How I Network And Meet New Clients For My Photography Business - Offline
This morning I attended my weekly networking meeting and it gave me the idea for this video/post. In the video, I talk about a great organization that I'm a member of called BNI (Business Network International). If you are a small business owner or professional that needs more or new clients or customers (or you are considering starting your own business), this post is for you.
Nearly 20 years ago, I started my business Scott Shots Photography and about 11 years ago I was invited to visit my local BNI chapter. It's been incredible for my business, but it has also been a great place to meet new people that have become my friends. BNI's main goal is to try to get more business for the members through quality business referrals. We all try suggest each other's businesses when we hear people complaining about or needing a service or product. The organization has a "Givers Gain" philosophy where "If I give business to you, hopefully in return you will want to give business to me". There are many different types of business owners and professionals that join these chapters so you have lots of variety of the type of connections you can make.
I talk about it more in the video so please watch it to get a better idea of what BNI is about.
Here are the links I said I would provide where you can check to see if you have a chapter in your local area. There are chapters in many countries, cities, and towns around the world. If you don't have one in your area, consider starting one!
BNI main website: https://www.bni.com - Look for the "Find a Chapter" feature.
My Chapter: Mountain High BNI
Start your own chapter: http://bnifranchise.com
Our chapter has a ton of fun for 7am in the morning (not all chapters meet that early). Here are some photos of our chapter in action.
Mountain High BNI
Yeah, that's me giving a presentation.
So many business connections to be made...
Our chapter's landscaper, Timmy Critz of Grateful Gardens.
Reno Tahoe Edibles Magazine sales rep Diane Barrett enjoying her presentation time.
And with that... I hope you don't think I'm a BNI salesman, I get nothing if you join a chapter. Just the satisfaction that I tried to help someone succeed. If you think this is a great idea and you are planning on visiting a chapter, please let me know! If you do visit a chapter, come on back and tell me how it went. If you have other ways of networking for your business besides BNI or the Chamber of Commerce, lets us know what works for you in the comments.
(Sorry about all the clapping, lol. I'm not new to photography but I am new to vlogging.)
Thank you for watching, looking, and reading. Cheers to your success!
Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
Previous posts of interest:
- The Wrath of Nail Man – This Photographer's True Nightmare Story (plus my #scaryphotostory contest – 13 SBD in prizes!)
- I'm Speaking At The Las Vegas Steemit Creators Conference! April 13-15
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agreed. Online marketing is good but the old school face to face interaction still has its place.
Thank you @marihuya! Yup, both have their place in today's business world and both can be fun.
It would probably help for me to network too, mettups with filmmakers, YouTubers, writers, video producers... It's one of the reason why I am working to overcome my anxiety disorder, so that I can go to such meetups. I have a plan in place with a nice big goal, so hopefully this will become possible for a regular basis. One step at a time, but the fe times I HAVE been able to go to a meetup, it's been a lot of fun.
Hi @binkyprod. I wish you the best of luck with getting out there more. I understand a bit as I sometimes have issues with crowds of people. I'm much more comfortable sitting on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. For me, BNI has helped quite a bit as it is a way I force myself to get out of my cave (office) and go hang out with a big group of people. I always end up having fun and am glad I went, even if I didn't want to get out of bed to go. Cheers!
Motivation and determination helps to create the discipline required. That's why I'm hustling every day, the hustle I do for now is the healing hustle ;)
Well then keep on hustling hustler! :)
XD Thanks!
Hello Scott I owned a business in Reno for about 12 years and when I sold it about 70% of my business came either directly or indirectly through BNI. On another note have you done any photo shoots at Pyramid Lake?
Nice @bawiii! BNI is pretty great, I've been a member for about 10 years now. What was your business?
I have shot Pyramid Lake but it was a long time ago. I have gone back for fishing but haven't really shot the lake since they closed off the pyramid and Stone Mother to visitors. Those were the best spots for photos. Here's a link to the Pyramid Lake photos on my site: https://scottshotsphoto.photoshelter.com/search?I_DSC=pyramid&I_DSC_AND=t&_ACT=search
I owned an IT business called AlphaDog IT. Sold it about 4 years ago to become Grand Baby Groupies.We moved to Georgia where they were being born the followed them to Colorado. You would love to shoot here, Pikes Peak is amazing, not to mention countless other sites and activities. Tahoe has a beauty not found anywhere else too!
Cool, I wasn't sure if you were still in Reno as I've been wanting to organize a steemit meetup. I have not been to Colorado yet, but a good friend manages an art gallery there, he has been trying to get me to come out there and shoot for a couple years now, soon... And yes, Tahoe has endless amounts of beauty, I rarely leave my mountain because of the endless photo opps. Have a great day!
i like photography! and your wideo i help full :) if you like you can check my i instagram : iwannaflysohigh
Thank you @lukastv!