How To Network Online Like a Pro: 15 Networking Tips for 2025

Much of entrepreneurship is self-driven. The attraction of being your own boss, making your own decisions, and acting on your own ideas are all common motivating factors behind starting and running a business.

But whether we like to admit it or not, there is a ceiling to what we can accomplish on our own. That’s where networking becomes a crucial tool for taking your business to the next level. When you learn how to network online and in person, you and your network create more chances to collaborate and grow—together and individually.

No matter what field you work in—whether you’re an entrepreneur, a student, a freelancer, or a full-time employee—knowing how to network effectively can improve your business, as well as your professional and personal relationships.

What is networking?

Networking is the act of establishing meaningful relationships with people to help you further your own career or pursue a venture by collaborating with others.

Contrary to common assumptions, networking isn’t only for extroverts. It also doesn’t have to be completely selfish or feel fake. Networking is for all—and between a variety of online and offline options, it’s now much easier to build your network in an increasingly connected world.

Why is networking important?

Networking has always been important in business, but it’s even more critical now. Especially in highly saturated markets, the benefits of networking can give you a competitive edge. 

Networking enables you to:

• Find job opportunities, qualified hires, or new vendors
• Make contacts for co-marketing opportunities with other brands 
• Pursue learning opportunities through mentorship and mastermind groups, where you can get advice from others with hard-won experience 
• Get into the habit of building professional relationships over the course of your career
• Cultivate new friendships with like-minded people, as well as with people who offer a useful, different perspective from your own
• Stay informed about the latest trends in your industry
  
  

How to network online effectively in 2025

In today’s digital-first world, practicing how to network online is critical for professional growth in any field. Online networking removes geographical limitations, allowing you to connect with industry leaders and potential partners anywhere in the world.

Creating your digital networking strategy

Before diving into online networking platforms, develop the basics of a clear networking strategy that works for your unique goals and needs:

1. Define your networking goals. What types of connections are you looking for, and what benefits are you hoping to get from nurturing those connections? For example, are you looking for mentors, clients, partnerships, or job opportunities?
2. Identify your target audience. Which professionals or communities align with your goals? Are they unique to a specific industry, business stage, or type of expertise? 
3. Choose the right platforms. Focus your efforts on the online networking platforms where your target audience spends the majority of their time. There’s no need to be on every platform if your most qualified leads are concentrated on only one or two of them. 
4. Plan your networking calendar. Allocate specific times in your schedule to authentically engage with content, reach out to form new connections, and follow up with existing contacts.

Building an effective online presence

Once you’ve identified and planned out those networking basics, it’s time to polish how you show up online. Your online presence is your digital first impression, so it’s important to be prepared with it before you start networking online. 

Here are some tips on how to optimize your online presence: 

• Make sure you have a professional headshot, a consistent bio across platforms, and an updated portfolio or professional website.
• Craft a compelling narrative that clearly communicates who you are and what value you bring to your field and community.
• Use consistent branding elements across all platforms to build recognition of your personal brand or business. This includes visual branding like a color palette, typeface, and aesthetic in your digital assets that gives the same vibe no matter which platform people encounter you on.
• Share relevant content regularly to demonstrate expertise and stay visible. People are more likely to engage with someone who seems active online, rather than with someone whose profiles are mostly lying dormant.

How to network: 15 effective networking tips

Now you know the basics and importance of networking, here are some more in-depth networking tips to guide your approach.

1. Make a plan before networking

Do some research on who you want to connect with—even if you don’t have specific names of people, you can build a profile for the types of connections you want to make. For example, maybe you want to network with boutique store owners who could potentially be wholesale suppliers for your jewelry line.

Be strategic about the nature of your networking. Always consider your audience before attending an event or pursuing valuable connections. If you’d like to meet Instagram influencers, for example, you might want to attend an InstaMeet near you.

Workshops and talks are also great for networking, because they usually have a meet-and-greet component. Not only do you learn something, but you’ll have a better idea of the people who will be there, since the audience for these events is usually more targeted. Plus, many workshops these days are offered both online and offline, which gives you more options for how to attend. 

