Professional Networking Organizations

A few of my friends who have their own small business ventures have joined "professional networking organizations." I must admit, I am extremely skeptical of these organizations. Their purpose is getting small business owners referral busines from other small business owners. Although I think the concept is good, I object somewhat to the large fees that professional networking organiations require for membership. Surely, people could organize these groups independently, pick up their own tab when they went out to eat for networking meetings, and not have to pay any membership dues.

Furthermore, professional networking organizations require you to attend weekly or bi-weekly membership meetings durnig business hours. Shouldn't your average small business owner be working during business hours (and beyond), I wonder? I have heard that marketing and growing your business is the most often-overlooked aspect of business ownership, but I feel like there has to be a better way to address the issue of getting new business than paying for referrals from other business owners in completely different industries.

I can see how they might work, but I wonder if they do work... I shall have to hunt for some success and/or horror stories. If you have one, your comments are most welcome!

The Quest for Work Begins

Maniac MarCom has finally gotten a handle on its existing workload and is looking for new clients. I'm investigating the usual online venues -- Craigslist, elance, Monster -- as well as disseminating business cards whenever possible. I was fabulously lucky to start a small business with an existing client base and no need for additional work, but now I would like to try my hand at growing my little venutre to a not-quite-as-little venture. I have quite a few talented friends who do graphic design, marketing writing, and blogging, who are interested in picking up the slack if the company's workload gets out of hand.