According to one of the surveys conducted for Business Networking and Sex—Not What You Think, referral networks have an 82.8% success rate in terms of generating business, while online networks only have a 27.4% success rate. (See graph below.)

One reason for this might be that many entrepreneurs don’t have a plan for their online networking. If you’re not sure how to use networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and BNI Connect to your advantage, ask one of the many social media experts in BNI.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 241 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you and where are you?

Ivan:
I am at BNI HQ this week and we are bringing in Directors from all over North America and training them, new Director consultants. We’re training them at BNI. I made sure to be here whenever we do a training here at HQ because I think it’s really important to be part of the training process. I think education is a leaky bucket.

Priscilla:
What does that mean?

Ivan:
People put information into the bucket. There are holes. Some of it doesn’t stay in the bucket. When you train somebody, information leaks out. When you are training two or three generations- if I train somebody in how to do something and they train somebody how to do something, after two or three generations, you have half a bucket of information. What happens when you have what appears to be half the information? You start putting your own stuff in. It may not be the right stuff. So I am a real firm believer in education and getting it directly from me whenever possible. So there are elements of the consultant Director training that I still do to this day after 27 years. We’re doing it here at HQ now.

Priscilla:
That’s good.

Ivan:
Yeah. So this week I want to talk about online networks lagging behind. It’s based on an article that I wrote for Entrepreneur. I want to just tell everybody right up front. There was a lot of data that I was able to collect for the book, which I have mentioned in previous podcasts, that just came out, Business Networking and Sex, Not What You Think. There was a lot of data there that we couldn’t use in the book because there was just so much. We literally had hundreds of tables.

I wanted to use some of this in other places. I want to talk about it in other places, other than the book. You can’t find this information in the book, but it is based on the survey that we did of the 12,000 business people from all around the world. One of the questions that we didn’t use in the book was what kind of organizations do you belong to? They could pick more than one. We had a list of things like referral network, contact networks, online networks, social groups, women’s business groups, and service clubs. We also asked a question in the survey that was used in the manuscript in several places. That is has networking played a role in your success?

We got interesting findings when we cross-tabulated those two questions with one another. When we said has networking played a role in your success and what kind of organizations do you belong to? We expected the casual contact networks like the Chamber of Commerce and that referral networks like BNI would do fairly well, and they did. However, we were a little surprised with some of the other results. I thought it might be interesting to talk about that and why.

So here’s the bottom line. Don’t shoot the messenger here, those of you who are listening to this podcast. Don’t shoot the messenger. Online networks did pretty poorly in the survey, with only 27% of the respondents saying that online networking has played a role in their success.

Priscilla:
You’re talking now about things like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Ivan:
Yeah. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. Compare that to referral networks, in which 82% played a role in their success. Casual contact networks were like 51%. Even professional associations. Priscilla, is there a professional association for broadcasters?

Priscilla:
I am sure there are, yeah.

Ivan:
Okay. Even an association like that. They did better than online networks. They scored 33.7%. So online networks did pretty poorly with only 27% saying that it has played a role in their success. Now, women’s business organizations did worse, with 17.7%. Service clubs came in last with only 17.2%. That is, in relation to the question has networking played a role in your success, only 17% of women’s organizations and service clubs, people where in those groups said it played a role in their success. I am going to come back to those two in just a minute.

Let’s talk about what all of this means. Overall, people who got the most of results from their networking efforts seemed to participate in face-to-face casual contact networks like a chamber or referral networks like BNI. To a lesser extent, professional associations, like any professional body or society representing a particular industry. While online networks, women’s business organizations and social service clubs rated very low in success related to their networking, I think there is- I wouldn’t throw them out with the bath water.

I think there is still some benefits to participating in those kinds of organizations. Even though they didn’t fare well, I am quite and advocate for online networks, women’s business organizations, and service clubs. I think I will continue to be so. I did some thinking on the survey and why these groups came in with such low percentages compared to the casual contact and referral networks. In this podcast, Priscilla, I will give you the graphic so people can see what it is that I am talking about.

I’m inclined to believe that women’s business organizations and service clubs don’t so as well because they have another really important purpose that takes precedence over networking. Women’s business organizations often provide a place where women will support and educate each other. The mission of service clubs is primarily to provide service to the community, with networking opportunities being more of a byproduct. In terms of tangible success in members networking efforts in much more subtle groups like this may be one of the main reasons they didn’t do quite as well in the survey.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about online networks and their disappointing standing in terms of the respondents’ ranking of successful networking efforts. The results I think are indicative of a comment I have heard from many business owners who being to market their businesses via the growing number of online business networking sites. They will say something like, “I’ve got a profile and 1000 connections. Now what? What do I do now?”

I think a lot of our contributors jumped on the social media networking bandwagon and spent a lot of time and effort building their online social capitol in Facebook, Twitter- but they didn’t have a plan in terms of turning contacts into actual customers. I think it’s one of the areas that many entrepreneurs struggle with. By the way, I have had consultants- we have a lot of members who are social media experts. I have talked many of them. They are really good in BNI. They can give good info. I urge members to talk to those advisers and ask if they have any suggestions.

Another issue in the addition to internet marketing, including online networking, exponentially increased the number of marketing messages that the average person sees everyday. Literally thousands. You know, whether you are online chatting on Google Talk or looking up friends’ photos on Facebook, or watching a Twitter feed, you get this “Read this. Buy this. Try this. Connect with me. Like my business.” It’s easy to get distracted by these messages, particularly because those who have the time to put up the most messages drown out the smaller businesses or individuals.

I am a fan of online networking. As many members know, we have been developing an online network, BNI Connect. I believe it is the wave of the future. I believe you are going to see better results in the future, not only for programs like BNI Connect, which we are adding to and enhancing, but continued to programs like LinkedIn and Facebook. I think these are great organizations, and it’s a great place and one of the venues to market your business. But based on current results, they definitely lag way behind. I was a little surprised on their success according to 12,000 people who took the survey.

Priscilla:
I think it is confusing to know how to use online networks. I mean, I would love for their to be a podcast about how to use BNI Connect as a way for us to find each other and do business with each other.

Ivan:
You know, there absolutely will be a podcast on that. There are some things that we have been working on to get the program on the administrative side up to snuff and the social media side of it kind of had to take a back burner. But in 2012, the social media side of it is going to absolutely be developed to a much greater extent. When we are ready to really – when it’s really shining at the level we want it to be, I would love to do a podcast about it then.

Priscilla:
Okay good. We will look forward to it.

Ivan:
That’s all I have for today, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay. Thank you, Dr. Misher. I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

LinkedIn is the top site for online business networking. There’s an official BNI group there, where members can share ideas with each other.

Here are some ways you can get more out of LinkedIn.

1. Connect with more people through your second and third level connections.
2. Participate in groups, which allow you to communicate with people you aren’t directly connected to.
3. Capitalize on the search engine optimization value of LinkedIn in your profile
4. Connect LinkedIn with Twitter for cross-promotion.
5. Build and enhance your credibility with recommendations, publications, and work history.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 225 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan:
I am doing great and I am actually back in town this week. I travel a lot but this week I actually get to be here at BNI headquarters.

Priscilla:
That’s great. What are you sharing with us?

Ivan:
Today I am going to talk about five tips for getting the most out of LinkedIn. I have said for a long time that social media and BNI- it’s not an either or. It’s and. Being active in online networking, there is a lot of value to that. I am a fan. I am also obviously a fan of face to face networking. I talk a lot about face to face networking, so today, I thought I’d talk about online networking, particularly LinkedIn.

If any of you out there have any lingering thoughts that social media is kind of a fad, you want to let those go- especially in light of LinkedIn’s IPO, where they had a valuation of $4.3 billion USD. It’s just amazing. When an IPO says- well, you know, a public offering. So they are here to stay.

I have been following the development of online business networking for some years, particularly the inception of some sites like ecademy.com, which is one of my favorite online sites. It’s based out of Europe. I know the founders there really well. LinkedIn, which I am going to talk about today. Of course, Facebook and Twitter. There area lot of competitors out there to LinkedIn. It’s certainly for now, at the top of the sites devoted primarily to online business networking.

I use a variety of social networks to interact with colleagues and friends, but LinkedIn has some features that I think are really strong. A lot of my members use LinkedIn, so I wanted to talk about that. LinkedIn has an official BNI group. And I think it’s a great way for BNI members to stay in touch. We recently had a call about BNI Connect. Obviously, BNI Connect is a great way for members to stay in touch. LinkedIn is another and I do recommend it. Sometimes a person gets in that 500+ connections category and then they don’t know what to do. They have a lot of connections. Now what do I do?

Here are five tips that I want to give people. One is connecting with more people. I have spoken to countless entrepreneurs who have increased their business because of connections they were able to make on LinkedIn. With the ability to view detailed profiles, which is what we do with BNI Connetc, and the ability meet via a shared acquaintance and then to be able to post updates about one’s business or career- these are things that are really valuable and important. I think it is something that LinkedIn offers that members should take advantage of.

LinkedIn is also known as a source for job seekers and recruiters. I think that’s probably one of its biggest advantages and opportunities. Most of my BNI members have a job, so they are not looking for anything else, but you might have friends or associates who are looking for jobs. Or you might be looking to hire somebody. LinkedIn is well-known as a great website for job seekers. As an employer, that might be of value to you. Or if you have friends who are looking for jobs, clearly that would be of value to you.

So the first is connecting with more people. The second is participating in groups. LinkedIn’s groups features a wonderful way to meet others with a shared affinity, whether it is a cause, an employer, an organization like BNI- BNI has an official group on LinkedIn. Being an official member of the same group as someone else removes the barrier that LinkedIn ordinarily imposes, that you have to personally know someone to send a message or invite them to connect. This gives you a way to communicate with people.

I am on several groups in LinkedIn and I have found it invaluable, particularly as an educational element to talk about different topics. LinedkIn’s group feature might be its most valuable feature, especially when it is used effectively to build connections, participate in a group by asking questions, suggesting topics or recommending another member’s answers is a way to build a more personal connection. I see this as a thing that as BNI Connect grows and grows and grows, we are going to do more of what LinkedIn is doing but within that walled garden where it’s only BNI members mentoring and supporting each other.

Again it’s not either or. Don’t do one and not the other. I think both are great and have opportunities. Something that I recommend is capitalizing on the search engine optimization. LinkedIn profiles show up high in search results. The more links you have, the higher up a profile might show in the search engine results. Obviously, search engine results- if you have a BNI member who is a social media expert, talk to them. BNI allows you to incorporate very important links: to your websites, blog- when you incorporate these things to your profile, it not only builds your profile link, but it adds to your site. I use that feature to highlight my blog, businessnetworking.com. So I do a lot of promotion as well with my blog.

The fourth thing is tying that with a Twitter connection. LinkedIn easily dovetails with Twitter. Indeed, you can really integrate with Twitter and with several social networks using Twitter’s programming social interfaces. I cross promote content that I have written across various social networking accounts. Every article I write can be seamlessly shared in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. You can even have an article about your local BNI group. What a great way to promote that in LinkedIn. Typing your twitter account into your LinkedIn profile allows you to connect your Twitter profile easily through LinkedIn.

One more. Building and enhancing credibility could very well be one of the first places that some people who don’t know you outside of BNI may look at to determine a little bit about you and get your business profile, which is again, one of the things that we talked about with BNI Connect recently. Finish your profile so people can find out about you. But LinkedIn allows a professional to showcase their works, their publications, recommendations from other LinkedIn users, company affiliations, work history, etc.

So the more you can have about yourself online, the more credibility that you have in business. There is really, I think, a lot of value in that. So the five things that I recommend for getting the most out of LinkedIn- and many of these overlap into other social media networking including BNI Connect are:
connecting with more people, participating in the groups, capitalizing on search engine optimization, tying in with a Twitter account and building and enhancing your credibility. I think these five things will help our members get more exposure though LinkedIn. Of course, when you are on there, you should put that you are a member of a local BNI chapter. That would be great to see more and more people do that.

So that is what I’ve got for today, Priscilla. Are you on LinkedIn?

Priscilla:
Yes, yes. I’m on LinkedIn. I read your article on this topic and I did something that I hadn’t done before., which is there is press release that came out today in SF Gate, which is a San Francisco Chronicle website, about the studio and one of my clients. I posted it on LinkedIn, which I had never done before. That was kind of cool. Anyway, I see the value of it and I appreciate that you pointed out all of these different tips for us.

Ivan:
I talk about in networking that it’s really a multitouch program. You have to connect with people in many different ways and this is one of the ways that I think is valuable. I have a LinkedIn profile. I recommend it to others. It, along with other forms of connecting and building credibility, can help other people build a powerful personal network. Thanks Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay. Thank you, Ivan. I think that is it for this week. I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Kathryn Lodal from BNI San Diego joins Dr. Misner today to talk about her chapter’s use of BNI Connect. Members can share ideas and best processes, and can also use it for referrals.

People everywhere want to do business with BNI members. BNI Connect enables members from all over the world to refer business to you—but only if you fill out your profile with your contact information. Make sure that people looking for someone in your industry can find your address, phone number, website, and e-mail. You can also upload a photo of yourself and your business logo. The more complete your profile, the better your results will be.

If you don’t know how to fill out your BNI Connect profile, ask your local Executive Director.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 224 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan:
I am doing great, Priscilla, thank you very much. I am wrapping up my visit to Israel this week. Some great members here in Israel. This is my second visit and I am really excited to be back. I am also excited about todays’ topi because I have with me here today Kathryn Lodal. We are going to be talking about the value of BNI Connect. Kathryn is the Executive Director of BNI in San Diego, CA. Kathryn and her team of directors have doubled the size of the BNI organization in San Diego in the last 5 years. She has been a Director for many years, although she had been an Executive Director in San Diego for five years. She was a n Assistant Director for many years in Michigan before she came to San Diego. She also serves as a BNI Distict Director, advising BNI chapters throughout the SW. Kathryn has a bachelors degree from Texas Tech and a masters degree from Northwestern University. Kathryn, it is great to have you on this podcast. I appreciate you doing this today.

Kathryn:
I’m so pleased to have this opportunity, and I am glad to meet you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Thank you.

