Sure, you can use Skype to work with clients and to network, but you’re still not shaking hands, hugging (I’m a big hugger), or getting the opportunity to read someone’s body language.

When I first started working from home several years ago, I couldn’t wait for the FedEx or UPS delivery person to drop by. That was my first clue that I needed to get out more.

I know it’s easy to sit in your home office in your comfy clothes and connect with other business owners online. Not many people who work from home miss having to dress in business suits, skirts or heels for work every day.  I don’t.

Sometimes, though, you need to leave your home office.

Dressing like your corporate counterparts and making an effort to go to a business get-together every month or so is a hassle, but it’s worth it. Think about the face-to-face business connections you’d miss if you stayed in your home office every day.

Connect with others a few ways:

• Join a local business group. Check your local business journal’s Web site, look online for trade associations that fit your business and look at your local Chamber of Commerce site to find out when they meet.

• Make new business contacts through a Tweet meetup or Tweetup. Find a Tweetup in your area on Tweetup Meetups.

• Look for conferences in your area and around the country. I still stay in touch with a few of the business contacts I’ve made at different conferences.

There’s nothing wrong with making business connections online, especially through Twitter and Facebook. But there’s something about the energy and enthusiasm that surrounds local business events and out-of-town conferences that’s hard to recreate online.

The incubator they described is a place where business professionals share office space with other professionals in different fields. The Jackson County Small Business Incubator, now with eight tenants, has been so successful that they’re opening a second location.

Incubators are similar to various co-working sites that I described in another post. The main difference is that the purpose of incubators is to help an individual grow his or her business, instead of just providing a place to work away from the family. There are a few more benefits to incubators:

• You’re encouraged to network with your “incubator neighbor” and maybe even work together on projects or hire one another. One business professional is considering hiring his neighbor to design a new Web site for him.

• Incubators offer high-speed copiers, printers and other equipment that a typical home office professional can’t afford at the beginning.

• You can’t get lonely in an incubator. There are too many people around.

• You can still keep your home office but as your business grows, an incubator is the perfect place to work with other business owners who are much quieter than your kids and barking dog.