Not everyone seems to agree with the sentiments of the article.  If you are interested, feel free to follow the link to a blog in Cambridge, UK where a lively discussion is currently underway about the various types of networking groups that exist and the merits and drawbacks of each.  Contributors to date include BNI Founder and Chairman – Dr Ivan Misner.  To join in the discussion – and have your say; CLICK HERE

Begin by being showing your face more.

Here’s a tip:

Social scientists have shown that the more often we see somebody – even an image of them – the more we grow to like them. It’s one reason why celebrities are so popular and why there is such an outpouring of grief when one of them dies – even if their fans never got to within a thousands kilometres of them in their life!

It’s because we see so much of them, we feel like we know them.

Does this mean you can send a life-size cut-out of yourself to your BNI meetings?

Well, your leadership teams wouldn’t like it and there’s always the real risk is that your fellow members might end up liking the cut-out more than they do you…

Jokes aside, if you want to be relevant to somebody, you need to be present. We all know that ‘absence does not make the heart grow fonder’. It just makes it colder.

If you want to increase your referral business, make sure you’re getting regular face time with your network. And that’s how your face can make you money.

Colin Kennedy is a keynote speaker, writer and content marketing consultant. As BNI New Zealand’s marketing director he is responsible for the organisation’s communications strategy, and also serves as an assistant director for North Central region of BNI.

According to a report in ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2011), “a study of the biotech industry has revealed that opportunities which arise, and whether or not they are exploited by biotechnology entrepreneurs, depends to a large extent on how well connected is an individual business person and how well they mobilise their social network.

“Cristina Sousa and colleagues at “INETI,” the National Institute of Engineering, Technology and Innovation, in Lisbon, Portugal, explain in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business that success is determined, not only by an entrepreneur’s capacity to identify an opportunity, but also by their ability to mobilise resources and skills.

“An entrepreneur’s established network and the ability to create new, useful connections is usually the key,” the report says.

You might think this is nothing new. We all know networking is key to success in business (although its amazing how many people will still rely heavily on cold calling and advertising).

However, the major point here is that…

1. It’s not what you know
2. It’s not who you know

3. It’s what you know, about who you know. Get it?

Being connected to a huge network has its uses. But being connected to a handful of influential people – who you get to know well and who get to know you well – can help you conquer the world!

Being part of a BNI chapter is a unique opportunity. Where else do you get the chance to form a close bond – to work as a team in multiple areas – with a group of other independent businesses?

But so often we waste it by taking the easiest route, which is human nature after all. We lapse into a routine of attending meetings, making up our 60 second on the fly and only doing our dances when we have a gap.

For most of us, word of mouth referrals are the number one source of new business. The number and quality of referrals you receive, which directly impact your bottom line, are determined by how much effort you put into your networking.

Don’t leave it to accident. Take control of the process and drive your networking activity.

You can do this by:

• Setting objectives (what do you want to achieve from your BNI investment?);
• Recruiting new members for your own hub within your chapter (that’s how you get more referrals from your chapter);
• Increasing your visibility among the membership i.e. doing properly planned and structured dances more frequently;
• Preparing powerful, memorable 60 second presentations;
• Being specific with your referral requests;
• Helping other members with a combination of referrals, your time, your expertise, mentoring and encouragement (there is more to ‘givers gain’ than referrals).

These are the basics of BNI. They are there because they work (it’s the same reason other networks attempt to copy what BNI does).

Do these things consistently, regularly and with commitment and you will reap the reward.

Colin Kennedy is a keynote speaker, copywriter and content marketing consultant. As BNI New Zealand’s marketing director he is responsible for the organisation’s communications strategy, and also serves as an assistant director for North Central region of BNI.

Photo by Ambro

1)  Testimonial letters from satisfied clients – Testimonials are one of the most effective ways to showcase the quality of the products or services you provide. You can keep hard copies in a binder, or you can post them to your website. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can ask the clients in your network to “recommend” you.

2)  Photos of yourself, your office facilities, equipment, and/or products – A professional photo, or headshot, is important for promotional opportunities and for your social media profiles. Photos of your office or business operation and products help to legitimise your business and gain credibility.

