The goal of business networking is to forge meaningful connections – the kind that lead to business growth, learning, long-term partnerships and increased sales. 

But the question is how and where to forge such connections? Here are practical tips to build meaningful business connections online.

1. Be genuinely interested in others

In his book ‘How To Win Friends and Influence People’, Dale Carnegie has observed, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

Genuine interest in other’s achievements, queries, articles and discussions builds greater connections and opens many more opportunities.

Practical Tip: After logging in to your GlobalLinker account, your homepage is where you land. This is a timeline of all the current activity on GlobalLinker – be it articles posted, upcoming events, discussion posts by fellow business owners, Message notifications etc. So next time a fellow entrepreneur posts an article or a business milestone, take the time to comment and congratulate your peer. 

Also, be active in responding and communicating with links in your network. Your links may post an event, share an endorsement, seek an introduction or send you a direct message. A prompt response to these builds trust.

2. Get others interested in you

The idea is to showcase your business in the best possible way and to make yourself interesting enough so that others seek you.

Practical Tips: There are 4 simple ways to generate interest about your business  on GlobalLinker.

• Update and complete your profile

A strong and complete business profile will help in the journey to landing more sales or deals. If someone searches for your business, you want to be found right away. Not only that, you want to dominate that first page results on Google  – and thus be easily found by potential customers, suppliers, partners and peers.

• List your products

Did you know, you can create your digital catalogue using the ‘Product & Service Catalogue’ option on your GlobalLinker profile for free? You can then post your created catalogue on the GlobalLinker ‘Listings’ page. This gives you a chance to showcase your catalogue to 400,000+ SMEs.

• Post discussions

Posting discussions on GlobalLinker is a great way for others to get to know about your area of expertise, products, services and opinions. Here is an article on how you can leverage posts to increase your visibility on GlobalLinker.

• Share quality content

For people to notice you and your business in the online world, you must establish yourself as an expert by posting quality content related to your industry. You can start by writing articles that offer tips, effective strategies, and other useful information. This will help build your online reputation as an industry expert who is generous enough to share quality content.

You can start writing on GlobalLinker through the Knowledge section where you can also read other business articles on a host of topics. To submit your article, click on ‘Knowledge’ and proceed to ‘Write an Article’.

3. Find relevant connections

Building connections is the lifeblood of networking.

Practical Tip: GlobalLinker is packed with powerful features to help you find meaningful connections. So take note!

Go to the GlobalLinker homepage, click on the ‘Connections’ icon and select 'Connections'.  You will be redirected to the ‘My Connections’ page. This is similar to your friends list on any of your social media handles – it shows the eBiz Cards of all the members you are connected with in an alphabetical order. Here you have the option to grow your network through the ‘Add Connections’ button. 'Recommended Connections' are also displayed here. You even have the option to ‘Invite other businesses’ onto the platform.

In the words of author Porter Gale – Your network is your net worth.

With more than 400,000 business owners to network with across 4 continents, 210 industries, GlobalLinker is the ideal platform to grow your online business network…meaningfully and easily.

Also read: How to network professionally online

To explore business opportunities, link with me by clicking on the 'Invite' button on my eBiz Card.  

Image source: Canva