Ivan:
Kathryn, how long were you an Assistant Director in Michigan before you came to San Diego?

Kathryn:
I was there for 9 years and actually, in San Diego, I’ve been there for seven now. It’s gone fast.

Ivan:
Alright. So you have been involved in the organization for 15 years. That is one of the things that I love about BNI. People tend to be involved for a long, long time. It’s great to have people like you. You’re a great District Director and a great Executive Director for the organization. So today you want to talk about BNI Connect. There are three things that you want to touch upon. Theme, value and process. Those are the three things that you want to talk about it.

Before you jump into this, I want to do full disclosure right up front. BNI Connect is a work in progress What I ask of the members is join me in the vision of what this can be. I know that BNI Connect has some bugs and issues. There are a couple of parts that need to be worked on. We know that. We are working hard to bring BNI Connect up to snuff. Particularly the group function is one of the things that we’re working on. A number of other area that we know there is work that needs to be done. We are actively doing this up to where we feel comfortable. So view this conversation with Kathryn as to what BNI Connect can be and how we can all start to get it there. If we can keep the comments and focus on the positive, I think it ends up being much more valuable content for members.

So theme, value and process. Tell us first what you mean by theme.

Kathryn:
Thank you. The directors on the San Diego team are very excited about the business that has already taken place for our members via the BNI Connect database. When members see the value of BNI Connect database and specifically, how do prospective customers or clients find you, a member, on BNI Connect?

One of the examples that I think we can all relate to is that people all around the world own real estate. And they often own that in places that they don’t live, either by investment, or by inheritance. So they find themselves in need of a variety of services and they often want to use a BNI member for those services because we have the best vetting process around.

In terms of the value, BNI Connect provides basic information for every member of BNI worldwide. This enables us to be found in the worldwide search. However, we have to remember that the member chooses just how much information to add to the basic information that is posted by virtue of our membership in BNI Connect. So here is the process about how a prospective-

Ivan:
Can I jump in before you get to process, Kathryn? There are a couple of things that I want to touch upon. One is you are focusing primarily on the referral aspect. I think that is valuable, but there is also another aspect, and that is the knowledge and information sharing. A lot of the members can share ideas and best practices. We see it as members having two primary aspects of great value to members. One is information sharing, best practices, what are you doing right? The other is what you are talking about today, which I think is really revolutionary for BNI because everything has been about the local chapter and now you have this chance to communicate and possibly pass referrals around the world.

I’ve had people say to me, “Yeah, but I don’t do business around the world.” Do you have any idea how many people have contacted me and said that they have moved from one place like you did, Kathryn. You moved from Michigan to San Diego. It was great to be able to start up in a new city and have all of these contacts. Or they have friends in another city who need help and it would be so easy for them to refer them. That’s really the kind of thing that you are talking about here- being able to give referrals to people around the world. Yeah?

Kathryn:
That is exactly correct. We know that when we move to a new region, we want to start with BNI connections. We also have friends and family, by example real estate property that needs servicing. It’s amazing how many opportunities are already occurring. So I’d like to just cover if somebody needs a service in San Diego, what do they do? First of all, they have to find a regional website address. The best way to do that is to go to BNI.com because you can look up regions all over the world. Find the regional website. Connect with that. Once on the regional website, you simple click on find a member and look at the drop down list of professions and identify which professions it is that you need service in. So that’s how a prospective member begins to find us.

That’s very important. Now, then I want to focus on three different things about what happens next. First of all, when the prospective member starts looking at this list of cleaning services as an example- because they own a home. They have a rental property. They have a parent who lives in San Diego and they need a variety of services. There are certain things that BNI Connect provides no matter what each individual member does. That is their name, their company name, their chapter name and their industry. If that is all the prospective client sees, then they have to do further research to reach our member because no contact information is on there unless the member has chosen to provide it.

So secondly, let’s look at what a prospective member would see if the member chooses to fill out the options on the profile page. There can be a photo, a company logo and a variety of means of contact- address, multiple phone numbers, a way to send an email. It says”send message” but it never reveals the actual email in order to protect our members from spamming. You can post your website. You can post your social networking links. But remember, each member chooses what they do and don’t want to post on BNI Connect.

I would like to close with a few stories because we are beginning to see the success stories roll in. I will start with myself. I was looking for a florist in another city to send flowers for my son and his wife’s anniversary. I found 4 florists in that community, only one of whom had posted contact information. Guess who got my business.

I just got a call from someone the other day who lives in a nearby county in California. Their mom lives in San Diego. They had found a house cleaning service via BNI Connect. They just wanted to follow up and make certain what the reputation was. But they had made the connection by going into our website and looking for cleaning services.

When I made this presentation at one of our chapters, one of the members stood up and said, “I’d like to share with you one of the referrals that I just received. My business is lighting fixtures. Through BNI Connect, I just received a request for a quote from Mumbai, India.” That individual who was a member in India wanted to consider the prospect of buying the fixtures in the US and shipping them via paying the prices in India. I thought that was very exciting because as you said, Ivan, we sometimes think we only do business locally, but it’s going to happen internationally as well as other places within the United States. I bet you’ve had some experiences with this already, too, Ivan.

Ivan:
I have. I had somebody come up to me just recently and say they got a $10,000 referral off of somebody. It was a SendOutCards representative. They were completely shocked that they got this business. They were going into it with the idea that BNI Connect would be a knowledge network to share ideas and resources. Then, boom!, they got this huge referral.

So it is absolutely going to happen. You are right. It is not going to happen if the members don’t get on and complete their profiles. So if you are listening to this message and don’t know how to do that, you want to contact your local Executive Director and ask how you get the information to be able to sign up for BNI Connect and start your profile. This is a process. This is going to take 6 months to a year to get members fully on board, to get the software- we are doing this completely inhouse. We are not bringing in a venture capitalist to do this. It’s a slow process, but we’re going to get it there and it’s already started to be an amazing thing from what I have seen.

Any closing thoughts, Kathryn?

Kathryn:
Yes. I would like to remind us all that people are looking for member services, whether it is from within our region or outside our region. The more information and the more attractive the member’s profile page is, the more likely a connection will be made.

Ivan:
Yeah. Very true. Very true indeed. Listen Kathryn, thank you very much for being on the podcast today. You are a great Executive Director. You have a wonderful message.

Members, get on BNI Connect and play around a little bit. Be patient. Be tolerant, but get engaged because this will continue to improve. We are investing a lot of time and energy in this. It’s going to be what I’ve been saying: Local business, Global network. It’s going to enable businesses that are local to have a global network and to connect all 140,000 of our members worldwide. Kathryn Lobel, thank you so much for being on our podcast. Back to you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Thank you, Ivan. I just have to add that I got a phone call this week from somebody who tried to find me on BNI Connect, and all I had was the basic information. They did the research to find me but let me know that I didn’t have my phone number on there. So it’s really timely that you said all of this.

Ivan:
That’s good and I think it’s a really perfect example of why it’s important to get your contact information up there. Thanks for sharing that, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay. Thank you both. That was a great podcast. I think that is it for this week. I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Social media expert Gail Nott of Nott Limited joins Dr. Misner today to talk about networking with social media. The three main topics are Setting Boundaries, Connecting with Your Top 3 Referral Partners, and Asking for Introductions.

Setting Boundaries

Gail recommends a 90/10 split between business and personal information posted to social networks that you use for business. And remember that anything that you post online is part of a public record and can affect your business reputation.

Connect with Your Top 3 Referral Partners

It’s easy to get overwhelmed and spend too much time on social media. Concentrate on your top three referral sources. Comment on their pages and keep up with their profiles. You can move on to your top three clients and top three prospects.

Ask for Introductions

Don’t forget the VCP process when you’re networking online. Let relationships grow and then ask your closest referral partners to introduce you to new groups or prospects.

Chances are, you have a social media-savvy member in your BNI chapter, but if not, get in touch with Gail at GailNott.com.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 213 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined  on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan:
I am in Mexico City where I just finished the conference with our directors and members in Mexico. Mexico is really growing for the organization and we are really excited about what is happening there. This week, I have, as a guest on our podcast, Gail Nott. Gail is a BNI member and specialist in social media and relationship marketing. Gail’s company is Nott Limited Solutions.  She manages internet marketing campaigns for large and small companies in California. She has 12 years experience in web development, SEO and BNI happens to be one of Gail’s clients. We are very happy to work with you, Gail. Welcome to the podcast today.

Gail:
Thank you so much for having me.

Ivan:
It’s our pleasure. We are going to talk about three things in today’s podcast. Setting boundaries. I’ll be really interested in hearing what you have to say about that. Setting boundaries between personal and professional online. Connecting with your top three referral partners and asking for introductions. Those are the three topics that we are going to cover and this morning. This content is perfect for BNI members in integrating technology into what they do, so .let’s get started right away.

Gail, what do you want to do in terms of setting boundaries? What are your recommendations there?

Gail:
Let’s get started with what are your boundaries for your professional social media updates on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and any other site that you are using? One of the things that people ask me is what they should post to their Facebook page and how to let people in and know more about them without making it too personal. I give the suggestion of a 90/10 split on that. Definitely focus on your business and educating your public on what you do and how you can help them as well as giving them tips. And then also allow them in and show the culture of your company and your own personal interests, kind of like the interests in your GAINS profile, what your interests are and helping people find common ground and build rapport between you and prospective clients.

Another thing to consider is privacy issues. A lot of people also use Facebook for personal use. So be very clear about what goes on your personal page and what goes on your professional page, knowing that even though you have that separation, online, just think of it as being permanent record. You never know who is going to say something or cut and paste something that you write. Always be aware. You  are an entrepreneur. Always remember to be professional online.

Ivan:
Gail, we have a US Congressman who has a little problem with that issue right now, don’t we? He was putting up some bonehead things. You have to be careful about what you put up on  professional page.

Gail:
Right, right. When people ask me things like that, it makes me wonder what exactly are you doing? What are you trying to hide? There could be things like your beliefs. They might be great on your personal profile but not on your professional page. It’s not what business is about.

Ivan:
If you don’t mind, I would love to say something about that. I have a private page, a personal page, and I have a public page. My wife has just written a book. BNI doesn’t deal in religion, but I want to support my wife’s book. I don’t know if you have seen it or not but I am putting up disclaimers. This is my private page. Ivan Misner, personal. I am going to make a couple of recommendations for this book here. It is my wife’s. If you have a problem with it, just go to my public page where I will not talk about this kind of stuff. What do you think about that? Should I not do it at all?

Gail:
I am a big believer that that’s part of who you are. You should not necessarily hide that but as you mentioned on the BNI page, it’s about BNI and business networking. I do the same thing on my social media page. It is just on social media and network marketing. If you are my Facebook friend, you will see my personal interest and even pictures of my family as well.

Ivan:
But even then, you shouldn’t be posting photos of the wild party that you went to last weekend.

Gail:
Be aware of the professional image.

Ivan:
I am just kidding about the wild party, but you have to be careful about the  pictures that you put up there because you have to keep it professional, even on your personal page to some extent.

Gail:
Exactly. That used to be a big fear that people would get tagged in pictures that would not put them in the best light. But I think that people are more aware of the etiquette of that. You can always untag yourself. If you are very protective of your personal image, you can even turn that off. It’s always good to be aware of what your settings and what  you are capable of on social media sites. It’s similar to jumping in the car in another country.  Be aware of their rules. So be aware of the settings in Facebook and take advantage of them.

Ivan:
Great. Anything else on that? We need to jump to the next one.

Gail:
Let’s jump to the next one.

Ivan:
Connect with your top three referral partners. Talk about that.

Gail:
It can be very easy to get overwhelmed with social media especially as you keep connecting with people and making friends. How do you really use it?I say keep in touch with your top three referral sources. Time can disappear in social media. It’s very easy to get distracted and hours go by and you didn’t get anything done. If you have a list of your top three referral sources, those are the  people that you are really going to stay in touch with, either on their business page or also their personal profile as well.  Stay in touch with them, comment on their post, feature them, and find opportunities where you can guest blog for each other. That is where you can move from the VCP process (visibility, credibility, profitability) throughout, you can move it to the profitability portion of VCP.

Ivan:
Three. That seems small. That is not a hard and fast number I hope.

Gail:
No. I actually tell people to start with your three top referral sources. Keep in touch with your top three clients and your top three prospects. But if someone is just starting out and they are overwhelmed looking at it, I suggest to them to start with the three referral sources and then build from there. Even 9- if you are thinking of 9 business pages and then 9 business profiles, that’s already 18 pages to take a look at and keep up with. Start small.

Ivan:
You are talking about really going deep, not just casual reviews of a few pages, but really spending time on your top three referral partners. That is what you are really talking about.

Gail:
Yes. Exactly.

Ivan:
Alright great. The next one is ask for introductions. Tell us what you mean by that with social media.

Gail:
I say that. Just because you connect with people online very easily does not mean that you connect with them and then sell to them right away. Or you connect with them and then ask or referrals right away. You have to remember the VCP process of developing a relationship. What I do- this is my secret. I connect with people that I would either like to be in a business relationship with, whether it is referring or a client relationship. I connect with them online and I just let that relationship grow. If there is something I can help them with, I am there to help them. As that relationship grows and they get to know me better, we will find opportunities that we can meet in person. Maybe we can meet at a chamber mixer together or I can  visit their BNI chapter or whatever it is that I can build that relationship further. From that point, we move the relationship to a deeper level again.

What helps me – this is my secret – is asking for other people to promote me to these people. So asking my closest referral partners, the people that I am in Profitability with, and telling them I just started talking to this person, she is interested in what I do but obviously I am not in Credibility with them. In our network, you have a good relationship. Would you mind giving a testimony on my behalf when the time is right? Then we will strategize how we can develop this relationship further. It is done in a very authentic and sincere way but also in a strategic way as well. That is kind of my secret in combining online networking with in-person networking- using social media as a tool to get to know each other and build that relationship. Then, when the relationship is right, we can move it to the next level.

Ivan:
I find that social media is a great way to maintain touch points, to stay connected with people that are following you or that you are following. That is important.

