With everyone cutting back costs in networking is, now more than ever, one of the best and most cost effective ways to market your business and keep your name in front of your prospects and clients.

This has always been one of my favorite ways to market any business while keeping costs down. It not only gets you out there but also builds relationships faster than any other advertising or marketing you can do.

Here's some of the benefits of using networking to promote your business:

1. It's usually the most cost effective way to get out there. Some networking events are free. Even the higher prices "Leads Groups" like BNI or Le Tip are only a few hundred dollars per year to be part of. Compare that to a newspaper ad at a few hundred dollars per month. If you are just starting out or money is a little tight, this is the best bang you can get for your buck.

2. You're in front of your prospects at least once every month. Many networking groups meet once a week. The more you are in front of prospective clients, the more likely they will be to use you instead of picking up a "yellow book" and looking for someone they don't even know.

3. You build better relationships. People but from people they know, like and trust. When you are part of a networking or leads group, you build better relationships than you ever could from an ad in the local newspaper. They know you and the longer you are there, the more likely they will feel trust for you and know you are the right person for the job. Also, they may not need you today but next month when they do, they won't even bother trying to shop around for the best price. They will just call you.

4. You build a mini sales force for your business. How would you like to have 3 people out there marketing your business's services? Part of being in a networking group is the referrals. As you build these relationships, the other members are also looking for people that need your services too. There isn't a better pre-sale than when someone says, "you need a good auto mechanic? I know this guy and he's just great!"

5. And last, the most underrated and mentioned reason Networking groups are great to market your business... They have a built in Mastermind group. If you are looking for other marketing ideas or help with your marketing plan, you have a group of other like minded business owners or managers that are all there to help each other. This can sometimes be worth much more than the referrals can be depending on the people in the group. You may get your million dollar marketing idea just from feedback others in your networking group can give you

So, get started with networking right away. It's on the easiest ways to help your small business grow by leaps and bounds if you network it right. Pick up a local Business Journal at your local bookstore. Call you local Chamber of Commerce and ask them about networking groups.

Get involved and remember, you'll get back what you put in to it. If you are involved and focus on building the relationships, you'll see your returns back very quickly!