1. BNI Or
Chamber of
Commerce
For Local Networking
by FitSmallBusiness.com

2. Referrals are
golden!
The referrals that you are getting
from friends, customers and other
business people are an important
part of your business.

3. However,
Asking for
referrals can be
uncomfortable
or even backfire.

4. However,
Asking for
referrals can be
uncomfortable
or even backfire.
Who wants to send their connections to
overly aggressive business person?

5. When building business through referrals
You have a couple of good
options:

6. When building business through referrals
You have a couple of good
options:
Joining A Local
Chamber of
Commerce

7. When building business through referrals
You have a couple of good
options:
Joining A Local
Chamber of
Commerce
Joining A Local
Chapter of
BNI

8. What is
BNI?

9. BNI markets
are the
“world’s largest
networking, referrals, and
word of mouth marketing
organization”.

10. BNI markets
are the
It’s ironic because
BNI is very locally
focused.
“world’s largest
networking, referrals, and
word of mouth marketing
organization”.

11. When joining
BNI,
specific local
chapter.
a
your are joining a

12. When joining
BNI,
specific local
chapter.
a
your are joining a
They will only allow one member from each profession into
a chapter, so there is competition for referrals with
members of other chapters.

13. BNI
is
is
highly structured.
They hold weekly meetings
with each lasting 90
minutes. If you cannot
commit to regular ly
attending these meetings,
BNI is not for you.

14. BNI
is
is
highly structured.
They hold weekly meetings
with each lasting 90
minutes. If you cannot
commit to regular ly
attending these meetings,
BNI is not for you.
Also...

15. BNI cheap,
not
is
The cost of joining BNI
is around $500 per year.

16. What is a
Local Chamber of
Commerce?

17. First
there is a
big misconception
about chambers of commerce,
which is that they are all part of
one organization.

18. As a rule of thumb,
state, national,
and international
chambers of commerce tend to
focus
on political advocacy for their members.

19. While
local chambers of
commerce like
the Austin Chamber of Commerce, do both
political advocacy
and provide
practical help

20. Linda Pophal
of Strategic Communications, LLC, member of
the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce
“
“
The Chamber has a number of activities designed to
boost networking and offer local business people an
opportunity to connect socially and professionally from monthly "Business After Hours" events, to
networking luncheons, breakfast meetings, annual
gatherings, etc. They sponsor an annual "Business
Expo" that is always a big draw.

21. “
I personally run a monthly event they throw called "Leads to
Business" where about 70 people are in attendance. Everyone's
business card is photocopied and we go around the room in that
order. Each participant gets 30 seconds to explain what their
business does and what an idea, lead, or referral is for them. In
the 7 years the event has been happening, there hasn't been a
single month where every single person in the room hasn't left
with a lead or referral.
Darrah Brustein
of Equitable Payments, member of the Metro Atlanta
Chamber which has around 185 events per year.

22. Each
chamber of
commerce
however
is different
they generally have annual dues between
$100 and $500 per year.
Often there are discounts for new members.

23. Should you join a
BNI
chapter
or
Local
Chamber of
Commerce?

24. You can do
Both
However,
before joining one or both,
you should attend a
couple meetings.

25. In both specific organization
cases,
the
∂
will have tremendous
∂
impact
one’s experience.

26. And Finally...

27. To learn how to
simplify the process of
running your business
visit us at....

28. www.FitsmallBusiness.com
Thanks for watching