A Photographer's Guide to Networking
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Loading... - Emilia Valdes
- 18 Oct 2022
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We’ve all been there. Walking into a room of complete strangers, business cards at the ready, with a feeling vaguely reminiscent of stepping onto a used car lot. Welcome to the monthly Chamber of Commerce networking luncheon: a hellscape of desperate Realtors, indifferent bank managers, and the guy who just quit his job at the car wash to become a personal trainer.
Maybe a friend told you that you should do this kind of thing to help you grow your business, but why would a person who claims to be your friend ever wish this awkward plunge into conventional adulting on you? Does anyone actually enjoy this? Does this benefit anyone or is it just a legal protection racket?
Early in my career, I didn’t understand why people do this to themselves. After a few false starts with local networking, my wife and I decided that it wasn’t for us and then carried on for the next ten years avoiding it at all costs. We were too young, hip, and broke to put the money and effort in. My background in I.T. enabled us to grow our business pretty well using less traditional means like SEO and social media, so networking groups just remained, in our minds, a relic of the past that millennials like us didn’t need.
Then something changed. A lot changed, actually.
About four years ago, a friend of mine came to give a presentation at our local professional photography group. Over drinks afterward, she asked me if I was a member of my local Chamber of Commerce. When I said no, I could see on her face the wordless, open-mouthed “are you a total idiot” expression that only good friends can share.
Keep in mind, this is a colleague and friend whose business and marketing skills I really admired, the type of person who, when they are giving out business advice, has my complete attention. Read More...
