THE SYDNEY NETWORKER

DIY Networking - a cheaper, effective option

2012-01-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas been and gone and now many people are starting to focus on their networking activities for the year ahead.

During the year, The Sydney Networker will publish Blogs showing how to network more effectively and at the same time saving hundreds of dollars on your networking activities....

You can create word-of-mouth for your business. You can do it yourself. It's called DIY Networking and you can do it!

Word-of-mouth is the most effective means to advertise your brand. A lot of data exists showing that customer word-of-mouth is more effective, more cost-effective than other methods of promotion.

Building referrals is just as important now as if was in the past. In fact, it's much easier and more cost effective now to develop and build those relationships than it has been in the past. What is more difficult is keeping those referral conversations alive and focused.

How do you do it? How do you inspire your customers and business associates to tell others the great things about you and your business without it costing a fortune in time and resources?

We'll discuss this over the next month or so and give you some links to articles which will help you to run your own effective business referral network.

Tony Benner

Corporate Focus PR

Tony.Benner@corpfocus.com.au

Sydney, Australia

Lunch with David Koch - Network with Sydney Rotarians

2012-01-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

LUNCH WITH DAVID KOCH!

You're Invited....

HOW TO SURVIVE 2012

We are celebrating Rotary Day next month and to mark the occasion, Television Presenter and Finance Commentator David Koch will address the Rotary Club of Sydney on How to Survive 2012.

Luncheon details are:

* Tuesday, 28th February, 2012

* 12:30pm - 2:00pm

* Cello Room, Castlereagh Hotel, 169 Castlereagh St, Sydney.

* Cost: $40:00, 2-course luncheon.

You and your friends and business associates are invited to attend this special luncheon.

Please click here to send an email with the names of the people attending the luncheon. Book now to avoid missing this important event.

We look forward to seeing you and your friends on 28th February.

Best wishes,

Tony Benner

The Rotary Club of Sydney Inc

Tel. 0407 366 140

Gender Affects Your Networking Skills - Forbes Mag.

2011-11-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Frieda Klotz writes:

A friend of mine gives keynote speeches at conferences in a male-dominated industry. She is glamorous, bright and very successful. After each event, she fends off multiple requests for her email address, queries about her opportunities at her company and offers of dinner. The worst part of her job is networking, mostly other people’s attempts at it.

We have all perhaps been on the receiving end of an anxiously-proffered business card and repeated follow-up messages. I certainly also know what it’s like to be in a room with six editors and 140 budding journalists all hoping to talk to them (ie. no fun at all). Whatever your gender, it can be a challenge to network gracefully, but for some reason I had assumed men would be better at it than women — that they might be more assertive and outgoing. My friend’s experiences, and a book coming out next year, suggest that this is not necessarily true.

The authors of Business Networking and Sex conducted a survey of 12,000 small-business owners and entrepreneurs across the world, and concluded that women are excellent networkers. I spoke to one of them, Dr. Ivan Misner, to find out exactly why this is.

“Men tended to be very transactional in their networking and women tend to be a bit more relational,” he told me. “Women said it’s better to focus on the relationship. But when it came to the question whether it’s better to focus on business and build the relationship later, men really felt it was better to focus on the business first.” Women show more interest in their person they’re speaking to than in closing a deal, and this approach works: more women than men said that networking had helped their business.

Misner did have some advice for women. “Dress for business at business events.” He said he was shocked by some of the provocative photos people used on their LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, and although most women do dress professionally, when they don’t, they fit a stereotype.

For men, Misner’s suggestions were somewhat different.

“Edit what you’re saying using filters, and avoid what’s not appropriate,” he said. Many of the women surveyed complained that men hit on them at networking events. Misner added that men need to learn how to engage women on topics that might interest them — something that women often already do (he gave the example of one woman who reads the sports pages regularly to supply her with small-talk). “Speak to women to relate to them, not to impress them.”

Both genders need to be more systematic about their networks, keeping records and tracking contacts. “Consistently, people who had systems in place did better whether they were men or women.”

This survey dwells on businesspeople and entrepreneurs, and for corporations, where women are notoriously absent from executive positions, the situation may different. But Misner thought the results bode well for women who run their own firms. “Absolutely, positively,” he told me. “Female entrepreneurs should be very pleased reading this book and men should be embarrassed.”

Still, some of my favourite networking advice comes from a man. The British journalist Polly Vernon interviewed Vanity Fair‘s editor Graydon Carter a few back, and asked him how one should navigate New York‘s intimidating publishing circles. Interestingly, his reply also stressed the role of relationships. “Just be nice,” he said. “Things will happen. People think they have to be ambitious. But at a certain age, all you want is to be around nice, decent people. Oh, nice is a cheap word, maybe not quite the right word… Kindness! Generosity! Be that way, you’ll do well in New York.”

(AND Sydney!!!)

www.corpfocus.com.au

Choosing the Right Networking Group - Avoiding the Pitfalls!

2011-11-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

International Networker Larry James writes that networking in the wrong places won’t help you or your career contacts. When deciding which networking groups to join, consider how much time is actually available to network. There are so many different types of networking events to choose from. Any place where people gather offers a potential networking opportunity. Chosen carefully, an effective networking group can generate business in ways traditional marketing and advertising alone cannot.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when considering a networking group.

• What are you trying to achieve through business networking?

• How long as the group been in existence?

• What is the depth of commitment at the leadership level?

• What is the format of the meeting?

• Is there a structure or are you just left to your own devices to introduce yourself to people?

• How often are the meetings?

• What steps have been taken to develop a structure that encourages the kind of business relationships necessary to build a successful business?

• Do you enjoy spending time with these people?

• Is there chemistry and opportunities to develop real friendships?

• Who else attends the group and will they be the right people for you to team up with?

• Are members obliged to pass Referrals at every meeting or is it a more relaxed affair?

• Are you required to attend every meeting?

• Does this networking group have a “community” presence?

Decide what time of day you are at your best! Are you a morning person? Or do you prefer to meet for lunch or an evening meeting? Most groups will allow you to attend at least one meeting before asking you to commit financially. When you visit for the first time, observe the level of comfort the group members have with each other. Loyalty within the group is very important.

Check out several groups to find the best chemistry and perceived value. You may have to pay a small fee for lunch or breakfast, but by attending these meetings it will give you an idea of what to expect and whether or not its members are those you can benefit from and whether they can benefit from your business.

Call the networking event leader and find out what businesses and professions have attended their business networking events in the past. Your goal is to identify the best ways to develop relationships with those who are in the best position to introduce you to potential customers.

I will often go to hear a speaker or topic which interests me or to catch up with a number of business associates and friends in one place. Sometimes trial and error works. You might begin by compiling a list of different networking groups that are currently in your area, or areas where you would like to do business. If the group has a Website, take a look.

Ask your friends what groups they attend and ask if they will invite you as a guest so that you can find out more about the group.

continued

Tony Benner

Corporate Focus PR

Tony.Benner@corpfocus.com.au

How to Muscle Up Your Pitch

2011-11-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

Each and every one of us wants to have a dream body but is afraid to ask.
Can you ask for a healthily toned and admired body? Of course you can. You can ask for one from your Personal Fitness Trainer but in the end much of the hard work has to be done yourself.
To start with, you must have the right and very importantly, a POSITIVE attitude.   Attitude, attitude, attitude and this can get you there.
Now The Body does not refer to your physical self.   I can think of many examples but broadly, it can also refer to an establishment, a religious order and also your company, your business. Heard of the term, ‘body corporate’?
Working your business is no different from working on your body.
Let’s look at your own individual business. Which part of your business do you consider as the ‘arms’, ‘back’, ‘legs’ and the ‘abs’? Which of these you must first of all concentrate for the rest to function properly?  Does the word “Core Business” rings a bell with anyone? Physically, it means your abdominal area and your lower back.
Having built a strong CORE in that area of your body or business, you can then pursue and strengthen other areas of your body or business. Think of CORE as Coordinate, Orientate, Respond and Expand in putting together your sales pitch – 60 seconds is all it needs – and extend it to your overall business.
Knowing your CORE means knowing what you do and what you do really well – in other words, your USPs (Unique Selling Points).    This is the foundation on which you built other auxiliary benefits to your product and service features.
Whichever part of your body you choose to focus and exercise upon, it is time to flex a bit more your muscle.
Flexing your muscle means you move on from CORE to other areas of your business like:

Telling a good, memorable story of a client whom you have helped;
Your promotion of the week or for a coming festival or event;
Recalling favorable feedbacks from satisfied clients on aspects of your business;
Explaining in layman’s terms what constitute the right circumstances that require your services and help trigger a response from your
business contact to refer you; and
If your business is complicated (like that of the accountant or a solicitor), TELL THEM what to say – in other words, give them a script!;

Doing this requires a little mastery or skill over time. It also means like in every business out there – you need to plan.
Building your body effectively also means focusing on a body muscle each workout session. For example, biceps and quadriceps on Monday, chest and back on Wednesday and cross training with either running or swimming on another day. It never hurt to work your abdominals at every workout because as I said earlier, building your CORE is important. The point I am trying to stress here is the importance of planning.
Planning helps to put your business in the right cognitive perspective.
Believe me, if you give your business a good fitness work-out using the tips I give you, be rest assured that you can muscle into any potential business opportunities.
Have a great business work-out!
by Richard Poi
Richard.Poi@corpfocus.com.au
www.corpfocus.com.au

Facing Up To Social Media!

2011-10-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

There continues to be much hype these days suggesting that social media is the best way to grow your business, however research shows that to have success in business it is important to join a business organisation or a face-to-face networking group.

Being an active member of a business organisation or networking group allows one to build lasting relationships with like-minded people, many of whom can refer business to you.

Many business groups, such as chambers of commerce can offer additional benefits such as discounts on products and services for the whole membership as well as having a free directory listing as part of the cost of membership.

Many business networking groups, such as Amcham, give members the chance to present their business to the group whilst others are able to arrange specific business advice for members.

Being a member of an industry-specific business organisation is a great way to contribute to the growth of your industry and keep up with advances in your field, as well as an excellent opportunity to learn from others who may have more experience or new ideas.

General business organisations provide opportunities to interact with people in other fields, which can be quite enlightening. Many general business organisations exist for a particular purpose, such as to provide networking for businesses in a specific geographic area. Others, like Rotary and Lions, focus on community service which can greatly enhance your small business's profile in the community.

It’s usually a good idea to be involved with say three non-competing organisations, such as a chamber of commerce, a community group like Rotary and a face-to-face networking organisation.

Continue to be active in the rapidly changing world of social media, especially if you are running a local business. However meeting with other local business people and being an active participant in your local area will do more to help sell your products or services that lots of tweets on Twitter.

*****

Tony Benner is the Managing Director of Corporate Focus PR, a public relations and social media consultancy based in Sydney. www.corpfocus.com.au pr@corpfocus.com.au

BNI Networkers Go Blue in South Sydney & Inner West

2011-09-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Blue September is a campaign that asks us to face up to cancer in men.

22,000 Australian men die from cancer every year, but at the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, they want to turn this statistic around.

This September, they want you to GET BLUE to raise awareness about men's health - paint your face blue, host a blue party, or donate to vital research into the cancers that affect men most: prostate, bowel, lung, stomach, liver and oesophageal cancers.

This week BNI chapters in Sydney Inner West and South Sydney are going blue and entering into the spirit of Blue September in a number of ways.

Some chapters will be using the word "Blue" in their Sales Manager Minute presentations and they will be wearing blue clothing and jewellery on the day.

