This past week we attended the Friends in Business networking event with the LGBT Chamber of Commerce in Charlotte. We found it extremely enlightening to meet with other artists, businesses, and members of the various chambers that were in attendance. We had actually been considering cancelling our membership prior to this event but decided to give it one more go. Much to our surprise this turned out to be one of the best decisions we have made as a business.
The Event
We showed up to the event early in the morning while they were still setting up. They showed us to where we would be setting up and, initially, we were a little worried as we were going to be outside away from where most of the action was going to be. Although it was hot that day the spot actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Our neighbor didn’t show up so we got to spread out a bit more than if we were inside, we were actually able to hear people when they talked to us without having to shout over them, and we ended up being the first people you see on your way in as well as the last people you see on the way out.
The event itself was fantastic. Quite a few other small business owners stopped by and we had a chance to discuss possible collaborations, sales opportunities, and commissions. Small businesses love to support other small businesses which meant business owners were going out of their way to try and find ways they could work with us. Whether it was designing gifts for their clients, creating artwork for their offices, or just purchasing a piece of my art for their own personal collections, they were more than willing to support us.
The Break Out Sessions
One of the great things about these events is that other businesses come prepared to share their expertise with other business owners. I spent the day working the booth but Brian was able to step away for a couple of these sessions. The two he chose to attend, one which was focused on using AI for our business and the other on brand reputation, were extremely beneficial. No sooner did we get home did Brian immediately start putting some of these learnings to use.
We signed up for ChatGPT+, got ourselves a Google Business Profile, started leveraging prompts to help with some of our copy, and did an audit on our site and our socials to make sure they were tuned to get the most out of them. Often times it is hard to make decisions about how to pivot your business but, when you are getting recommendations from people who have been through it, it makes it so much easier to forge ahead.
Networking
After the event the Chamber hosted a networking event at a local restaurant. This offered a unique opportunity for us to meet with some of the chamber members as well as some of the other business owners and talk about what works, what doesn’t, and how we can adapt to make our business successful. We got to chat with the CEO of the Chamber who had some potential opportunities for us to do some commissions. We also had a great conversation with one of the marketing experts that had spoken at the break out session Brian attended which could end up being a game changer for us in the coming years.
Overall this even solidified the benefit of being part of a larger community of small businesses. We had a chance to meet with folks from other chambers as well (including the Asian and Pacific Islanders of whom I have been trying to join for years) and came away with so many great opportunities for the next several years. Do you have any stories to share about networking with other business as an artist. Share them with us and remember to tag us, @bz_furfur, and, as always, stay unique.