3)  Logos of your key customers – You can put these on your website to show the type of clients you have successfully served.

4)  A list of your memberships and affiliations – This is very helpful when you meet someone for the first time — it’s a great way to see if you have mutual acquaintances or business associates. It may also lead to an introduction to someone in one of your organisations to whom you have been hoping to be introduced.

5)  Question-and-answer sheets – One of the quickest ways to learn about a person’s business as a networker — and for him to learn about yours — is to make the initial meeting as organised as possible. A sheet with questions that you can each ask each other can ensure you don’t forget to find out the most important information about each other’s businesses, the information that could lead to a referral the quickest!

6)  Photos of awards and certificates you and your staff have earned – These items can rank almost as high on the credibility factor as testimonials.

7)  Articles you have published, or in which you’re mentioned – Writing articles (or being professionally mentioned in them) is a great way to become known as an expert in your field — and people like to know they are working with experts.

8)  A one-page flier – You should have a brief overview of your business ready to pass along at all times — both a hard copy to fax and an electronic copy to email — in case you meet someone while networking who wants to quickly pass along your information to a prospective client she knows.

9)  New-product or service announcements or press releases – As you network, make sure the people who might potentially hire you — or refer others to you — are immediately informed when you offer new products or services, or if you are expanding your operations geographically, or of any other achievements that might help further establish you. The best way to do this is through press releases and announcements. In addition to submitting these to news outlets, you can also hand these out at meetings, or you can post them on your website and on your social media accounts.

10)  Current brochures, circulars, and data sheets, and product catalogues – This may seem like a no-brainer, but quite often I’ve noticed that business owners are too busy running their business and neglect their collateral materials. If you hand out a brochure that doesn’t list your most recent offerings, you could miss a chance of earning the business of someone looking for just these offerings.

11)  Items that reflect your “brand” – These items go a long way in building the consistency and recognition of your brand: Logos, trademarks, service marks, patterns, designs you’ve used, posters, banners, and display materials used at trade shows.

12)  Items that help you explain your business to your network – These can include: your annual report, capability statement and prospectus; your motto, mission statement or service pledge; or even a written history of your company.  You can also use information from newsletters or news-type publications, survey results (from surveys created and compiled by you or by others in your industry), presentation notes or slides (including audio or video), advertisements you’ve run, or audio or video presentations.

13)  Client or customer proposals, bid sheets, or marketing letters you have written to existing clients – Keeping this information top-of-mind will come in very handy if you are at a networking event and have the opportunity to talk to a prospective client in depth.  The prospect may have a specific need that is similar in scope to jobs you have already bid on, and having the ability to quickly refer back to previously-completed proposals may give you an edge with the prospect.

14)  Articles on trends affecting your target market – Keeping up with issues and news items that are important to people helps you to be able to target your conversation and, subsequently, your products and services more directly to your prospects whom you want to turn into clients.

Remember, 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.

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.

However BNI has a lot of similarity to a team sport.

Confused?

Well look at it this way, your BNI meeting is your team ‘training’, that Wednesday night you used to work away with your rugby or netball team to be better for Saturday. You learn about your team members, see how you all work together and members who don’t perform for the team soon get ‘dropped’. You are coached to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your fellow team members and how to use them in the game.

And like team sport, if you don’t turn up for training or just laze around and don’t make an effort, you don’t make the team.

Then occasionally you would ‘do a dance’ with a team member… “whoa” I hear you say, no dancing in my rugby team… but translate dance for a kick around with a team member, or a bit of one on one for a basketballer. Again, like team sport, those that make the effort to do extra ‘one to one’ training during the week, tend to get to the top faster.

Ok, so what about the game… well here’s the scary and yet exciting bit… the game is the rest of the week. Every minute we are ‘out there’ doing what we do. At work during the week, at play in the weekends. At a PTA meeting or Lions Club Meeting. Anytime we are around other people we are playing the game of BNI… because that’s where we need to use the training from our ‘team practice’ to identify opportunities for referrals and convert them.

It’s no coincidence that the more experienced BNI members tend to be better at getting external referrals… as famous South African golfer Gary Player once said “the harder I practice, the luckier I get.” Experience comes with time to hear and spot opportunity, where in the past we might only have seen the things that concern ourselves.