At BNI Gardens Chapter in Peakhurst, the owner of Gardens on Forest Function Centre where the chapter meets is donating the cost of the BNI breakfast to the Blue September campaign.

Other ingenious uses of "Blue" are expected by some very entrepreneurial BNI members.

Apart from the fun and networking aspects, the guys are being encouraged to see the doctor this week for that checkup!

BNI - Remembering Names!

2011-09-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

Never Struggle to Remember a Name Again!

The simple fact is, if you want to get good at networking you need to get good at remembering people’s names. However, we all know that’s much easier said than done . . .
Niiraj Shah, one of the world’s leading experts on business networking started off years ago going to networking events and struggling to remember any given person’s name minutes after he’d met them. He knew he needed to so something to change this if he wanted to become a successful networker so after giving it a significant amount of thought, he came up with an extremely effective 3-step process that has forever solved the problem he had with remembering names.
Watch this video where Niiraj shares his simple, 3-step secret to remembering people’s names.
www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

Getting the Most out of LinkedIn

2011-08-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI:

If you had any lingering thoughts that social media was just a "fad," you may want to let those go, particularly in light of LinkedIn's recent IPO -- with a valuation of $4.3 billion.

I've been following the development of online business networking for several years, particularly at the inception of sites like Ecademy.com, Ryze.com, and of course LinkedIn. While there are many competitors to LinkedIn, it has certainly for now risen to the top of sites devoted primarily to business networking.

I use a variety of social networks to interact with colleagues, associates, and friends, but LinkedIn has some features that set it apart from the rest. LinkedIn is a way that many of the members of my off-line network (BNI - Business Network International) have stayed in touch with each other in the online space. As a person in the "500+ connections" category, I use LinkedIn as a way to disseminate the many articles I write every month, as well as to promote books and publications. Here's how I use it and what I recommend to others.

1. Connecting with More People

I've spoken to countless entrepreneurs who have doubled or tripled their business because of the relationships they are able to make on LinkedIn. With the ability to view detailed profiles, become connected to people via a shared acquaintance, and to post updates about one's business or career for these connections to share, a huge number of the barriers to connecting with people in different geographic locations simply don't exist to members of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is also a well-known as a resource for both job seekers and recruiters. The site lets businesses pay to post jobs and sells enhanced profile and services to jobseekers. Successful recruiters rely heavily on networking and LinkedIn to find candidates for open positions.

2. Participating in Groups

LinkedIn's Groups feature is a wonderful way to meet others who share an affinity, whether it be an industry, cause, or an employer, and to have an online arena for possible exchanges. Being a member of the same group as someone else removes the barrier that LinkedIn ordinarily imposes that you must personally know someone to send a message or invite him or her to connect.

LinkedIn's Groups feature might just be among its most valuable, especially when used effectively to build influential connections. Participating in a group -- by asking questions, suggesting topics, answering questions, or recommending another member's answers -- is a way to build a more personal connection. For example, I mentor a large number of entrepreneurs who want to better their business writing skills, meeting with them on a regular basis via telebridge. These "mentees" have also formed a group on LinkedIn, where they can share writing opportunities, or get reviews from peers on a new piece they've written.

Participating in groups can take as much or as little time as you choose. For maximum impact, choose group discussions that are highly popular, judged from the number of responses.

3. Capitalising on Search Engine Optimisation

LinkedIn profiles show up very high on search engine results. The more links you add to your profile, the higher one's ranking may be in search engine results. LinkedIn allows you to incorporate two very important links to a profile: websites and a blog. Adding these to your profile not only builds your profile's link count, but lets you promote your site or sites. I use this feature to highlight my own website, BusinessNetworking.com.

4. Tying in a Twitter Connection

LinkedIn easily dovetails with Twitter. Indeed you can adeptly integrate Twitter with several social networks using Twitter's application programming interfaces: I cross-promote content I have written across my various social networking accounts. Every article I write can be seamlessly shared via my Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn status postings.

Tying your Twitter account to your LinkedIn profile (achieved by clicking a box), allows you to promote your Twitter profile easily through LinkedIn.

5. Building and Enhancing Credibility

LinkedIn may well become the first place everyone will look to determine the business profile of an individual. LinkedIn allows a professional to showcase a collection of printed works or publications, recommendations from other LinkedIn users, company affiliations, and work history. When I want to know more about someone I've just met, I can get quite a bit of information about them by reading their LinkedIn profile. I can see where they've worked, or what they've done in the business world, and I can see what others think of them by reading recommendations that others have written about them.

Since most professionals do not stay in the same job for a lifetime anymore, their LinkedIn profile can continue to capture their work history narrative.

LinkedIn also allows for profiles of companies and brands, which can be cross-connected with the profiles of the "humans" associated with those organizations - including executive management, the founders, and the employees.

These days, a professional's worth is frequently judged by the quality of his or her network. So LinkedIn is particularly vital for today's entrepreneur, demonstrating knowledge, expertise, experience, social capital, and the breadth of one's network.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI - The Right Tools for a Word of Mouth Campaign

2011-07-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

In order to run a successful word-of-mouth campaign, you need to build an arsenal of credibility-enhancing materials. You should always have these at your disposal to make the most of every networking opportunity.

Below is a checklist of items you may already have available or wish to begin asssembling, which can be used as collateral materials in developing your desired image. These are not ranked in a particular; they are all key components of the toolkit of a successful word-of-mouth campaign.

Note: Please keep in mind that this is not a complete list of items needed to market your business. The items in this list are focused on enhancing your networking activities which will lead to greater word of mouth and referrals.

1-Testimonial letters from satisfied clients

2-Photos of yourself, your office facilities, equipment, and/or products

3-Logos of your key customers

4-A list of your memberships and affiliations

5-Question-and-answer sheets

6-Photos of awards and certificates you and your staff have earned

7-Articles you have published, or in which you’re mentioned

8-A one-page flier

9-New-product or service announcements or press releases

10-Current brochures, circulars, and data sheets, and product catalogs

11-Items that reflect your “brand”

12-Items that help you explain your business to your network

13-Client or customer proposals, bid sheets, or marketing letters you have written to existing clients

14-Articles on trends affecting your target market

by BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI - Credibility is Crucial

2011-07-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

But How do you Build it?

It’s amazing what a word-of-mouth campaign can do for your business. People rely on recommendations from trusted sources much more than they do from mere advertisements. The best thing is, the costs associated with running a successful word-of-mouth campaign are usually a fraction of what a traditional advertising campaign can run!
However, as the saying goes, “there is no free lunch.” What you save in dollars spent, you must replace with time and effort. Simply saying to yourself that you are going to market via word of mouth does not guarantee immediate success.

I consistently tell people interested in networking that two of the most crucial things they need to do in order to achieve results from their networking efforts are to plan and execute a schedule of networking events and activities that will put them in front of people and they will also need to begin building their credibility.
So how do you begin building your credibility? There can be a variety of ways to do this depending on whom you are trying to build credibility with, however, in my experience, one of the absolute most important ways to build credibility is to always, always, always hold yourself to the highest ethical standards. Be fair in your pricing, make sure the work you are hired to do is provided with the highest standards in quality; and certainly never over-promise and under-deliver.

Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI - How Introverts can be Better Networkers

2011-07-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Follow these tips to help break the ice in social situations and get on your way to forging lasting business relationships.

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman of BNI

A common assumption that isn't necessarily true is that an extroverted "people person" is the best type of networker.

While an extroverted person might be better at meeting new people, someone who's more introverted can be better at the second part of business networking -- communicating his or her ideas and forming meaningful relationships.

In my experience, introverted people tend to be better listeners and ask more questions, which are essential factors for getting to know a person and his or her business.

But far too often, introverts eliminate themselves from the benefits that come from networking and relationship-building because they aren't comfortable initialising conversations.

Consider me, for example. One evening during a dinner conversation with my wife I mentioned something about my being an extrovert.

She looked at me and said, "Um, honey, I hate to break it to you but, you're an introvert."

An introvert? A networker like me? I laughed, but she insisted I was, and she outlined all the ways I have introverted tendencies.

So, I went online and took a personality test. It determined I am a "situational extrovert," that I am a loner who is reserved around strangers but outgoing in the right context.

It struck me then that I started the BNI networking organisation almost three decades ago because I was naturally uncomfortable meeting new people.

I found that the smaller, more intimate approaches to building a network enabled me to meet people in an organised, structured networking environment that did not require that I actually "talk to strangers."

While there are numerous techniques that can help make networking easier for introverts, here are three that can get you meeting new people now and building valuable relationships for the long haul:

continued

BNI - Twitter for More Referrals!

2011-07-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Five Tips for using Twitter

By Heather Townsend

Heather Townsend is the author of the newly published The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking. In this short article, Heather shares her tips on how to use Twitter to generate more referrals for your BNI chapter.

In my research for The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking, I found that many networkers discount Twitter as a serious networking tool. Actually, if my own experience is anything to go by, it is a very serious and effective networking tool. Similar to many heavy users of Twitter, I find that over 90 percent of my new business comes from a relationship that started on Twitter.

1. Keep in touch with your network
Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with your network between physical meetings. This helps keep your visibility up with the people that matter to you. I make a point of checking all the tweets of the important people in my network on a daily basis. This helps me with conversation starters when I next speak to them. More importantly, it keeps my relationship warm and my visibility high with them.

2. Find new contacts for you and your BNI chapter
Twitter has given me both local and international reach – which I could never have achieved by purely relying on face-to-face networking. I’m always on the lookout for useful contacts for me and my network when on Twitter. For example, one morning I managed to find for my network via Twitter a rare hen breeder, pygmy goat breeder and an alpaca breeder – all before 9:00 a.m. Whenever I have a 1-to-1 with anyone, I normally make 2-3 introductions for them as a result of our conversation – these introductions almost always come from my large network on Twitter.

3. Listen for opportunities for referrals and introductions
Very often on Twitter you will hear someone who you follow ask, “Can you recommend?” (or something similar). Who in your BNI chapter can you recommend?

4. Ask your Twitter followers for help
Remember your Twitter network is part of your network. Don’t be afraid to ask your Twitter followers for introductions for both you and your BNI chapter members.

5. Promote your chapter member’s tweets and blog articles
Your tweets don’t always have to be about you. Use your tweets to share content, e.g. other tweets and blogs, from your BNI chapter members, with your Twitter followers.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

2011-06-21T01:29:00.000-07:00

BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner met Starr Hall at an Entrepreneur Magazine Conference that they both spoke at last year and she did a really impressive presentation on social media marketing.

One of the things she discussed was the concept of “BizPer” Social Media Marketing. She said that about half of your social media posts should be about business and about half should be personal.

Ivan said he loves the concept but, he is not sure he is comfortable with the percentage. He definitely believe that people want to see a little of him as a person via his social media - but, he does not think that half the posts he does should be fully personal. Granted, he thinks that a business message about a personal experience is very good – but, that is still business – not personal.

What do you think the best BizPer split (business focus vs. personal focus) for someone in business to use as a gauge for their social media posts would be? 50/50? 60/40? 70/30? 80/20???

Something else? How much of your social media (in the context of a business person) should be devoted to personal postings?

