J25 BNI Derby Business Networking

Synopsis
This week Brian Buffini joins Dr. Misner to discuss creating a proactive system for referrals. You need a systematic approach to cultivate referrals on a daily basis. The essence of it is:

Build relationships
Provide value
Remind the people in your database that you’re looking for referrals

This requires sorting your database by your most valuable customers and who [...]

Synopsis
This week’s topic is the Classification Cowboy, illustrated by BNI member Dan Fletcher.

A Classification Cowboy is someone who tries to take more than one profession within a chapter. If you try to take more than one classification in a chapter, you’re blocking the connections and referrals that can be brought to the chapter.
The best way [...]

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Synopsis
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 [...]

Synopsis
Dr. Misner recently received an e-mail from someone who wanted to get the benefit of BNI without actually attending the weekly meetings. This is like wanting to win an Olympic medal without having to go through exhaustive physical training. None of us can do less and get the same results.
In the early days of BNI, [...]

Synopsis
Here are some tips for networking with strangers—at a chamber mixer, or with visitors at BNI meetings. They come from Alice Ostrower’s article in Masters of Networking.

Get the person’s attention by showing interest. Ask questions.
Add interest. Respond to the answer, but don’t move the conversation to you.
Involve. Use the “Feel/felt/found” formula.
Tie it all together by [...]

Synopsis
Today’s special guests are BNI Director Deanna Tucci-Schmitt from BNI Western PA and Brian Smith of Foulk’s Flooring America from the BNI Eagles chapter.
The carpet cleaner in Brian’s chapter suggested to a mutual customer that she visit Brian’s company to replace her carpet, but she expressed dissatisfaction with their previous work. Brian contacted the customer [...]

Synopsis
Before you start your word-of-mouth marketing campaign, you should have these things on hand to help you, both in print and digitally.

Testimonial letters from satisfied clients
Photos of yourself and your facilities and/or products
Photos of your key customers or their logos
Photos of awards you’ve won
Articles that you’ve been mentioned in
Articles that [...]

Synopsis
This week Dr. Misner provides three essential questions to ask yourself in order to develop a networking strategy and decide which networking events to attend.

Who are my best prospects? Are they businesses or consumers? What industries are they in?
Where can I meet my best prospects? Corporate representatives are more likely to be in service organizations [...]