How To Build an Online Business Part 3

By Terri Seymour
Posted Friday, August 27, 2004

In Part 3 of this series, I would like to discuss online networking as a way of building your business.

Networking is when you come in contact with as many people you can to learn, share, promote, and form relationships with prospective customers. You want to talk about your business, but not blatantly advertise. Get to know others, learn from them, let them learn from you and get to know you.

There are many benefits to online networking such as:

Meeting new people/making new contacts
Learning through other people's experiences/knowledge
Making friends
Building your reputation
Increasing your confidence

All this and more can be done through sincere networking through discussion groups, email, message boards, etc. By sincere, I mean you really get make an effort to get involved, answer questions when you can, help others as often as possible, become a part of the group, not just a lurker waiting to get in some free advertising.

You can also do a lot of networking through your own email People will email you with questions, concerns, suggestions and ideas. Answer all emails as quickly and efficiently as possible always being courteous and respectful. This is a great way of building your networking list and very possibly picking up customers.

When visiting message boards and email discussion groups, remember these guidelines.

1. Do not spam! A lot of forums do not allow blatant advertising, but do allow sigtags. Make sure you read all rules carefully before posting. There are groups that allow advertising of any kind, however these are not very useful as far as networking or learning anything of value.

2. Do not flame! Forums are a means for people to express different opinions and ideas. You should never insult anybody because they do not agree with your point of view. This is one way for you to lose all credibility for your business and your reputation.

3. Do participate in the discussions! You definitely want to get involved in the discussions and make yourself known. Answer questions whenever possible and give advice. People will come to respect you as an expert in your field and trust what you say.

4. Do treat others with respect! Always give others on the boards the same treatment and respect you would want them to give you. No matter how much or how little someone knows, they still deserve the same respect as others. Always remember, you started out not knowing much either.

5. Do build relationships! I have "met" so many wonderful people since starting on the Internet! It is a great way to build personal and business relationships. So go to the boards/groups, start a conversation and just have some fun, while building your business!

Message Boards
(http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb/index.php)
(http://homebizlink.com/wwwboard/)
(http://www.internet-marketing-forum.com/forum/index.php)
(http://www.im4newbies.com/forum/index.php)
(http://selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/)

Email Discussion Groups
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/myfavoriteezines/)
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ideasbypost/)
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WahmHits/)
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CommonConnection/)
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital-women/)

So start networking and have some fun!

About the Author
Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com Learn to publish and promote your own ezine. mailto:myownezine@subto.us
FR'EE Program to help you get subscribers. (http://myownezine.subto.us) Fr'ee MOE Ezine Publishing E'course mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com