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI- Tips for a Better Blog

2011-06-18T01:59:00.000-07:00

In this short video, BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner's good friend Jarret Gucci, who is also the web expert credited with building this BusinessNetworking.com blog site and helping Ivan to “make it work,” explains the two most powerful ways to make your blog better.
If you’re one of the many businesspeople around the world who utilises blogging to build your brand, don’t be shy . . . after you watch the video, leave a comment letting the rest of us know what you’ve done to make your blog work. Ivan gets really inspired when he hears creative new ways of improving things to get better results and he knows the rest of the readers of this blog will be inspired by your ideas too!
www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI: Talk TO each other, Not ABOUT each other

2011-06-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

This Week, BNI Founder. Dr Ivan Misner comments:

An important and invaluable lesson I’ve learned over the years is that clear, open, honest, direct communication with people solves most problems. So often I have seen relationships deteriorate to the point where people are talking “about” each other instead of talking “to” each other.

This can happen more easily than you might think. For most people, when things don’t go the way they expect in a relationship, the tendency is to talk to EVERYONE they know EXCEPT the person they have the problem with. Someone once told me that when you point your finger at someone, you have three more fingers pointing back at you–this is very true!

So, my advice (which–trust me–is based on years of experience and learning the hard way)when it comes to strengthening and maintaining healthy relationships, particularly relationships with your referral partners, is to talk “to” each other not “about” each other. If you have a problem with someone in your life, pick up the phone and call them right now. Ask to meet and talk to them about your concerns and, most importantly, how you can both resolve the challenges or issues you’re experiencing and get back to a positive place in the relationship. Stay “solutions focused”–don’t even attempt to get into the “blame game.”

www,bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

2011-06-06T01:56:00.000-07:00

The Real Story on Networking Groups

"Aren't most networking groups just people like me who are trying to build up a new business?"

When you go to a presentation or a seminar on networking, you might get that impression, because the people you meet are there to learn something new, so they tend to be younger folks.

But if you go to a regular networking event or join a networking organisation, you'll soon see that many of the people there tend to be older, established businesspeople.

In the typical business networking group, the members range in age from the 20s through the 60s, with two-thirds of them are over 40.

There's a good reason for this. It's usually the seasoned pros who have recognised and learned to use the benefits of networking to bolster their business. Many have used networking throughout the life of their business and are fully aware of the competitive advantage it offers.

Older networkers often serve as mentors for younger businesspeople, which can be an enormous advantage to someone who is new to the art and science of networking.

The best networking groups are the ones whose membership is diverse in many ways. That is, it will have not only older and younger members but also a good balance of men and women, a mixture of races and ethnicities that is representative of the community, and a wide variety of professions and specialties.

Such a group offers the best opportunities to get referrals from outside your immediate circle of acquaintances and experience--which puts you on the fast track to expanding your business.

Thanks to Dr Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman of BNI.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

What is Business Networking?

2011-05-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI & Tony Benner, Executive Director, BNI Sydney Inner West

Business networking is leveraging your business and personal connections to bring you a regular supply of new business.

The concept sounds simple, but don't let that fool you. Because it involves relationship building, it can be a deceptively complex process.

Consider how many people you know. How many of these people truly understand what you do? How many have directed prospects to you as referrals? And how many of those referrals have actually turned into business?

Business networking is much more than showing up at networking functions, shaking a lot of hands and collecting business cards.

For example, imagine two people attending an event, sizing it up and drawing an imaginary line down the middle. They separate, each taking half the room. At the end of the event, they meet again to see who's collected the most business cards.

Have you met these people? Sure you have. We all have. What did they accomplish? They collected a lot of cards that will end up on a shelf, in a drawer, in the rubbish, or--worse yet--scanned into a computer so they can spam everyone they just met. Why? What does a business card represent? It's a piece of paper, with ink and images on it. No relationship has been formed. This networking strategy, by itself, isn't an effective use of time, money or energy.

Networking for business growth must be strategic and focused. Not everyone you meet can help move your business forward--but everything you do can be driven by the intention to grow your business. You have total control over whom you meet, where you meet them and how you develop and leverage relationships for mutual benefit. You have total control over whether you enter into the unique 29 percent of the population that is separated by six degrees, whether you stay there, or whether you never get there at all.

Networking your business means you have to be proactive. The core of networking is doing something specific each week that is focused on networking for business growth. Make a plan, focus and be consistent.

When you understand exactly what business networking is and step up to the challenge, you'll find avenues of opportunity that you may have otherwise never discovered, and you will be making an invaluable investment in the steady growth of your business.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI: Four Steps to Building Social Capital

2011-05-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Over time, strengthening relationships within your network can lead to new business.

By Ivan Misner |

You don't have to purposely become a networker to reap the benefits of social capital -- otherwise known as the value behind your social contacts. As long as you take as much care in raising and investing your social capital as you do your financial capital, you'll find that the benefits that flow from these intangible investments will multiply your material returns many times over.

Take for example a colleague of mine who is a book editor. He often works long hours in isolation, surfacing only occasionally to communicate with an author or publisher. So, how does someone with such little contact with people build social capital? It's simple. He eventually ventured out in search of others.

My editor friend met and wound up collaborating with a small group of writers who were forming a professional organization. He helped the group attract new members, publish a newsletter, schedule presentations and speakers and arrange conferences with editors and agents. While the organization grew, my friend made several new friends among the founding members. One of those connections helped him land a job that he kept for 12 years. My friend benefitted from another connection who gave him a steady flow of freelance editing work.

Even though my editor friend didn't know it when he began this low-key form of networking, he was building social capital.

Relationships Are Currency
How many times have you, or another entrepreneur you know, attended a networking event where you met a number of good people but never spoke with them again? Although small-business owners are often so busy they find it difficult to remember what they had for breakfast, it's a shame to ignore new contacts you can potentially turn into new business.

The key to improving your social capital isn't the number of contacts you make. What's important is making contacts that become lasting relationships. Imagine if you were putting together a marketing plan for the coming year and you called five close friends to ask them for help -- in the form of either a referral or new business. Now, imagine cold-calling 10 people for the same reason. You'll most likely have better luck with your close friends.

How can you deepen your relationships with contacts and improve your social capital? Here are four steps to get you moving in the right direction:

Give your clients a personal call. Find out how things went with the project you were involved in. Ask if there's anything else you can do to help. Important: do not ask for a referral at this point.
Call all the people who have referred business to you. Ask them how things are going. Try to learn more about their current activities so you can refer business to them.
List 50 people to stay in touch with. Include anyone who has given you business in the last 12 months (from steps 1 and 2) as well as any other prospects you've connected with recently. Send them cards on the next holiday.
Follow up. Two weeks after you've sent cards to your contacts, call them and see what's going on. If the contact is a former client or just someone you've talked to before, now might be the perfect time to ask for a referral. If it's a prospect you're calling, perhaps you can set up an appointment to have coffee and find out if their plans might include using your services.

Social capital is the international currency of networking, especially business networking. After just a few weeks of putting these steps in motion you should have more than enough social capital to tap into the rest of the year.

Dr Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman of BNI

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI: The Referral Process

2011-04-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

by Dr Ivan Misner, Chairman and Founder of BNI

Much of what I write about networking and referrals emphasises the circuitous, sometimes mysterious nature of referral networking. In a deep, broad-based, mature referral network, where you spend a lot of time doing good things for others without looking for a direct reward, and where the good that you do winds its way through the system and eventually comes back to you in the form of referrals, it may seem odd to describe referral networking as a system. But that’s what it is, and when it comes to the actions of generating, developing, and closing a business deal through a referral, there is a well defined, systematic process.

What is a referral? It’s not as simple as it’s sometimes made out to be. We leave college and go into business knowing little about referrals, because referral marketing is rarely part of the curriculum. We know what a great thing it is to get a referral, because it generally means lucrative business with a reliable client. We often think of it simply as a connection to someone we can call on to do business with or, if it’s not our kind of business, someone we can refer to someone else.

We understand that referrals are the best kind of business. What we don’t understand is how to make them happen when we want them and, when they come in, how to get the best results from them and make them last. The referral process is a system that has a lot of feedback built into it. If you follow it for every referral, you will get predictable results: more closed business deals and a never-ending supply of referrals.

I have broken the referral process down into eight easy steps:

Step 1–Your Source Discovers a Referral
Step 2–Research the Referral
Step 3–Check Back In With Your Referral Source
Step 4–Meet With the Referral
Step 5–Report Back to Your Source
Step 6–Your Source Gets Feedback from the Referral
Step 7–Your Source Reports Back to You
Step 8–Close the Deal

For information about BNI, please visit www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

12 Ways to Strengthen Referral Relationships

2011-04-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

By Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI

To be an effective networker, you should always be working on strengthening your relationships with your referral sources. So, what’s the best way to do this?

The answer is not so simple. It really depends on the referral source and what he or she responds to.

But there are a number of actions you can take to build good will and credibility in your relationships, and the list below contains an array of examples. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, so you should feel free to add your own actions to it.

1. Send a thank-you card. Always a nice gesture, a handwritten thank-you card makes a great impression, especially in this age of electronic communication. Be sure to write a personalized note that mentions what you’re thanking your referral source for. SendOutCards.com is a great resource for this.

2. Send a gift. Like a thank-you card, a gift, however small or inexpensive, creates visibility and builds credibility with your referral source. Try to find out what your referral source likes (favorite foods, hobbies, etc.), and send a gift that is personalized to her tastes.

3. Call a referral source. An occasional phone call is a good way to keep the relationship strong, if you take care to call only when it’s least likely to be an unwelcome interruption. It’s also a good idea to have a piece of news or some tidbit of information to pass along that will benefit or interest your source.

4. Offer a referral. Giving your referral source a referral is a wonderful way to build your relationship. By helping build your source’s business, you create a debt of gratitude that will encourage your source to respond in kind.

5. Display a source’s brochure. Doing a bit of sales work on behalf of a referral source can only enhance your relationship. If you have a public area for your business, offer to place your source’s materials where your clients can read them.

6. Send an article of interest. Set up a file for holding newspaper and magazine clippings that may be of interest to people you would like to be your referral sources. Sending an article, especially one that is pertinent to your source’s current business or personal circumstances, says that you are thinking about your source’s needs.

7. Arrange a one-to-one meeting. Meeting a referral source in person is an excellent opportunity to learn more about his business and interests. Prepare some questions in advance so that the conversation flows smoothly. Be ready to give an update on your business and to ask lots of questions about your source’s interests.

8. Extend an invitation. Invite a referral source to a networking event. Introducing her to other businesspeople you know gives your source an opportunity to meet others in your target market and may also provide new business opportunities.

9. Set up an activity. A recreational activity, such as a golf outing, fishing trip, concert, or play, is a great opportunity to let your referral source see a different side of you in an informal setting. The activity should be one that will give everybody time to relax, but it may also include an element of information. The one thing the people in this group will definitely have in common is you, so you’ll certainly be the focus of a good many conversations. Group activities may be social, such as a barbecue or a ball game, or they may be educational, such as a seminar or demonstration.

10. Nominate a referral source. Watch for opportunities to nominate a referral source for an award. Local service and civic organizations often present annual awards recognizing contributions to a particular cause, and local periodicals often sponsor awards contests for businesspeople. Find out what groups and interests your referral source is involved in, and check to see if there is any form of recognition associated with them.

11. Include a source in your newsletter. Even a brief mention of a referral source in your newsletter can pay dividends down the road, including the opportunity for your source to reciprocate with his newsletter.

12. Arrange a speaking engagement. Help your referral source get in front of a group that would be interested in her business or area of expertise. Local chapters of service organizations, such as Rotary and Kiwanis, are always looking for good speakers. If you belong to a group that invites people to speak, use your contacts to help your source make the rounds among various chapters.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI: Developing Your Target Market

2011-03-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

BNI's Founder, Dr Ivan Misner, says building your business is all about leveraging your strengths within the context of your prospects’ needs, then networking with as many of those people as you can.

