I recently joined the local Houston Memorial Chapter of BNI, Business Networking International. There are about 23 members right now. It is a great group of dedicated business people focused on customer service and referrals for each other. It is a great way of increasing your sphere of business without taking on employees or going outside a your expertise.

We meet once per week in the morning, which for me is a great way to get the day started. We meet and discuss our businesses then move on to the referrals. As each industry is only represented once time per chapter, you are not competing with others in your industry. For example, I am the only web designer in my chapter. There is only one realtor and one mortgage broker and one accountant. The screening is rigorous as the chapter reviews your application, contacts your referrals, and makes sure you are serious business person who runs it ethically and properly.

We all want to be able to refer the best to our customers. So if any of my customers has need I might be able to refer them someone in my group that I know will give them the best service.

So if you are in the Houston area, checkout the group for any work you might need. I highly recommend each of them.
http://www.bnihouston.com/cgi-bin/viewmember.cgi?chapter_id=25