So don’t make the mistake of thinking BNI is about a meeting you have once a week to eat breakfast…

Commit yourself to be the best you can be at your new ‘Team Sport’….BNI!

BNI member Tony Allwood’s new book, ‘Beyond the Comfort Zone’, has not only been endorsed by Ivan Misner, but was recently also translated into German by BNI Switzerland.

‘Beyond the Comfort Zone’ is a hands-on tool with worksheets, tips and suggestions to help you be more referrable. Tony’s experience in business has shown him how easy it is to get derailed by the hectic pace of running your own company and believes it’s important to keep things in perspective.

‘I see my fellow BNI members as an extension of my business – they are an important aspect of what I do and as such I need to prioritise them into my day.’

Tony, a 10-year BNI member, has built W3, a successful web design business, on word-of-mouth referrals and very little else in terms of marketing and advertising.

Tony’s book will show you how to spot referrals and opportunities by doing things differently. You’ll find suggestions to help you develop usable ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing skills as well as guidance on planning your one and ten minute presentations, refining your memory hook, learning to dance and use props, and training your chapter to find you strong, qualified referrals.

Tony has been contacted by BNI Korea about further translation opportunities and is particularly excited about the idea of penetrating the Indian market.

Learn how to find more referrals and build strong relationships with your business colleagues by going to www.beyondthecomfortzone.net, where you can buy ‘Beyond the Comfort Zone’ online.

Alternatively, buy an annual subscription for $2.50 – delivered to your Inbox in palatable chunks over 52 weeks.

“Successful networking is about constant activity and Beyond the Comfort Zone offers common sense ideas that will help you build your social capital and become a more active networker. … Tony Allwood offers wise, fresh insights and simple, easy to implement strategies that will empower you to master the art of networking and significantly increase your referrals whether you are brand new to networking or have been practicing it for years.”

Dr Ivan R. Misner, NY Times Bestselling author and Founder of BNI and Referral Institute

Unfortunately, a number of BNI members and even chapters get lazy, get familiar, lose focus… it becomes acceptable to stand up week in and week out and say ‘I don’t have any referrals’.

It was a refreshing moment for me this week when a chapter president asked me: “What can I do about members who are not performing on the referral front?”

Yes, unfortunately BNI does expect you and your chapter to perform on the referral front.

There are some BNI rip-off groups around at the moment, and all of them are happy to eat breakfast, do their so-called 60 seconds, and hope for referrals by inference. Some BNI chapters are guilty of this too. Is yours one of them?

Such activity is virtually a complete waste of time for people who are serious about business.

It is also not the BNI way. BNI is a business hub, a hive of activity – not a club — and we make no excuse for it. We want members who are prepared to perform. Anybody can do it, with the right focus and commitment.

We also make no excuse for wanting members who are driven, motivated and who actively apply themselves to building business through referrals.

That doesn’t mean heartless, by the way. Members should still vigorously pursue “Givers Gain” and the “farming” concept of networking.

Of course you’re not expected to have a referral or two or three every single week, but you should be aiming for it.

If some people in your chapter are not performing. If they are content to stand up week in and week out and say “I have no referrals”, then it’s up to the leadership team to approach them and both mentor and coach them to a level where they are performing.

If that expectation is too much for them, then perhaps BNI is not for them.

If you’re serious about business, then it’s time to re-discover your referral focus.

Colin is the Marketing Director of BNI New Zealand, a director of Iron Road Ltd and a professional speaker and copywriter.

We have much less control over winning or losing at something than we do over trying or quitting at something.

If you always try, you can eventually win. If you always quit, you can never win.

I loved this statement and it completely resonated with me and what I’ve seen in relation to people being successful at networking or at anything for that matter.

When people give up (even in their thoughts), it’s ‘game-over.’ I’ve always thought that I may not be the most successful man in the room or the smartest man in the room, but I’m pretty confident that I’m the most persistent man in the room. That commitment to “trying” has helped me succeed. I think it is the one thing that consistently helps anyone have long term success.

The whole process must begin with the old axiom – if you think you can or you think you can’t …  you’ll be right.