The most successful networkers have developed a thorough strategy planning process. Key aspects of this process include: identifying the major components of the broad, deep network you hope to establish; studying the different types of networking organisations and how they fit into your overall strategy; and identifying the types of businesspeople that make up your target market.

There are also some subsequent aspects of the process that are extremely important to note. The first of these is directly related to you: how do you fit into your own strategy? Second, where will you find the people you want to interact with and make part of your network?

To start, let’s identify some of the strengths and skill sets that you bring to the table as a business professional.

Are you a “people person”?
Do you enjoy public speaking?
What kind of professional background did you have before starting your business?
How long have you lived in the area where you do business?
What other natural skills do you have (such as time management, staying organised, keeping clients focused) that don’t fall directly into your business expertise but are valued by people?

Once you’ve got these answers written down, ask yourself, “What group of people or target market is best suited for my services?”

Follow these steps and you will build a great foundation to ‘start’ understanding and developing your target market.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI: International Networking Day - Business Connections Event

2011-02-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

BNI: International Networking Day - Business Connections Event

BNI: Mobile Phones & Networking Meetings Don't Mix!

2011-01-24T21:18:00.000-08:00

BNI's Founder, Dr Ivan Misner says if you were sitting in an important meeting with your biggest client and you got a text message, would you stop listening to your client and completely tune him out in order to respond to the text message?
What if you got a phone call . . . would you stop mid-presentation as you were pitching your most important client about your newest product in order to answer the call?? Of course you wouldn’t! That would be a blatantly rude move on your part and it would put your most valued client relationship at risk.
So, why in the world would anybody ever even consider looking at their mobile phone during a networking meeting?? Make no mistake, a good reason for looking at, picking up, or using your mobile phone in any way during any type of networking meeting does not exist!
One of the fastest ways to ruin your credibility and earn yourself a reputation as being rude, unprofessional, and undeserving of referrals is to use your mobile phone during a networking meeting. It virtually screams to your networking partner(s): I don’t care what you have to say because I have better things to do right now and this meeting is not worth my time.
If you want results from your networking efforts, which I’m assuming you do if you’re reading this blog, then that is the last thing you would ever feel about or say to anyone in your network. But, if you’re using your mobile phone during meetings with people in your referral network, I promise you–not only is that the exact message you are sending them, you’re also wasting their time and yours.
So, do yourself a favour and check your phone one last time before your networking meeting . . . check that it is completely turned off and don’t turn it back on until you leave the meeting. Remember, networking meetings and mobile phones don’t mix!

http://www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au/

BNI: Three Key Networking Trends!

2011-01-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

Business Connections evolving through technology and education.

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI

There are many changes on the horizon for the field of business networking in 2011. Technology will continue to evolve, of course, but the biggest change will simply be the recognition of the field itself. When I wrote my first book on business networking in the late 1980s, the most common question I was asked was, "Isn't networking just a fad?" After 25 years, that question doesn't come up anymore. Times are changing and networking is, too.

Here's my take on three major trends I foresee in business networking over the next several years -- and how they will impact the future of the industry.

No. 1. Successful networks will integrate face-to-face and online opportunities.

Many business people have said to me, "I have thousands of connections on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Now what?" What they really want to know is how to turn their social media contacts into real business. I believe the answer lies in forward-thinking networks effectively integrating technology and social media directly into their face-to-face operations.

Soon we'll see "walled-garden" communities accessible only to members of that group. These communities will not be sub-groups of existing social media networks. They will be independent networks with tightly controlled access based on a membership database. In effect, they will be mini-social media sites with a niche.

The integration of online communities accessible to limited individuals linked with the establishment of face-to-face interactions will be increasingly popular over the next decade. The attraction to groups like this will be the niche orientation, as well as the shared values and mission of the organisations. The technology will allow a greater number of connections and the face-to-face aspect will deepen those connections.

No. 2. More private companies will offer training in business networking.

Currently, only one or two universities in the world have a core-curriculum course on networking and social capital. I don't think that will change anytime soon. Some university professors appear to view business networking as a soft science and not something that can be taught. In my opinion, they are wrong.

I think networking will in fact be taught -- just outside the university environment. We'll see the emergence of private, professional training organizations, much the same way that private industry has controlled the educational market on sales techniques (another area where I think many colleges fail miserably).

The downside to this is that the consumer needs to be well informed about a training company's knowledge in the area it claims to have expertise. If you want to take a course in business networking, look over the qualifications of the company and the trainer. An increasing number of these programs will be offered by independent organizations in the coming future and it will be important for the consumer to weed out the hacks from the true experts.

No. 3. Attempts will be made to create associations of networking groups.

During my tenure in this industry, many efforts have been made to create an association of networking groups. The most recent was by the RNIA (the Referral Networking Industry Association). It failed, as I believe most groups of this type will.

There are many networking associations that exist for specific purposes or industries, like the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Transformational Leadership Council, and the National Association of Professional Organisers. An association of various networking groups then may present conflicts and substantial overlap. For these reasons alone, an association will struggle or fail to get off the ground. I'm afraid it's one of those good ideas that will be difficult to sustain.

While an association of networking groups isn't likely to work, the integration of technology and face-to-face networking, as well as developments on the educational front point toward a positive future. Twenty years ago, there were no books or articles on the topic of networking. Today there's a proliferation of information. Business networking is evolving and I believe it will continue to grow for years to come.

http://www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au/

10 Health Tips for Christmas

2010-12-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

From Square One Fitness

Christmas and good health may not seem to go together particularly well, so you need to pay extra attention of you want to stay illness free this December.

Here are my top 10 tips for staying healthy this Christmas.

1. Reduce Stress

Stress is one of the biggest health worries at this time of the year as you try to juggle your finances and plan a feast for your family.

Try to plan your budget and work out what you can afford.

If it’s a bit tight, don’t feel pressured to overspend on anything and tell your friends and family that you’re cutting back this year. They’ll understand, they may even feel relieved!

There is an abundance of cheap Christmas food recipes on the internet…

2. Get some exercise

We know summer is hot and sticky, but getting even the smallest amount of exercise will make you feel so much better. It’s a brilliant way of relieving stress and boosting your energy, which means you will be mentally and physically prepared for when the relatives arrive!

A brisk walk is the easiest way, but if you prefer indoor exercise, why not spend 30 mins swimming up and down your local pool – it works your whole body and is very low-impact, meaning its less likely to put strain on your joints.

Of course, you may well be going to a Christmas party which is actually a great place to get some exercise. When the DJ sticks on Abba’s Dancing Queen, make an effort to dance – it’s a surprisingly easy way to get some exercise (and all the time you’re dancing, you’re not drinking!) J

3. Down a smoothie

This is the time of the year, when many of us feel stretched pretty thin. When you’re too busy or frazzled from the night before to eat properly, or even need a quick pick-me-up, then a smoothie is the quickest and healthiest way to get goodness inside you.

Try a boost juice with a shot of wheatgrass to pick you up and give you immune system that extra boost it needs.

They can give you the same amount of immune-boosting antioxidants as 5 portions of fruit and veg!

Or you could make your own smoothie which is a whole lot cheaper

4. Help your hangover

No-one enjoys a hangover. They’re natures way of telling you what a great time you’ve had, but they also tell you how many essential vitamins your body has lost.

Surprisingly, even though it’s the last thing many of us want to eat with a fuzzy head, a Christmas dinner is good to eat, because its full of the vitamins needed to cure a hangover.

Turkey is a great source of vitamin B, which is vital for your nervous system and stopping you feeling queasy. Potatoes have more vitamin C than a glass of orange juice, which is important, because it helps the liver to break down the alcohol. And green veg like broccoli and Brussels sprouts contain vitamin E which detoxes the body.

If that sounds like too much hard work, gobble down a ripe banana. It contains a natural antacid to help your stomach, magnesium to ease your headache and sugar to top up your livers natural sugar stores and lose that light-headed feeling.

5. Get some sleep

We know Christmas is all about having fun, eating and drinking, and having late nights.

Your body and brain recharge when you’re under the covers and also fight off infections. Try drinking a warm, milky drink before bed, and , if you’ve been up or out partying, make sure you give yourself time to wind down and switch off before jumping into bed.

6. Eat a good breakfast

Yes, yes, I am always harping on this point, I know, but at this time of year, when you’re busy, stressed and burning the candle at both ends, its more important than ever.

Research shows us that eating first thing in the morning helps to balance blood sugar levels, which control appetite and energy. This means that you are more likely to snack on unhealthy foods such as chocolate or chips before lunch.

Eating breakfast also has long term health benefits. It can lower the risk of many different conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

Try a bowl of wholegrain cereal or some Wholemeal toast and get some fruit into you as well, even if its just orange juice, or a smoothie.

7. Avoid food poisoning

A quarter of all cases of food poisoning at this time of year are related to the cooking of the bird!

The temp inside a turkey, or chicken must reach 170 degrees in order to ensure all the bacteria that cause salmonella, listeria or e. coli are killed. Ideally, you should use a meat thermometer to check that its reached the correct temperature.

However, if you don’t have one of them, use a skewer or long knife to check that its hot all the way through and make sure that the juices run clear. There are great resources on the internet for how long to cook your bird.

8. Beat indigestion

We all eat too much at Christmas, and indigestion is a common problem. Eating lots of rich food and drinking too much alcohol leads to excess flatulence, bloating and gurgling in the stomach.

And ironically, the worse our diet is, the more likely we are to suffer from indigestion – one of the main causes is that our everyday diet contains too much salt, sugar and junk food.

One of the quickest and easiest ways of preventing tummy troubles is to drink a probiotic drink, such as yakult, every morning. They contain friendly bacteria that help to balance your gut and hopefully make indigestion a thing of the past.

9. Enjoy your Christmas dinner

We all think that Christmas meals are bad for you, but our festive food is healthier than you might think. Turkey and Chicken are two of the leanest and healthiest meats there is, while Brussels sprouts are rich in folic acid which helps lower levels of strokes and cancer.

Leeks and onions help stimulate growth of healthy bacteria in the gut and even the dried fruit in Christmas pudding and cake are good for you – they kill off many of the toxins that appear in your body. Just make sure you eat everything in moderation!

10. Be careful of leftovers

Its estimated that there are 120,000 cases of food poisoning during December. Make sure you refrigerate any leftovers within two hours of cooking, otherwise there’s a likelihood that they could become infected.

Once you’ve put your leftovers inside the fridge, don’t forget about them – but make sure you eat them within 4 days to avoid food poisoning. And remember, you can reheat leftovers, but only do it once. Anything that’s still not eaten after that has to go in the bin!

Have a great Christmas and a happy New Year everyone!

Jai Bazevski

Personal Trainer

Square One Fitness

M: 0425 277 616

E: jai@squareonefitness.com.au

Web: www.squareonefitness.com.au

BNI: New Year’s Resolutions and Networking

2010-12-13T22:22:00.000-08:00

In about two weeks, the majority of people around the world are going to be faced with the same thing we’re all faced with once at a certain point every single year.

No, I’m not talking about keeping a smile on your face while spending the holidays with your in-laws (wink-wink). I’m talking about setting New Year’s Resolutions.

