All entrepreneurs must network to succeed. It is essential for corporate growth. Building relationships with people in the industry—suppliers, distributors, mentors, or anybody else—benefits a firm. Having contacts is usually advantageous since they are helpful in a variety of situations.

If you ask someone how they became successful, you will quickly realise that many have connections. However, it is unlikely that they were born with these ties. They were instead developed through effective professional networking or by enrolling in an entrepreneurship education curriculum. Here are five ways to expand your network as an entrepreneur.

5 Ways To Expand Your Network As An Entrepreneur

• Maintain an active social media presence

Social media is viewed as a sea of networking opportunities today. Websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others, have made it possible to locate the right entrepreneurs and connect with them quickly to grow your brand. There are more than 3.58 billion internet users globally, and these portals have made it easy to communicate with everyone. Distance is no longer a barrier to communication.

• Attend seminars and events

Occasionally, seminars and events are held at entrepreneur resorts to address a particular subject in a specific business. Therefore, if you are serious about expanding your business network, conferences are the perfect place to meet well-known figures within your domain.

Being active on social media is highly important. It is a prominent way to nurture relationships with public relations firms and media personnel or discover when and where these conferences are held. In addition to creating connections, rely on these events to take advice. Learn from the expertise of professionals in the field.

• Understand that business opportunities can present themselves anywhere at any time.

Opportunities to a network might come up at any time. It could happen when using public transit, in the mall, or even when meeting an acquaintance at a gathering. A straightforward approach to networking and promoting your brand daily is to carry business cards. When appropriate, enquire about other people's business cards as well. In this manner, you may follow up after a critical contact, maintain the dialogue, and even forge a better friendship.

• Contact venture capitalists (VCs)

Reaching out to VCs can help you in networking as well. These experts aid an entrepreneur in developing relationships inside the sector and assist them in obtaining finance. They are the finest networking source since they have connections to business people in many sectors. However, working with the right venture capitalist for your brand is the main challenge here.

• Nurture your business relationships

Networking is more than introducing yourself to other business people and moving on.
A long relationship is only sometimes guaranteed by first contact. Spend time and effort maintaining and strengthening a connection that you want to keep.
Here are a few ways you can nurture and improve your business relationships. Do note that while these things might seem small, they do have a tremendous impact in the long run:

• Using email, text messages, or phone calls to inquire how they are doing.
• Recurring coffee or lunch meetings once in a while
• Wishing them on the holidays or special occasions in their lives
• Participating in events they are hosting and inviting them to yours.
• Send them information on opportunities that you believe are of interest.
• As questions come to mind, ask them.

Do's and don'ts to expand your network as an entrepreneur

Do's
Ask your current business contacts to introduce you to others. Start by approaching those you know who are familiar with your work and would be willing to refer others to you. It is not always the initial introduction that pays off.

Participate in entrepreneur programmes at your neighbourhood university as a volunteer. All institutions value and require assistance from individuals from the "real world" for mentorship programmes. In exchange, numerous people assisting you will be introduced to or linked to you.

Don'ts
Avoid contacting potential investors over the phone or by email with a mass email containing your résumé and business plan.
At a social event, avoid cornering a renowned person you have heard of and bombarding them with your life story.
Do not send your preliminary business plan to every VC or investment organisation you can find online without permission. Instead, first, enquire if they would like to hear your idea.

Conclusion
Hustling as an entrepreneur might initially be tough. However, by creating a positive image towards your brand and going the right way, you can eventually gather the correct type of limelight your brand needs. Once that happens, your business will have picked up.