It seems like everything revolves around technology these days. Cell phones, email, texting, blogs, etc… but I want to make sure that you remember an old form of networking that is still thriving. The bottom line is that nothing beats meeting a person face to face and networking one on one. This is still one of the most effective way of building business relationships with honesty, integrity and accountability. There are many networking groups all over the country that give business owners an opportunity to get to know other local business owners one on one in real time in person. It may take an hour a week, often before the regular work day starts or over lunch, but the effectiveness of this type of networking can really be a great boost to growing your business. Many of these networking groups are free or charge a very small and reasonable fee to be a member. Members are encouraged to do business with each other and provide referrals. Over time as members get to know one another strong business relationships are created and the referrals start to flow on a regular basis. In our great world of technology, I am glad to see that these groups are very active. Business in your local area is probably still able to be done on a handshake basis. To find a networking group in your local area, try searching the web for networking groups in your city or check out www.meetup.com and you can do a search there.