Every year, one of the top resolutions is to “get in shape.” The truth of the matter is that most of us already know how to get in shape:

1. Design a nutritional plan and stick to it
2. Design a workout schedule and stick to it
3. Track your actions and results daily and recalibrate if needed

The problem is, a large percentage of people don’t reach their goals because:

1. They don’t write out a formal nutrition plan or workout schedule
2. They don’t hold themselves accountable

In other words, life gets in their way.

So what can be done about this? Well, there’s something about human psychology that pushes us to not let someone else down. Because of this, people who invest in a personal trainer to help keep them accountable tend to achieve desired results much more consistently than they ever would by attempting to get in shape on their own.

It’s important to note that this same concept holds true for business networking and referral marketing.

Many people are spending a lot of time networking by just chatting away with others and maybe grabbing others’ business cards. By doing this, they then expect results; they expect that the people whom they’ve met and exchanged business cards with will eventually pass a referral to them. This mindset is called being reactive ( . . . and hoping for the best!). Being reactive is an employee mindset or mentality that, in my opinion, gets placed into the same category as punch cards, guaranteed smoke breaks, assembly lines, benefits entitlement, and cubicles. In other words, this mindset is something that isn’t really that viable anymore in today’s economic environment.

If you don’t believe me, look around and note which businesses are thriving and hiring. I’m confident you’ll discover that the businesses which are doing well are those that do not have a reactive mindset and, instead, maintain an entrepreneurial mindset.

An entrepreneurial mindset is one that takes ownership and focuses on being proactive versus reactive. Just like the “getting in shape” example above, being proactive and accountable in your business networking and referral marketing efforts is a sure-fire way to get results–plain and simple.

So, especially if you’ll be out attending holiday parties in the coming fortnight with your spouse, significant other, family, or friends, remember to be proactive with your networking efforts. Go to each event with a purpose (in addition to your goal of having fun). Don’t simply gather business cards, that’s not what I’m talking about. Instead, set relevant and realistic networking goals and ask the person you went with to hold you accountable to your goals.

And, of course, there’s a time and a place for everything. You need to respect the event you’re attending and if the environment doesn’t warrant you achieving certain networking goals . . . grab a celebratory beverage and some festive treats and remember, there’s always next year!

By TR Garland, a Referral Marketing Strategist for the Referral Institute® in Orange County, California, USA.

BNI: OLD & NEW MAKE GOOD NETWORKS

2010-12-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner says that a lot of people assume that referral groups and other networking organisations are only for those who are young, new to business, and hungry to grow their businesses.

However, it turns out that the studies don’t support that line of thinking at all. If fact, it has actually been shown that the ages of referral-group members range from people in their 20s through to those well into their 60s.

A university survey of networking group members, conducted by Steve Brewer of St Thomas University as part of a Master’s thesis, showed that 74 per cent owned their own business. Approximately 40 per cent were women and 60 per cent men. About one-third of the members were over 50 years old and only 10 per cent were less than 30 years old. The age distribution formed a typical bell curve.

However, when analysing the ages of those who participated in the survey, we found that 63 per cent of all respondents were 40 years old or older. Clearly, this would indicate that the age of the average participant in networking groups is higher than some would expect.

In fact, from both empirical data and from my own observations from well over 20 years in the business of ‘networking’, I firmly believe that it is mostly the seasoned business professional who seeks out the long-term benefits of a referral-marketing strategy.

In any good networking organisation, selecting qualified members is very important. Good groups tend to select more experienced people over inexperienced ones because they know that seasoned professionals are more likely to bring in an established network.

They are also more likely to be good referrals, because experienced people are typically better at what they do for a living. An experienced referral is more likely to work out well and reflect favorably on the person providing the referral.

In fact, it could be argued that the last point above is the most important. An experienced referral — referring someone who is experienced at the work they are being referred to do — is a trait that is even more important to the networking group than having a person in the group that just has a large ‘network’.

One of my colleagues, who is an author and is currently serving as an officer in a networking group, recently had to caution the committee in charge of the admittance of new members to his group. The chapter was in a ‘growth’ phase, and the committee was eager to admit just about anyone who bothered to submit an application in a bid to boost membership numbers.

In one case, a visitor introduced herself as an Executive Coach. As she described what she did, she stated that she had just left a career in advertising to ‘realise her dream’ in becoming a coach. She was in the process of being certified, and wanted to join a networking group to be able to get her first ‘paid’ clients.

The membership committee was very excited about this applicant, citing her ‘huge’ network of colleagues from her former career. However, the president asked the committee about the three required references that the prospective member had put on her application.

Yes, they all spoke very highly of her, and said she was great in advertising, the president was told. “But what about her coaching ability? Was she a good coach?” enquired the president. “Well, she doesn’t have any coaching references, as she is just starting out,” the committee said.

At that point, the president asked the committee members how they could be sure she was any good at the job category for which she was applying, and how could members of the chapter refer this coach to the contacts who would trust them to give a solid referral if it was not yet known how good a coach this applicant actually was?

In this case, the risk of a member who was very inexperienced in the profession she was representing far outweighed the benefits of her large network.

Note, however, that a good networking group should still strive to seek a balance between ‘old pros’ and ‘newbies’. Groups with only seasoned people can be too laid back and easygoing, because most of their members are not in the start-up phase anymore, and no longer are new prospects perceived as being as important to the business as they once were. But a group made up mostly of new people tends to be too frenetic, too hungry

In well-balanced groups, we’ve seen very successful partnering between established professionals and younger, newer, ‘junior’ professionals (Note, however, that ‘junior’ networkers should still be very good at the job or service they are trying to sell, so that members can be comfortable referring business to them).

When the networking veteran takes the newer partner under his or her wing in a mentoring relationship, coaching that person in the finer points of word-of-mouth marketing, the junior professional gains business acumen as they accumulate real-world experience, and both begin to see more referrals coming in.

It’s a real win-win, ‘givers gain’ kind of experience: if you give business to others, they will give business to you.
http://www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au/

BNI: Taking Charge!

2010-11-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner says the best word-of-mouth programs he has seen happen by design, not by accident or wishful thinking. Unfortunately, many businesspeople view word of mouth somewhat like the weather: “Sure it’s important, but what can I do about it?”
Based on more than two decades of research, observation, and practical experience, I’ve found that in addition to focusing on the important issue of customer service, the average businessperson has much to do in order to build a referral business. Word of mouth can be planned and nurtured. Anyone, including business owners, entrepreneurs, sales representatives, staff employees, even individuals serving in a volunteer capacity in any field, can accomplish plenty with a well-structured and systematically executed word-of-mouth plan.
All too often I have seen businesspeople waiting for business to walk through the door. They think because they are good at what they do, people should be flocking to them. I’m afraid the truth is, it doesn’t work that way! You have to take charge, no matter what business you’re in or how good you are, and bring the business to you.
I once saw a cartoon strip of two large, ravenous-looking vultures perched on a tree limb, overlooking a dry desert plain. After quite a while, one vulture turns to the other and says, “Wait for something to die? Heck, let’s kill something!” So it is with word-of-mouth marketing. You can’t simply wait for people to come to you. If you do, one of your competitors who also provides good customer service will most likely find them before they show up at your doorstep.
If you want to succeed, you have to go get your business, or better yet, have someone else get it for you through referrals.

BNI: Importance of Knowing Your Products & Services

2010-11-19T00:41:00.000-08:00

BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner says when your referral marketing plan is working well, prospective customers buy from you the first time because they have been referred by your sources. They may continue to buy from you because they trust you and develop a good relationship with you. But whatever the reasons they come and whatever the reasons they stay, they are your customers primarily because they need your products and services.

A clear idea of your range of products and services is something your sources need to communicate to prospects. For each product or service you plan to market during your referral marketing campaign, you must be able to articulate for your sources the answers to the following questions:

* What is the purpose of your product or service?–What needs does it satisfy?
* How would you describe it?–What are its shape, size, functions, key features, principal activities, benefits?
* How is your product or service delivered to the customer?
* How much does it cost and under what conditions?

There are other questions concerning your products or services that you should answer for your own strategic purposes. Is your product becoming obsolete? Is there a newer or better way to provide the same service? What are the social and environmental effects of your product or service? Will economic or regulatory trends force you to change your products or services or the conditions under which you provide them? In the long term, will you be satisfied to continue to offer these products or services?

Knowing the answers to the questions above will help you clearly communicate your products and/or services to your referral sources. This is extremely important because only when you’re able to do this will your referral sources be able to effectively refer business to you.

BNI: Take Charge of your own Networking

2010-11-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

Every business should have their own networking expert, but you don't have to hire one. You just have to take on the right mindset.

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman of BNI

Among large companies -- take Google and HP, for instance -- there's a trend to create a new executive-level role called Chief Networking Officer. Some businesses call the role Community Manager.

Whatever you choose to call it, the CNO is the person who handles business networking and community-related activities, and the responsibilities range from developing word-of-mouth campaigns to referral-generation strategies. Other roles of the CNO include client relationship management, public relations, inter-departmental collaboration, corporate culture and relationship advertising and marketing

In this article, I will focus on two roles of the CNO: word-of-mouth campaigns and referral-generation strategies. If you want to network like a pro, these roles should be the principal focus of your CNO.

First, let's address the thought that probably just popped into your head: "Hey, I run a 10-person (four-person/one-person) organisation; how can I afford to hire a CNO to do my networking? Quite frankly, there never seem to be enough resources to take care of all the things the business needs, let alone hire an executive-level person."

But you don't have to hire a new executive. As the business owner, you're probably filling that job in one way or another already.

Click here to read five ways to take charge of your networking.

BNI: Make No Assumptions!

2010-10-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Many people make the fatal mistake of assuming that others know a lot about their business. I heard a florist tell a networking group, “I’m not sure what else to say. You all know what a florist does, right?” Wrong! We didn’t know the variety of products this florist provided. He knew his business and assumed that everyone else knew it as well. Later, I asked him:.

•Did he accept credit cards?
•Did he offer seasonal specials for holidays? If so, which ones?
•Did he handle emergency orders?
•Could he do a good job for weddings?
•Did he give a discount to members of his networking group?
•Could I set up a billing arrangement with his company?
•Could I order online?
•Do certain colors of roses signify certain things?
•What type of floral arrangement would be appropriate for a graduation?
•Could he give me any tips on keeping flowers alive longer?
•What was his most challenging order?

I told him there were hundreds of things I didn’t know about his business, and others surely felt the same way. Not using his time with the networking group to tell everyone something about his service was an opportunity lost.

Everyone has something he can say that will educate people about the services he has to offer. Don’t pass up a chance to teach people more about what you do!

Try making a list of questions, such as the ones above, that people might ask you about your business and then try focusing on answering one question each time you attend a networking meeting — you’d be surprised at the things people really have no idea that you do!

Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI

BNI: Think You Don't Need a Network? Think Again!

2010-09-25T01:58:00.000-07:00

As a small-business professional or entrepreneur, how do you:

Get advice and help when problems arise
Gather the information you need for making important business decisions
Identify your markets and locate potential clients?

Unfortunately, most people get help in times of need from individuals or businesses they don’t know well. Instead of anticipating and planning for needs and emergencies, they are forced to react to every situation. They search the internet or ask friends and associates to help solve problems or recommend solutions, even though these people may not have the necessary expertise, and the sources they recommend may have little relevance to or experience with the business operation that is in need.

As a small-business owner, you don’t have the built-in resources to employ a management team to plan ahead, proactively problem solve, obtain and maintain ready access to vital resources–information, personnel, funding–and make informed decisions quickly in an emergency. What you need is the functional equivalent of a management team and that is exactly what a network is for!

