I just walk up to them and say hi, tell them my name, and give them a quick tagline of who I am and what I do.

If there’s ever someone I want to connect with that’s not directly in front of me, I first look for an email address. This can usually be found on their website. If they work for a corporation, just find any person’s email address in that corporation and insert the target person’s name in place of the name you found.

If I can’t find an email address, the next place I look is social media. Google the person’s name and add Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, LinkedIn, etc. to it.

Sometimes all you can find is a physical address. In that case, you can mail them a letter, but I’ll typically wait until I catch them out and about at a conference.

The best ways to build your business circle as a blogger are:

1. Sign up for Help A Reporter as both a journalist and a source. This puts you in the loop on a large number of blogs, magazine/newspaper articles, podcasts, TV/radio shows, etc. in your industry.

2. Attend professional trade shows in industries you cover. As a blogger, you likely qualify for a free press pass that’ll get you into the press conferences and press room, both of which, believe it or not, are filled with members of the press. Here’s a list of the biggest in the U.S.: Top 250 US Shows List

3. Attend business conferences. Here’s a shortlist of some business conferences related to business, tech, and marketing: The 50 Best Conferences to Attend This Year. There are also blogging- and writing-specific conferences.

4. Print and hand out business cards. Any time you talk to someone in a professional manner, hand them your business card. You never know when someone will follow up with the blogger they want to network with – you.

5. Guest post on other websites. This helps you meet a lot of PR reps, editors, publishers, and more.