Local BNI chapters?

Has anyone been part of a BNI chapter as a photographer? One of the clients I shoot product photography for wants me to join but I wonder if its worth the time and other involvement. I would be the only photographer for my state and it sounds like I would get lots of referrals? Just not sure if its worth it.

The only way to know is to go check it out. Around here folks tend to think of those groups as a little more exclusive rather than inclusive. What I mean is that you must often pay your dues by providing leads to others before you get any leads yourself. Many years ago went to a few as a freelance graphic designer and felt like an outsider. I prefer open meetings like chamber of commerce "business after hours". More often than not you are dealing directly with decision makers, rather than a middle man.

I was a BNI member (non-photography) for a year, years ago.

Your are required to attend the weekly meetings (I believe 2 absences are permitted in a six-month period), and you are required to have at least one referral for another member each week.

The concept sounds good, but the reality, in my experience, was that the referral requirement was difficult for most members, resulting in a lot of weak referrals from one member to another. As an example, I'm a printer, and I might get an order (or just a request for a price!) for a few copies from another member, fulfilling his referral requirement. And there were several members in our chapter who would just exchange bogus referrals.

You might want to check out a meeting as guest, but I really don't see it as way of finding photography clients.

It's a lot of work, but generally what you put into it is what you'll get out of it. It's based on the concept that each member is a salesperson and referral-giver for all the other members. If you get into a good chapter, with other members with whom you form a good relationship, then it can definitely be a good source of new clients.

My wife is in a chapter as a videographer, and this'll probably be the last year. For that business, she just hasn't been getting a lot of referrals lately - and she's the VP of the chapter this year which eats up a TON of time/effort that could otherwise be spent doing "real" work, instead of running the chapter and doing BNI paperwork. And, the videography business is kinda hard for other people to sell.

However, the family photographer in her chapter gets a lot of new clients from referrals from within the chapter.

If you're pursuing it just for product and business photography, it may not be worth your time. If you're pursuing it for photography that is more accessible to the "everyman" - family photos and wedding photos, and stuff that will be easy for the other members to refer you - then you may be more successful.

Definitely visit a chapter or two, see how it feels. I would be pretty surprised if they have an open photographer seat.

I will find more about it on Thursday I guess. Its sounds kind of like Amway or some other scheme but it might be worth it. I just dont have a ton of free time so committing to a half a day a week might be hard.

Kronie wrote in post #16798879
I just dont have a ton of free time so committing to a half a day a week might be hard.

woah, what?

if they can't get it done in an hour, maybe an hour and a half, forget about it.

opportunity costs of taking a half a day are huge. I should know, I just spent half the morning getting my wife's flat tires fixed. Well, I also went and looked at floor jacks too.

I have heard various time requirements. I guess every chapter is different. I dont know what this ones like......Its a half a day either way because its an hour drive for me, one way...my state is so spread out....

"if they can't get it done in an hour, maybe an hour and a half, forget about it."

As I recall, meetings were an hour and a half, but they started on time so people were encouraged to get there as much as a half hour early to sign in, network, and be in their seats by the time the meeting started. It was frequently necessary to spend a little time afterwards going over referrals you gave or received with another member. Combined with travel time it was probably at least 2-1/2 hours for me, a big chunk right out of the middle of my day. And at each meeting you stand up and give a 30 second "commercial", and a 12 minute one every several weeks, which requires some prep time (mainly the 12 minute one.) Additionally, we were expected to meet "one-on-one" privately at some time with each member of the chapter, although I think I was one of the few who actually tried to do this.

Just from my experience and observations, BNI wasn't for me, or most of the people I know who tried it. But, some people have been very successful with it. If you do give it a shot, you really should be prepared to give it as much time and effort as it requires.

tomj wrote in post #16799318
"if they can't get it done in an hour, maybe an hour and a half, forget about it."

As I recall, meetings were an hour and a half, but they started on time so people were encouraged to get there as much as a half hour early to sign in, network, and be in their seats by the time the meeting started. It was frequently necessary to spend a little time afterwards going over referrals you gave or received with another member. Combined with travel time it was probably at least 2-1/2 hours for me, a big chunk right out of the middle of my day. And at each meeting you stand up and give a 30 second "commercial", and a 12 minute one every several weeks, which requires some prep time (mainly the 12 minute one.) Additionally, we were expected to meet "one-on-one" privately at some time with each member of the chapter, although I think I was one of the few who actually tried to do this.

Just from my experience and observations, BNI wasn't for me, or most of the people I know who tried it. But, some people have been very successful with it. If you do give it a shot, you really should be prepared to give it as much time and effort as it requires.

I was in a BNI chapter for five years, not as a photographer though, but as a commercial contractor. I left almost two years ago due to family issues, and what Tom said is pretty accurate. Our meetings started at 7:00am and were done at 8:30am. Our group had about 35 members and several were in the group over 10 years. The last few years the group has thinned out, mostly due to the economy. Several members changed jobs or even changed careers and left, some relocated to new areas, and some just closed up their businesses and went to work for a company.

My advice is to find a chapter that has members that will compliment your craft and go to a couple of their meetings. You are allowed to attend two meetings for any chapter you are interested in before making any kind of commitment. I was fortunate that the chapter I belonged to had members that complimented my work as a contractor, such as commercial and residential real estate agents, an architect, insurance agent, etc.

As a photographer, you would like to be in a group with people that are complimentary to your profession and would be good referral sources such as wedding planners, caterers, musicians or DJ's, etc. Not to say that the other members won't be good referral sources, believe it or not my best referral source in our group was our chiropractor, I think it was because she interacts with so many different people on a daily basis. One nice thing about BNI is that they only allow ONE of each business classification in a chapter, meaning you would be the only photographer in that chapter.

We had a photographer in our group and he did get several referrals, but he left due to his wife being transferred to another state. As was said before, you will get out of it what you put into it. Only you can decide if it is beneficial or not. As with anything else, if you don't like it, don't go back. I can say with all honesty that BNI was my most cost-effective form of advertising after trying the Yellow Pages, placements, direct mails, etc. Even though I have been out of BNI for almost two years, I am still friends with several members and still do work for them, still give referrals to them, and still get referrals from them, and still use them for many of my personal and business needs.

Tried it as a photographer, wouldn't do it again. Far too much effort for the results.

I was a member for a year and it wasn't worth it for me (based in London, UK).

I found that it worked well for some, eg mortgage broker, financial adviser, conveyancer and will writer all worked well together, as did the graphic designer and web designer.

It will depend upon the chapter and I'd visit more than one if you can.

In my case the web designer didn't even believe in having headshots on websites! Had he done so I'm sure I could have got decent business.

I'm a relatively new BNI member (about 6 months) and it has been a valuable source of business for me already. I didn't get business immediately - as a newcomer, people need to get comfortable with you. You are building relationships with those in your chapter.

I've gotten commercial, portrait, and headshot work from the group. I was encouraged to join by another studio owner in a nearby town who finds it to be one of his most valuable marketing sources.

Regards,
Jim

I bagged on the meeting. I am just too busy at this point to add more stuff. Plus the meeting started at 8 am and its was an hour and a half away and I didn't feel like dealing with it. I might take another look at some point in the future...it looked like a decent way to meet with other business owners and get customers.

If I had to drive 90 minutes each way to the meetings, that would make it MUCH less attractive. Ours is about a 10-minute drive.

In your case, many of the referrals are probably going to be far away too.

I'd like to revive this thread and see if there are new opinions. I've joined up a local chapter, would be interesting to see what experiences are happening now, seeing at this thread was last active in 2014