Your network is a systematically and strategically selected group of people on whom you can call as the need arises. It is a diverse, balanced and powerful system of sources–people from all facets of the business world–that will provide referrals, information and support in key areas of your business or profession, over both the short and the long term.

So, if you know someone who doesn’t want to put in the time and effort to establish a network because he thinks his business is just fine without one, do him a huge favor and explain why he needs to think again.

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI

BNI - The Networking Disconnect!

2010-09-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

I was at a big networking event with more than 500 people in the UK this summer, and the person who spoke before me asked the audience: “How many of you came here hoping to do some business–maybe make a sale?” More than half the people in the audience raised their hands. He then asked, “How many of you are here hoping to buy something?” No one raised a hand–not one single person! This is the networking disconnect.

If you are going to networking events hoping to sell something, you’re dreaming. Don’t confuse direct selling with networking. Effective networking is about developing relationships. I know, I know . . . there’s always someone out there who says, “But, Ivan, I’ve made a sale by attending a networking event!” OK . . . I’m not saying it doesn’t ever happen–it does. I’m just saying it happens about as often as a solar eclipse. Face it, even a blind squirrel can find a nut. Any businessperson can stumble on some business at a networking meeting from time to time. However, when you have most of the people at an event trying to sell and virtually no one there to buy, you’re crazy if you think the odds are in your favor to “sell” at a networking event.

So why go? You go because networking is more about farming than it is about hunting. It’s about developing relationships with other business professionals. Sometimes you go to a networking event to increase your visibility, sometimes you go to establish further credibility with people you know, and sometimes you may even go to meet a long-time referral partner and do some business. In any case, the true master networkers know that networking events are about moving through the VCP Process and not about closing deals.

Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman of BNI

BNI Sydney Inner West

2010-09-05T01:31:00.000-07:00

BNI: Mastering the World of Selling

2010-09-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

When one of your business relationships passes you a referral, don’t assume that the prospect is ready to hear a presentation on your product or service. When an associate passes you a referral, say thanks . . . then start digging for more information.

You will want to determine whether what you offer is a fit for what the prospect needs. Taking the time to do this upfront saves a lot of time and energy–for both you and the prospect. Exactly what does the prospect do? What products or services does he want from you? Will your offerings truly fulfill his needs? What is his behavioral style? What are his business goals? How large is his company?

Even with the referral in hand, don’t skip steps in your sales process. Before you approach the prospect, decide on a strategy based on whatever you can find out about him–the same as you would when preparing for any sale. Although the prospect was referred to you, all you’ve really received is an opportunity to approach the prospect with a favorable introduction. (This is not a bad thing–a single referral can open the door to a prospect it may have taken weeks, months or even years to connect with–if you even could at all.) But whether the prospect becomes a client or not depends on how well you convince him that what you offer, at the price and under the conditions you offer it, will fulfill his needs.

It’s always a good idea to consistently hone your sales skills and strategies. If you need a good sales resource, look no further than Mastering the World of Selling. It’s a brand-new book by Eric Taylor and David Riklan, and it contains one of the greatest collections of sales training wisdom for the 21st century that I’ve ever come across. It features sales strategies and advice from 89 of the world’s top experts including Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Jeffrey Gitomer, yours truly and more.

Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI

BNI: How Soon Should You Expect Profitability from a Relationship?

2010-08-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks, BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner has written a few blogs on the VCP Process®of networking and, since he has already covered visibility and credibility in detail, todayhe is going to tell you what you need to know about profitability, the third and final phase of the VCP Process.

The mature relationship, whether business or personal, can be defined in terms of its profitability. Is it mutually rewarding? Do both partners gain satisfaction from it? Does it maintain itself by providing benefits to both? If it doesn’t profit both partners to keep it going, it probably will not endure.

The best piece of advice I can give you in regard to when to expect to get to profitability is to be patient. The time it takes to pass through the phases of a developing relationship is highly variable. It’s not always easy to determine when profitability has been achieved: A week? A month? A year? In a time of urgent need, you and a client may proceed from visibility to credibility overnight. The same is true of profitability; it may happen quickly or it may take years, but most likely it will be somewhere in between. It will depend on the frequency and quality of the contacts and especially on the desire of both parties to move the relationship forward.

Shortsightedness can impede the full development of the relationship. Perhaps you’re a customer who has done business with a certain vendor off and on for several months, but to save pennies you keep hunting around for the lowest price, ignoring the value this vendor provides in terms of service, hours, goodwill and reliability. Are you really profiting from the relationship, or are you stunting its growth? Perhaps if you gave this vendor all your business, you could work out terms that would benefit both of you. Profitability is not found by bargain hunting. It must be cultivated. And, like farming, it takes patience.

Visibility and credibility are important in the relationship-building stages of the referral-marketing process. But when you have established an effective referral generation system, you will have entered the profitability stage of your relationships with many people–the people who send you referrals and the customers you recruit as a result. It’s an essential part of successful relationship marketing and networking.

BNI: Moving from Visibility to Credibility

2010-08-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner explained that visibility, the first phase of the VCP Process®, brings the opportunity to build credibility and that credibility is what will ultimately get you to profitability, where you’ll actually benefit from your networking and relationship building efforts.

So how do you move from visibility to credibility? Well, once you and another individual achieve visibility with each other, meaning you’re aware of each other and the nature of each other’s business, you begin to form expectations of one another; once those expectations are fulfilled, your relationship can enter the credibility stage. If each person is confident of gaining satisfaction from the relationship, then it will continue to strengthen.

Credibility is the quality of being reliable, worthy of confidence. Credibility grows when appointments are kept, promises are acted upon, facts are verified, and services are rendered. The old saying that results speak louder than words is true. Failure to live up to expectations–to keep both explicit and implicit promises–can kill a budding relationship before it breaks the surface of the ground and can create visibility of a kind you don’t want.

To determine how credible you are, people often turn to third parties. They ask someone they know who has known you longer or perhaps has done business with you. So, how credible are you? Would the people in your network vouch for you by saying that you are reliable and honest, your products and services are effective, you keep your appointments, act on your promises, deliver results as expected, and can be counted on in a crunch? If you’re not sure, now is the time to make a strategic effort to build your credibility; without credibility, you can forget about achieving profitability.

BNI: The First Phase of the VCP Process–Visibility

2010-08-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last week BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner wrote a blog explaining the VCP Process, which is a huge part of the foundation of networking. Because this process is so crucial to effective networking, he promised to write a blog entry for each of the three phases (visibility, credibility and profitability), and today he is going to talk about why it all starts with visibility.

The first phase of growing a relationship is visibility: You and another individual become aware of each other. In business terms, a potential source of referrals or a potential customer becomes aware of the nature of your business–perhaps because of your public relations and advertising efforts, because of your social media presence or perhaps through someone you both know. This person may observe you in the act of conducting business or relating with the people around you. The two of you begin to communicate and establish links–perhaps a question or two over the phone or via e-mail messages about product availability. You may become personally acquainted and work on a first-name basis, but you know little about each other. A combination of many such relationships forms a casual-contact network, a sort of de facto association based on one or more shared interests.

The visibility phase is important because it creates recognition and awareness. The greater your visibility, the more widely known you will be, the more information you will obtain about others, the more opportunities you will be exposed to, and the greater will be your chances of being accepted by other individuals or groups as someone to whom they can or should refer business. Visibility must be actively maintained and developed; without it, you cannot move on to the next level, credibility.

I’ll talk more about credibility next week, but it’s important to understand that visibility brings the opportunity to build credibility, and credibility is what will get you to profitability, where you’ll actually benefit from your efforts. So many times people try to jump straight from visibility to profitability, and that’s not real networking; it’s just an obvious ploy to get something from your new contacts. That’s nothing more than a bad attempt at direct selling and a big waste of time.

BNI: Farming for Referrals

2010-08-07T00:54:00.000-07:00

BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner, comments:

If I could impart one piece of wisdom regarding networking and getting more referrals, it would be this: Networking is about farming for new contacts, not hunting them.

It’s a point that needs to be made, because most business professionals go about networking the way our cave-dwelling ancestors went about hunting food–aggressively and carrying a big stick.

You’ll see them at any gathering of businesspeople. They’re so busy looking for the next big sale or trying to meet the “right” prospect that they approach networking simply as an exercise in sifting through crowds of people until they bag the ideal client, the big customer who can turn their business around. They don’t have time for regular people like us; they’re stalking the director of marketing, chief operating officer or other high-octane connection, looking for the big kill.

“Farmers take a different approach. They don’t waste time looking for the right person; instead, like those who plant seeds and patiently nurture their crops, they seek to form and build relationships wherever they can find them. If they get an immediate payoff, that’s fine, but it’s not their principal goal. They know that the effort expended upfront will pay off in a rich harvest later on–much richer then the hunter’s quick kill–and that truly profitable relationships can’t be rushed.

BNI: What is the VCP Process?

2010-08-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

This week BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner, comments:

The key concept in referral marketing is relationships. The system of information, support and referrals that you assemble will be based on your relationships with other individuals and businesses. Referral marketing works because these relationships work both ways: They benefit both parties.

A referral marketing plan involves relationships of many different kinds. Among the most important are those with your referral sources, with prospects these referral sources bring you and with customers you recruit from the prospects. These relationships don’t just spring up full-grown; they must be nurtured. As they grow, fed by mutual trust and shared benefits, they evolve through three phases: visibility, credibility and profitability. We call this evolution the VCP Process.

Any successful relationship, whether a personal or a business relationship, is unique to every pair of individuals, and it evolves over time. It starts out tentative, fragile, full of unfulfilled possibilities and expectations. It grows stronger with experience and familiarity. It matures into trust and commitment.

The VCP Process describes the process of creation, growth and strengthening of business, professional and personal relationships; it is useful for assessing the status of a relationship and where it fits in the process of getting referrals. It can be used to nurture the growth of an effective and rewarding relationship with a prospective friend, client, co-worker, vendor, colleague or family member.

When fully realised, such a relationship is mutually rewarding and, thus, self-perpetuating.

BNI Brunchtime Networking in Five Dock, Sydney

2010-07-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

BNI (Business Network International) is opening its first Brunchtime Chapter in Sydney this month.

To be known as BNI Brunch ‘n’ Referrals, the Chapter will holding a further Information Meeting for interested members at Canada Bay Club in Five Dock on Thursday 5th August at 10:45am.

BNI’s Executive Director for Sydney Inner West, Tony Benner, said that the new chapter was being formed to cater for business people who are busy sending their children off to school at a time when other BNI chapters usually meet.

“The new brunchtime chapter is also for people who simply cannot function at 7am – we are not all morning people,” he added.

BNI is an international word-of-mouth referral organisation with chapters throughout Australia and 47 other countries.

A BNI chapter provides business people in a variety of occupations a weekly opportunity to meet with each other and pass qualified referrals. At each meeting, members briefly introduce their businesses and share the types of referrals they would like to receive. “Because only one person from each business category is allowed in each chapter, a person can "lock out" competitors by quickly joining a new BNI chapter.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about BNI or attending the Five Dock meeting on 5th August can reach Tony Benner on 9279 1194 or 0407 366 140.
http://www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au/

BNI: Strengthening Relationships with Referral Sources

2010-07-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

From BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner:
To be an effective networker, you should always be working on strengthening your relationships with your referral sources. So, what’s the best way to do this? It really depends on the referral source and what he or she responds to.
There are a number of actions you can take to build good will and credibility in your relationships, and the list below contains an array of examples. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, so you should feel free to add your own actions to it.

