Nerd Girl on Networking

If you've read my "About Jeni Fred," you know it references #NerdGirl glasses. Yeah, that is so totally me. Nerd girl.
Most days I could live without socializing at all, and I always thought that meant I was bad at networking. I watched friends get full requests long before I ever did because their blog reach was like one thousand times mine and they met everyone under the sun at some conference or another. Meanwhile, I went to conferences and took notes. I then went back to my hotel room and wrote. Or to the lobby and wrote. I got fewer requests, but those requests were more solid. My work got requests not my popularity.
I didn't know it but I was networking. Because every time a writer or blogger needed help they would ask. And I would help as much as I could. What I didn't understand is that I built deep connections. I made fewer connections but the people I connected with, I really connected with. While some people had ten thousand connections who would gladly tweet or leave a blog post, I had less than five hundred connections. My connections offered to package my next book for free when they thought I got a bad end of a deal. Read that again. My competitor offered to package my product for free.
When you meet fifty people in a room and swap business cards, you've made a shallow connection. The person who received your card might remember you're name upon seeing it again. (And that does have value. I don't want to suggest it doesn't.) But when you're doing something you love, and supporting people in your industry, you're making deep connections. That person not only knows your name but has told all of their friends about you. Now three or four people know your name. And the deeper your connections, the more likely you are to have a real support network.
What's one instance you can form a deep connection instead of just swapping cards this week?