You’ve all heard of networking right? Most people don’t ever use it to its full potential. One of the most common reasons is that it’s just one more thing you have to do in your busy day so it goes into the too hard basket, right!

I know I used to do this. With traditional networking, you stand in a room full of complete strangers pretending to have a good time. You go to events, either listen to a speaker, hand out business cards, grab a coffee, or wine (depending on the time of the day!!) and walk around and introduce yourself, all in the hope that you will connect with the right people.

Yes, networking can be a nightmare. It can also be a great thing if you get the right environment for you. But how does this fit into sites like Business Women Unite and why bother, you may be asking yourself? Well let me tell you.

Networking is all about building relationships but believe it or not, most business women find it much easier to build a relationship with someone online than in person - look at all the internet relationships that take place.

But the social networking thing is a lot different than anything you have ever done before but you decide to give it a go. So you join up, after all it was free so why not. You completed your profile page and then you start meeting other women in business, commenting on the forum, getting some expert help for your business, right. Well only if you are one of the business women in the know.

I have to say that some people just fill in their profile page and are never seen again. Why, I am not sure but I have put it down to two things. Either you don’t know what to do next or you think that just by completing your profile page you will generate more business. I am going to be honest with you if you are the latter one of these you are not going to get very far.

First of all I am going to tell you why you should bother and then I am going to tell you what you should do next.

Well since launching Business Women Unite we have been averaging 100 sign ups a week, which pretty good going in my book. Do you think it will continue and expedite, of course it will so wouldn’t you be crazy not to take advantage of it. This is free traffic, if someone was giving me free traffic I would definitely take it. It would mean that I could promote my business to thousands to visitors which could generate more sales for my business. And yet I see people on the site who are not taking advantage of the traffic coming to the site.

Did you know that every piece of content you enter and every post you make are indexed? You see Business Women Unite is open to search engines, so everything is picked up. Use some good keywords and guess what, you will target your potential customers as well.

So if you haven’t already done so now is the time to complete your profile page - upload your profile picture, add your website address (remember to exclude the http://) and put some information about yourself. Introduce yourself on the forum and maybe ask a couple of questions that you need help with – don’t be shy the women are very friendly and willing to help and share. You will soon pick up lots of new friends this way!

If you need some expert help get some from our team of experts who can give you advice on how to increase your sales and profits, how to drive more traffic to your website and how to have a better lifestyle plus much more.

You can expand your business by connecting and doing business with people from all over the world. I have already seen many great alliances formed on Business Women Unite which have helped members to develop their businesses and make more money.

I have been where you are but I can tell you this is an amazing opportunity and one of the quickest and easiest ways of growing your business – why spend countless hours searching for new clients when you can connect with them all in one place at Business Women Unite.

Here are a few things you can do on Business Women Unite right now:

Make New Friends

You may find yourself bombarded with friend requests from others. Take these seriously as these people then have the opportunity to contact you at any time via Business Women Unite. Although the site is for networking, sometimes businesses clash, or don’t have anything in common. The same applies for online networking. Approve your friend requests only if you feel that you want to contact this person, or be invited into their personal network.

Invite your Friends

Everyone has friends and associates that they meet somewhere or other so invite them to join you on the site. That way, you can get even more friends to chat with!

Keeping your Friends Informed

You can create your very own Bulletins. Used only amongst you and your friends, it allows you to send bulletins to your friends about what you have to offer. Use it wisely, as if you continue to spam your friends with offers, you will soon find that you are loner!!! Choose to post a bulletin or read those that have been sent to you from your friends. Some good uses are for special offers, or introducing new services etc.

Promote your business

We have created a new section on the forum, the bullet board where you can actively promote your business in one place.

Fancy a Chat

If you are feeling a little lonely at your office by yourself, or have a few spare moments and want to chat, then the ‘Live Chat’ area is just what you need. You will find the link at the very top of your screen after you log in. Once in the Live Chat arena you will find a drop down box with various rooms to choose from. At present, we have only two rooms however we will be adding more shortly.

Beside this live chat button you will also find the instant messenger link. If you’ve ever used MSN Messenger or Yahoo chat, you will know how it works. If you’ve not yet found how useful instant messenger can be, then hang on!! Simply find someone you want to chat with (from your friends only) and then start up an instant messenger conversation. Only you two can see it, and you can get instant messages from one to the other – kind of like a very quick email session!

Groups

For those who really want to turbo charge their business, ‘groups’ are for you. Currently open to everyone for free for a limited time, the groups are a place to get together with your own private forums to get one on one advice and knowledge from the groups experts. Think of it like a mini community. This is the place to find your business mentors and to learn from others.

Check out the Frequently Asked Question section for more information.

There are many more things you can do on the Business Women Unite site, so what are you waiting for. Start today!

Alison Basson

Business Women Unite

www.businesswomenunite.net