Send a thank-you card.
Send a gift.
Call a referral source.
Arrange a one-on-one meeting.
Extend an invitation.
Set up an activity.
Offer a referral.
Send an article of interest.
Arrange a group activity for clients.
Nominate a referral source.
Display a source’s brochure.
Include a source in your newsletter.
Arrange a speaking engagement.
Invite a source to join your advisory board.

BNI: 6 Ways Your Referral Source Can Turn a Referral Into a Customer

2010-07-13T03:57:00.000-07:00

More useful advice from BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner:
Let’s say that upon getting a business referral, you simply take down the name and contact information of the potential customer from the referral source. Sometime later, you call the prospect and introduce yourself: “Hello, Ms. Prospect, my name is John Businessman. Larry Source recommended I call you. I’m an accountant . . .”
Handling referrals this way, as you might expect, gets minimal results. Your chance of converting the referral into a customer will be greater if your referral source:

makes the initial contact with the prospect (his acquaintance) to assess her need and, if appropriate, alerts her that you will be getting in touch
sends the prospect background information about you and your business
lets the prospect know the nature of his relationship with you
gives the prospect a brief description and endorsement of your products or services
arranges to introduce the prospect to you
follows up with the prospect after you contact her.

Unfortunately, if you don’t ask your prospective referral source to do some of these things, he probably won’t–not because he isn’t willing, but because he doesn’t know how these actions could make a big difference, doesn’t have enough information about you or your business, or simply doesn’t know how.
Make it your goal to communicate to your sources the actions you wish them to take and then provide them with all the materials necessary to accomplish those actions. If you do this, I guarantee you’ll get better-quality referrals that will more quickly turn into actual business.

BNI: If You’re Not Inviting, You’re Missing Out

2010-07-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

More good advice from BNI Founder, Dr Ivan Misner:
Inviting prospective referral sources to an event you’re attending, hosting or participating in as a featured guest, exhibitor, panel speaker or award recipient is a great way to enhance your contact with them and build credibility.
If you’re not inviting your prospective referral sources to events, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to keep them informed of activities you’re involved in. When the event is one where you have a chance to share your expertise or where you are being recognized for an achievement, using this tactic contributes to building your credibility and image as a successful and knowledgeable professional. This tactic also helps acquaint your targets with others in your network and transforms strictly business relationships into friendships.
If you haven’t been inviting prospective sources to events and you’re not sure whom to invite or how to invite them, here are some tips to get you started:

Make a list of the events you’ll be attending and a list of network members you might invite.
With plenty of lead time, call or write each prospective source to invite him or her to the event; explain the reason for the invitation.
Pay your network member’s admission fee, if there is one.
Make sure the event offers benefits to your prospective sources, such as an opportunity to meet someone they admire, to be entertained or to be recognized.
Whenever possible, allow your guests to invite guests of their own.
It’s OK to invite people you do not expect to attend. Remember, one of your aims is to keep your sources informed of what you are doing.

So, what events are you attending in the coming weeks? Make use of the tips above and make it your goal to invite someone to each event you attend from here on out. Chances are you’ll not only reap some great benefits, you’ll probably enjoy the event even more with your network member along.

BNI Brunchtime Networking Chapter in Sydney

2010-07-07T23:28:00.001-07:00

BNI (Business Network Int'l) plans to open a Brunchtime Chapter in Sydney this month.

To be known as BNI Brunch ‘n’ Referrals, the Chapter will hold an Information Meeting for interested members at the Canada Bay Club in Five Dock on Thursday 22nd July at 10:45am.

BNI’s Executive Director for Sydney Inner West, Tony Benner, said that the new chapter was being formed to cater for business people who are busy sending their children off to school at a time when other BNI chapters usually meet.

“The new brunchtime chapter is also for people who simply cannot function at 7am – we are not all morning people,” he added.

BNI is an international word-of-mouth referral organisation with chapters throughout Australia and 47 other countries.

A BNI chapter provides professionals in a variety of occupations a weekly opportunity to meet with each other and pass qualified referrals. At each meeting, members briefly introduce their businesses and share the types of referrals they would like to receive.

“Because only one person from each business category is allowed in each chapter, a person can "lock out" competitors by quickly joining a new BNI chapter.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about BNI or attending the Five Dock meeting on 22nd July can reach Tony Benner on +612 9279 1194 or 0407 366 140.

BNI: Give Valuable Information and Get More Referrals!

2010-07-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

Last week, BNI's Dr Ivan Misner posted a blog on the benefits of turning to your network for advice. It’s also very important to remember that everyone benefits when you give valuable advice to your network.
Think about how you can give your prospective referral sources valuable advice related to your specialty or profession, such as advance notice of a change in procedures that will affect them, tips on how to initiate the changes they will need to make, or other information that can help your network members achieve satisfaction or success.
One of your goals is to get network members to feel that you are a link to privileged information–that you’re an insider. The advice you give may lead your prospective sources to seek you out for answers to their questions or to feel that you’re looking out for their best interests. It’s a great way to remind your prospective referral sources of what you do.
Use these tips to help pinpoint what to share with your network and how to share it with them:

List the topics that you feel comfortable giving advice on, then list network members who might need advice on each topic.
Decide whether you will apply this tactic formally, such as by newsletter, or informally, such as in a personal note.
Decide how frequently you will send updates.
Ask your sources to name others who might benefit from your advice.
Periodically ask your network members whether they find your advice useful.
Tell your network members to let you know if they don’t wish to receive your updates.

Offering valuable information to your network will not only help them, more important for you, it will keep you on their minds and encourage them to refer you and speak highly of your professional knowledge.

Your BNI Network can Help with Advice!

2010-07-04T01:45:00.000-07:00

A great tip this week from BNI's Dr Ivan Misner:

Have you ever purposely sought advice from your network members? If not, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity because we all need advice at one time or another and seeking advice from your network is a win-win situation.
You see, people like for others to listen to their opinions and advice. By inviting your network members to talk, you can get better acquainted with their knowledge, decision-making ability, and attitudes. Receiving someone’s advice also gives you a perfect reason to contact her again, thank her, and let her know what you plan to do. This is a great way to keep your resources informed and, of course, to get their opinions about what you are doing.
When preparing to ask your network for advice, here are some important tips:

Ask your network member for advice or opinions on something she enjoys talking about and to which you expect her to have an answer.
Listen carefully and respond appropriately.
Direct your questions toward what your network member says in conversation.
Have a logical reason for wanting the information.
Avoid potentially controversial and sensitive issues.
Don’t ask your network member to give you advice that she would otherwise charge you for.
People are more likely to remember their own words than others so if you want someone to remember your conversation, let her do most of the talking.

BNI Ivan Misner's Philosophy on Competition

2010-06-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

My philosophy about competition is best summed up by Henry Ford, who once said, “The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.”
In my business organization, BNI, members or directors often express concern about other competitive networking groups that are forming and bad-mouthing our company or attacking our program in some way. I tell my team that if they feel like someone is biting at our backsides, it’s because we’re out in front. Success in business is about constantly improving your product or service and making it better all the time. The process is a journey, not a destination. However, if you are constantly working to improve the system, improve the product, improve the culture and improve the team, you will also improve your position in the marketplace.
Almost 10 years ago I had a particularly aggressive competitor publicly state that he was going to bury our organization. Since then we’ve grown by almost 400 percent. I haven’t heard about his company in years. I’m not sure whether it’s still in business. Ford got it right. Keep making your business better, and you’ll have no need to fear your competitors–your business will be the one competitors fear the most.

2010-06-12T20:06:00.001-07:00

BNI (Business Network International) plans to open a Brunchtime Chapter in Sydney this month.

To be known as BNI Brunch ‘n’ Referrals, the Chapter will hold an Information Meeting for interested members at the Canada Bay Club in Five Dock on Thursday 17^th June at 10:45am.

“The new brunchtime chapter is also for people who simply cannot function at 7am – we are not all morning people,” he added.

BNI is an international word-of-mouth referral organisation with chapters throughout Australia and 47 other countries.

“Because only one person from each business category is allowed in each chapter, a person can "lock out" competitors by quickly joining a new BNI chapter.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about BNI or attending the Five Dock meeting on 17^th June can reach Tony Benner on +612 9279 1194 or 0407 366 140.

BNI is a business and professional referral organisation whose primary purpose is to exchange qualified business referrals and develop word of mouth marketing techniques.

It has become the world’s largest business referral organisation of its kind.

In Australia, there are almost 500 members in 215 chapters.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

BNI: It's not WHAT you Know, but WHO you know!

2010-06-08T06:07:00.000-07:00

Another interesting posting from the Founder of BNI, Dr Ivan Misner.

How many times have you heard the phrase “It’s not what you know, but who you know” when it comes to determining success?? I’m willing to bet that over the course of your life to this point, you’ve heard it a lot. Do you think it’s true? Well, it’s not–it’s false. It’s not what you know, or who you know–it’s how well you know them that really counts.

Here’s the difference. How many people do you know? Open up your e-mail address book and count the names. You know as many people as are listed n your e-mail address book and probably a lot more. Now, reach into your pocket and pull out your car keys. How many of the people you know would you hand your car keys to?

Surely, now you understand that the importance of how well you know a person. A contact is a person you know but with whom you have not yet established a strong relationship. A connection, on the other hand, is someone who know you and trusts you because you’ve taken the time to establish credibility with that person.

Your network must not only be broad but also deep. When you rely on others to cross-market your business or promote your program to a client, you’re not asking a simple favor. For true referral networking, you need relationships that are deeper than mere contacts; you need strong connections, established well in advance.

So, beginning this week, focus on taking the time and energy to cultivate deep relationships by giving your referral sources anything and everything you can to help them succeed. These will be the relationships you can count on when you need powerful connections because it really isn’t what you know or who you know–it’s how well you know them, how well they know you, and how well they know the people you want to meet.

WHY WORD OF MOUTH?

2010-05-30T07:21:00.001-07:00

By Dr Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI

One of the most important things I've learned over the years is that the secret to success-without a little bit of hard work-is still a secret! Word of mouth marketing is a solid foundation for building any successful enterprise and, like anything else that brings great rewards, it takes time, effort, and dedication (a.k.a.-a "little bit of hard work" ).

Developing a word-of-mouth marketing program is an effective, potentially lucrative way of generating more business. The reason I said it takes "a little bit" of hard work is because it's not even hard work when you consider the alternatives:

1. Increase your advertising budget

2. Develop an effective public-relations campaign

3. Pick up the phone and start cold-calling

The first two alternatives can be ridiculously expensive and the third is time-consuming and frustrating. However, a structured word-of-mouth marketing program is also personally empowering: it's one of the few things that you, or someone who works for you, can do (other than cold-calling) that directly affects your success. Why wait for people to walk in your door? Why sit idly by, hoping that your existing clients or customers will refer you to others? With a structured word-of-mouth program you don't have to wait for the results of your last PR campaign to kick in.

A word-of-mouth program will give you control and allow you to take ownership for the business development of your company. Such a program has worked for thousands of people in all types of businesses and will work for you as well.

TRACKING INCOME FROM REFERRAL MARKETING

2010-05-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

by Dr Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI

You may have been very successful in promoting your business more and more by word-of-mouth through some networking groups you belong to, but perhaps having trouble figuring out how to accurately calculate my revenue from referrals.

