activity in order to prepare for certain situations, they may be an enemy informant trying to set you up (much like what happened with Ruby Ridge.)
- The Honey Trot – this one is as simple as it gets, but so often deliberately overlooked. Be leery of individuals that are attractive, overly friendly, flirtatious and curious. They may be trying to use their body to loosen your tongue.
With all that being said, again, there is more to what I’ve just listed when it comes to building your network safely. This article on what information should be classified may help you get a better idea of what I’m trying to teach you.
Helping Others
Although networking and giving aid to those in need are not the same, I’d like to stress the importance of not being afraid to help others when things get scary everywhere. The fact of the matter is that we all need help at one point in time or another. In conjunction with that, if you refuse to help others, how can you expect to ask for any when the tide turns against you?
I’ve also written an article on how to safely give aid to those in need. In it, I cover several concerns, to include not running out of your own assets and spreading disease.
In Conclusion
I hope you learned something valuable from what I had to share. However, this is the tip of the iceberg and I strongly encourage you to continue to learn more about the topic. Either way, if you don’t learn anything from this article, please at least understand that there is safety in numbers.
If you have questions or anything that you would like to add, please leave a comment below. If you’d like to ask me a question directly, please contact me. I’d be glad to help you out.
Also, if you found value in this article, please share it with everyone that you can. Who knows, it may save someone’s life someday.
God bless and stay free.