Yesterday, I attended my first Chamber of Commerce meeting. I have joined recently to try and make contacts for my rental business. I arrived early at the country club. It was a beautiful day out, and the building was very well maintained. I adjusted my “I Love to be Social” hat, and I stretched my hand out to whomever came my way.
I met numerous people who were also stretching their social muscles, too. Many I met might not ever use one of my signs. That is okay. The purpose of this whole process is to meet people and hone your skills. You never know for sure who someone you meet may mention you (or your company) to. I met the pet sitters, the fire chiefs, the emergency recovery guys (the guys your homeowner insurance agent will refer you to if your door is kicked in etc), guys from the library, the landscapers, and a couple of pastors from the same church.
Unfortunately, the first person I met was a network marketer. On the provided table, he was putting down a few of his brochures. I put a few of my cards down as well. And, my brief pause seemed to be the moment when I “bumped” his “play” button. He started telling me about his products. He tried to sell the free evaluation. And, somewhere during the conversation I went to my happy place trusting he would stop soon…I did want to come back and enjoy the meal they were serving.
As they started to encourage us to sit, I found every table (including the chairs on the tables of the people I came with) was pretty full. I located a seat to park in, and prepared to enjoy/endure the rest of the meeting. After the listing of the Chambers Board of Directors, they allowed a time for new members to tell about their company. One of the people I came with is a very good speaker. She eloquently described what her and her company does. I was somewhere in my happy place as my mouth went through the words I rehearsed it using. (I am trusted it used them effectively.) After me, there were two network marketers who described their products. I may be alone in tuning out certain words. However, when a person uses “awesome molecules”, “life-changing” and “best product” to many times within a minute or so, I usually have taken the opportunity to decide “never will I try this product” before they have reached the end of their talk.
Although the meal was very good, the scheduled speaker had cancelled. The substitute was very nice, but rather hard to follow. He talked about 11 points to make a better life. Five of the points were choosing your vehicle, and the rest of the 6 were your fuel. And, while it was rather hard to tell, I believe he only covered one of the “fuels”. My lack of interest may have been directly tied to the meal I was served. The pork loin with apple glaze, red mashed potatoes with peels left on, and green beans with onions and bacon were quite good. And, as my attentiveness to the speech might indicate, the meal was the highlight of his speech.
As the door prizes were given out (there were 5 prizes with two on my table. The person to the left and right of me both won. I referred to myself as a “loser”, but one of the winners implied my good vibes was the reason I had winners on both sides of me. Possibly worth the price of attending! 😉 ), the luncheon was nearing its end. A few handshakes were exchanged prior to me removing my “social” hat. I certainly think finding the right chamber to join could be beneficial for your business.
As I struggle to stretch my social muscle on a more frequent basis, I know I will meet more network marketers. They are just trying to meet people and grow their business, too. If they are open to some advice, please consider being better prepared. You may “net some fish” with the use of excessive adjectives. To have a chance of netting this fish, please let me meet YOU before you hand me a brochure containing information I could easily get off the internet. Good Luck with your network marketing! Please remember who your audience is as you venture out into the world to build your business!
