How much has your social network grown this week? How much has your online network grown this week? How much has your business grown this week? It appears that your business growth has a direct relationship with your network growth; the bigger your network, the more successful your business becomes.

It’s no surprise therefore that business networking is fast becoming one of the “hot topics” of the online business world. Indeed, top US marketer Ted Nicholas made the point in a recent podcast that the most successful Internet marketers have achieved their results because they built extensive online and offline networks of people who could help them in their business.

Social networking is clearly therefore an important activity for anyone trying to establish or grow their business. Online there are networks such as MySpace or Ecademy, but a relative newcomer is Fastpitch. This takes a slightly different approach; it allows you to connect with people, like all the others, but it also publishes your blog entries, your press releases and your events details. As such it is a great way of rapidly delivering your latest news to your network – and to the wider world since Google appears to like it…!

Networking and building relationships are so important online that it is probably worthwhile timetabling a slot each week to devote specifically to such activities. With more of us spending more of your business time online, rather than in face to face situations, developing a web-based network is no an essential component of any business.