Gail:
Definitely. I think one of the reasons why BNI meetings are so effective is that you see each other on a weekly basis. That is the great opportunity with social media, too. You can stay in touch with your top 9 people on a daily basis if that is how often you check into social media.

Ivan:
Gail, we are just about out of time. The three things that you are recommending are setting your boundaries between personal and professional, connecting with your top three referral partners in terms of going deep, and them asking for introductions or referrals to expand your network. Any closing comments before we turn it back over to Priscilla?

Gail:
I think just remembering that it is still networking and it’s just a tool to enhance our in-person networking. That is the most important thing to remember with social media.

Ivan:
It is a great tool. The VCP process still applies. You pretty much said that. You have to move from Visibility to Credibility and and to understand where you are at with those people when it comes to Profitability. It still applies online. Gail, thank you so much. Thank  you for what you do for BNI. We appreciate the work that you have done for us as an organization. Thanks for being on this podcast.I hope listeners have learned a lot  this week. You have more and more members who are in social media. Connect with your member if you want advice. If you don’t have a member in your chapter, contact Gail. Her website or contact information will be here. As a matter of fact, Gail, give us your website so we can make sure it gets out there.

Gail:
It is www.gailnott.com. 

Ivan:
There you go. www.gailnott.com  Thank you very much, Gail. Priscilla, back to you.

Priscilla:
Okay. Thanks so much to both of you. I think that’s it for this week. I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Note: The podcast refers to www.bniconnect.com.  However, currently the website to go to is www.bniconnectglobal.com.

As of January 2011 51% of BNI members are members of Gen X and Gen Y: people born after 1965. This is a connected, tech-savvy population. Hence BNI has made a decision to combine online and face-to-face networking.

Here are some of the benefits to the new BNI Connect system:

• A uniform database system worldwide
• A uniformity of brand worldwide
• Increase member retention
• Increase results for chapters

The basic business model of BNI will not change. BNI chapters will continue to meet face to face on a weekly basis. BNI Connect makes it possible for local businesses to have a true global  network. There are three legs to this stool:

1. Database of members around the globe
2. Websites for chapters (you can point existing chapter domains there)
3. Social network with free “My BNI” page for members

Ask your local executive director to find out when your chapter is scheduled for transition to BNI Connect.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 193 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, CA. I am joined today by the Chairman and Founderof BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
I am doing great, and I have a topic today that I am excited to talk about. That is the vision for BNI Connect, which is an online technology that we are using to incorporate into the BNI program. Let me start by making a statement that I think many people will find surprising. As of last month, in January 2011, BNI was for the first time a non-baby boomer organization. 51% of our organization are non-baby boomers or pre-baby boomers. They are part of the Gen X population and Gen Y population, also known as milleninals, people born after 1965. Gen X and Gen Y are millennials.

The majority of our organization now are no longer baby boomers or pre-baby boomers. They are Gen X and Gen Y, millennial. I believe that changes the organization a little bit. This population is very connected. They are very technology savvy. So for the very first time in the history of the company- we are 26 years old- I am making a pretty significant change in the organization. That is to integrate face-to-face networking with a comprehensive online support system.

What I want to do in this podcast is basically announce what is rolling out right now as I speak. It’s rolling out throughout most of the world. I want to give a little timeline for how and when this will all happen. Most importantly, I want to talk about why we are doing this. I think that is really important. BNI is going to continue to be a face-to-face network that meets weekly all around the world.

However, we want to create an online support mechanism to address our changing demographic. We believe that a healthy future by integrating technology includes a number of things that are really important. That is what BNI Connect brings to the table.

First of all, a uniform database system worldwide. We have operated for many years now with multiple database systems from different countries that are not integrated. The first thing that BNI Connect will do is integrate our database system globally so that everybody around the world is on the same system.

Secondly, uniformity of brand worldwide. Priscilla, you and I have done a couple of podcasts on brand and why we need to have a similar visual look all around the world. If you are listening to this podcast, when you are done with this, go back and do a search on the BNI brand on this podcast and listen to some of those podcasts because you talk about the importance of having a uniform brand.

One of the reasons we did the changes to the brand this year was for BNI Connect coming up because we need a uniform brand and BNI connect will help us do that.

Another reason is to tap into the power of a global network. You know, for years I have talked about us thinking globally but acting locally, but that has changed. We are not that organization anymore. So BNI went out and got the trademark, “Local business. Global network.” That is the organization that BNI is becoming. You can be a local business with a chapter in a local community, but because of BNI Connect, join a chapter and immediately have a global network. You can be a local business and have a global network.

We want to increase member retention. We think that having online tools to educational, informational, knowledge networking- and of course, referral networking we felt would help increase retention not only for existing members but for particularly the post-baby boomer members who join the organization.

Most importantly, we want to increase the results that members get by integrating technology into our system. Once again, it is important to say that we are not changing our core business model. BNI is going to continue to meet every week, but through BNI Connect, we are integrating technology into our existing system.

Imagine it as a three-legged stool. The first leg is the database, where we put everybody together in the same system with reporting mechanisms that chapters can use to measure referrals, palms report and a number of other things.

The second is the websites. We will have a uniform website. Chapters will have as part of BNI, you automatically get a website. As members join, they automatically get posted on the website. When somebody leaves, they get removed automatically. You have control over a lot of the content that can go into the website as well, so it is customizable. If you have a domain name, it can point to this website.

It is important to tell you, so don’t freak out, everybody out there. You don’t have to close down your chapter website right now. That is not necessary. We think that chapters are going to want to organically transition to this website because there is very little work that has to be done and the database is automatically updated to it. So that is the second leg of the stool.

The third leg is the real vision making. That is the real vision making for BNI Connect. That is the social media, the social networking aspect. Every member will have a My BNI page, just like a Facebook page so you can promote yourself globally to all the other members, to the public if you want, through your my BNI page. Most importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to communicate with members around the world through bulletin boards and groups that get together online to talk about best practices. What’s working in your chapter that can work in other groups?

You can have groups by profession. What are attorneys doing around the world? What are accountants doing around the world? What are chiropractors doing around the world?

You can have groups based on profession to share best practices, ideas and knowledge. That is the real vision making for this program. I think BNI has the opportunity to step in and fill the void which exists in most networking organizations by integrating our existing worldwide network with online integrated technology system that addresses the management of the chapters, education, and of course, global networking.

I think BNI is on the precipice of change, Priscilla. I think we have a chance to lock in our lead as the world’s leading networking organization for the next decade and beyond. I think this is a chance for BNI to work together as a team and really change the way the world does business by integrating core technologies to meet the need of the changing business environment.

We are creating a strategy to guide this company through the next ten years or more and we are laying the groundwork for the next generation of networking. I think if we focus on solutions- and there will be problems. I’ll tell members if you’re concerned about this program and implementing it, and you are concerned about whether there will be problems or not in implementing this globally, let me just tell you right now. Don’t worry. There will be problems. It’s unavoidable. If we focus on solutions, I think we can get this system implemented.

It is being released right now in regions gradually. It is in probably about 30-40% of the world at this point. By April, we hope to have about 80% of the organization, and then there will be a few other countries that will transition- because they are part of a completely different database system- around October or so. They will be transitioning. Our goal is that by the end of this year, 2011, 100% of our organization will be fully integrated into BNI Connect. It’s absolutely, I think, going to change this organization in incredibly powerful ways.

Priscilla:
Can I ask you a couple questions?

Ivan:
Sure. Shoot.

Priscilla:
Will it cost you additional money if you have your own page?

Ivan:
No. It will not cost additional money. It is part of your membership in BNI. So the chapters will have their own chapter website. Again, if you have a domain, you can have that point to this website and it is no charge. The members have free access to the standard, basic level membership at no charge. The My BNI page is free.

There will be a premium membership available for additional services in much the same way that an organization such as LinkedIn has a basic membership and then a more advanced membership. We will be sending out information on what those things will be. Basically, it is more of everything. More contacts, more photographs, more groups, more access, more education. That will be a fee for service, a very nominal fee. We will be releasing information on what that is.

Every member, 100% of the members, get the standard membership at no charge whatsoever. The websites for chapters are also free.

Priscilla:
One other question. Will you be able to search? Let’s say I wanted to see what all the different recording studios were all over the world that were in BNI. Could I do a search on that?

Ivan:
Yes. You can do searches based on areas, territories, by professions. It’s really going to allow the public to be able to connect with professions that they are looking for much easier than it is now. Here is another aspect of it. It will allow you to connect with other chapters if you want to visit another chapter. We have so many members who visit other places within their country or other countries. It’s very difficult to find where a chapter meets. It’s going to be much easier to find where a chapter meets so that you can go visit a local chapter and see what they are doing in their country or in their area

Priscilla:
Great. Sounds wonderful and very exciting.

Ivan:
I am very excited about it. I think this is the biggest project- this is, absolutely the biggest project in the history of the company. It’s being done during the middle of a recession. The reason we are excited about this is that we- first of all, I refuse to participate in a recession. You know that. I’ve talked about that in my podcasts.

I think this is the perfect opportunity to position BNI as the ongoing world leader in business networking. I have done several blogs about the trends for networking. I think education is an important trend, and I think integration is an important trend, integrating technology with the face to face networking. I think if we, as an organization, can all row together in the same direction, we will continue to dominate this industry against all of our competition. I think this shared vision of integrated technology will help use to do that.

So if you are a listener, be looking for more information about BNI Connect. You will get more information. In the meantime, ask. Feel free to post a question here on the podcast. I will do my best to respond to those questions. And ask your local Executive Director where they are in the schedule to transition to BNI Connect. Ask your local director. You’ll get an answer as to where you are at in the transition.

That is all I have for today, Priscilla. I am sure I will be talking more about BNI Connect as time goes on.

Priscilla:
That’s great, Dr. Misner. Thank you so much. Well, listeners, I would like to just remind you that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thanks for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Dr. Misner is recording this podcast early because he’s going on Safari in Africa this week.

Here are some suggestions on how to use social media effectively.

• If you have a social media expert in your chapter, talk to them.
• Schedule your time with social media and make it part of a strategy.
• Find the right social media for you. Facebook is not the only network.
• Respond to comments. Retweet. Social media is a dialog.
• Use non-productive time (when you don’t usually work) for online networking.
• Use tools like Ping.fm, HootSuite, and Seesmic to save time.
• Remember that V/C/P still applies. Building relationships on social media takes time.

Here are five common mistakes businesses make on social media:

1. Spending too much time on sites you enjoy without evaluating their value to you.
2. Visiting a site for work and getting distracted by interesting posts.
3. Not recognizing when it’s time to delegate certain social media responsibilities.
4. Not providing consistent fresh content on your blog.
5. Forgetting that social media is about engaging in a conversation, not about selling.

Brought to you by Ask Ivan Misner.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 163 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by AskIvanMisner.com, which is a Web site where you can ask Ivan any question you have about networking.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I’m joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you and where are you today?

Ivan:
Well, we’re recording this one a little bit early, Priscilla, because I’m completely out of touch with the world this week. I am in South Africa on safari, and I have no telephone this week, so we’ve recorded it a little bit early.

Priscilla:
That sounds fantastic! Will you come back and tell us what you saw?

Ivan:
I would love to do that.

Priscilla:
Okay.

Ivan:
All right.

Priscilla:
What do you have to share with us about social networking?

Ivan:
This week I want to talk about the Dos and Don’ts of Social Networking, and I really, I think, learned a lot over the last year about social media. I’ve had on as a guest, Mirna Bard, who has helped me in developing my social media. And I wanted to talk a little about it, because, for me and BNI members, it’s not a either/or thing, it’s not face to face networking or social networking or social media; it’s both/and. I think they both work well together, and so I wanted to talk a little bit about that today.

Priscilla:
Okay.

Ivan:
I think people have a tendency to get online sort of – and what I want to do is give suggestions or recommendations to members on how to use their social media effectively. The first thing is, if you have a social media expert in your chapter, talk to them, because these are experts, and run some of the ideas that I’m going to be talking about by them and get some ideas from them as well.

I think people have a tendency to get online at random times and just start clicking away, and that’s a mistake. You really have to schedule your time with social media. One of the things I discovered is that sometimes I’ll get online and I get onto my fan page, on Facebook, which leads me to some link on some other Facebook page. And then there’s a link to some other page that now I’m on LinkedIn, and then I click on that and now I’m on YouTube and I’m watching some video. And some crazy thing has happened to the space/time continuum, and two hours have gone by and I have nothing to show for it. And it’s really easy to fall victim into that trap. And so it’s very important to really, I think, have a schedule for your social media.

The key to successful social media is to outline a strategy which considers the amount of time you can realistically dedicate each day to your online marketing efforts. If you plan your activities and you use timesaving tools and you make sure your return on investment, your ROI, expectations are reasonable, now you’ll be in a good position to succeed in your social networking.

By the way, I’m not crazy about that term, “social networking.” It’s something that’s come out of the Internet and it’s an Internet phrase. When I talk about social networking, I’m not talking about networking for social purposes; I’m talking about networking online, so your online networking efforts.

The first thing is to find the social media that’s right for you. Everything that follows and what I’m going to say hinges on that point. And let me add that it’s not just about Facebook, although I dragged my feet getting into Facebook. I was really not a fan of getting into Facebook until I was at an event where somebody who I really respected – I respected his knowledge about social media – stood up and said, “You’re all idiots if you’re not on Facebook. That’s where your customers are.” When I heard him say that, I was like, “All right. I better look at Facebook.” And interestingly enough, in a fraction of the time, I have infinitely more followers now on Facebook than I do on LinkedIn and many other sites that I’ve been on. So it was a good move for me.

But it’s okay to concentrate on some other Web sites, depending on what business you’re in and who your target market is. And there are other social media outlets to focus on. You can’t do them all, but there are several that you should look at, like LinkedIn, which is really the classic business Web site; Ecademy.com, which is my personal favorite online business network, Ecademy.com; XING, which is mostly based in Europe, it’s spelled X-I-N-G, X-I-N-G.com. These are great. And of course, Twitter. Great sites to take a look at.

So plan ahead – planning ahead really makes you efficient in working these types of sites. Make out a weekly schedule that outlines the specific days and times you’ll spend on social media. Figure out what’s realistic, what makes sense for your company.

