The following post is an excerpt is from Chapter 10 of the book Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us: How to Raise $1 Million for Your Startup – Even Outside of Silicon Valley, by Mike Belsito. This chapter focuses on the steps that people can take to build up their network, even if they don’t already have a strong set of connections within the venture community. Using tools available to everybody along with a little bit of hustle, any entrepreneur can build a strong network.

Some people quickly dismiss the idea of raising capital for their startup because of a saying that they’ve heard time and time again: “It’s all about who you know.” They make excuses such as:

“I’m not that well connected, I don’t even know any investors.”

“I don’t ...