If you are running a small business, you know how important it is to have a thriving network. It is common knowledge that people prefer to do business dealings with people whom they know and trust than dealing with strangers. Successful businesses today hinge on starting and building trusted relationships, which when leveraged can lead you to new business prospects, resulting in revenue growth for your business. It is important to continuously meet people, nurture these relationships, and grow them. If done right, a large chunk of new business growth can come from your thriving business network.

How to build a business network
Business networks act as a low-cost marketing tactic for hunting new sales opportunities, based on referrals, inductions, old contacts, and acquaintances. You could choose to cultivate this network by meeting them face-to-face, connecting with them using the phone or email, or using social networking sites to contact them. It is imperative for entrepreneurs who are looking to build an effective business network to invest in business phone Internet bundles. This ensures that you have a single business phone plans service and Internet provider, resulting in less trouble for you as you have to coordinate with a single vendor for customer support, installation, and the like.

Communication is the key to successful networking. Be it a phone conversation, a text message, or an email, communication has the power to change a mere connection in your network to a mutually beneficial business relationship. A good business phone Internet bundle provider can be a boon here as it can streamline the entire process for you. If you run a search online, you will find multiple vendors offering attractive rates and the best business phone broadband deals. Many of them offer 24×7 customer service and access to a portal, which allows you to get easy access to your email and apps. You can also save on money with a business phone Internet bundle as the costs are comparatively lower than what you would have to pay if you took up phone and Internet as separate services.

Being social can help expand your business network to like-minded individuals. Understand mediums like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, figure out how they work, and then leverage them to your advantage.

Further tips for networking
Help others whenever possible. Share your ideas and impart your knowledge/expertise. Remember that business transactions are usually mutually valuable. When you help others out, there is automatic goodwill in your network about you. This also helps strengthen your network. The stronger the others in your network get, the stronger your overall network gets.

Build a reputation for yourself in your network. Be seen as someone who delivers what is promised, as someone who is persistent. People normally tend to establish business relationships with people who they see as someone who can add value to them. It is important to constantly update your network about what you are doing and what you have accomplished. You can do this via blogging, sending out emailers, having phone conversations, and the like.

Relationships are not built overnight. Once you start networking, the longer the relationships are nurtured for, the more valuable they become. Remember that relationships actually bring in business for you. You could start off with networking by exchanging contacts via LinkedIn. However, networking can only give you results when you follow up. Following up periodically with contacts helps you to build trust and is the key to building long-lasting, healthy, and mutually beneficial relationships.