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Great Ideas at Work
I wanted to share with you a new tool that we are using in our chapter to invite and attract new members. It's a coffee mug that we give to all our members, to the winner of the best 60 seconds, the person with most referrals, most visitors, the MVP and so on. The idea is that everyone collects a number of these and keeps them in a visible place in his or her office. When someone sees it or is interested in BNI or a possible referral situation arises, that person can then hand off the mug as an invite to our group.
Submitted by Jennifer Driscoll.
BNI is all about relationships and ideas. Recently I received a call from Karen Venturini, an Ambassador. I know her through the Ambassador program but also through another BNI member who felt we should meet. I have visited her chapter and she has visited mine.
She called to say that a marketing expert, Jen Driscoll, in the Capitol City chapter (the second Providence chapter) was seeking interested women involved in BNI to "chip in" to get some awareness going in the "Rhode Island Monthly," a consumer periodical. She asked if I could "rally" some women in the first Providence chapter. It didn't take me long.
The "Rhode Island Monthly" has a section each year in the spring regarding women in business. What a great opportunity to get key women in assorted chapters to do a group shot, briefly list their business and promote BNI. Not much to understand there: Build our businesses, build our chapters!
I rallied a few other interested women in the first Providence chapter, Joan, Wendy and Elyse, and gave Karen some other names of BNI women; and there you have it, great exposure, creating awareness, women at work, building their chapters and their businesses! Ah, the good life of BNI. Can't beat it!
Submitted by Janet M. Letourneau, Providence chapter.
Congratulations, Members!
The following members from the Houston West Region achieved Black Badge status:
- Alex Dancy. Downtown chapter
- Dan Wagner, Downtown chapter
Submitted by Kathy Mathy, Executive Director, BNI.
The following are the newest Tampa Area Gold Club members:
- Lynne Wilson, New Tampa chapter
- Linda Deno, Tampa Bay Business Champions chapter
- Clay Caire, Bay Area Business Boosters chapter
- James Moore, Upper Tampa Bay chapter
Submitted by Tom Fleming.
The following are the newest Gold Club members from SE Massachusetts and Maine:
- Jim Freeman, Hockomock chapter, Mansfield, MA
- Dave Kantelis, Hockomock chapter, Mansfield, MA
- Eric Dieckmann, Southern Maine Profit Partners, ME
Submitted by Linda Macedonio.
Michael Macedonio, a resident of North Attleboro, MA, was recently recognized as the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Advocate of the Year. This award acknowledges an individual who has demonstrated a strong commitment to the Chamber and its members.
In his business, Mr. Macedonio assists individuals in increasing their business through referrals. He does this in two ways. As managing partner for the Referral Institute, he provides training on how to maximize the referral process through relationships. This is done through programs such as the Certified Networker Program, Filling Your Referral Pipeline and using the RISE Squared process.
Second, as Executive Director for BNI-Business Network Int'l., Michael assists individuals in implementing the above programs through a structured, positive and professional "word-of-mouth" program that enables them to develop long-term, meaningful relationships with quality business professionals to grow their business.
Mr. Macedonio has made himself an Ambassador of the Chamber and is dedicated to making individuals aware of the resources that are available to them through a relationship with the Chamber.
Submitted by Linda Macedonio, BNI Executive Director, Rhode Island, SE Massachusetts and Maine.
Congratulations, Chapters!
Below are the winners of the Founder's Awards for November and December 2003.
MALAYSIA
UNITED KINGDOM
S.W. Midlands Region
Northants/Leicester Region
- Colling Tree chapter
- Huntingdon chapter
Essex Region
- Spirit of Enterprise chapter
- Braintree chapter
Surrey Region
- Woking chapter
- Elmbridge chapter
Kent
Sussex
UNITED STATES
Alabama
- Trussville Breakfast chapter, North Alabama region
Arkansas
- Little Rock Pro chapter, Arkansas East region
California
- Ontario Business Builders, Southern California Headquarters region
Colorado
- Grand Junction Kokopelli chapter, N.W. Colorado region
Illinois
- Peoria I chapter, Central Illinois region
Indiana
- Cardinal Success chapter, Central Indiana region
Maryland
- Bethesda Thursday Breakfast
- Chambersburg Tuesday Breakfast
- Severna Park Thursday Lunch
Ohio
- Flag City chapter, N.W. Ohio region
- Findlay chapter
- Maumee River chapter
New Hampshire
- Seacoast Referral Connection, New Hampshire region
New Jersey
- Sparta chapter, Middle New Jersey region
- New Brunswick chapter, Middle New Jersey region
New York
- Chapter #7, Manhattan region
- Poughkeepsie 3, "The 2400 Club," Hudson Valley region
Texas
- Canyon Creek Referral Source, Dallas/Ft. Worth region
- Colleyville chapter, Dallas/Ft. Worth region
- Referral Masters, Dallas/Ft. Worth region
- Preston Hollow chapter, Dallas/Ft. Worth region
- Lakeway chapter, Austin region
Virginia
- Willow Lawn 2 chapter, Central Virginia region
- Hull Street chapter, Central Virginia region
- Valley Builders, Central Virginia region
The following chapter achieved Bronze status:
- Green Mt Business Builders, Vermont
Submitted by Joe Monaco, ED Vermont.
