It’s that time when many of us are making resolutions for the coming year.  Whether it’s a resolution to change, start, or stop, usually the goal is to become a better person.  New Year’s symbolism of a fresh start is perfect for this type of personal reflection.

As an entrepreneur, you may have made some business resolutions also.  While you are working hard every day to grow your endeavor, the new year is a time when many of you take the time to step back, take stock of the year that just ended, celebrate your successes and put your setbacks in perspective, and make some bold business resolutions for the coming year. 

One of the resolutions many are making is to network more.  Wikipedia defines Business Networking as:

“…a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through social networks of like-minded business people. There are several prominent business networking organizations that create models of networking activity that, when followed, allow the business person to build new business relationship and generate business opportunities at the same time.

Many business people contend business networking is a more cost-effective method of generating new business than advertising or public relations efforts. This is because business networking is a low-cost activity that involves more personal commitment than company money.”

There are certainly many options for business networking, and I’m sure you are taking advantage of some of them already.  With the time demands of being an entrepreneur or successful business executive, many people are turning to the social and business networking tools available on the web.   These tools make it much easier to connect with people you know and trust in a variety of ways, on your own time.   With a bit more effort they can also be used to reach out and connect with people you don’t know yet. 

The following is a list of some of the most popular online social networking sites and what they are mainly used for.  

• LindedIn - Business networking
• StumbleUpon - Web site sharing
• Flikr - Photo sharing
• Slideshare - Slide presentation sharing
• delicious - Bookmark sharing
• Facebook - Social networking
• Twitter- Micro blogging
• YouTube, Brightcove - Video sharing
• Digg - News sharing

If appropriate for your business, you may also consider starting a blog.   With free blogging tools available on the web, all that is required to start a blog is your time and commitment.  Blogging isn’t a fit for everybody nor every business, but when used effectively, it can be a very effective means to shine a spotlight on you or your business.  For an introduction to blogging, read this Business Week article.  It’s a big dated, but still a great introduction to what blogging is all about and the business case for using it to your advantage.

Want a couple examples of how to use blogging effectively?  Check out Anita Campbell’s blog Small Business Trends.  Anita writes regularly on topics and resources that are of value to small business owners and entrepreneurs.  She also has several well-known guest columnists that post frequently.  If you’re wondering how effective blogs can be, consider that Anita’s blog has over 100,000 subscribers and is the #1 search result on Google for “small business trends”. 

Another example is the blog Business Networking Advice.  This blog is a combination of interviews with successful business owners, and value-added commentary, all on the topic of business networking.  For an example of how to use a blog to establish yourself as an expert, this is a good example (and you might just learn something too).

So here’s wishing you a prosperous and successful 2008.  If you made a resolution to network better, we hope this article was of value to you.  If you haven’t subscribed to our blog yet, our “Connect With Us” page tells you everything you need to know to subscribe to our RSS feed or get an E-Mail whenever we post new information. 

We’d love to hear back from you too.  If you’ve made some business resolutions for 2008, click the comment link at the end of the post and share your resolutions with us and the other NEOinc readers.