For example, here’s a sample weekly schedule. Every day post something in the morning, 9:00 a.m., maybe one at l:00 p.m., one at 5:00 p.m. Post two or three times a day. I mean, you may think, “I don’t have time to post two or three times a day.” Well, we’ll come back to that, because I have a recommendation that will help with that a lot. Schedule maybe Mondays and Wednesdays to do 10 minutes responding to comments and direct messages.

Remember, online social media is a dialogue; you can’t just be doing one-way communication, and this is a struggle for me, because I get so many comments and so many messages. But you know, it’s really important, as much as possible, to be engaged in the dialogue.

And then maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays you dedicate 10 minutes to re-Tweeting people’s comments and thanking people for mentioning them in your Tweets, if you’re on Twitter. But have a schedule and try to stick to it.

Here’s another idea. Use a non-productive time to do some of this, if you can. Have a schedule, but let’s say you’re behind and you need to do something. Don’t do it from 9:00 to 5:00 if that’s your most productive work time. If you’re at home and you’re sitting down and you’re watching American Idol or some version in your country of some entertainment show, pull out your laptop and do it while the TV is on. You can integrate that into non-productive work time and really get a fair amount done.

So these are just some examples.

Now, use some tools to save time. Remember, I said you can post at 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. Well, there are tools that will enable you to do that. For example, sites like Ping.fm, P-I-N-G.fm. You can get on there and with one message, send all your sites, send it to LinkedIn, XING, Facebook, Twitter. So you don’t have to log onto each and every one of them. There’s a new site called Hootsuite, H-O-O-T-S-U-I-T-E, that does that. Seesmic.com, S-E-E-S-M-I-C.com. These sites will enable you to literally make one message and send it out.

And schedule it. So for me, I’m in 24 different time zones. If I send out a message on Facebook or on Twitter at 12 noon my time, that’s midnight someplace else where I have BNI groups. And so I try to schedule them in the middle of the night, because middle of the night for me is the middle of the day for somebody else in BNI.

Priscilla:
Wow!

Ivan:
There are also Web sites like AtomKeep.com which will allow you to link multiple Facebook and Twitter accounts into one desktop application. Sites like CoTweet.com that will allow you to schedule updates like we’ve been talking about.

So the bottom line there is, leverage your time. There are techniques that will allow leverage your time so you don’t have to spend as much time, but yet you get better results.

Now, let’s talk about your return on investment expectations. Once you have a strategy in place, you’ll no doubt be anxious to start seeing a return on your social media investment. It’s important to remember one thing. Networking takes time. Rather than expecting to see a surge in sales, you should hope to see people interacting with your brand and with you. Building relationships with people and credibility for your brand doesn’t happen overnight. V/C/P still applies. This is about creating visibility and credibility before you start to get profitability.

Here are five, I’m going to give you five common mistakes that – I know we are running out of time. I’m going to give you five common mistakes that people in businesses make when it comes to social media.

One is spending too much time on sites you enjoy but are not fully evaluating whether or not that particular site is effective for you.

Second is visiting a site for work and then running down rabbit holes getting distracted by interesting posts.

The third is not recognizing when it’s time to delegate certain social media responsibilities to a consultant, an agency, or another person in-house possibly. For example, I use somebody who does all my Facebook requests, Friend requests. I try to respond to the specific questions myself, but the requests, I can give directions to one person and tell them the kind of people are okay or not okay and what to look for. I don’t have to do that all myself.

It’s important to set up a blog and then keep it populated, be consistent and provide fresh content. Just letting people know that you’re at Starbucks isn’t enough. Have some good content in there.

And don’t forget that social media is about engaging in the conversation. It’s not just about selling.

If you do these things, you will really be building a good social media side to your networking campaign, and I wish everybody luck in doing that.

Priscilla:
That’s some great information. I especially appreciate that you are offering the names of those sites where you can get multiple postings from one post.

Ivan:
Right. And I recommend them because we use them, my office uses them, I use them, and it’s something that’s been a value to us.

Priscilla:
Yeah. I’m going to look into that. Thank you so much.

Ivan:
Yeah, you bet. And just one last comment before we wrap up. Remember V/C/P still applies. You’ve got to establish visibility, then you’ve got to get that credibility with people. And only when you’re at credibility can you really expect to get any kind of business in your online networking. So it’s not a get rich quick scheme; it’s another venue for your networking efforts, but it’s one that can absolutely add to your efforts in BNI.

Priscilla:
Perfect. Well, thank you, Dr. Misner.

Ivan:
Thank you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
I think that’s it for this week. I’d just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by AskIvanMisner.com. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

It’s International Networking Week! Check out our YouTube video if you haven’t seen it.

In this episode, Dr. Misner looks into his crystal ball and makes some Business (Networking) Predictions for 2010.

1. The economy will improve in most countries around the world. Focus on solutions and get out of the quagmire.
2. Online social networks will continue to grow in prominence—and so will the frustration of trying to convert them into viable business opportunities. VCP will not go out of style.
3. Companies small and large need to create a social media strategy.
4. Victims of downsizing will become active in networking groups.
5. We’ll see more integration between face-to-face and online networking, e.g. BNI Connect.
6. More and more companies will create websites that operate in two directions.
7. Face-to-face networks will continue to grow.
8. Companies that succeed in 2010 will remain agile and will focus on relationships.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 140 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
I’m doing great. Thank you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
This is International Networking Week, isn’t it?

Ivan:
It is. This is International Networking Week, and if members haven’t seen the video yet, got to YouTube and type in International Networking Week 2010, and you’ll see the video that we did up on YouTube. And we can put a link here on this podcast as well.

This is the fourth annual International Networking Week, which is an initiative of BNI’s, and it’s now being recognized in many countries all around the world with thousands of events being held. In the first International Networking Week, about six months before the first on, I did a Google search, and we had about 14 hits on the phrase. And I did a Google search today, and we had over 100 million hits on the phrase.

Priscilla:
Wow! That’s a lot!

Ivan:
Every single link on the front of Google is a link back to BNI in some way, so this has been a great tool for exposure for the organization.

Priscilla:
Great! Well, what are you going to talk about on this particular podcast?

Ivan:
Well, I thought it would be good, since this is International Networking Week, to sort of give my networking predictions for 2010. And it will not only be networking, but some of my business predictions for the upcoming year. It’s early in the year still, and I thought I’d throw some of these out there.

Priscilla:
Okay, great. What are they?

Ivan:
2009 is over. A lot of people are glad about that. It’s absolutely time to look forward, so I pulled out my crystal ball to see what this year would be like. And first of all, I think the economy is going to improve in most countries around the world. Sure, that’s not a networking issue, but it is important, and I would tell members, have faith, look for opportunities, refuse to participate in the recession, and focus on what you do best. 2010 will, I believe, be a better year for many, many businesses all around the world, but you need to focus on solutions and get out of the quagmire of problems and look for the opportunities that are out there. Because they definitely are opportunities, and I’m seeing many members who did very well during the recession, but I do believe things will get better. That’s first and foremost.

Second, online social networks, I believe, will continue to grow in prominence. Okay, I really didn’t need a crystal ball for that one. But consider this, digital schmoozing may continue to grow, but so will the frustration over how to convert that technology to viable business opportunities. I think online social networks are an emerging field, but much of way to apply that effectively is going to be established over the next few years. And, of course, the VCP process still applies, Visibility, Credibility, Profitability, applies whether you’re talking face to face networking or online networking.

Third, companies small and large need to create a social media strategy, so what’s your plan? If you don’t have one, I think it’s a big mistake in 2010. You need to start working on one now. If you don’t know where to start, do a little research. There’s some really good experts out there that can help. I’ve been working with a BNI member, and there are many, many social media experts all around the world. If you have one in your BNI chapter, I would recommend you connect with that person and get some consulting done, because the social media strategies will be an increasingly important aspect of more and more businesses into this decade.

Fourth, I think victims of downsizing will become very active in networking groups, both face to face and online. Many people have been laid off. In my experience in running BNI for the last 25 years, this is our 25th anniversary, is that within a few months after you start to see an increase in unemployment rates, there is always an influx of new members into BNI. And unemployment rates in many countries have gone up and are going up at the end of ’09 and early 2010, and so I’m confident that there will be an influx of members who’ve been downsized from the corporate world and are starting their own business. We’re going to see them come to BNI, and I’ve seen it during every recession in the past.

Fifth, we’re going to begin to see more of integration between face-to-face networking and online networking opportunities. Online networks will do things to promote face-to-face opportunities, and face-to-face networks will begin to integrate online networking more effectively into their programs. BNI is a good example of that. Our BNI Connect program is underway in 2010, and you’re going to see more and more information about BNI Connect, which is an online technology that will integrate with our face-to-face with program.

Number six, I think you’ll see the slow death of the one-way Website. More and more companies are going to create Websites that operate in two directions. They’ll not only provide information to their customers but will also seek feedback from their customers, a blogs, interactive newsletters, social network sites, consumer feedback groups. All these will continue to grow in importance for companies. BNI is certainly a good example of that. The BNI Podcast is two-way communication. You listen to the podcast, and we want your feedback. We look for comments here on this podcast. On my blog, we’re looking for comments. Even our newsletter now is set up where BNISuccessNet.com, BNISuccessNet.com, that’s our online newsletter, is set up for two-way communication. So more and more, that’s the wave of the future in working with clients.

The next one is face-to-face networks will continue to grow. If any networking organization, like BNI in particular, stays true to the fundamental mission of helping people grow their business, they will grow. And I think BNI absolutely will grow. Nothing beats networking in person. The organization grew in 2009, and I predict that 2010 will be another great for BNI. People want to build their business through referrals; they want to build through word of mouth, and face-to-face networks definitely will continue to grow.

And last, my last prediction for 2010 is that companies that succeed in 2010 will remain agile and will focus on relationships. Technology is a great tool. I believe in technology. Podcasts that we do and have been doing for a few years now is a good example of that, but relationships are king when it comes to networking. And companies who are creative and using tools to enhance the relationship building process, I think will be the leaders in any networking program around the world.

So there it is, Priscilla. Those are my predictions for 2010. What do you think of those?

Priscilla:
Well, I think you’re totally right about social networking. I am somebody that’s trying to look into that now. It’s a little bit confusing. There are so many different opinions about how to use it, how not to use it. And I’m a little concerned that what was a wonderful way to connect with people, and really rewarding, if all the businesses start using it to promote themselves, people will start to shy away from it as something fun and interesting to do, because I think it could end up being an inundation of commercialism.

Ivan:
Well, it’s possibly true, but remember it’s an opt-in opportunity so people decide, hey, I want to listen to this person’s message; I want to read this person’s message. And so they opt in to it and, of course, can opt out at any time. So the value of it is instead of it being a broadcast where you have to sit down and watch something, you’re basically saying, hey, I’d like to see what this person has to say or this company has to say. And I think that’s the big difference. Also, it’s two way; if it’s set right, it’s a two-way communication, so you can dialog back and forth.

So those two things make it different than just the media driven on-way communication that we saw in the past.

Priscilla:
Right. Well, I think it sounds good. I think a lot of what you’re saying will probably happen.

Ivan:
Well, let’s revisit this sometime this year and see how my predictions played out.

Priscilla:
Okay, that’s great!

Ivan:
Thanks, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay, well, thank you, Ivan.

I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Not all networking is about referrals. Sometimes networking is about sharing knowledge. Of course BNI can be a knowledge network, but your “think tank” can go beyond BNI. To create a knowledge network, surround yourself with these groups of people:

• People like you. They’re not the best source of referrals, but they’ll help you learn your trade.
• People who used to be in your profession.
• Authors and experts (e.g. bloggers).
• Trainers and consultants.
• Members of professional organizations. (Not necessarily the same profession you’re in.)
• Regulators. They’re a great source of information, especially about pitfalls.

BNI is working on a new online social network, BNI Connect, to help create knowledge networks within BNI.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 134 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
Doing great, Priscilla. Thank you.

Priscilla:
What is this think tank that you have in the title of this podcast?

Ivan:
A lot of what I talk about in these podcasts are referral marketing, referral networking, but there really are several kinds of networking. You can network to share ideas, information, resources, referrals, and knowledge. And that’s really what I wanted to talk about briefly today was sort of a different spin on the idea of networking.

I think that if you want to be successful and building a powerful personal network, you also have to have a solid knowledge network aspect of your personal network. That is, people around you who share ideas and knowledge that help you in business.

So what I wanted to talk about is to give a few examples beyond your BNI members. Now, clearly, to some extent, BNI can be a knowledge network in that you’ve got a lot of people from many different professions that you can bounce ideas off of. Even though BNI was not designed as a knowledge network, there’s an aspect to it where you can get ideas and information and knowledge, and I understand that and recognize that. However, that’s not what’s really traditionally a knowledge network, and so I wanted to talk about how to focus on some knowledge networking outside (inaudible) and BNI, and there are several different kinds of knowledge network groups of people that you want to surround yourself with. And that’s really what I wanted to talk about.

The first is people like you. There are some real advantages to seeking out people who have the same interests and goals as you, and that’s completely opposite to what I talked about last week in terms of diversity. Now, when I was talking about diversity last week, I was talking about in terms of referrals. If you want to get referrals, you’ve got to surround yourself with people who are different that you, because they will find those connectors. But if you’re talking about knowledge networking, people who have knowledge about what you do, your business, well, there you want to have some people who are like you because they can share ideas and information that they’ve run into. So I’m not giving contradictory advice; I’m giving advice that is different depending on the context. So when you’re talking about referral networking, diversity is key. But when you’re talking about knowledge networking, having people who the experience you have is very important. So you want to seek out people like that.

Now, we’re working on, in BNI, something that hasn’t been released yet, but members listening to this podcast should keep an eye open for it, an online network called BNI Connect. And BNI Connect will be an online social business network for BNI members only, and one of the advantages to this, when we have it up and running, is that it will give you, as a business professional, an opportunity to talk to other people in your profession in other parts of the world who aren’t competing with you locally and talk to them about what are they doing to make BNI work for them. That’s a great example of knowledge network. “You’re a CPA; I’m a CPA. What are you doing in your community to help build your business through referrals? And how are you using BNI? And how am I using BNI?”