It’s critical to track your income sources, whether from referrals, advertising, walk-in or drive-by traffic, or elsewhere. But before attempting to track the results of something, you must first set goals to shoot for. How many referrals do you expect to get? How much income do you expect to realize from these referrals? How many referral sources will you need to achieve these projections? You could guess at the answers to these questions, but there’s a better way-a systematic method of setting your goals using your experience as a base. First, look back at a recent period of sales revenues from referrals and all other sources. Then project what you expect revenue to be as a result of your referral marketing campaign.

Your forecast should be based on four factors: the number of referrals you expect to receive, the dollar value of the referrals you expect to get, the percentage of your business you expect to result from referrals, and the number of sources you’ll need to achieve the expected number and dollar value of referrals.

Many networking organizations ask members to track the amount of money earned from the referrals exchanged with one another. When tracking revenue from referrals, I often see business owners look at the value of each referral for the dollar amount-in other words, they report the value of each referral based on the cost of the item sold. Obviously, this isn’t the net income to their company. They’re actually reporting their gross sales as the amount of money referrals bring in to the business. So when you’re looking at the dollar value of each referral, remember to calculate the actual net income to your business.

The bottom line is you should measure the income that comes directly to you. With some professions that means gross income, and with others it means gross commission; however, in both cases, it is gross money to the business owner.
Let me say that there’s no perfect way to measure. Every variation has a problem with it. But based on years of experience, I’ve found this approach has the most level playing field, and it’s the measure we use in all official referral numbers in BNI, the referral organization I founded almost 20 years ago.

Measuring the value of your referrals is important because it helps you determine your return on investment in a group. One thing that you should consider is the critical-mass point for your networking group. In BNI, we have found that to be roughly 20 people.

There’s an interesting dynamic relating to net income that happens in networking groups. In one region of our networking organization we studied, for example, chapters over 20 members produced an average net income of 289 percent more than chapters of 20 members or less. If you’re in a networking organization, it’s clear that the size of the group is going to impact the bottom line of your business! During the time your networking group is between 10 and 20 members, you’re in the growth stage. Between 20 and 30 members, you’re in the profitability stage. Mike Garrison of the Referral Institute calls this the “Power of 20.” The more sources for referrals you have at your ready, the more referrals you are going to get and the higher your income from referrals will be.

With the results of that survey in mind, you can see that building your business through referrals is systematic. Too many people approach this concept socially. While developing your business by referral is about relationship-building, it’s not social! It’s based on numbers. You have to measure what word-of-mouth is doing for you. It’s the only way to tangibly see what impact referrals are having on your income. An essential part of any marketing plan is measuring the results, and referral marketing is no different. To use your sources wisely and efficiently, you’ve got to know how well your plan is working, how you can change it to improve current and future results, and how much your investment of time and money is earning you. When we go back to the beginning of my answer, you can now see how your projections are inextricably linked to tracking your results. In my book Business by Referral, co-author Robert Davis and I have outlined some projection and tracking methods which are very helpful for those wishing to have some really hard numbers on the effectiveness of their networking efforts.

With a thorough tracking and evaluation system, you’ll know whether your plan is working and whether it’s cost-effective. You’ll be able to demonstrate to managers, investors, bankers and employees that you’re a focused and capable marketing professional. Be patient, persistent, flexible and imaginative, and you’ll eventually find yourself running a successful referral-based business, one that will be the envy of other business owners.

'SYDNEY NETWORKER - Great Referrals aren't Accidents!'

2010-04-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

'SYDNEY NETWORKER - Great Referrals aren't Accidents!'

Why Join a Chamber of Commerce? BNI View

2010-03-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

Chairman of BNI, Dr Ivan Misner, recently gave BNI members some good advice on becoming involved with local chambers of commerce.

In addition to joining a referral networking group, you should also consider further diversifying your network by joining your local chamber of commerce. A 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 of significant importance.

Unlike a referral networking group, professional society or trade association, a chamber does not limit the number of people who can join from any one profession or industry. The local membership may include, for example, several commercial interior designers. Membership in this chamber of commerce would thus give you an opportunity too meet more than one prospect for your word-of-mouth marketing team.

Chambers conduct social and business events where you can socialize and develop relationships. Becoming a member of a chamber of commerce provides opportunities to give back to the community and capitalize on significant member benefits; serving in the leadership raises your recognition, visibility and credibility, as well as that of your business.

So 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 the membership is a good fit for you; for a small fee, you can probably visit a chamber mixer. Take your time, do your homework and locate a chamber that knows how to hold networking events and has strong membership. Membership is not free, but it’s far less expensive than traditional advertising.

BNI: TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!

2010-02-19T02:42:00.001-08:00

With new chapters opening soon in various parts of Sydney, you are most welcome to visit any BNI chapter before making a decision to join a structured networking group.
Now in its 25th year, BNI does not believe that potential members should be pressured into joining a networking organisation. They need time to "try before they buy."
Most categories are open in our new chapters, so if you have friends who want to grow their business during 2010, please pass this URL on to them - www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

“Fishing for Business” during International Networking Week

2010-01-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

To mark International Networking Week for 2010, BNI Sydney Inner West has arranged a breakfast presentation on “Fishing for Business.”

The presentation, to be held at Dolcissimo Ristorante in Haberfield (Sydney) on Friday 5th February at 7:15am, will demonstrate how to build businesses by applying fishing techniques to networking activities.

Using the right bait to hook more clients whilst tackling your database are just a few of the subjects to be covered in this innovative presentation

BNI’s Sydney Inner West Executive Director, Tony Benner, said "The goal of International Networking Week is to recognise and celebrate the role that networking plays in the development and success of businesses around the world."

"Between 1-5 February, business people in Australia, USA, Canada, Europe, India, SE Asia and dozens of other countries will be invited to luncheons and/or breakfasts to hear speakers discuss the benefits of networking in today’s business environment.”

He said the focus of these events will be to bring together representatives of government, businesses and the community to network with each other, to understand the concept of good networking and to listen to talks by key networking specialists from across the world. These speakers will offer advice and information on how businesses can grow and succeed through good networking practices.

“The purpose of International Networking Week is to raise the profile of networking in the wider community, recognising it as an essential tool for success in today’s business climate.”

For further information or comment, please contact Tony Benner,
Executive Director, BNI Sydney Inner West, Tel. +612 9279 0261 or 0407 366 140.
http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2o23zthaf36d2a0&oseq=

BNI is a business and professional referral organisation whose primary purpose is to exchange qualified business referrals and develop word of mouth marketing techniques.

It has become the world’s largest business referral organisation of its kind.

In Australia, there are over 4700 members in 200 chapters.

www.bnisydneyinnerwest.com.au

Networking Tips from James Cameron’s AVATAR

2009-12-30T00:15:00.001-08:00

By Richard Poi, Area Director, BNI Sydney Inner West, AUSTRALIA

Good reviews and favourable comments are continuously being received about James Cameron’s latest blockbuster film, “AVATAR”.

Amidst all the action and the superb special effects wizardry, AVATAR has a subtle message. It is a message that we can all relate to: relationships, communities, understanding and building strong networking links.

There are several lessons we can learn from Jake Sully’s interaction with the Na’vi people and apply them to our behaviour in our networking environment or when crossing environments that are socially or culturally different from ours.

Like Jake, it is quite often that we get thrown into situations where we have to find our way – especially with people in different social and business circumstances. We need to learn and communicate, and in doing so, build our relationships to earn credibility and trust. By establishing a firm status, then we gain acceptance as a worthy long term business partner. Jake did this by learning the Na’vi language and their indigenous activities like archery and riding the amazing Banshees where teamwork is the utmost ingredient to success. In our world, we sometimes indulge in our prospect’s recreational interest by playing golf to build rapport culminating in a business deal.

In AVATAR, much emphasis is placed on “linking” and communicating, e.g. Na’vi using the tip of their pigtails to connect with the flora and fauna of the forest and telepathy in some special instances. In most cases, there are elements of mindfulness and respect to living beings in an eco system on the moon Pandora.

We do the same when we network. We are always mindful of what the other person’s expectations of us are and how we should react so as to gain mutual acceptance. Jake’s “communicating” with the Banshees, the Mother Goddess Eywa, and the Sacred Tree of Voices are notable examples. In our one-to-one meetings, we engage in a two-way communication by attentive listening and sharing. We may not have telepathic powers but we can study body language and close business deals at the right time. We may not have the Na’vi pigtails to tap on responses but BNI tells me regularly: you have two ears and a mouth, so use them proportionately.

Relationships built on a strong foundation create extensions to outer tiers of relationships, like growing vines, spreading and reaching out to form a massive network that serves to achieve a common cause. Feel that surge of excitement as we cheer and jeer as Jake rallies support from neighbouring clans to fight the Sky People! When we network, we need to find that commonality of interest from which grows a lasting strategic alliance to realise our networking and business goals. To be successful, we must collaborate.

Isn’t AVATAR a great movie, as it inspires us to network more intelligently and strategically when we next hit the arena?

BNI: Back to the Future

2009-12-29T17:35:00.000-08:00

Another great posting from Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI:

"Networking is the kind of social and professional interaction that came naturally to businesspeople throughout most of this nation’s history, especially in smaller communities. But as villages grew into towns, towns into cities and cities into megalopolises, the sense of community and the close, personal business relationships that went with it gradually disappeared. The rise of large retail chains and multinational corporations, along with the demise of small businesses under the stiff price competition from these giants, further weakened the natural networking that existed.
The disappearance of community-based networking has left a vacuum that is now being filled by strong-contact networks. Business networking organizations such as BNI create a virtual main street for business professionals–an environment and a system for passing referrals that is the 21st-century equivalent of the traditional model for doing business.
As Eric Lesser, in his book Knowledge and Social Capital, notes, “Without a shared understanding of common terms, activities and outcomes, it becomes very difficult to reap the benefits associated with building social capital.” The power of business networking organizations is that they provide these common terms, activities and outcomes in a system that is designed specifically to accomplish this goal.
When you join and attend meetings in a business networking group, you build social capital in a number of ways. You gain the trust and friendship of fellow members; you provide valuable referrals; you contribute knowledge and skills to the effort; you become more knowledgeable and improve your social and business skills. Not least, you get out of your cave–the self-imposed isolation that many business people fall prey to.
Like financial capital, social capital is not only earned and accumulated, it can be spent. The international networking organization BNI has Givers Gainas its guiding principle: The good you do comes back to you over the long term and often in indirect ways. You accumulate social capital by providing help, advice, information, referrals and other benefits to your fellow networkers, with no thought of a quid pro quo. By gaining the trust of others, gratitude for value provided and a solid reputation for integrity and expertise, you become a person whom others wish to help whenever an opportunity to do so presents itself.
A colleague of mine worked for several years with a financial advisor who was a very passionate networker. In fact, he founded a chapter of an international networking organization and became very active as the president of the chapter. He gave more referrals than anyone else in the chapter; however, he got very few referrals back in return.
He came to my colleague a little frustrated about this. My colleague told him it takes time to build trust, especially in the financial services industry. He recommended several books on the subject and suggested that the advisor attend some training programs my colleague was offering. The financial advisor’s reply was a complete surprise. He said, “Train me to train the programs.”
My colleague said, “Aren’t you concerned that you’re already giving a lot more that you’re getting?”
He said, “Yes, but I know that trust takes time, and giving people valuable training at my expense will build trust.”

He became my colleague’s lead trainer and assistant director in Winston-Salem, N. C., and continued to give even more of his time and energy than he ever had before–even though he had been very active in his previous leadership role. His network rewarded him in an amazing way. Over the next 24 months, he received referrals worth $36 million–proving once more that givers always gain in the end."