2. Find ways to be useful to others

When you’re networking, it’s important to remember that self-interest is the basis of many decisions and relationships. Always ask yourself, What can I offer the people I’m trying to connect with? Networking shouldn’t be a one-way street—it’s most effective when you’re both able to help each other, even if it’s not at the same time. 

In fact, reciprocity is one of the principles of persuasion highlighted in psychologist Robert Cialdini’s book Influence. He points out that people have a tendency to want to repay or give back to those who give to them.

📚Learn more: 6 Marketing Psychology Strategies to Boost Ecommerce Sales

Taking someone out for a cup of coffee, for example, is a simple offer that can help you earn a face-to-face interaction. Offering a blogger a free sample when you reach out to them is more likely to lead to a review.

If you really want to create a connection with someone, especially if they can do more for you than you can for them, be accommodating and aware of the value of their time.

3. Be yourself

It’s important to be authentic in not just your personal life but also in business. People are emotional decision-makers, and even business networking is founded upon personal relationships. Be true to yourself and allow others to connect with that.

4. Remember people’s names (and use them)

Do your best to remember people’s names when you meet them. Write names down on a piece of paper or in your phone, repeat it back to them, say it over in your head—whatever it takes to retain that information.

Consider staying organized by storing their data in a customer relationship management (CRM) tool like Streak or Dex. In CRM tools, you can often make notes about how you met or know a person, as well as any other necessary information that will help you keep straight who’s who.

5. Take time to make meaningful connections

Think about the personal relationships you already have in your life—how long did it take to build those connections? What did you each do to nurture trust and interpersonal care? In many ways, building your professional network is no different. Connections don’t happen overnight, and you won’t see results immediately. It’s important to remember that it takes time for your efforts to pay off. Be patient and stick with it.

6. Start from your inner circle—and work outward

One of the more approachable ways to start networking is to connect with the people you already know. Maybe it’s a former manager or colleague you lost touch with, or a friend of a friend who works in the same industry. You’d be surprised at how many connections you already have within reach. If you’re not sure where to begin, it can help to browse through your LinkedIn connections, and reach out there. 

7. Take advantage of social media

They wouldn’t be known as social networks if they weren’t good for networking. And unlike email, it’s much easier to get in touch with people via social media.

Your social networking strategy can essentially be broken down into two approaches:

• Inbound: When people find you because they are intentionally searching for you or someone like you, or stumble upon you because of your public activity online.
• Outbound: When you reach out to other people online with a public post or direct messaging.

The best networking approach fuses both inbound and outbound networking. Later in this article, we’ll explore two of the best social platforms for networking: LinkedIn and X

8. Network with a range of people

A diverse professional network leads to new opportunities, so pursue chances to network with all kinds of people. You might network with potential customers, employees, collaborators, or even business partners. All you need is one commonality to open the door to opportunity.

9. Prepare your elevator pitch

Think about what makes you interesting and different and craft it into an elevator pitch to keep in your back pocket for when you need to introduce yourself.

Everyone has a story that makes them unique. If you’re stuck on where to start, here’s a template you can adapt based on your own story, who you’re talking to, and whether it’s in-person or online.

Elevator pitch template:

10. Attend online and offline events

Networking events can happen virtually and in person. In-person events local to you offer a great chance to meet people in your community. But if you want to reach a broader network, you can also look to online events where you can connect with like-minded people from all over the world.

11. Collect contact information

Don’t forget to get contact information when you make connections. Ask about email, phone number, and social media handles. It’s also helpful to get their website URL so you can do some follow-up research later on. Without contact information, you’re going to have a difficult time maintaining these relationships.

12. Ask your peers for relevant introductions

Referrals carry more weight than cold introductions—it’s a form of social proof. Rather than cold-pitching yourself to a potential new connection, ask for an introduction from someone you both know. It’s more likely they’ll respond when they know your mutual contact also recommends getting to know you. 

13. Join or start something new

Whether it’s starting a blog, a YouTube channel, or a side business, doing things outside of your main job makes networking a lot easier. Not only does it give you more to talk about, it also helps you make connections in the process as you try to grow something on your own.

Publishing, in particular, is an effective way of making new connections—especially if you do it on platforms like LinkedIn or Medium that give you access to their built-in audiences. It also helps you grow your personal brand.

