The best part about working from home? You rarely need pantyhose or power suits, and you can have a conference call in your workout clothes. But the advantages have a drawback. Not needing to dress up for work means you may not encounter another living person outside of the mail carrier or family members. Running a small business can keep you isolated, minus the benefit of colleagues who can challenge, encourage and support you.

It's possible to partner with other women dedicated to entrepreneurial success; you just need to make an effort to find them. When you do, reach out, contribute, and it won't be long before you feel as though you have dozens of helpful colleagues at your fingertips.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn's networking potential is often underutilized. It's worthwhile to be familiar with LinkedIn and to register a basic profile of yourself and/or your business. To connect with like-minded women in your field, conduct keyword searches . The site is an excellent way to leverage professional contacts because it acts like a small ecosystem (think six degrees of separation).

Facebook
Unless you live under a rock, you know Facebook. It's particularly well-known as a site where people connect with long-lost friends and family. It's also an innovative networking tool. You can join networking groups such as Women in Business, Women Business Owners, Hire My Mom and even regional groups or niche groups such as African-American Women in Business.

Networking organizations
Websites such as Advancing Women and Home Based Working Mom are great resources for networking, with forums for discussion, links for networking with international women and links to similar sites. Also known as forums, message boards on those sites are an opportunity to chat online with women who share similar interests and concerns.

Professional organizations
There are dozens of professional organizations for women with online and in-person networking resources. Depending on the organization, you may find message boards, e-zines, online chats and teleconferences with like-minded women in your field. Examples of such organizations include the National Association of Insurance Women, Association for Women in Computing, the American Woman's Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the American Business Women's Association. These organizations may require a membership fee to participate in various activities.

Reaching out
Regardless of which tool you use to build your online circle of colleagues, it takes some work. You could join every site mentioned here and still not make one acquaintance. You must make the decision to be an active member. How?

1. Read profiles of other members.
2. Leave public messages on their "comment wall."
3. Send private messages to people who interest you.
4. Upload photos (maybe of your product or your team).
5. Create and post videos (maybe an introductory video about your business).
6. Announce events (got a product launch?).
7. Update the community about happenings in your own blog.
8. Ask questions.
9. Start discussions in the forum.
10. Chat or instant message in "real time" using an online chat service.

Remember--never say anything online that you wouldn't say to your most important client. As long as your posts and discussions have integrity and professionalism, you are on your way to creating the perfect professional online networking group.