Business networking in New Zealand is nothing new. What's new though, is the way in which business owners are networking with one another. We're going to explain both the traditional and online ways of business networking in NZ, plus share some great online networking tools you can use to grow the visibility of your business.

Traditional Business Networking in NZ

Like everyone else before the introduction of social networking, if you wanted to meet other owners, your only option was to meet up in person at a networking event. These were events at a set time, place and even a schedule of what will happen during the meeting. Face to face networking let you:

• meet and chat with other business owners in person
• sit down with owners over a meal or coffee
• have a planned agenda from the organiser before you arrived
• let you swap business cards, flyers and other physical documents

The issues with traditional networking though were:

• many people felt awkward or shy about discussing their business
• you often had to pay money to belong to the network group and for the meal, event fees and travel to get there
• it was time consuming and only occurred on set days at set times
• often it was a 'old boys club' with new entrepreneurs, small business owners and female feeling intimidated

Online Business Networking in New Zealand

With the development of technology, we've moved from predominatly face to face networking to social networking online. This offers you the opportunities to:

• join in as and when you can
• interact with a wider variety of business owners
• share advice on what has worked for you with others
• seek help from others without having to wait for a meeting date
• develop your online visibility
• build your confidence in engaging with other likeminded business owners
• get you a larger range of referrals and leads
• receive free marketing opportunities

Online networking is also free. While there are paid groups out there, you need to consider if it is worth the cost for what they are offering. One of the best social networks is the Facebook group of Business Networking NZ. It's free and you are also able to add your business to the directory, giving you the bonus of links to your website. Come over and join our online NZ networking group today!