Discussion Lists: Another important area in your networking efforts. You should know where best two-way discussions are taking place and subscribe to a few. With discussion lists you'll be rubbing elbows with "Internet Elite." Not only can you learn a lot by actually contributing to these lists your comments will be posted live to thousands of eyeballs. Make sure you use a good signature line when posting.

This tactic will drive curious to your site and again, maybe a potential customer later on. Be ready to give sincere help and show you know your stuff. By doing so, you'll be establishing yourself as an expert in your field. You may even obtain some level of "Internet Notoriety" for yourself and you'll meet and make friends with many other experts along way.

Make sure you spend time reading posts and visiting any websites that may further your own Internet business. I honestly believe what you put out comes back to you threefold. So, if you help someone, eventually it will come back to you. When you help someone else you're also helping yourself. Again, join lists related to your field. Some of my favorites can be found at Adventive's site. http://www.adventive.com/join.html

Message Boards: If you've been working Web for any length of time you know what a message board (aka forum) is, and where best ones can be found. Again, make it a habit to post to a few every day with a good sig line. You'd be amazed at number of powerful people you can meet through a board. Make sure you share information, resources, and answer others' questions when you can.

Before long you'll be known as a helpful reliable resource who knows what they're talking about. If you do a search you'll find thousands of boards on which to post. It's up to you to decide which ones are worth your time.

Some of my personal favorites are:

http://www.ablake.net/forum/ http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

You'll find a nice list here http://www.entrepreneur-web.com/index_1.shtml

As you can see networking online means getting involved and getting your name out there every chance you get. Don't be afraid to participate. By utilizing these three networking tools it won't be long before others turn to you for advice and guidance, and who knows, you too may wind up becoming one of "Internet Elite."

3. Submit Articles To Other Newsletters

You are already publishing your own newsletter; right? Why not write an extra article and submit it to other newsletters with same topic as your own? Most will include a link to your site in their newsletter (another path). Many will also publish your article on their site along with a link to your site (yet another path).

4. Participate in Online Discussion Forums

Join all of online discussion forums, newsgroups, and mailing lists you can find in your topic area. Never discuss your product/service on discussion forum. This is considered very bad taste in many forums and outright spam in other forums. However, if you participate in these forums by answering questions and being genuinely helpful, you will be noticed.

Include a link to your site in your signature so that those who like your advice can drop by for a visit. The simple link in your signature becomes a new path to your site every time you help someonw by answering a question.

5. Syndicate Free Content

When you are building content for your site, always offer it for use on other sites. Simply include a note at bottom of your page saying that webmasters are welcome to copy anything in return for a link to your site.

This might include articles, pictures, scripts, etc. Encourage others to copy your site as long as they provide another path to your site.

Be sure to do a little of each of these methods every week and your site will soon be among most visited sites in your topic area.

Someone once said "If you build it, they will come." I believe that statement to be true. But you can't just build best website in world and expect everyone to visit tomorrow. You also have to build paths to get to that website.

If you build those paths, they will come!