It was about posting a few ads, submitting to search engines and making a few link exchanges. After the hard work we would sit back with excitement knowing hundreds of new visitors were on the way. Unfortunately, the visitors never showed so we moved on to banner and link exchanges.



Around that time banner ads were a fortune and website submission services were making bundles of profit. Many search engines were backlogged with submissions for weeks and sometimes even months.

Was anyone working in partnership during this time?

Today it's hard to miss the harmony of ecommerce entrepreneurs building new relationships. Smart business owners are no longer wasting time submitting their websites to free classifieds or spending their budgets on URL submissions to hundreds of useless search engines.

Instead, business owners are working together in community-oriented ways. It is easily seen by the emergence of discussion forums, blogs, RSS feeds and the overall increase in sharing of information. Today, it's about networking with each other.

Networking involves the creation of a supportive system of sharing information and services with other individuals and groups having a common interest. Not only is networking a vital part of online marketing, it is probably the most important skill for ensuring a successful online business. If you are not networking, you have no chance of making or building business relationships. If your company has no relationships than obviously no one is caring about it.

So, what can be done to improve networking skills? Here are several helpful business networking tips and resources.

Create a website.

Hopefully you have done this already.

Develop an ezine.

This is the same as an email newsletter. You can send it out weekly, monthly or quarterly ? but you should be consistent.

Join affiliate programs.

Focus on developing a strong network of users willing to distribute your products and/or services.

Use pod and web casts.

These tools offer a great way to develop new relationships.

Create and distribute a press release.

Don't underestimate the power of sending out a press release. They can bring in many new contacts.

Survey your website visitors.

Create a brief form linked from your home-page for users to easily provide feedback.

Install blogs and forums at your website.

Encourage free ways visitors can discuss ideas, share information and collaborate.

Join business networking sites.

The following sites will help you locate new contacts. Pick and focus on 3-5 that are most ideal for your target market. LinkedIn.com, FastPitch.com, Ecademy.com, OthersOnline.com, Craigslist.com, SmallBizPod.com, MyBlogLog.com, Explode.org, Xing.com, GlobalBusinessMarketing.com, InsiderPages.com, MerchantCircle.com

Join a club.

It doesn't matter which one as long as you enjoy it.

A few things to remember while building your network:

GAIN KNOWLEDGE

It's all over the internet ? you simply need to absorb it. Read? read? and then read some more!

SHARE KNOWLEDGE

The more knowledge you have the more you can share. The more valuable information you can share the more positive relationships you will create. Strong relationships are the foundation to a powerful identity.

-be memorable and interesting

-be accurate and fair

-follow up with all of your contacts

-stay patient

-navigate and explore

GET INTERACTIVE!!!