Networking can be one of the most powerful ways to grow your business and raise your level of professionalism and visibility in the eye of the public.
Here are the best places to network with other business professionals.
Network by joining your Chamber of Commerce.
This is an organization that exists mainly to promote and ensure the success of local businesses.
You'll find people here that are as passionate about what they do as you are about what you do.
Make alliances with them, and you'll both come out stronger.
Network online.
The World Wide Web is changing the way people network.
The internet is now the first place to go when trying to build a business or ensure its success.
While some things are universal (you simply must have a website if you want your business to be a success), some things are not.
Facebook and Twitter, for example, can be good adjunct ways to network, but they shouldn't be the meat of your networking campaign.
Go to sites dedicated to the networking side of business for your networking needs, and use Facebook and Twitter to join interesting groups and conversations.
Good online networking sites include: LinkedIn, Xing, NFP (Networking for Professionals), FastPitchNetworking, and Ziggs.
The next logical step in networking is to take it into the greater world.
Join professional organizations unique to your practice.
Make sure to attend as many conferences as your schedule allows for.
While there, make both horizontal and vertical alliances.
Make connections with peers at your level and also find those who will be willing to act as mentors for you as you grow.
No matter how successful you are, there is always someone with more success who can help you further fulfill your potential.
In addition to professional organizations, network with potential clients and peers in clubs both related and unrelated to your niche.
If your business is as a health professional, make yourself a presence as a speaker and attendee in health-related clubs, support-groups, and conferences.
The more visible you are to the public, the more they will come to see you as an expert in the field and as someone they can trust.
Don't let your networking efforts stop there, however.
Seek out networking opportunities everywhere you go regularly.
Business is universal: everyone has one.
You can network with your friends at your bowling league, your adventure group, or your golf club.
Let them know what you do and how passionate and capable you are in your profession.
Give them your card.
The next time someone asks them for advice about who to see for the business you provide, they'll hand out your card.
Don't treat networking as something you do occasionally and forget about.
Networking, for a successful business professional, is a way of life.
If you're good at it, you will do it without thinking and without being false.
Offer yourself in alliance to others, create a net of people who know you and trust your expertise, and keep building that net.
That is what builds success.
Passion, tenacity, and follow-through help build your business, and connections with mentors, peers, and clients keep it moving.