Networking events are a popular approach to finding new contacts and potentially new customers for b2b businesses in particular. It's most likely that you have attended some yourself, but was it really worthwhile? How many new customers and contacts did you meet?

In the usual scenario you put on your suit, leave the office, business cards and elevator pitch in hand. After travelling to the venue, you start mingling, and if you're lucky you may meet 2-3 people who nod along to your pitch, whether or not they are interested in your services is another matter.

If you're unlucky, you'll be corralled by the person who can't stop talking about themselves, and spend half the evening looking forward to the drive home.

After returning from the networking event, it's not over. You need to follow up on the few contacts you made. So you've spend the best part of half a day, preparing, travelling to and from and actually attending a networking event in the hope of gaining one new customer. Not a great use of time, or a profitable business model.

There is a better way to network. Much better. Using twitter to accelerate your networking connects you with thousands of potential new customers and contacts with just a few mouse clicks.

When the uninitiated think of Twitter, they often think immediately of Ashton Kutcher. After all, the man is a veritable God on the platform. But there is astronomically more to Twitter than it first appears. If you're in business, do yourself a favour and take a closer look. Twitter is one of the best ways of networking without even leaving your desk, or if you're umbilically-attached to your mobile phone or tablet, then those too.

Twitter is a remarkably simple social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets".

So how can you harness the power of twitter to accelerate your networking?

Rather than fronting up to dozens of networking events every month, you can find your preferred clients easily on twitter. You can search based on keywords (e.g. caterers, mechanics or babysitters), and even set your search geographically to target prospects in the areas you service.

Thanks to the countless applications created to support Twitter and make it ever more efficient. Advanced twitter tools grow your followers in a targeted fashion.

Once you locate your potential customers, follow them on Twitter and make yourself known. Avoid the sales pitch; just approach and engage. Social media dashboards help you monitor tweets and engage new clients.

In time – sometimes hours, sometimes months – you will have a bona fide contact to invite to coffee to discuss mutually beneficial business matters.

Using Twitter to seek out your prospects is efficient, time-saving and powerful. Attending networking events in person – without having identified in advance if your potential customers are on the guest list – is like setting yourself up for failure.

By following people and businesses on Twitter, you'll often see if they're signed up for various networking organisations and you'll discover where your target audience congregates. Industry-specific events are bullseyes for your networking endeavours.

Instead of the stab-in-the-dark approach, illuminate your potential to meet only those with whom you'd like to do business. It will spare you a great deal of footwork, time away from critical tasks and endless handshaking that delivers minimal results.

Jump on Twitter today, set up your profile and start mingling!