Every start-up shares the same primary objective: Get lots of people to join my service/use my product. It’s always the same regardless of what industry you are in and the Entrepreneurs with the best networking skills are the ones who have the best ride. Networking is all about finding people who could be of help to you and reaching out to them. It’s really an art and if done early and effectively, your start-up might actually have a chance. Research shows that 80% of startups fail and shut shop within their first 6-12 months, as a new Entrepreneur you must find like minded people to interact with and learn from so your startup can perhaps be in that 20% that survives.

Networking for your start-up requires you as an Entrepreneur to be confident, vocal and able to relate with people. It’s about being able to convince people that you are good at what you do, that what you do is great and they should be interested in what you have to offer. Picking who to network with is a whole different subject and that depends on you and your business, but it’s important that you start networking early on and do it right. It raises awareness for your venture, it helps you build up a potential customer base, mentors and even potential investors.

Here are some idea on how you can network early and effectively

1.) Set up a temporary welcome page on the internet while building. Here’s an idea that alot of start-up have employed recently and it works like a charm. Instead on being offline and completely behind the scenes while building your start-up, how about letting people know about you during this time? how about giving people the gist behind your business and getting them excited about it? The trick is to set up your domain name, put up a page that welcomes people, tell them what you are building, when you will go live and offer an opt-in e-mailing list if they want to be updated with news about the startup. It will surprise you how many people sign-up, boosting your potential customer pool even before you launch.

2.) Go to the After parties of events you can’t afford. I watched a recent presentation by Kevin Rose at the FOWA ‘09 in London and this was one of the points he made that I could totally relate to. Kevin is a guy I completely respect, he’s very daring, does things people consider against the norm and it always works out for him. For those who don’t know him, Kevin is founder of Digg and wefollow. Like me, many young entrepreneur know that we should be interacting with the likes of Chris Sacca, Ashton Kutcher, Dave McClure, Ron Conway etc… but the only way we could get to reach and pitch these people is at start-up events or investor conferences. The problem is though, it could cost up to $5,000 to get in. Step up After party. They are cheaper, easier to get in (you can volunteer to help on the night) and are more relaxed. Just remember to have a demo of your startup handy. Visuals work better than words, ask Aaron Patzer.  After spending several hours per day for 6 months building Mint.com, he embarked on a networking campaign. He got turned down by virtually everyone until he pitched a partner at First Round Capital outside a Networking event in 2006.  “I had a server running on a laptop in the trunk of my car,” Patzer says. “He waited a couple of minutes. I ran out and got the laptop and fired up a demo.” The rest is history.

3.) Exploit the Social Media channels. With Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo and other social networks available these days, it’s easy to build a brand and build a following for it. Find people who can help you realize your start-up dreams and start connecting with them. Share information about your business, tell the world what’s new and what’s going on in your community. Follow/friend/interact with VCs, potential mentors, other entrepreneurs or anyone who indicates interest in your niche. In time, you will have a substantial network of people for your start-up. The means when you launch, you will lauch with lots of users versus no one if you are quiet during your building period.

4.) Foster relationships with Journalists and Media. Take the opportunity to build relationships with people that can put your start-up in the public eye. A lot of journalists and press people have blogs these days, are on twitter and it doesn’t harm to leave a comment here, retweet there and interact all over. By building a relationship with them you are improving your chances of getting a positive response when you ask for a favor. Take advantage of whatever you get; if you don’t shoot, you will not score.

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I am not a fan of always being around people 24 hours a day but I don’t shy away from saying hello to people I have never seen before. I will probably not volunteer to be an event’s M.C. but give me the microphone and I will get a message across. I have never been the most social person, infact until about two years ago I would wash all the dishes at TGI Fridays (the restaurant) on their busiest night  just to avoid addressing an audience of 15 strangers. I won’t say I was shy, I just didn’t have a thing for interacting with strangers just for the mere purpose of it. If there was a reason for me to do it and it was a necessity then I would summon the courage and get it over with.

