Networking For Fun and Business

I discovered the power of networking my business in 2003, a friend introduced me to Ryze, which is a networking website.

At first, I was so busy I did not join right away, but as soon as I did, I could not believe the increase in traffic and sales that I got from simply networking my business, and it was FREE to do!  I was amazed at how many people I met and just how fun networking can be.

Since I own a work at home resource site, I quickly became a paying member on Ryze and upgraded to a gold membership to get my own networking group so I could share this networking experience with my visitors. 

What is networking?   A fun way to meet others that have similar interests as you, to grow your business, make contacts, gain business leads and much more.

How do you network?  It's easy, networking is a lot like making friends.  You join a group, introduce yourself and your business, participate in discussions, and promote your site during ad days, and it's important to always use a signature line in your posts that include your name and business.  Even if your just replying to a simple post about family issues, your sig line should include your business link, this reminds people of who you are and what your business is. 

Networking can involve many things, like just promoting your site to get traffic and sales, or you can network to barter for items.  For instance, holiday time is a great example.  Mom's who love networking usually love to barter too and during Christmas time there is nothing better!  Say I make cashmere scarves and you make your own bath and body products, we might contact each other and do a 'swap' of products with each other.   Usually bartering consists of same value of items.  For instance, my cashmere scarves might cost $25, so you would give me $25 of shopping value on your site for me to pick out some bath and body products.  Since we both have to ship, we do not add that into the barter, but if your bartering with someone who is doing you an online service (like bartering for ad space, or banner design) and you have a product, make sure you get a little extra value for your barter since you have to ship your items and the other person does not.

Where Can I Network At?  I started at Ryze and I am still there today. You can also network on message boards too.  Just visit your favorite site to se if they have a message board, and start participating.

I now have over 1,000+ mom members on my WAHM Network, which is a networking group on Ryze that is just for moms!   Moms that want to be a work at home mom, or mom's that already are.

This group is awesome, and we have AD days 3 times a week as well, for you to promote your business.  Other days consist of fun polls, discussions about working from home, family issues and more.  

If you are interested in meeting some great moms, increasing your site traffic and getting more sales through the power of networking, I invite you to join me at my network on ryze at http://wahm-network.ryze.com/

There is also tons of more great networking groups on ryze you can join, so check those out too.

Article Written By, Christina L. who is a work at home mom with 3 kids and the owner of www.mommyclassifieds.com 

Site/Newsletter Owners:  Feel free to use my article on networking above in your newsletters or on your website.  We only ask you keep our author info at the bottom intact, with our link to our mommyclassifieds.com website.