Nurture a habit to network on a consistent, repetitious basis. You'll want people to become familiar with your face and recognize your presence at each gathering. Because many people seem passive at gatherings, try to make an effort to become active. Strike up conversations with people; pretend you're interested in what they're saying, even if you're not. Be a good, active listener.

Remember: conversations are crux of effective networking. Simple one-on-one chatter allows prospect to uncover more about you, and you're able to find out more about him, his hidden needs, and his hidden problems.

Networking should not be used for personal gain. You should not blatantly promote yourself to people, otherwise they'll begin to ignore you. Instead, strike up conversations with people and subtly sell yourself. When people begin to take an interest in you as a person, then they'll begin to take an interest as to how you can help them.

What You Need to Network Effectively Business cards are often synonymous with networking: don't leave home without them. Pass your business cards out to any person who seems interested in your services. Business cards give prospects contact information and they keep your name and business fresh in their minds. If prospects are not interested in outsourcing work to you now, they'll at least have your business card on file to contact you in future.

Networking Essentials • Always bring your business cards. Hand them out to anyone who might be interested in your services.

• Instead of being listener, become speaker. Prepare a presentation related to your expertise and specialty in your field for a future meeting. Prospects will be impressed with your knowledge and skills and they’ll want to hire you for their next project.

• Offer a free report to organization's members. Your free report should relate to your specialty that offers professional advice. Again, prospects who'll read your free report will find you informative and insightful and will think about hiring you for their next project. See if you can get your free report mentioned in organization's newsletter.

• Distribute promotional and informational material. If you know that a certain meeting or workshop is related to your specialty, ask speaker if he/she would like to distribute some of your free information to audience at end. This may include a free report, or an article that you've written, or your own business newsletter that contains useful tips and advice.

What's smart and profitable thing to do? Create a campaign and be persistent with it. Strategically search out and place multiple ad runs with same ezines. (I use ezine advertising as my example, but same applies to offline ads, banner ads, joint venture projects, affiliate campaigns, etc.) Yes, it costs more, but consider this... would you rather continue wasting money on small one-shot ads that never produce, or save your funds and run 3 sub sponsor or top sponsor ads that bring in sales? I think answer is obvious.

People can't buy from you if they can't find you. Advertising (in one form or another) is a must.

Run a few ads on a trial basis. Ask for recommendations from business associates and select some new ezines to purchase ad space from. Change your headline or your copy to see if one pulls better than other.

It is only by trial and error that we learn and progress. Why? Because what works for one company, may not work for you. What works "so-so" for one company might work better for you! But in order to find out where your customers are and reach them, you have to stick your neck out once in awhile.

Will you make some mistakes along way? Yes. Will you "lose" a little money on advertising? Probably. Will you discover a new and successful way of advertising that brings in stronger results? Almost definitely!

Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com