In college I studied Chemical Engineering as my first major, it was never important for me to speak to anyone in any of my classes. In reality we were encouraged to work individually as much as we could, so I did. I never had to write papers that I would share with my classmates for whatever reason, I never had to get in a group to come up with a routine for a performace like my friend Elena who was a dance major. I was just required to do some integrals and differentiation when necessary to determine the viscosity of an unnamed fluid. My classwork description never asked me to go beyond understanding the concept of CSTRs and the reactions that took place in them until I hit my last year when everything changed! I had to team up with 4 other people who I had taken classes with for 3 years but never had a conversation with. I was asked to come up with a 15 minute presentation every other explaining how I will produce ethanol from wheat-straw and Algae, right from the milling process to the purification of the ethanol. I had to start interacting.

That year and the year that followed were very important in how I came into my own as an Entrepreneur. A weak Networker will probably end up a weak Entrepreneur and that’s never going to change. The more I started interacting with my classmates, the more I started gaining an appreciation for learning from other people. In time I learned how to ask others for help, how to seek advice and how to make ‘friends’ with people who will add value to my life.

Any way you choose to look at it, Networking is a vital part of not only Entrepreneurship, but life in general. There’s no way you will go far doing it all by yourself. Eventually other people’s help will be required. The other day I was reading the importance of networking and how to vital it is to running a business, the truth is that every business runs on the support of other people. If you are able to attain a ‘legend’ status in the art of networking, there’s no measure of how prosperous you could be as an entrepreneur. There will be times when you require other skill sets than what you posses…how do you start searching? There might be times when you are running dry on cash…where do you turn to for a lifeline? what of the time when you need to gain fans/customers in a different demographic?

These days I have become a fan of networking. I love chatting with people that can be of help to me or I can be of help to. The emergence of the likes of Twitter and Facebook have only added to my reach, but ultimately I love to do most of my networking ‘offline’. I never want to get to that point where I have no one to grab a beer with, watch the movie ‘Hangover’ with or just seek physical help from. My ‘wolfpack’ has grown immensely over the past two years both online and offline and it’s down to me realizing (very quickly) how important it is to my business.

Put yourself out there. Networking is about not being so self conscious. Most people won’t look at me, say no and walk away if I asked them for help with anything as long as it’s not an outrageous request. I was never good at writing code but I love everything about the internet and business, so I asked for help. I learned from people who were better than me and now I am quite comfortable with it. Just remember you will always need help, and the earlier you start building a network of helpful individuals in your niche, the better for you.

It’s an investment. Networking always pays off in the long run. If today I need a ticket to go see Liverpool play Manchester United, all I need to do is place a phone call that will probably last 20seconds, save the pleasantries. If I need a social networking website coded in a few days, I can place a phone call and have it done for barely any money. My point is this: over the months I’ve got to meet people in my niche who are good at what they do and I built a relationship with them. The networking I did months ago has put me in this position, so never view it as a burden to talk to people, email, tweet them e.t.c. whatever you have to do. Instead see it as an investment for the future.

Real relationships take time to blossom. Networking and relationship building is very similar to growing a plant. It requires you to nurture it, leave it to sit (but keep an eye on it) and keep it away from thorns. You can’t force people to be cool with you. If you are genuine, people often appreciate that and respect you even more. It never hurts to ask to video chat, have lunch or go to an event with someone you found interesting and believe will add value to you. I personally believe offline contact go a long way in strengthening a relationship and network. It’s very similar to dating, long distance, ‘over-facebook’ romance never really cuts it for most people does it? not for me atleast. Nurturing a new relationship/network is very important.

These days my favorite ways to network online include Twitter, Facebook, web logs, and stumble upon. I am a big social media person and believe it will affect start-ups immensely over the next few years without a doubt. I have met and had chats with many amazing people in my niche over twitter especially and can’t quantify how useful these connections have been. I am currently working on my new start-up and all the people on board are people I have connected with in the last 6 months…except for my main partner who I have known for 4 years now.

Networking is important!! Always remember to exchange business cards with absolutely anyone you think will be of help to you or that you can learn from. Keep a list of e-mails, phone numbers e.t.c. of these contacts and always remember to follow-up with them every now and then. You won’t regret it. I was once told that life is full of ups and downs and some people you see on your way up earlier might be people you will need on your way down.

As usual, I would love to hear your thoughts about Networking and building business relationships.