Try this for your Michigan business.

Networking is this economy a fine and forgotten art. When times get tough, we tend to huddle alone in the corner in fear and not move forward. Let’s say you have a product or service that you are trying to sell in our tough market. The days of waiting for a customer to run to your doors with wads of cash in hand are over. It’s time to think back to the old way of conducting business.

Back in the early days, even before the Industrial Era, small businesses took care of one another. For example, when the butcher needed a new furnace in his home, he called his heating. A few conversations later and the butcher is providing the furnace man with a full winter’s supply of meat in exchange for a new furnace. If Helen the Housewife needed fresh eggs, she would do Farmer Fanny’s sewing in exchange for the eggs.

The close connections between business associates, families and friends are not gone; they are just long forgotten. Competition is fierce and we tend to keep all our aces close to the vest. The very best of businesses, which have grown rapidly, have truly mastered taking care of one another all the way to the top.

Now is the time to take out your old Rolodex and contact, contact, contact. Do for others and in exchange, they will do for you. Of course, it goes without saying, your efforts cannot be lopsided. You have to have the true spirit of helping another. Perhaps someone you know has a contact or two who needs your services. Perhaps you can offer a free service in exchange for what they offer. Soon, the word is out and business may just start to come your way. Some of the most successful businesses in America were born with this philosophy.

Try it! What do you have to lose?