Get awesome at your instruments and composition. Obviously a variety of styles. Don't fake it, we can tell.
Get awesome at production. MONEY DOES NOT = AWESOME PRODUCTION. I can make some fabulous sounding material using a few key things. I also know that I could spend thousands and thousands of dollars and get negligibly better results, or worse results.
You might have an amazing arrangement, but if your production sounds amateur, then your song sounds amateur off the bat to 95% of your listeners. People WILL NOT take you seriously if your production sucks.
After you have mastered these trials you can start worrying about the "business contacts" portion.