If you think that people who frequent Facebook, Twitter and other online social media sites are holed up in their offices or homes working in isolation, you are wrong.

Increasingly, business people who have first met on line are meeting in person to further connect and cement their business relationships. Consider extending the reach of your business by getting engaged on and offline.

One example of the online and offine worlds coming together is when participants on Twitter hold in-person gatherings, called Tweetups. They get face-to-face contact with friends who were until then just user names .  My first Tweetup was at a local Italian restaurant where 90 other twitterers gathered, eager to exchange business cards and look to connect with others in their interest areas. The organizers prepared gift bags with donated items and invited the marketing representative from a local shopping center to attend and invite all of us to a media-only event. It was a lively and fun event.

While still at my first Tweetup, a colleague, Edward Phillipp, and I discovered that we were both going to be attending the same seminar the next weekend. We scheduled a Tweetup to take place when the last session ended on the first day of the seminar. We met with a few other twitterers to chat about the highlights of the speeches we had heard that day.

Attending the Tweetup that Ed and I scheduled was Warren Whitlock, BlogTalk radio host, speaker, blogger, social media expert and co-author of “Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online.” Since Warren’s show airs on Friday nights, he recorded our Tweetup as part of his show via his cell phone. (The photo above shows me attending this Tweetup.)

Another example, Biznik, is an online community of entrepreneurs and small businesses dedicated to helping each other succeed. By sharing ideas with others of like mind you grow your business and even find new clients. Biznik members who live in the same geographical area schedule meetings, seminars and mixers to meet in person. One member, a marketing consultant, hosts weekly meetings at a popular Los Angeles restaurant.

No matter what product or service you offer, your business will benefit when online and offline worlds meet.

Networking is still one of the greatest ways to help your business grow, but it has taken on new dimensions over the years.

Attending business meetings, joining a Chamber of Commerce and other groups are still effective ways to get to know and connect with movers and shakers in your community. But with the advent of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, networking has extended its reach and picked up speed.

No matter what your niche, there are others interested in being your colleagues and customers. With Facebook and Twitter, geography is no longer a barrier. When I posted on Twitter this weekend, I got a response from a trainer in New York, a farmer in Iowa and a fellow coach in Alabama. By sharing what we are each doing in our businesses we are able to make connections that can lead to resources and increased business.

Even if you are still not convinced that social media is right for you, get a free membership from at least Facebook and Twitter. As you learn more about these you will become more comfortable with using them.

Just as few businesses try to run without a telephone and computer, modern successful businesses are capitalizing on the power and reach of social media for networking. Get on board and you’ll discover the same.