Networking is an essential skill for most business people, but especially for entrepreneurs. The strong association between the entrepreneur as a person and his or her business demands that entrepreneurs get out into the world and create and maintain business relationships. Here are some tips and resources to help you improve your networking skills and extend your reach.

The success of customer communities has shown that business relationships can be created and developed on the Web, and online dating has shown that deep personal relationships can be, as well. Online business networking, connecting and creating opportunities on the Web, is the next logical step.

Business networking serves many purposes: sales, general marketing, recruiting, job-hunting, knowledge exchange, and business development (in the sense of strategic alliances, joint ventures and channel sales). Of all these, business development is the one that it supports best. In fact, business development and business networking are closely related. Online networking sites offer unprecedented ways for entrepreneurs to identify and connect with potential partners.

Online networks are the new power lunch tables and the new golf courses for business life in the U.S. In the past ten years, online dating has become mainstream; 40 million Americans use online dating sites. Now, businesspeople are starting to use the same family of technology to find business clients, new partners, and jobs, through virtual contacts they make online.