So there’s a context where people like you are important, and it’s not contradictory to what I was talking about last week. It’s a different context, different situation.

Second thing, people who were in your profession. So people like you or people in your profession, and then people who were in your profession. Some people may be retired or they have done that for a while and moved on to some other profession. These are people that can be an excellent source of information and knowledge about your business.

Here’s a couple of unusual ones, authors, people who write or produce books or articles, video tapes, audio tapes, or CDs – boy, I dated myself with that one – CDs, MP3s, any kind of audio content, blogs, experts in the field. Blogs are particularly good because they’re two-way communication. So you go to somebody who’s writing on a subject that you’re familiar with or you’re involved with, and you comment back and forth, and you communicate with them and share with them. It’s a perfect knowledge network. And blogs are probably one of the best because it really gives you an opportunity to talk back and forth.

Trainers, consultants. The wonderful thing about trainers and consultants is that they really specialize in imparting knowledge, and they help people understand the basics. They introduce new technologies and procedures, and they try to gain access to these materials and make them available to others. So, trainers and consultants are a great example.

Members of professional organizations, people who are active members of trade or business or professional organizations that might be – it may not be the same profession as yours or it might be someone who’s in a similar profession or symbiotic profession that’s in this trade association that’s similar to yours. Boy, that’s probably one of the best sources of knowledge and information for what you’re doing.

And the last one is kind of a very unusual one that most people don’t think about, and that’s regulators, people who regulate, audit, or monitor professionals in your field. They can certainly tell you stories about legal, procedural, or operational pitfalls that you might run into and probably need to know in order to do well in your business.

So these are some of the kinds of professions that you want to build a relationship with that are the counterpart of what I talked about last week on diversity, which is really important for referrals. But knowledge networking is really about surrounding yourself with some people who have expertise in your area, and these are some areas you can focus on or some specific types of individuals to look for that help you build your own personal think tank for business.

Priscilla:
And once you locate those professionals, do you invite them to a particular event? Do you try to bring them together and work as a team? Or how does that work out?

Ivan:
Well, I have found that going to events, particularly professional associations, where you might meet some of these people at Chamber mixer or business function of some kind, going back to meet them there. One great source, alumni associations that do events, you might run into somebody once. And what I’d do is I would call them and say, “Hey, there’s another event going on next month. I’d love to see you again. Are you going?” And touch bases with them when they’re there. Associations are a perfect location, because people tend to be pretty consistent in their activity there; even Chamber events or other business organizations. Connect with them beforehand and say, “I’m going to be there. I would love to meet again. Maybe we can meet before for a cup of coffee or a drink, and then go to the meeting. I’d just like to learn more about what you do.”

And we all know, certainly with BNI, that the more you’re connect with people, the more likely you are to build that relationship, and so you can do that, not on a weekly basis probably, but you can do that on a fairly regular basis, and then call upon each other to help one another out, and truly be a think tank for each other and support one another.

Priscilla:
Great! Well, I think that’s it for this week, and thank you so much, Dr. Misner.

Ivan:
Thanks, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
I’d like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

In this week’s podcast, special guest Mirna Bard continues where we left off in Episode 17 with her rules for successful online and offline networking.

1. Have a strategy.
2. Listen.
3. No hard selling or spamming.
4. Be genuine.
5. Be conversational.
6. Connect to someone new every day.
7. Help someone every day.
8. Provide value.
9. Be interesting and amusing.
10. Be consistent.
11. Be polite.
12. Be patient. Relationships take time.
13. Have fun!

You can follow Mirna on Twitter @mirnabard and Dr Misner @imisner. Look for Mirna’s new website soon at www.mirnabard.com.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 118 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
Doing great, Priscilla, We have with us again today Mirna Bard. Mirna is a social media strategist and coach. She is also a BNI member who I have had an opportunity to meet. I love her content so much I thought it would be great to do a couple of podcasts on this.

BNI has a changing demographic. We have more and more younger millennials, Generation X, and Generation Y members in the organization, and, of course, online networking is really important. I believe that online networking and face-to-face networking are not an “either/or” but a “both/and” scenario. I have invited Mirna to come in and talk a little bit about that.

So, Mirna I’ll turn it over to you, and you can pick up where we left off last week on offline networking and social networking being similar.

Mirna:
Okay. Thank you, Ivan.

Last week we were talking about how social networking and offline networking can actually be aligned to get the most benefit out of generating referrals and basing sales. A lot of people are still very intimidated, they are still very overwhelmed because they think it is very technology driven. It is not about the technology; again, it is about the people; it is about building the relationships. Last week we kind of covered some things that really connect offline and online networking.

Today what I wanted to talk about are the rules. There are rules that go along with any networking; this includes online networking as well. Too many people are really trying to reinvent the wheel and create new rules. It is just the same rules that apply to offline networking.

The first one is having a strategy. You need a plan. Without a plan, you cannot go anywhere. You need to know what your goals are, what your target market is, how much time you have in dedicating to any kind of networking, what your budget is. Without a plan, we are not going to know where we are going. Basically, we become this hamster on a wheel that just goes round and round. Just having that feeling and going in circles is not going to get us anywhere.

Would you agree to that, Ivan?

Ivan:
I absolutely agree to that, and I know that it can be overwhelming. There are so many different online networks to participate in. It really is overwhelming unless you have a strategy in place.

Mirna:
Yes, definitely.

The second step is that you want to listen. That is really a great rule, because without listening to what people are saying about your products, your services, what they are saying about you, your competition, you are not going to know what their needs and wants are and what their pain is. If you know what their plan is, you are really going to be able to solve their problem and really help them out in the system.

On the last call, we also talked about no hard selling or spamming. This goes with networking events and social media events because people are not in the mindset to be sold to. They are actually there to build relationships, and they are there to connect with people. And Ivan, you said this on the last call. Before you do any selling to anybody, you really have to build that credibility and rapport. You have to be genuine. People only like to do business with genuine, authentic people. This is extremely important.

You also want to be conversational. You want to talk to people. You want to ask questions. You want to answer questions. It is just like going to any networking event. You walk in and you have a plan to talk to a specific number of people. It is the same way; just make it a point to get out there and connect with one or two people a day maybe. Find out what they do; find out what their interests are; find out how you can help them and assist them. When you provide that help and assistance and you reach out to people, they are really going to appreciate that. They are really going to say, “Wow, she is making it a point to really care about what I have to say, what my needs are, what my wants are.” And they are going to return the favor when the time is right.

Another thing you want to do is provide value. You really have to peak the interest in social media users before hitting them with any kind of marketing message. By providing value, I mean giving tips, how to advise, maybe directing them to links or any kind of videos or articles, press releases that you think may be of interest to them. You do that a lot, Ivan, with your podcasts, with your blogging, with your articles and books; and that is definitely the content that should be provided online to provide the value for people.

You also want to be interesting and amusing. A lot of followers online and offline are going to want to be your friend and connect with you if you are being creative with your content and really earning that right to talk about the marketing aspects by saying interesting and amusing things. When people start to friend you on Facebook or Twitter, it is because they are liking and are interested in what you have to say. Again, that really builds the rapport and credibility and really helps in building those relationships.

Ivan:
So sending out a Twitter that you are in line at Starbucks is really not informative!

Mirna:
It is actually informative in a way because it goes back to it becoming an icebreaker. When you are talking about Starbucks, first you are telling people this is what you like and what interests you. There are other people that may be interested in that same topic, so that can actually be an icebreaker, and people can actually start having a conversation.

Ivan:
I wouldn’t have thought of that.

Mirna:
Sometimes when you want to say – let’s say what you are having for lunch, instead of saying, “I am having a tuna sandwich for lunch,” you could say, “I am having this great tuna sandwich recipe for lunch.”

Ivan:
I can’t imagine that anyone would be interested in that, but okay.

Mirna:
Somebody is out there saying, “I want that tuna recipe. How about sharing it with me. I would like to try it.” That has happened, and I have seen it happen on Twitter many times.

Ivan:
Okay, the next thing you have is to be consistent, yes?

Mirna:
Yes, consistency is very important. When you go on social media sites, you don’t want to do it for one month and then disappear. You want to be consistent with it and take the time to do it. Just like when you go to an offline networking event, you really don’t want to show up one time and say, “Okay, this is not working for me; I have not met one person,” or, “It is just not going to bring me any business.” You really want to be consistent with it and do it on a regular basis, because you want to be transparent and you want to stay on top of minds.

One of the last things I wanted to cover is that networking etiquette that goes, again, for both offline and online. Be polite; be courteous. I actually have a rule against cursing. I don’t like anybody to curse, and I have actually followed a lot of people who have cursed on Twitter. I don’t know about anybody else, but that is just the way I feel; it is just a personal thing to be professional. Don’t bash your competition. I have seen that a lot on social media sites and offline networking events. You shouldn’t really be talking about your competition in negative ways. I think that practicing good etiquette really goes a long way.

The last two things are be patient. It takes a long time to build relationships, and you really need to be patient with that because, again, it really goes back to building credibility and a rapport first before anything is going to happen business-wise. And most importantly, have fun. A lot of people get frustrated and they think it is a never-ending task to do networking, but if you go in with the wrong attitude, it is not going to get you anywhere, and it is not going to work. Having that positive attitude is, again, going to go a long way.

These are basically the rules that apply to both networking offline and online.

Ivan:
That is a great list.

Priscilla, I know you had a question for Mirna as well.

Priscilla:
She answered a lot of it talking about the content on Twitter. Twitter is the social networking site that I am the least familiar with. I know that there is a limit on terms of how many words you can use, and I am just a little confused about Twitter, and if there is anything else you would like to add to explain it a little bit more to me, that would be great.

Mirna:
Sure. Twitter is just another free social networking site. We can refer to it as mirco-blogging platform. What it does is that it allows users to send and read other members’ updates known as Tweets. Your updates are called Tweet. You are only allowed to put 140 characters. Instead of writing this big, huge blog about something, you just have 140 characters to say what you need to say. When you write a Tweet, it actually gets updated to your Twitter followers so everyone that is following you on Twitter will see your message. And if they like your message, they can re-Tweet it to their followers, and you can have a conversation back and forth with them, as well, if something peaks their interest.

Does that explain it a little bit better?

Priscilla:
Yes, it does. Thank you.

Mirna:
You’re welcome.

Ivan:
Mirna, what is your Twitter address or name?

Mirna:
I am at Mirna Bard, so it is M-I-R-N-A Bard.

Ivan:
For BNI members who want to follow me on Twitter, it’s I Misner; that is my Twitter name. I would love to see some of you there, and also on Facebook.

Mirna, you have a Web site that is about to go up, MirnaBard.com.

Mirna:
Yes.

Ivan:
For the BNI members who would like a little more information about your social media strategy and coaching work that you do, they can go to that Website, MirnaBard.com.

I really appreciate your information. I think it is really valuable, and I hope our BNI members have benefitted from it. Thank you very much.

Mirna:
Thank you.

Ivan:
Priscilla, back to you.

Priscilla:
Okay, thank you both. That was very, very interesting.

I want to remind you that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Today’s special guest is Mirna Bard and her topic is aligning online social networking with in-person networking. Here are some things you need to remember about social networking.

• It’s about people, not about technology. That makes it simple.
• Social networking will never replace in-person networking, but they work will together. (See episode 103 for more about this.)
• When you meet someone at an event, invite them to connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, Fast Pitch, or Twitter.
• When you meet someone online, invite them to meet up in person.
• The VCP process (visibility, credibility, profitability) still applies in online networking.

Part Two of this interview will bring us rules for building relationships online.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 117 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan how are you and where are you?

Ivan:
Hi, Priscilla. I’m doing great, been traveling a lot, back to southern California. I am up at my lake house in Big Bear, and today I have all the employees out from BNI headquarters to spend the day doing team building and having some fun up here in Big Bear.

Priscilla:
Well that sounds great! Who is our guest today?

Ivan:
We have a guest, Mirna Bard. Mirna is a social media strategist and coach. She has some great content on aligning social networking with offline networking. I would like Mirna to just run with it and talk about her ideas on how to align both online and offline networking because I think it is very relevant today with BNI.

So, Mirna, hello.

Mirna:
Hi, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
I am doing great! If I were doing any better, I would cancel my life insurance.

Mirna:
That’s not good.

Ivan:
Well, he is a BNI member, so I won’t actually do it.

Mirna:
Okay, good.

Ivan:
Tell us your thoughts about social networking and offline networking.

Mirna:
Well, Ivan, a lot of people can’t deny the fact that these days, businesses are adding social networking as part of their professional networking to try to generate those referrals and boost the sales. A lot of people are arguing that social networking sites have become a waste of time, but there are many of us, including me, that disagree with that point. Social networking can really provide business value.

Ivan:
I agree with you; I think it can provide business value, and that is why I invited you to speak here today. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Go ahead.

Mirna:
It is okay. Many feel intimidated and overwhelmed. I constantly get phone calls with people saying, “How does this work for my business; I cannot make it work,” because they are intimidated by a technology side where they cannot wrap their head around social networking. And it is just networking, nothing else. It is simple; we do not want to complicate it. All it is is it’s about people; it’s not about technology. That is what really makes it simple for people, and they should really not be reinventing the wheel with everything.

Of course, social networking can never replace face-to-face networking because we are missing that eye contact, the facial expressions, the hand gestures, but they are very powerful tools that can be aligned with offline networking strategies.

I like what you said a few episodes back when you were telling your listeners that is it not an “either/or” scenario, it is actually a “both/and” scenario.

Ivan:
Right, that is podcast number 103, for the listeners.

Mirna:
Yes, I believe it was 103. And I thought that was a perfect statement, because when it is done correctly, social networking, on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, can actually compliment offline networking by putting together strategies you can really create and get the most out of both. So it is really important to have both in your marketing mix and not just one of them.

As far as social networking and how it can align with offline networking, well first, it helps us stay in touch with people. Instead of just going to a networking event and throwing that business card in a Rolodex after you meet somebody, invite that person to meet with you online, invite them to Facebook, to Twitter, to LinkedIn and really try to build that ongoing relationship with them, whether it is a personal or on a professional level. This will really help you out with creating the bond, the relationship, and the connection that you need in order to do business with that person.

