May 2008 Archives - The Official BNI Podcast

Episode 56: “I Absolutely Refuse to Participate in a Recession”

May 28th, 2008

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Synopsis

This episode is a follow-up to one of Dr. Misner’s blog posts, and to Episode 48, which both got a lot of responses. There were lots of positive responses, but also a lot of respondents with the “yeahbut” syndrome. Dr. Misner has been through three recessions, and here is what his history tells him: People with a strong network will survive and even thrive during a downturn in the economy.

The first recession that BNI went through, membership initially slowed down, but after the first three or four months, people realized that they have to do something, and that’s when they got “networking religion” and started joining like crazy. The same thing has happened twice since then, and we’re seeing signs that it’s happening again.

But don’t wait too long to join a chapter—by the time 7 or 8 months have passed, all the places in your local chapter may be full.

Only the strong, the smart, and the networked survive a recession. Every chapter that refuses to participate in the recession will grow and flourish.

If you want to get serious about improving your networking skills, read Dr. Misner’s column in Entrepreneur Magazine. If you wait until the recession is over, your business will be over.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Published In: The Economy
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Discussion: 4 Comments

Episode 55: “Givers Gain Chapter 9—A New Millennium”

May 21st, 2008

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Synopsis

This week Dr. Misner is in Orlando at the BNI National Conference and calls in to praise BNI’s long-term employees, some of whom have been with BNI for all its 23 years. These are the people who’ve taken BNI from a home-based business in Dr. Misner’s tiny Claremont house to the international organization it is today.

Employee loyalty shows that a company has stability, commitment, and a good working environment. It’s important for members to know that BNI’s success is based on having good people.

The other thing Dr. Misner talks about in this chapter of Givers Gain is the communication revolution. This podcast is just one example of the things technology lets us do that we couldn’t do before. Thousands of members listen every week, thanks to the e-mail announcement list and the fact that education coordinators are sharing this information with their chapters.

One reason for writing the book was to keep BNI chapters from repeating mistakes that have already been made. BNI keeps experimenting with new possibilities, testing them out before disseminating them to the BNI chapters. The Referral Institute was born from some of these experiments.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Published In: Givers Gain
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Discussion: 3 Comments

Epiode 54: “Responsibility and Referrals”

May 14th, 2008

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Synopsis

If your personal referral network isn’t working the way you expect, it’s time to turn things around. Are you helping them in the same way you want them to help you? The best way to get your network motivated is to be motivated yourself.

Before you blame your network for the lack of referrals, ask yourself:

Have you followed up with the referrals?
Have you educated your network about your business? Your job is not to close a sale, but to train a sales force.
Have you made it clear who you’re looking for as clients? If you’re looking for vice-presidents of major corporations, say so.
Have you built up the trust that encourages people to refer their own best clients to you?
Are you holding your network accountable? A BNI group is not a kaffe klatsch.

It’s your responsiblity to make your referral network work for you.
Sponsored by Networking Now.

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Published In: Networking
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Discussion: 4 Comments

Episode 53: “Global Networking”

May 7th, 2008

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Synopsis

In this episode, Dr. Misner calls in from Toronto to talk about Global Networking with Niri S. Patel from Yorkshire and Robert French from Korea.

So why would people want to network internationally?

To be really successful, you have to find a trend and work your way into it. The trend now is toward social networking and high-touch
The center of gravity of the global economy is shifting eastwards to China and India. Graduates of Oxford and Cambridge are being recruited to work at Indian multinationals.
The credit crunch opens the way to profitable East-West collaborations and means that the fast will win over the slow.

How can members develop resourceful international relationships quickly?

Use events worldwide, such as BNI Worldwide’s International Members Event in Kuala Lumpur in May 2008.
Ask your trusted network “Who do you know who…?”
Ask the people you see trading internationally how they do it.
Raise your profile with international contacts via Ecademy, LinkedIn and the BNI Yahoo! Group.

The world is moving fast. We have to move fast. Jump on it. Go to these international events.
Sponsored by Networking Now.

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