Being an entrepreneur can be extremely lonely at times. When I made the switch from working a 9-to-5 to running my own business, what I missed the most was having colleagues; people to bounce ideas off of, exchange knowledge, resources and sometimes just someone I can vent to.

In the world we live in, we rely on social media and the internet to make connections – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. But the most effective way I find to build your business is the old fashioned way: networking. Go out, meet people, make long lasting connections.

Two years ago, I was invited to be a guest speaker at Hudson Connections, a local networking group that meets every Wednesday at 7am at the Malibu Diner in Hoboken. They asked me to share my experience with social media marketing and blogging. Even though it was a little early for me to talk to people, I seriously had a blast getting to know the group. I really had no expectations, I thought I would just meet a few cool local entrepreneurs but, to my surprise, I signed 3 clients from the group a few weeks later.

This group gets shit done.

I joined them again recently for their Bring a Guest Day as a participant and it did not disappoint. I met over 30 local business people from all sorts of backgrounds (literally every industry) and it was great adding these local hustlers to my Rolodex.

Also, you get to eat a yummy breakfast while growing your business! #winwin

The cool thing about this group is they only accept one person per profession/category, that way everyone can benefit from each other.

The mission behind Hudson Connections is to provide a supportive and structured environment so business professionals can share ideas and build a network of long-lasting connections. They’ve passed over $200K of business so far this year! They also have open positions, including Divorce/Family Attorney, Contractor, Photographer/Video, and P/C Insurance Broker.

For more information on how you can join visit https://hudsonconnections.org