Why A Networking Group Can Save Your Photography Business

“I’m stuck.”

“I don’t know what to do next.”

“I have no clients and don’t know what to do.”

When clients (and profits) aren’t where they need to be, there’s only one thing to do … get more clients.

Yet in some cases that can seem like the most difficult and painful thing to do. You’ve tried things before. What should you do now?

The easiest answer is right down the street from you. And it takes the form of a Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber of Commerce offices are designed to help businesses get business and stay in business. They offer everything from advice, to networking opportunities, to resources and more. If you have a question, they are the best place to find an answer in your community.

If you’ve never been to your local chamber, what’s your first step? And what should you do when you get there? This is how to get started.

Why A Networking Group Can Save Your Photography Business

Find The Best Group

All chambers are not created equal. When we were first starting out, we joined two chambers and quickly found out that there is a difference.

The Denver Chamber was a huge group of people with lots of meetings and a ton of advice. But because they cater to the downtown Denver area, a lot of their members are larger, corporate businesses, and the members tend to be employees. We also found a lot of people in the professional venues, such as financial, law and real estate.

Then we joined the South Metro Denver Chamber, which catered to smaller businesses, more entrepreneurial in nature. And we found our target.

Spend the time to look at several in your area. Many focus in on areas – cities or regions – but you can find them based on a wide variety of interests. The Women’s Chamber, for instance, is a great place for targeting women based business opportunities.

Make sure you are comfortable with the people you meet, with the types of networking opportunities, and with the location. You will be working with it quite a bit to do it right, so make sure you have easy access. [Read more…]