You also get the opportunity to meet people offline. When I meet people on these social networking sites, it is really a nice way to invite them to have coffee with me, or lunch, or even invite them to a particular event. A lot of the social media sites are putting together meet-ups and events so people can connect offline.

Ivan:
The Ecademy has been really good at that over the years. I don’t know if you are familiar with Ecademy.

Mirna:
Yeah, I am. It is a great site.

Ivan:
They have been very active in terms of setting up business networking meetings face-to-face to support their existing online program. I think that is very smart.

Mirna:
They are all doing a great job at it. LinkedIn has groups, and they are always having events. Twitter, we now hear of Tweet Ups. Tweet Ups are just offline meet-ups that are giving people the opportunity to connect offline, which is just another great way to build those relationships.

When I personally go to offline meetings and networking events, now people come up to me and recognize my name and say “Oh, you know what, I am following you on Twitter,” or “I just friended you on Facebook, and you are providing great content.” It makes it easier for me to connect with these people and have that bond again.

It is also an icebreaker. When you are attempting to meet someone online because you know you are going to meet them offline, it really becomes that icebreaker. I don’t know if you remember this, Ivan, but when I first joined BNI, I actually connected with you on FastPitchNetworking.com first.

Ivan:
I have met a lot of members that way, either through FastPitch or LinkedIn, and I have to tell you, I was one of those people who did not want to sign up for Facebook. I dragged my feet for I don’t know how long, but after I signed up, there are so many members who have connected with me on Facebook, and it has been a great way for them to follow my podcast. This very podcast gets put up on my Facebook, my blogs, and other things. It was great to connect with you, and with other members that way.

Mirna:
It is great because once you do meet them offline, you have that icebreaker, you have that conversation. Just like when we met, we started to talk about Twitter right away, and we just had this nice conversation about social networking and Twitter. And it became a great icebreaker for both of us. I think this is how people can really use social networking to align it with their offline networking, including it in their marketing mix.

They are very similar. The only difference with social networking and offline networking is that social networking is like a cocktail party or networking event on steroids. The reason I say this is because it is very fast paced conversations that are happening every second, and you are trying to keep up with it.

If you are on Twitter, for example, it is like standing in the middle of a networking event and just chatting across the room with your conversation to see who is listening to you and who is paying attention. Would you agree with that?

Ivan:
I would. There is one other thing that I think is very important with understanding online networking; that is, the V.C.P. process that I talk about so much still applies. The whole idea is Visibility, Credibility, Profitability. It is almost easier to try and push to Credibility and Profitability even faster online than offline, because you are not actually standing in front of someone. And that is a mistake; you still have to build the relationship before you can ask for referrals or doing business with people. Would you not agree?

Mirna:
Yes, definitely. Like I said, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The same rules apply offline as they do online. When I tell people this, it is a surprise to them, and it should really not be a surprise. We are not reinventing anything. Online social networking sites just gave us the opportunity to connect with these people and establish the relationships. And again, just like you said, you really have to build the credibility and the rapport before you jump into any kind of hard selling or spamming on these sites.

Ivan:
Well, we need to wrap up this podcast, Mirna. We are going to do a part two, if you want to give us just a one line preview of what we are going to cover on part two of this podcast.

Mirna:
Just like we talked about today, the rules do apply to both offline and online networking. In the next podcast, we are going to be going through all the rules and showing you exactly what you need to do to build those relationships online to increase your business and increase sales and referrals.

Ivan:
This is a great list of rules, and I am looking forward to covering this with you next week, Mirna.

Priscilla, back to you.

Priscilla:
Okay, great, Dr. Misner. Thank you so much.

I think that is it for this week. I want to remind you that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

A newspaper reporter in Stockholm put Dr. Misner on the spot about online networking, insisting that it would replace face-to-face networking. So Dr. Misner turned the tables on the reporter and asked “So why did you drive all the way out here to do this interview in person?”

Some things are better in person. Networking is one of them. Online networking is a powerful tool, but it shouldn’t be the only one we use. To build a strong personal network, you should use both online and and in-person networking. Dr. Misner is active on many online networks, but nothing beats that face-to-face process.

Even the younger people coming into business realize that face-to-face connections are important. In-person networking is not going to disappear—at least not until we can be present by holographic projection. BNI and the service it provides are here to stay.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 103 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from the beautiful Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
I’m doing great, Priscilla. Thank you.

Priscilla:
Where are you today?

Ivan:
Well, I just got back from a number of trips, one of which was the U.S. conference in Milwaukee, which was great, a lot of members, a lot of directors. And before that I was in France and Stockholm, which I mentioned on a couple of previous podcasts. And I want to talk about one of my experiences in Stockholm today.

Priscilla:
Oh, great. I’m anxious to hear about it.

Ivan:
Well, first of all, give a shout out to a BNI member in Stockholm who I met who said he listens to the podcast. He downloads them to his PDA device, and he listens to the podcasts as he drives around each week, and he sits and listens to the various podcasts. I hope he enjoys this one because it’s actually an experience from my visit in Europe.

I was doing a presentation in Europe, and a newspaper reporter with a major publication arranged to do a interview with me. And upon his arrival, he really started putting me on the spot about online networking. Most of what I do, when I do interviews, it not really controversial stuff. It’s how do you build your business through word of mouth. But he was really kind of confrontational, and he told me that online networking is basically going to replace the face-to-face process. He was becoming very militant in expressing his point of view and really didn’t see the value of networking face to face like we do in BNI. He was basically, for all intents and purposes, telling me that traditional networking is going the way of the buggy whip. I was a little surprised, and I was annoyed at first that this reporter was being so confrontational about networking.

And then I asked him a question. I said, “Why are you here to do this interview?”

He looked at me, and he was like, “What do you mean?”

I said, “Well, why did you drive all the way” – because he had to drive a long way to get to the stadium to meet with me. I said, “Why did you drive all the way through traffic?” It was late in the day, and it was during rush hour, and there was a lot of traffic. I said, “Why did you drive all the way in person just to do this interview when we could have done it by phone?”

He looked at me, and he said, “Well, interviews are always better face to face.”

And I said, “Exactly. I rest my case!” Networking is much the same. It beats communicating online or over the phone because nothing can ever fully replace an in-person conversation.

And the reporter kind of sheepishly relented and said, “Yeah, yeah, okay. I get it. That makes sense. Some things are better in person.”

And the truth is some things are better in person. Networking is one of them. This doesn’t mean that online networking isn’t valuable; far from it. Online networking is a powerful tool in our arsenal of networking strategies, however, it shouldn’t be the only tool we use because sometimes it’s simply not the best. For me, the bottom line regarding face-to-face networking versus online networking is that I don’t think it should be an either/or scenario. I think it should be a both/and if you want to build a strong personal network. So I’m a real believer in online networking and I’m active on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on Xing, on Ecademy. Ecademy is one of my favorite online networks, very active there. I think it’s a great way to have touch points with people, to connect with people over and over again, and to stay in touch with them.

But the truth is, there is nothing that beats that face-to-face process. Meeting somebody individually and having a chance to talk to them always works better in networking. It works better in almost everything we do. It works better in networking. It works better in interview with a newspaper reporter. It works better on radio shows. Whenever I’m in town, people would rather do the radio show with me coming in to the station to do that show rather than over the telephone because there’s an interaction that can take place face to face that just can’t take place over the phone or over the Internet.

Priscilla:
I think it’s the human condition, because we get so many cues from the face and the expressions. And we’re actually looking at the face more than we’re listening to the words, I think.

Ivan:
Yeah, I think it’s absolutely an important aspect of the process, and I’ve had a lot of people say to me that Gen X and the Millennial – the young people that are coming into BNI, and I’ve talked about this in a previous podcast, by 2010 there will, for the first time, be a non-Baby Boomer organization. So we are integrating technology into our system. I announced BNI Connect will be coming up later this year, which is an online network that will support the BNI membership. And I’ll be talking more about that in some future podcasts.

So I’m a real believer in online networking, but I also believe that what we do in BNI is very important, and that even though there is this real connectedness with younger people coming into business, they realize that a lot of business is still done face to face. And so the Gen X population and the Millennial Gen Y population, people in their 20s, the kinds of skill sets that we provide in BNI in that face-to-face networking is not going to become the buggy whip industry. It’s not going to disappear, not in my lifetime, anyway. Until the time comes when we can have fact-to-face meetings with a holographic image, like the Jedi knights of Star Wars – do you remember in one of those last Star Wars episodes, they literally had all these Jedi knights in a circle, and some of them were really sitting at the chairs, and some of them were sitting at a holographic image, and you were talking to these holograms? Do you remember that?

Priscilla:
Yeah, absolutely.

Ivan:
Well, until that happens, I think it’s still a good idea to network in person whenever possible. We’re not going to have that any time soon.

By the way, when the world advances to that point where we can do the Star Wars networking thing, I have dibs on being OB1 Kenobi. Do you remember the Alec Guinness version, right, the older guy with the gray hair? I mean, come on, that only makes sense. You have to admit, you see the resemblence, right?

Priscilla:
Yeah, absolutely!

Ivan:
Slap a smile on his face, and we’re practically brothers, right?

Priscilla:
Yep, looks just like you.

Ivan:
So when that happens, I want dibs on being OB1 Kenobi. Until then, I believe that face-to-face networking is a powerful medium, and I think that BNI will continue to provide that service. And as long as we begin to integrate some technologies into our existing system, which I’ll be talking about in future podcasts, I think we’re here to stay and continue to be the world’s leading networking organization.

Priscilla:
That’s great. Well, thank you, Dr. Misner. I think we’ve come to the end of this podcast. Is there anything else you’d like to add, or is that it for this week?

Ivan:
Well, I think I would just repeat the fact that it’s not an either/or; it’s a both/and. Really successful business people understand that you need to have the online technologies and online networking, but you also need to continue to do the face-to-face networking, and BNI is a great way to do that. Eventually, both, but certainly for now, face to face is our strength.

Priscilla:
Okay, great. Well, thank you so much.

I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Dr. Misner is joined today by Jan Vermeiren, the author of Let’s Connect: a Practical Guide for Highly Effective Professional Networking. Jan’s new book, How to Really Use LinkedIn, is perfect for BNI members. Here’s how BNI members can use LinkedIn:

• A social network is like a car: you use it to reach a destination. If you don’t have a goal, the tool is worthless.
• LinkedIn lets you find shared contacts: people you and your existing contacts both know.
• LinkedIn shows you who has connections to companies you want to reach—that you never suspected
• Keep the “Givers Gain” attitude in mind when you’re online. Take time to build relationships before asking for something.
• Make sure you connect with everyone in your own BNI chapter.
• The combination of online and offline networking groups is especially powerful because it expands your potential referral network.
• You can get to know your fellow BNI members better by reading their LinkedIn profiles.
• Translate your BNI testimonials into recommendations for your fellow BNI members.
• Save your LinkedIn searches and get updates e-mailed to you.

Download a free sample of Jan’s new book.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 101 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. I hear you have a special guest today.

Ivan:
I do indeed. His name is Jan Vermeiren. Jan wrote the book, Let’s Connect. I did an endorsement on it. He mentions myself and BNI in his book. He’s got some great content. He’s the founder of Networking Coach. He’s calling in from Belgium to join us today. And he’s written a new book, and I asked him if he’d be willing to do a podcast with us because I think the topic of this new book is very relevant to BNI members. The title of his new book is How to Really Use LinkedIn. And BNI members should know that I am a real proponent of online networking, social networks. I think it’s another great tool for us to network globally. And he’s done this new book that’s on this topic, and I thought it would be perfect for BNI members.

We have over 36 million people, and that number is growing every day that now have a profile on LinkedIn and have other connections as well. The question that most people ask is what does LinkedIn, what does this Web site have that they can use to their advantage? How can they use LinkedIn in a way that gives them results without having to spend too much time on it? And Jan is the expert on this. And so, with that, I’ll turn it over to you.

Jan:
Yes, thank you, Ivan. What you were saying, that the main questions, we also got in 2008, and that’s kind of the reason why I wrote the new book is many people ask themselves, “Why on earth am I on this Web site? And how can I use it without spending too much time?”

Now, I like using the analogy with a car. When I ask people “Why do you have a car,” they tell me, “I use it to reach a destination. When I want to drive to, let’s say, New York, I use my car to go there.”

When I ask “Okay, but if you don’t have a goal, if you don’t have a destination there, would you use your car,” they say, “No, it would cost me too much money, and I’m just often driving around.”

When I ask them “If you network at events or online, do you ever go not maybe to reach a few in conversation but for your career or for your business,” and many people tell me, “No, not really.” And that’s the clue in using LinkedIn and part of tools; if you don’t have a goal, then the tools are worthless.

So that’s the problem number one that I see that many people have in networking online and offline. They don’t have clear goals. And then, the second problem is that they don’t know which are the people in the best position to help them reach their goal.

So two very basic questions are things to think about that not many people give enough thought about.

Ivan:
Well, Jan, if you have those goals, how do you use LinkedIn, assuming that you have those goals?

Jan:
Once you have those goals, then LinkedIn becomes very useful, because what you can do then, you can find the right people and also the people who you both know in common. So you come in contact.

For example, let’s say – and I just did that in a presentation yesterday, a live example, I love to do that. So I just went to LinkedIn and I typed in “marketing manager.” Let’s say that I’m looking for marketing managers. And I say, okay, maybe Coca Cola in my country, Belgium, would be a good customer for ours or for someone else who worked for them in the marketing department.

So I looked that up. What did it show me? It showed me the name of a person. So that’s already the first thing, you find people and who they are. And the second thing what I saw, we had nine people in common that you both know. So I found that this person is my second degree that you see on LinkedIn, the number two. Then I saw nine people in between. And when I looked closer at them, I saw there were two people I went to University with, three people I worked in a project with, two customers, and two people I just met at the networking event. And none of them I ever thought had a connection at Coca Cola.

So what main thing does, it helps you find the people and also the people you have in common. And that makes it so, so powerful. So it shows you the way towards the people you want to meet or can help you reach your goal.

