Grow your Green Businesswoman Network: Create Quality Connections Connections are what set successful women apart: the more "loose networks" we have, the more we are able to make references and connect people, and the better we are able to find a good match for the right products and services.

Who is in your current network today? Can you increase your network? I challenge you to build a partners list of 100 green businesswomen who are interested in the same values you are interested in: let's go green together. In 2010:

• We will refer business to other green business women.
• We will create green business summits, conferences, and get-togethers locally? (contact me for help with this).
• We will create partners circles of related services to serve local clients.
• We will sponsor Green organizations

As you build your list, consider that quality is better than quantity: you'll want to work with people who share your desire to increase sustainable practices.

1) Go Green on Twitter Look for 10 committed green business women in your location
I take very high advantage of the search capabilities of Twitter to find other green women in business who are interested in the same things I am.

A sample search: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=green+business+women You can then use the @username tag to send a message to specific people, or "follow" them for their updates. In Advanced search, you also find Twitter users near specific locations (e.g. green business within 10 miles of Honolulu), which is another wonderful way to network with others in your local community. http://search.twitter.com/advanced or type in the following into the advanced search box: http://search.twitter.com/search green business near:Honolulu within:50mi where you replace "Honolulu" with your own city

2) Share your knowledge through blogging Consider setting up a blog at http://www.greenpress.com or http://www.mnn.com, or find a local effort and support their efforts by contributing articles on your experience as a green business woman. By expressing an interest and sharing your journey, you help others who want to go green but don't know how. You challenge other business owners and workplaces to consider more ways to become sustainable, fair trade, organic, and progressive. I blog at http://www.thegreengirls.com as a Green Girl Guru.

3) Green Business Women Choose 10 other women in the live GreenBusinessWomen directory --- call them up or schedule breakfast

GreenBusinessWomen.com is the green business women's directory my company launched late last year. This directory includes a listing of green business women all over the world for you to review and learn from, and it's also organized by industry. Register your own existing or new green business, so if you are just getting started, if you'd like to be more green in your own efforts, or if you want to spread the word about your product or service, this is a great place for you to begin.

4) Green Advertizing Check the advertisers and publishers to find 10 others whose businesses overlap your offerings. http://greenadvertizing.com?ref=126 If you're a publisher or an advertiser, I invite you to check out the Green Advertizing ad network. This is the first carbon neutral advertising network for green publishers and green advertisers. If you're a blogger or if you are looking to connect with specific niche groups of people (green, progressive, sustainable, organic, farmer's gate, fair trade), this is your network.

5) Green networking in-person and online Join a green network and find ways to connect with others interested in what you are doing. Here are samples, but also search Google for results specific to your community:

ONLINE: Linkedin Green: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=67451&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr Green subgroups: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?subgroups=&gid=67451&trk=anet_ug_subg Facebook

GreenBusinessWomen on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123224527813&ref=ts

Green Business Innovators on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42779921039&ref=ts

Groups

Green Cafe Network http://www.greencafenetwork.com

Greener Photography http://www.greenerphotography.org

Networking Gaia Community http://www.gaia.com

Planet Better Place http://planet.betterplace.com

Business Networking

Green Chamber of Commerce http://greenchamberofcommerce.net/

EcoTuesday http://www.ecotuesday.com/

Monica S. Flores @monicadear is committed to educating, empowering, and connecting women in business. She is available for consulting on web development through 10K Webdesign. She also offers a member community at A Successful Woman. She believes in the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits.