Episode 85: “Why Join a Chamber of Commerce?”

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Synopsis

BNI and local chambers of commerce can have a very positive synergistic relationship. The two are not in competition. Dr. Misner encourages BNI members to join their local chamber of commerce. Here are a few advantages of joining a chamber.

• Chambers of commerce allow multiple representatives from the same industry, so you can network with colleagues.
• Chambers of commerce host social events and mixers, as well as trade shows.
• Leadership in a chamber of commerce raises your visibility and credibility in the community.
• BNI directors offer networking trainings to chambers of commerce.
• Your BNI group may be able to join a chamber of commerce as a group.

If you find ways to help your chamber of commerce, they’ll find ways to help you.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 085 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California , and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
I’m doing great today, Priscilla. Thank you.

Today I’m going to be talking about I think a really important topic for BNI members, and that’s Why Join a Chamber of Commerce? You know, I really believe that BNI and local Chambers can have, and generally do have, a very positive symbiotic, synergistic relationship. They can work very effectively together. Sometimes we’ll have members who are talking to the Chamber and the Chamber feels uncomfortable that we’re somehow competitive with them, so I wanted to do this podcast as a way of really putting out there to BNI members and to Chamber executives and Chamber members what our position is on the relationship between BNI and the Chamber of Commerce.

I believe that we’re very symbiotic. I tell BNI members go out and join the local Chamber of Commerce, because it’s a great way for you to create visibility in the community. So in additional to joining a referral group like BNI, members should also consider diversifying their network by joining the local Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber provides a broad membership base, but usually within a defined geographic area, such as a town or a county. Depending on the nature of your business, this kind of local membership could be significant to you as a local business owner or salesperson.

Now, unlike a referral networking group like BNI or a professional society or trade association, the Chamber does not limit the number of people who can join from any one profession or any industry. Local membership can include, for example, several people from the same professions. Membership in the Chamber would give businesses the opportunity to meet many prospects from various professions overlapping. Chambers tend to conduct social and business events where you can socialize and develop relationships. They also do a lot of seminars from time to time, and they focus on local community activities, maybe city ordinances or laws that they focus on. They do some very light lobbying. Becoming a member of Chamber provides opportunities to give back to the community, to capitalize on significant member benefits that may exist within Chambers. And of course, serving in leadership raises their recognition, their visibility, and the credibility of the business of the BNI member who joins the local Chamber.

So I told BNI members to make it a point to investigate your local Chamber of Commerce. Find out where the office is and request membership information. Ask for the names of members you can contact. Attend an event or two to see whether membership is a good fit for you. Chamber memberships tend to be reasonable. You could probably visit a Chamber mixer for just a very small fee. Take your time, do you homework, locate a Chamber that knows how to hold good networking events and has a strong membership. And try to find Chambers that understand that BNI is synergistic to what the Chamber does. We are not the same kind of organization as a Chamber, and the Chamber is not the same kind of organization as we are. I truly believe in looking at membership from the law of abundance that there is absolutely room of Chambers of Commerce and BNI both, and I think that the most successful members of BNI are active in both kinds of organizations. Of course, Chamber membership is not free, but it’s far less expensive than traditional advertising can be. And networking, as a rule, is far less expensive.

So if you’re a BNI member, go out and take a look at the local Chamber of Commerce. If you’re a Chamber member listening to this, BNI’s official policy is to create a healthy relationship with Chambers wherever possible.

Priscilla, I don’t know if you know this, we even have some directors who have such a good relationship with the local Chamber of Commerce that they have trained Chamber ambassadors on material from my book, The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret. I had in there The Ten Commandments of Working a Mixer. I believe we have that as two podcasts. I think I split it into two podcasts. And we have BNI directors who train ambassadors of local Chambers to teach them how to work a room effectively so that they can teach Chamber members.

In some areas, we have that strong a relationship with the Chamber where they’re actually bringing in BNI directors to help do training. And the BNI directors are glad to do that and do it for free, as a rule, because it helps to strengthen the relationship between the Chamber and the local BNI group.

Priscilla:
I don’t know if this is common or not, but our BNI group actually joined the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce as an organization, and they have some yearly events where you have a table and you present yourself along with – and it’s open to the public – along with other businesses, and we had our own table.

Ivan:
I think that’s a great idea. Most Chambers will allow that; some get a little strange about that and don’t like that. But the overwhelming majority of the Chambers absolutely allow the local BNI chapter to actually join the Chamber. I think it’s a great idea. I think you need to remember that the chapters, the members who don’t abuse the relationship and try to get 30 memberships, in effect, in the Chamber and be there really representing your business as part of the BNI group. And if you do that with respect, Chambers are usually totally okay with that. Particularly, Chambers often do trade shows, and I’ve talked about trade shows in a number of podcasts, and that’s where it’s particularly effective is to allow the chapter to go as a group to a Chamber trade show.

Priscilla:
Yeah, okay. Well, I think this is a great idea. I’m glad you brought it up.

Ivan:
Well, thanks. Just to wrap up, again, if you’re a local BNI member, try to take a look at some good Chambers in your area and participate in them. And BNI directors should look for opportunities to create strategic alliances with local Chambers. And remember, give first; find ways to help the Chamber, and the Chamber will feel comfortable with us as an organization working side by side to help business people network effectively.

Priscilla:
Okay, great. Well, thank you, Dr. Misner.

Ivan:
Thank you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Well, listeners, I’d like to remind you that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.