Now, sometimes I have people in the workshop and in the training course and the presentation say, “Okay, I have clear goals and still it don’t work for me.” And what they do, they have their clear goals, but they are just a little bit too goal focused, and they don’t keep in mind what you call the Giver’s Gain or what I call the Networking Attitude to see how they don’t think about building relationships first and they go straight forward to their goals.

So what is a challenge we have if we have our goals but still keep the Giver’s Gain attitude, the Networking Attitude in mind while dealing with people online and also offline.

Ivan:
You bring up a good point, because the online networking still requires many of the same skill sets as the offline networking, and relationship building is one of them. You can’t just assume because you can make the connection that you can launch right into doing business; you still have to build credibility with that individual. Would you agree?

Jan:
Yeah, that’s true. I know you talk about it and you write about it a lot, and it’s still – yeah, the same principles are still true, but we have those new tools now, and some people think, “Now they’re going to give me shortcuts to things.” And that backfires on them.

Ivan:
Right. The shortcut comes in making the connection, but not in developing the relationship. Would you agree?

Jan:
Yes. Yeah, I agree with that.

Ivan:
In your book, How to Really Use LinkedIn, there’s a special chapter for members of referral groups like BNI. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?

Jan:
Yeah, because I think the combination of being a member of BNI and being on LinkedIn is what people really – will help them reach their goals, their sales goals or their recruitment goals, or whatever.

So let me give some examples on that. One of the things you can do on LinkedIn is when you do the search, what I just did for the marketing manager, work then towards each other, toward you own goals, then you might find out you’re connected to a chapter member or another BNI member, maybe not from your own chapter. And because you’re already part of that organization, it already gives you, let’s say, a little trust. It already helps to build a relationship first. So one thing you can do is search, and what is also important that LinkedIn helps you to reach a second or a third degree of your network, but you have to have a first degree yourself.

So what I always encourage people to do, link with everybody from your own chapter and also other BNI members, of course, other people from your network because they are your access, your port hole, let’s say, toward their network. So people if would just start by linking, connecting amongst the chapter members, they have already built a basic foundation on LinkedIn, that will really help them. So that’s one strategy to put the focus on; build the network first and then do a search.

Now, another thing that you also can do is to browse in each other’s network, but you can only do that with first degree contacts. So that’s why it’s also important to link with the other members of your chapter, because, otherwise, you cannot browse in their networks. And then when you browse in their network, you can see potential customers or maybe potential employees for your company, or whatever, that you might have never found them by doing a search, because you used the other parameters or the words to search them than people use in their profiles. So that’s important.

And also, what makes a combination of being a BNI member and LinkedIn so powerful, you can find out information and bring it to your next meeting, and you can have a talk, “I was just searching on LinkedIn and I saw you, and you knew Mr. X, my potential customer. How do you know him? What’s your background?” And when you find out that they had a good connection, “Would you be willing to make a referral?” And because you have that information, it makes the discussion and also the BNI chapter meetings much easier or, let’s say, there is more background that you can share with the people how they can help you.

Ivan:
Now, you just bring up a great point. You’re suggesting that they connect on each other’s LinkedIn profiles and take a look at what their first line contacts are. And then meet at a BNI meeting and personally have a conversation with them about that potential client. Is that right?

Jan:
Yes, indeed.

Ivan:
I love that idea. And the listeners need to really hear that, use LinkedIn as a way as kind of being able to search each other’s database, but you can’t connect with them; you have to go through somebody. So you could do that on LinkedIn, or you could, at a BNI meeting, actually have a personal conversation. I think that’s a brilliant idea; I love it.

Jan:
And also, I know you promote it a lot, but I still see not many people do that enough is to share more of themselves in several meetings, that they don’t always tell the same story. And one of the things we don’t know enough about each other is each other’s background, but just by looking at those LinkedIn profiles, we see people’s backgrounds, where they worked before they start their own company or other experience they have. So we can get to know each other better. That’s another thing I really encourage people to do, read each other’s profiles.

Ivan:
We have about another minute, so if you would like to wrap up with your ideas. These are great suggestions to remember.

Jan:
So another thing that you can do with LinkedIn is recommend each other. So you can have recommendations. It helps people to have a higher trust. Let’s say I am looking for a potential customer. I connect with him through someone else, but they look at my LinkedIn profile and they see some recommendations. If you have one recommendation, that might not be very helpful, but if you have 20 recommendations, then this person might already be more willing to do business with you.

So what I also encourage people to do from BNI chapter is recommend each other, but only if you have an experience or you heard from your own network that this person is reliable. So it’s not just, “Okay, let’s do each other a favor.” No, it has to have foundation.

And the last thing I want to share what makes LinkedIn a super prospecting tool is that you can save your searches. So if you do a search, for example, marketing manager in the banking and insurance industry in San Diego, that’s your target audience, you can save that search. What LinkedIn can do for you, every week it sends you an email with all people who are new LinkedIn who match that profile or who change positions in a company that now match your parameters. So you don’t have to do anything yourself anymore; just LinkedIn gives you every week potential customer after potential customer after potential customer. And then you just have to look it up, see who you both know in common, call the person who you both know for a referral, and your business is growing.

Ivan:
Jan, listen, I want to thank you very much for your information today. I really loved your book, Let’s Connect. Looking forward to seeing this new book. How can people get your new book, How to Really Used LinkedIn?

Jan:
I think the best thing to do is just go to Amazon and buy it there. But for people who are not sure yet if it is the right information for them, there’s also a Web site for the book where they can download the free light version. And we also give free Webinars, Web seminars, from time to time. So the Web site is how-to-really-use-linkedin.com. There’s hyphens in between, but if people just look it up on Google, they will find it as well.

Ivan:
How-to-really-use-linkedin.com with hyphens in between each word, right?

Jan:
Yes, that’s true.

Ivan:
Excellent. Well, thank you so much. You have great content. It’s a real pleasure to have you on the podcast. Our BNI members can really benefit from this. I thank you very much for your time. I look forward to seeing more material from you.

Priscilla, back to you.

Priscilla:
Thank you both. That was very, very interesting. Oh, good.

Well, I just want to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Every year BNI picks a theme to help all members focus on. (The theme for 2008 was “Changing the Way the World Does Business.”) Themes are chosen from submissions from BNI members and directors.

BNI’s theme for 2009 is “Raising the Bar.” While many people are retrenching right now, BNI aims to raise the bar—economy or no economy.

We have an opportunity to focus on what we do best.

For BNI as an organization, Raising the Bar means more growth. It means focusing on the fundamentals and what we do best.

What does Raising the Bar mean for BNI members and chapters? You’re the best person to answer that, but here are a few suggestions from Dr. Misner:

• Raising your game
• Remaining action-oriented
• Using the energy of the BNI group to exceed your own standards
• Inspiring your prospects and customers through your example.

In 2009, BNI is investing the most capital ever in a single project: BNI Connect, a comprehensive online social network for BNI members. This service will connect all our chapters and make BNI truly a global network of local businesses.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 086 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.

I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California , and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you?

Ivan:
I’m doing great, Priscilla. Welcome to the New Year, 2009.

Priscilla:
Thank you. Welcome back to you.

Ivan:
You know, the theme for BNI is the topic of today’s podcast, Raising the Bar. And so I thought what I’d like to do with this podcast is to talk about this theme for ’09.

Every year BNI picks a theme that helps to sort of bring everyone together on one area or focus on one thing. Last year was a theme that we’ve actually gotten a trademark on and will be using for many years to come; that is, Changing the Way the World Does Business. And I think BNI definitely does that.

This year we picked an interesting theme, and the themes, by the way, are selected by member contributions and director contributions who recommend different topics. And then, our national directors worldwide, the 40-some directors that we have worldwide, will pick the theme based on recommendations. And ours this year is kind of counter-intuitive. It’s Raising the Bar. And I say it’s counter-intuitive because most people are retrenching, talking about the economy, talking about how you just have to hang on. And I think that this is an opportunity to, in fact, Raise the Bar. That’s what I want to talk about in this podcast.

For the members, I’d ask: What does Raising the Bar mean for BNI? What does it mean for you, as a BNI member? What does it mean for your prospects and your customers? I think that while most of the world is shouting about the sky falling and the difficult times that we’re experiencing, I believe that right now we have an opportunity. And that opportunity is to focus on the fundamentals of what we do best, both you, as a business professional, as well as BNI, as a referral marketing network, can Raise the Bar for ourselves in 2009.

Now, for BNI, it means more growth, although the company will continue to grow as entrepreneurs and professionals around the globe continue to embrace networking and word-of-mouth marketing in order to thrive, especially in the midst of international economic challenges. As stakeholders in this company, we have to thrive to reach out to people around us and share the BNI story with them in compelling new ways that excite them about the possibilities of business growth through word-of-mouth marketing. We have to both be concrete in our examples of how BNI can help them as well as skillful listeners in hearing their concerns, their questions, and their dreams.

Raising the Bar for BNI means celebrating the successes and contributions of every member and every chapter, even as we lay the ground work for successes in brand new regions of the organization. More simply, it means working to our future with a clear vision, clear minds, and clear dedication to BNI’s methods and principles. I going to talk about the future a little bit at the end of this podcast.

First, I want to talk about you, the BNI members, the listeners. What does Raising the Bar mean in your life, in your business, in your BNI chapter? While only you can answer that question, I see you as business leaders, as BNI members who believe in the power of raising your game while others retrench, I see BNI members as action oriented movers and shakers who expect more from themselves than those around you. I see BNI members as being the kind of people who understand how success focused energy available through the BNI chapters boosts their ability to exceed, even in their own high standards of achievement.

That reality, I think in turn, has a huge impact on your prospects and customers, BNI members. How? Some people want to know, how does that affect them. Well, look at yourself through their eyes. You influence your prospects and customers more than you think in the way you conduct business, in the way you attend to their needs, in the way you help them pursue success. By Raising the Bar for yourself, you help them by your example to also Raise the Bar in their lives.

Raising the Bar is a commitment that BNI makes to you, the BNI members, to people listening to this podcast. When you do it for yourself, it’s the gift that you give others in your life and in your work, and it’s what we must all do for the health of the worldwide economy in the coming new year.

The economy, I think, Priscilla, is serving us lemons. The economy is serving us lemons. We choose to make lemonade. My marching orders to directors around the globe for this year is to focus on the fundamentals, to get back to basics, to do what BNI does well, and do it better than we have done ever before. We are committed to making BNI an even better organization in 2009.

Because of that, we are moving forward with the most comprehensive project in the history of the organization. In 2009, we’re investing the most capital we have ever invested in a single project, and we’re doing it now in the middle of a recession.

Priscilla:
What is it?

Ivan:
Well, I’m going to tell you about that. But first, let me tell you that I think it’s an opportunity for BNI and for the members of BNI to take advantage of this time to excel while others are stagnant. By the end of 2009, we will introduce a comprehensive online social network to support BNI members throughout the world. The project is called BNI Connect, and for some basic information about the project, feel free to go to www.BNIConnect.com, no hyphen, no space, BNIConnect.com, and take a look at our vision for the program. You’ll get some basic information there. You can find out what’s going on. There’s a section there that I outline in detail the program.

Basically, it’s an online social network, social business network that allows BNI members to connect and communicate worldwide. It will be what’s called a “walled garden community,” so only BNI members will be able to participate. If you’re not a BNI member, you can’t play in the garden. If you are a BNI member, you automatically are in the program and there’s no additional cost for the services. You will be able to network with members all around the world through the new BNI Connect, which we hope to have operational by the end of this year.

BNI truly is Raising the Bar for the organization. We are moving forward with a plan that will reinforce BNI’s position as the world’s largest networking organization and will help members around the world to make effective use of our global network. What I’m asking members to do is help us Raise the Bar this year in your chapter, in the individual chapters. Focus on the fundamentals, get back to basics, and immerse in a culture of learning within your group. Through BNI, I think members around the world can have their best year ever, and we’re here helping to do that in ’09 by Raising the Bar for ourselves in doing one of the most comprehensive projects we have ever done.

Priscilla:
Wow, that just sounds great, really wonderful.

Ivan:
So if you have a chance, the listeners and Priscilla, take a few minutes, go to BNIConnect.com. That site right now is really just providing basic information on what we’re up to, what we’re doing. You will, throughout the course of the year, learn a little bit more about the program and more, and we’ll be sharing more on the Web site, but it’s a good start. This is my introduction to the concept to members. Directors already know about it. And stay tuned, go back to the Web site periodically throughout the year and see what our progress is, and you can take a look at some of the very specifics of what I have in mind there now. I think that BNI is in a position that where we’re talking about local businesses, but we want to create a global network. We have a global network, but we’ve not linked these people together, and that’s what BNI Connect will do.

Priscilla:
I think that sounds great. I can only imagine what that will lead to.

Ivan:
Well, I think it’s going to be awesome. We will provide a link, of course, in this podcast so people can go there, and I would ask BNI members, join me in Raising the Bar in 2009. While everybody else is talking about retrenchment and the sky is falling, this is an opportunity for us to take advantage of the networks that we have built and to actually not only do okay, but to do great. I have met BNI members last year who have said to me they have had their best year ever, and one of the reasons for that was how powerful the network that they built through BNI and their other networking opportunities. So I know there are opportunities out there, and it’s important for us to take those lemons and turn them into lemonade.

Priscilla:
Thank you, Dr. Misner. It all sounds great, and I just want to say, as a member of BNI, thanks for everything that you do, and I hope this leads to a fantastic new year.

Ivan:
Why, thank you. I think that in a few years from now when this is in place, we’re going to look back and say “This ain’t your daddy’s network.” It’s going to be a completely different, powerful tool to help BNI members in their regular meetings.

Thanks, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
I’d just like to let the members know that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Dr. Misner is beginning to shift his conception of BNI from “Think Globally, Act Locally” to “Local Business, Global Network.” BNI is developing its own social network, and BNI members are traveling and meeting each other in distant locations. BNI has more than 100,000 members worldwide and chapters in 40 countries.

As you see conferences announced on BNI.com, make plans to attend as many as you can. You can get million-dollar referrals at conferences. A dentist from Malaysia connected BNI member Marcus Emery to MAS Cargo at the International Member Event in Kuala Lumpur. (Watch the video here.)