As Seen on the BNI-Yahoo Group Site
If you haven't been to the BNI-Yahoo Group site, you ought to check it out. You'll find some great conversations going on there. For example, in response to one member who was looking to find ten great reasons to join BNI for some pocket-sized recruitment cards, another member responded with the following:
- Make money and have fun (Remember this was the reason we started our
businesses).
- Sales force (You get a group of people working for you for free).
- Business focus (Step outside and work on the building your business).
- Verbal skills (Learn how to talk about your business).
- Community (You now have real people to talk to).
- Education (A program that trains you to make more money).
- Resource of vendors (You know people who can get things done).
- Board of directors (You have people in your chapter who you can bounce
ideas off).
- Synergy (Businesses just seem to help each other naturally).
- Lasting relationships (Some of the nicest people you would ever want to
meet).
I did this list four months ago and played Family Feud with a chapter. I split the group in half, and I made a board up that allowed me to hide THE TOP TEN. We had fun with each group taking Mafia names and then in groups of three they would try to guess what the "Survey Said" (I did take a survey). We would discuss each of the items as they were identified, and I gave plenty of hints and cheats along the way. The point was that everyone had a better understanding of BNI. (Oh yeah, and had fun!)
Submitted by Jack Cutone, Marlborough, Massachusetts BNI.
Thank You, Dr. Misner
It was a pleasure meeting you at your workshop when you were here in Scotland [see story in BNI Happenings-Europe].
You seemed surprised when I said to you that I was so surprised at how "ordinary and down to earth" you were, so I would like to explain that to you.
I also do motivational speaking to various groups including people starting up in business.
Each person I talk to has an idea of how to run his or her company, so I tell them about the following:
- The Snapple Company. My friend in Arizona saw an offer for a Snapple sweatshirt and thought I would like one, so she and her class collected over a hundred bottle tops for the sweatshirt for me. I was wearing the shirt when I went to see the Wallace Monument, a high monument near where we live; a friend and I thought it would make a good ad for Snapple—me photographed with the monument in the background. We sent the photograph and an explanatory letter to the then-CEO of Snapple, and there was no reply from him.
- Last year I purchased a Ford. There was a query that the salesman and his managers could not answer, and they suggested I write to the CEO at the Head Office in London. I wrote and six months later have still not had a reply. I wrote to their CEO in America, and no reply.
- With BNI, I had a query that local people did not reply to so I went to the top of the organization—to Ivan Misner himself, fully expecting him to ignore my e-mail, especially since he was in America and I was in Scotland.
I was surprised to receive an e-mail reply stating that he was out of the area for a couple of weeks but would reply on his return. However, if I required an urgent reply, he gave me a name to contact.
I then ask my groups who they want to run their business like: The Ford and Snapple companies who are not interested in their customers or like Ivan Misner of BNI who has chapters all over the world, yet can still take time to reply to someone across the world who he has very little chance of every meeting?
Now, at my presentations, I also add that I have met you, and for someone who owns such a large organization, you were so nice and down to earth, and an inspiration to all, that we should never lose sight of how to look after our customers and members.
Attendees say that in their haste to start and expand their businesses they had forgotten about looking after their customers once they had them, and thought that the part about you was a real inspiration.
So you see, Dr. Misner, when I said that you were down to earth, it was a compliment.
Submitted by Gillian McNeish.
Thank You, BNI!
In 2003, my net income from BNI referrals was $34,369. Since becoming a member in 1998, the two changes that I have noticed in my business are increased income and that I've been able to discontinue farming activity. "Farming" is choosing an area or neighborhood of homes and sending flyers/mailers to the area four to six times a year. It is time consuming, costly and has a low response rate.
Submitted by John Geiler, Estate Upper St. Clair chapter, Pittsburg.
I have had 13 referrals from my BNI network since November 2003. That says
a lot about the power of BNI. It is a great tribute to the quality people we
have in our group and the training that has been provided by BNI.
Submitted by Susan Bluemling, Upper St. Clair chapter, Pittsburgh.
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