Networking represents a combination of a wide variety of reasons to do so. Certainly, making contacts that lead to referrals is near the top of the list. Finding new clients certainly rates right up there. But generally learning more and more about the marketplace in which you are doing business, by entering into casual conversation with other people that are also in the marketplace, helps you become a much more sophisticated representative of your business. And the potential of contributing to the knowledge base of those other people with whom you are speaking will certainly add to your own general prominence with your peers.