You never know who your fellow BNI members are going to meet. If you surround yourself with quality professionals, the sky is the the limit on the referrals you can get. Service-based businesses are particularly well suited to doing business internationally. The key is finding each other: reach out and participate in online networks, go visit BNI chapters when traveling, and go to conferences.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 060 -

Priscilla Rice:
Hello welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by networkingnow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you today?

Ivan Misner:
I am doing great, Priscilla. I just got back from Malaysia and Hong Kong, visiting chapters of BNI. I am really excited about what I’m seeing being done worldwide.

Priscilla:
That’s great. Are you to share that with us today?

Ivan:
I am. I am. I want to start by talking about something that I used to say and how I’m beginning to change my position on something that I’ve said for many years. For a long time I have said BNI is a classic example of “thinking globally and acting locally”. But as time goes on and as technology improves and travel becomes easier, I’m really beginning to shift my thinking. I think the organization will begin to shift its operation over time from that concept to the concept of “local business, global network”.

We’re becoming a much smaller world in so many ways — Technology, certainly being one of them. Although I’m not prepared to talk about it here today on this podcast, I can’t say that BN I has a huge project in the works that will streamline a lot of our technology and bring us into the 21st century to enable our members to network and communicate in the not too distant future via technologies and in-house social networking to support the members. As time goes on, I’ll be talking more about that.

That aside — and when that does take place it will be incredible. But until then, I’m seeing a lot of our members communicating via venues which I’ll talk about little bit later. Through meeting and by going to visit each other as they are traveling around the world, by attending conferences like the one that I just attended in Kuala Lumpur recently. That’s what really gave me the idea of local business global network.

We are, to a large extent, mostly local businesses that are in BNI, but we truly have created a global network. We’re in almost 40 countries. We have over 100,000 members worldwide. We are truly a global network and more effectively we can use that matter. I attended two days for members, a third day for directors with conferences, conference session seminars and master classes. It was just amazing.

There were so many opportunities for business people to talk and exchange business, make new friends and immerse themselves in an intense learning experience. I would recommend to BNI members that as you see conferences that are being done around the world — and there are a lot of places and you can find out about BNI conferences.
BNI.com is one of the best locations. Go there to find out what is going on. Go there regularly go at least once a month to take a look at what events are going on. It’s right there on the front page, what events are going around the world. If you can, attend some of these in your country or around the world — because you will have an opportunity to hear speakers, sometimes myself and others.

At the Malaysian conference, we had Thomas and Penny Power of Ecademy. Anne Ray an entrepreneur of the year in the UK, Don and Nancy Morgan, the national directors of Canada. Niri Patel of the United Kingdom and India, Frank Derafway from New York. These are just some of the really engaging educational speakers that we had at this conference.

The more BNI members can attend things like that, the better. I believe that events like this help businesses connect with potential partners from all over the world. At this particular conference, we had 20 countries represented. We had 50 members from India and many members from the UK title in the United States and Australia. It’s really an amazing experience. I think there’s one experience in particular that I want to share with you.

It’s an amazing thing. In the transcript, I want to make sure that we have a video link, a URL, to the video that I’m about to talk about. It’s a very short video about three minutes long. One of the sponsors was a BNI person from the United Kingdom, Marcus Emory. Marcus is in the cargo transportation industry. He got a multi-or what is potentially a multimillion dollar referral at this conference. Literally a multimillion dollar referral.

Priscilla:
What kind of business does he have?

Ivan:
He does shipping. Shipping and cargo. Here’s the amazing thing about it. So many times I hear in BNI people say I want to network with the CEO or I want to network with the vice president. The more you know, these people are hiding from you. They are not going to join BNI. And they’re not in direct sales so they have no interest in being in BNI.

The key with BNI is that it’s not just the business of the other members are in it, it’s that the people that those members know. The people that those members meet that is critical. One of the best examples I’ve ever seen I saw as a result of this conference. A dentist from Malaysia, Dr. Fey from Malaysia gave Marcus Emory this referral. It came because she had a patient who was in a company that had a $1.5 billion shipping budget. That’s billion with a “B” by the way, and was looking to streamline their operations and to talk to other companies. The dentist said, “Jay, I have just the person for you.” She referred him to Marcus, and the next day, Marcus got a phone call to set up an appointment with this gentleman.

To me, it’s a classic example of what I’m talking about where it’s the quality of business professionals that you’re networking with. They meet people who are decision makers. They get to know people who are decision makers. And sometimes, they have them in the dental chair of their office and they are working on their mouth. You just never know who you are going to meet and who these other people in BNI will have in their office or whose home they are in or who is in their dental chair.

You can get some great referrals if you just surround yourself with quality business professionals. You can get referrals that, I have to be honest, are bigger than I ever imagined when I first started BNI. But today I believe the sky is the limit. Referrals can be huge from the contacts that you make. We truly do have local businesses that are operating on a global network. The more we can work together globally using technologies in the future and conferences and visitations to chapters around the world presently, the stronger we are going to be as an organization.

Priscilla:
Can I just ask one quick question? I think we’re almost out of time but maybe you can give suggestions of local businesses that could create global networking referrals if you have any ideas from being at the conference. What do you think? Which businesses would work best that way?

Ivan:
I think any business that doesn’t have to operate just locally. There are some businesses. Obviously, the dentist is it going to be doing business globally. But almost any business and more and more, we see businesses that are in the service industries that could do business anywhere in the world. Those are businesses that, in fact, should be networking and finding ways to build their business worldwide.

There are a couple of ways to do that. One is they should become active in BNI Yahoo group. It is a new if they should become active in that. Ecademy.com — BNI has its own community as part of Ecademy. We have our own community in LinkedIn. Sometime in the not too distant future, we will have our own internal intranet community which I’m really not prepared to talk a lot about.

For those businesses which do business, particularly service-based businesses, you can do this — we are nowhere near each other. You are in Northern California. I’m in Southern California. Somebody could be in Malaysia working with you. You don’t have to be next-door to get business. I think our relationship is the perfect example of how we can do business across the country, across the state or, I believe, across the world. The key is finding each other.

I’m in a position where it’s easy for me to find people because I’m traveling. But members, you have to put yourself in that position. The way to put yourself in that position is to participate in the Yahoo groups, the Ecademy groups, and the LinkedIn and to go visit.

When you are traveling, spent time and visit local BNI chapters. They will roll out the red carpet for you. Go to conferences and look for when the United States conference is, when the European conference is, when the Canadian conference, the Australian conference. Look for when these conferences are and go and meet members of other countries. It’s the best way to build your business internationally.

Priscilla:
That’s a great idea. I think we need to hear more about women’s conferences are within the chapter. It could have little announcements and suggests leadership teams or whatever to visit their conferences.

Ivan:
Yes, if members just go to BNI.com once a month, and look at all the news briefs that are up there, they will have a sense of all the conferences that are coming up. Or they can do an RSS feed. You may need to talk to your technical person in the chapter. That will have a feed right to your chapter website. You could just pull up your chapter website to find out what is new in BNI and what conferences are going on. We usually post many of the conferences that are going on around the world@BNI.com.

Priscilla:
Okay great. Do you have anything that you would like to tell the listeners before we saw this podcast up?

Ivan:
I think BNI is headed in the direction of local business global network. As time goes on, you’re going to hear us talking more and more about that because we need to if we are going to making more effective use of the global network that BNI is creating for local businesses.

Priscilla:
Thank you, Dr. Misner. That was very interesting. I think that’s it for this week. This podcast is the brought to you by networkingnow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of the Official BNI Podcast.

Dr. Misner looks into his crystal ball to see the future of networking.

• Online and face-to-face networking will both continue to flourish. Dr. Misner recommends the following two online networks: Ecademy and Fast Pitch Networking.
• College and universities still won’t teach classes on networking or word-of-mouth marketing, though they might include the topic in existing courses. That leaves more room for Buffini and the Referral Institute.
• Small companies will continue to have the edge over big businesses when it comes to networking. Big companies just don’t train their employees in referral marketing.
• Expect to see more online networking options for BNI members in the next few years.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 044 -

Priscilla Rice:
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by networkingnow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice coming from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I’m joined on the phone today by the founder and chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. How are you doing, Dr. Misner?

Ivan Misner:
I am doing great, Priscilla. Today I am going to be talking about networking trends.

Priscilla:
What does that mean?

Ivan:
Okay, wait a minute. I am cleaning up my crystal ball, and I am looking into my crystal ball and trying to foresee the future on what’s happening with networking. There are three things that I want to talk about in what I see as the trends in business networking.

The first is online and face-to-face networking. They will, in my opinion, both continue to flourish. If you look at the growth of BNI, it has been astronomical. The first 11 years, we opened approximately 500 groups. In our second 11 years- since really the advent of the Internet. Really, the internet became active in the mid-90s. Since our second 11 years, we have opened 5000 groups. That’s 10 times more. Clearly the internet has not hurt face to face networking. It has, I believe in fact, enhanced it.

On the other hand, I believe that online networking will continue to flourish as well. Groups like ecademy, LinkedIn and Ryze. In one of my blogs, the Referrals for Life blog, I had somebody right on there that essentially said technology is changing the rules and that we are just going to be networking through websites and we won’t be networking face-to-face anymore. I think that is just absolutely untrue. Both online and face-to-face networking are important. They are important in different ways. They solve different needs.

You’re going to see both continue to grow. My favorite online network really is ecademy.com. I think it’s one of the best ones that are out there. There’s a new one that I also like. Fastpitch networking.com. Both online and face-to-face, that is the first trend.

Priscilla:
Can I ask you a question? What is it about ecademy.com that made you like it more than other ones?

Ivan:
One of the things I like about ecademy is that I have gotten to know the owners – the founder and chairman of ecademy, both Penny and Thomas power. They are wonderful people. You know, it is really all about relationships. As you get to know people and trust people, you feel more comfortable with them. I feel very comfortable with the two of them. But I also like their system.

It’s a great combination of online bulletin boards, communication with people and face-to-face meetings. They also do face-to-face meetings with ecademy. So when you are very active locally in ecademy, you have an opportunity to meet the people that you are networking with online. I think it’s a great combination. I do not view it in any way as competitive to BNI. I view it totally as compatible to what we do. I think they are amongst the best at it online.

The second of my trends that I foresee in the crystal ball that I have right in front of me is about colleges and universities teaching networking and word-of-mouth marketing. In a sense, I would have to say don’t hold your breath. It’s not going to happen. Unfortunately, colleges and universities are not going to be teaching classes extensively on networking and word-of-mouth marketing. I would like to think they may start to include the topic in existing courses, but it is just not something that I see in the foreseeable future.

Most colleges and universities, the curriculum is created by the full-time college professors. The full-time college professors, not the part-time college professors. In my opinion, having been a part-time college professor for almost 20 years, I can categorically tell you that very few, if any, full-time college professors have ever had a real job in their lives. At least those in business. They are teaching business, but they’ve never had a job in business.

Often times they will get very upset when I say that to them. Imagine that. They will say no that that’s not true and that they have owned their own business. I will say what is that? They will say they are a consultant. You know what, Priscilla? I have been a consultant. It is not the same. Running a business and consulting are absolutely not the same.

There are really very few colleges that teach it. There are only two that I am aware of. One is Davis College in Ohio taught by a good friend of mine, Debbie Peters. She teaches the certified networker training program, which, by the way is a training program that I developed. It’s basically BNI networking material. The second is the University of Michigan, taught by another friend of mine, Wayne Baker, Dr. Wayne Baker. He is probably the only full-time college professor I know that really sees the value of social capital in networking and is teaching it. Very few others are going to in the foreseeable future. That is a shame.

But it leaves openings for companies like Brian Buffini program, who teaches mortgage people in real estate people how to network more effectively. I love to Buffini. I have talked about them before on this podcast. They really know what they’re doing in referral marketing, and I highly recommend them. And programs like the Referral Institute. It teaches referral marketing in courses. I recommend the Referral Institute, thereferralinstitute.com. There are those two. You are familiar with Buffini program, I think. Are you not?

Priscilla:
I am very familiar with it. I am involved with it.

Ivan:
They loved BNI. We have a great relationship with them. They refer a lot of people to us, and I feel strongly about making sure to reciprocate because they have certainly sent a lot of people our way. I can always tell a Buffini trained member. When I go into a BNI chapter, I can tell immediately that a real estate agent or mortgage broker has been trained by Buffini because they are just hands down better members. They really understand the process of referral marketing. He does a great job of training.

Priscilla:
I agree.

Ivan:
Here’s the third one of my crystal ball that I can see. Small companies will continue to have the edge over big companies related to business networking. Big companies don’t get it. They are clueless about the value and the importance of networking. They pay lip service to networking. They still are focusing on a quick return on marketing efforts and they don’t understand that networking is more about farming than it is about hunting. It’s more about cultivating relationships. They are not truly teaching people how to network effectively and giving them the time necessary to do it.

I can count on one hand the number of really big companies that I have met are really training their salespeople on the networking and referral marketing process extensively and then give them the time to carry it out. Small companies- if you are with a small organization, you have a distinct advantage right now ,but watch out if the big guys ever figure this out, you are in trouble because they will really give you a run for the money. Right now, they are not. So those are the three trends that I see in business networking for the next several years.

Priscilla:
That’s great. If you had one more thing to say, what would it be on this program?

Ivan:
I think that the networking is an evolving field. I think you’re going to see more and more of a combination of online and off-line or face-to-face networking. I would feel very confident to say that in the next few years, you are going to see BNI start to incorporate more online types of communication between members and bulletin board access.

We certainly have a podcast where members can communicate. We have the networking entrepreneur.com blog. We have the Yahoo website, the BNI Yahoo website where members are connecting. I think you’re going to see over the next few years a BNI standalone website for BNI members to network online worldwide as well as continuing with the face-to-face meetings. Nothing beats that relationship that is developed by meeting face-to-face. You’re going to see that in the future of BNI.

Priscilla:
Thank you, Dr. Misner. I think that might be the end of this particular podcast. It was very useful and thanks for sharing with us. This podcast has been brought to you by networkingnow.com. It’s the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thanks for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of the Official BNI Podcast.