The Official BNI Podcast

Episode 247: Making Your Mark

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Synopsis

Marketing and sales is not something Dr. Misner was always confident about, but he unexpectedly became the marketing manager at a business he worked for, so he started reading and learned on the job. Sometimes our lives and our businesses go in unexpected directions.

The key to success in referral marketing is helping other people do what they do  best. So whatever business you’re in, build your own brand. Name recognition is the biggest challenge for small companies. For Dr. Misner, brand building was about writing (newspaper articles, blogging); for others, it may be video or podcasting. If you demonstrate expertise in your field, people will follow you.

Read Dr. Misner’s Entrepreneur.com post about this topic and tell us how you’re making your mark.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Episode 232: The Rest of the Story (Rebroadcast)

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Synopsis

This episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 203.

The title of the podcast comes from the late Paul Harvey’s radio broadcast. It’s “the rest of the story” about Ivan Misner and the founding of BNI.

See the complete transcript on Episode 203.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Episode 203: “The Rest of the Story”

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Synopsis

The title of today’s podcast comes from the late Paul Harvey’s radio broadcast. It’s “the rest of the story” about Ivan Misner and the founding of BNI.

When Ivan was six, his family moved from Pittsburgh to south-central LA. He wanted to be a lawyer, but couldn’t afford to attend a four-year private college, even with scholarships. He went first to a community college and then to a state school. He was accepted to law school, but realized he didn’t want to be a lawyer and went to graduate school in management instead. At the age of 24, he was supervising 500 people for the Census Bureau…making $16,000 a year.

This cured him of any desire to work for the government, and before long he set up his own consulting practice. Speaking and referrals were his main source of business. He created BNI in order to grow his own business. At the time, he didn’t have a clear vision of where he wanted to go professionally. Like most successful entrepreneurs, he’s bounced around a little bit.

Anyone can achieve success. But don’t just do what you think you should do. Do what you love. If you don’t do what you love, you won’t love what you do. And since you need persistence and commitment to succeed, it helps to have that passion.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Episode 124: “People Are Talking About You. Are You in the Conversation?”

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Synopsis

Word of mouth marketing is always working. It just may not be working in your favor.

Online networking makes it possible to stay more engaged and guide the conversation. Because of that, you have to participate.

Go to the search engines and set up alerts for your name, your company name, the title of your book or name of your products. That way you’ll know who’s talking about you and you can get in touch with them or respond on your own blog.

If you come across a complaint, a timely offer to fix the problem can turn it into an endorsement.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Episode 97: “OMG—I’m an Introvert?”

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Synopsis

This week Dr. Misner is visiting BNI chapters in Paris and Scandinavia.

To his considerable shock, Dr. Misner’s wife recently pointed out to him that he’s actually an introvert, despite his extremely public life. A little research revealed that he’s what’s known as a “situational introvert”: reserved around strangers, but very outgoing in the right context.

So it’s no surprise that BNI is perfect for situational introverts, because it creates a small group with a structured environment. Because you meet with your BNI chapter week after week, the other members are not strangers, and you can relax around them. That means that whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, you can be great at networking.

Brought to you by Networking Now.
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