14. Remember to follow up

Following up is important for nurturing and maintaining relationships, as well as for staying top of mind. It also gives you a great chance to share what’s new with you. You can set up calendar reminders or use your CRM tool to automate follow-ups.

Remember these tips for following up with your contacts:

• Personalize your emails based on fields like first name and company name.
• Save templates to customize in the future.
• Keep track of who you’ve emailed and make notes about your contacts.
• See if they even opened your emails—an incredibly valuable insight that can help inform any further follow-ups.

If you haven’t already, you should also optimize your email signature with links to your website, LinkedIn, and any other relevant social profiles.

15. Measure your networking success

Unlike many other business activities, networking success can be challenging to quantify, but it’s important to find ways to measure it. Tracking certain metrics can help you refine your approach over time.

Here are a few networking success metrics to track: 

• Connection growth rate: Track how many new meaningful connections you make per month.
• Engagement quality: Monitor responses to your outreach attempts and ongoing conversations.
• Opportunity generation: Note how many new opportunities (partnerships, clients, etc.) emerge from your networking efforts.
• Knowledge acquisition: Evaluate what you’re learning from your network.
• Referral rate: Track how often your connections introduce you to others.

Set goals for each metric and regularly assess your progress to optimize your networking strategy over time.

How to network online in 2025

There are many options for online networking, including social media, online groups, email, and virtual events.

Online networking tools and platforms for 2025

The digital networking landscape has evolved significantly, even over just the past few years. Rather than trying to be active everywhere, pick platforms with engaged audiences that best align with your industry and networking goals. 

Here are the key networking platforms and tools to leverage in 2025:

• Professional networking platforms: LinkedIn remains the gold standard for professional networking across many different goals and industries. Depending on your industry, you may also be able to find industry-specific professional networking platforms. For example, software developers can find it useful to keep up an active presence on GitHub and Stack Overflow to showcase your projects and connect with other programmers. 
• Community platforms: Slack groups and Discord servers offer deeper networking opportunities around shared interests and experiences.
• Audio networking: You can access more casual, drop-in networking conversations on audio-first platforms like Clubhouse or using the audio chat feature on industry networking platforms like Fishbowl. 

Networking on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is home to more than 1.2 billion members globally as of 2025. Yet, many people set up their LinkedIn as an online résumé and leave it at that. They might not know it but, when someone searches for you on Google, LinkedIn is often one of the top results. So, if you want to get in front of people, use your LinkedIn profile to increase your visibility both on and off the platform.

The key elements of a strong, searchable LinkedIn profile include:

• Professional, descriptive headline
• A custom URL
• Search-friendly job titles and descriptions
• Endorsements from colleagues, clients, partners, etc. in your network

Make sure your profile is complete and public. Frequent posting and publishing will also likely garner you favor in LinkedIn search results and visibility.

Like X, LinkedIn lets you reach out to people within your network via direct messaging. However, they must be an existing connection. You have to pay for a premium plan to message people outside of your network using LinkedIn’s InMail feature.

When you send an invite to connect, you can increase your chances of acceptance by customizing the message with a quick introduction and why you think the connection is worth making.

You might be wondering why Facebook isn’t recommended in this case. While X and LinkedIn are often used as professional channels, Facebook connections are generally reserved for friends, family, and casual acquaintances, and your cold messages might not be very well received by most Facebook friends.

Networking on X

As a public forum social media platform, X remains one of the best places for building professional networks. 

Here are some tips for networking on X:

• Optimize your X bio to convey what you do and are about, both personally and professionally. Use keywords people search for (like your job title or industry) to make yourself easier to find.
• If you’re looking to connect with people in a specific city, search for people based on location, job title, company, or any other information on their profile with X’s Advanced Search.
• Add the people you’re interested in to your private lists so you can keep tabs on what they’re up to. Make an effort to engage with their content via likes, reposts, and replies.

One of the hurdles on X is that, unless an account changes its default privacy settings, you can only send private direct messages to people who are following you.

If the person you want to reach out to isn’t following you, here’s what you can do:

1. Follow the account so they can send you a direct message.
2. Mention them in a post (using @username) to start a public conversation.
3. Reply to one of their posts to engage with them directly.
4. Invite them to send you a direct message to start a conversation.

