Growing my social capital

For this exercise I contacted three people that I have had previously spoken to but only in a strictly professional context. What I mean by this is my communication with them in the past has been strictly to order supplies, schedule an install or some other type of day to day business operation. I have never used any of these three in an assignment before.

1. The first person I made contact with is the owner and proprietor of a company that largely focuses on manufacturing and installing electric signage.  I consider him to be my domain expert as he has been in business in this area for over 30 years. I contacted him via phone on my lunch break at work. Our conversation was brief as I didn't want to take up too much of his time. I explained the purpose of my call was to network for a school related business project. The favor he did for me was to open him self to advice should I need it. Having such an experienced person in my network I think will provide a great asset.
2. The second person I contacted is someone who has run an engraving shop in my town for over 20 years. For the purpose of this assignment I would say she fills the role of market expert. The markets that we are both in aren't exactly the same but there is a lot of overlap, which is why I was able to make contact in the first place. I spoke with her when I went to pick up an order for engraved name plates that we had subbed out to them. Our conversation lasted a few minutes as I explained my project. I know she will be a valued asset in my network as from my conversation she knows a lot about our semi-shared market.
3. The third individual I connected with is a valued supplier of ours. He is the manager of the local branch of a national signage supply company. Like my previous two contacts he has extensive experience in this industry as both a supplier and as a sign manufacturer himself. Of all three I would say he is perhaps the most valued contact in my network as his experience is very much focused in the same market as mine. I communicated with him via telephone on my lunch break and explained my project. He was interested in the online aspect of my business because the supplier he works for is trying to put much more focus on the web based aspect of their company as well. 

I would say this was a valuable experience overall as it allowed me to form a closer relationship with people that I deal with on a somewhat regular basis. Understanding their own talents and experiences has allowed me to consider them to be more than just people I have to talk to do my current job, they are now people I can comfortably consider to be assets should I persue my business idea.