Emerging networking platforms

Beyond LinkedIn and X, several platforms have emerged as valuable networking spaces:

• Discord: Originally built for gamers, Discord has evolved into a powerful community platform for all sorts of interests. Many industries now have dedicated Discord servers where professionals connect, share resources, and network.
• Slack Communities: Public Slack communities centered around specific industries or interests offer direct access to professionals in your field. Popular examples include Women in Tech, Online Geniuses (for marketers), and various developer communities.
• Industry-specific platforms: Platforms like Dribbble (for designers) or Behance (for creatives) offer networking opportunities tailored to specific professional fields.
• AI-powered networking tools: New tools using artificial intelligence are changing how professionals find each other. These platforms analyze your profile, interests, and objectives, then recommend relevant connections based on that information. Thirty percent of enterprises will automate more than half of their network activities by 2026, according to Gartner.

💡Social networking tip: Select platforms where your target audience is most active, rather than spreading yourself too thin across all networks.

Networking at webinars and online events

Virtual events offer a low-pressure environment to make new connections. You can find these on platforms like Eventbrite and Meetup, or through Facebook Events. There’s typically a mix of both in-person and virtual events you can attend.

With Shopify Community, you can find both virtual and in-person events to attend and connect with hundreds of thousands Shopify merchants and partners. Types of events include conferences and training sessions. You can also use Shopify Community to ask or answer questions, as well as join and engage in groups to grow your network of ecommerce professionals.

How to network offline in 2025

Even in an increasingly online world, many of the best, deepest connections you’ll make are face to face. Offline networking events are still hugely popular—plus, they’re a lot better organized now, thanks to technology.

Balancing online and offline networking

While digital networking offers global reach, in-person connections often create deeper relationships. Here’s how to effectively balance both:

• Use online platforms to identify and research potential connections before meeting them in person.
• Attend hybrid events that offer both in-person and virtual components, allowing you to leverage the benefits of both formats.
• Follow up online after meeting someone in person to nurture the connection.
• Join local chapters of professional organizations that offer both digital communities and face-to-face events.
• Consider your industry context—some fields still value in-person networking more heavily, while others have fully embraced digital connections.

A strategic approach uses online networking for breadth and offline networking for depth in your professional relationships.

Networking at conferences

Professional conferences are an opportune time to network. Do your research about the conference agenda before attending, so you can pinpoint which panels and networking-specific events would be most beneficial for your goals. Also, plan ahead by bringing your own business cards to share with new connections—and remember to collect them from others as well. 

Networking at social events

If you’re interested in local events that draw other like-minded people, in-person events are great forums for networking. Like virtual events, you can find offline events on Meetup, Eventbrite, and Facebook Events. Many Slack or Discord communities may also have local chapters or cohorts with in-person events. 

Industry-specific networking for entrepreneurs

Different industries have unique networking cultures and opportunities. For entrepreneurs, especially those in ecommerce, specialized networking can yield more relevant connections.

Networking strategies for ecommerce professionals

Ecommerce entrepreneurs face unique challenges that benefit from targeted networking approaches:

• Join ecommerce-specific communities like the Shopify Community, where you can connect with fellow merchants facing similar challenges and learn from entrepreneurs who have found success.
• Attend industry trade shows that bring together suppliers, manufacturers, and fellow retailers.
• Participate in platform-specific events where you can meet experts who understand your technical ecosystem.
• Connect with complementary businesses for potential partnerships, cross-promotions, or bundle opportunities.
• Join mastermind groups specifically for ecommerce business owners to share strategies and solve common problems.

These targeted networking approaches often yield more actionable insights and valuable connections than general business networking events.

📚Read more: 6 Professional Networking Sites To Jumpstart Connections (2025)

Open doors with effective networking

While you can certainly accomplish a ton on your own, imagine how much more you can achieve with a strong network of folks who support you. Having a robust professional network helps you become an even stronger individual entrepreneur.

Learning how to network effectively isn’t just a skill for the world of business. Putting yourself out there and making connections can help you build your career, find mentors and friends, develop your own venture, and open new doors.