My BNI Story

Treasure Chest of Information

As the "Visitor Tracker" for our chapter, I log in our visitors for the week. Recently, I explored other aspects of the website, and I found Ivan Misner's blog. I had no idea it contained such a wealth of information—a virtual treasure chest!

I read every single article on the blog. I came away energized with this new knowledge, all right at my fingertips.

I will report all that I found at my next chapter meeting. Thank you for providing such a valuable resource to the members.

Sandy Tovey, Gems Chapter, Dana Point, California


The BNI Pathway to Success

I am a life coach and president of the By Referral Only BNI Chapter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My business is built completely on BNI referrals. Every client I have, every event I conduct, and every class I teach can be traced back to a BNI referral or associate. I owe my business success to BNI, and will be an active member as long as I am in business.

Liz Reno, www.YourNextYou.com, President - By Referral Only BNI Chapter, Baton Rouge, LA


Worth the Lost Sleep!

It's hard to get me anywhere by 7 am. So when Bill Drapeau told me the Weymouth Chapter met at 7 am every Wednesday, the sleepyhead in me lobbied strongly to pass. Luckily, the businessperson in me prevailed.

Within five minutes of arriving, I decided it was worth the sacrifice. The coffee was hot, the pastries were delectable, and the members almost mobbed me in their attempts to welcome me. And I never expected the meeting to be so much FUN. I started getting leads immediately—what's not to like? I definitely plan on coming next week!

Barb Brown, Integrity Woodworking, Submitted by Patti Salvucci


The Power of BNI

Fifteen years ago, I visited South Africa as part of a Barbados Trade Mission to seek business relations in that part of the world.

Shortly after joining BNI, JER Associates put me in direct contact with South Africa again. We established our first strategic alliance with BNI member Melanie Kidson of the Cresta Chapter in Johannesburg. Melanie heads up Kidson Marketing Communications, a PR/marketing agency. We'll be doing some global projects together.

My company has also been able to establish a similar relationship with a counterpart agency in India—"Creativzt Communications," referred by BNI India National Director, Niiraj Shah.

Ricardo Blackman, JER Associates, Trident Chapter, Barbados


How BNI Sells Hondas

BNI has changed my life, both professionally and personally. I have been a member of BNI since January 2006. Last year I achieved membership in the Honda Council of Sales Leadership—achieved by only 2,000 salespeople in more than 1,000 North American Honda dealerships. My personal customer satisfaction was 99.3%.

This year my dealership has already received an excess of $1,000,000 in referral business as a result of my involvement with BNI. These numbers, however, don't tell the whole story. In the spirit of "Givers Gain," I have formed some quality relationships and have given out far more referrals than I have received.

Not bad for someone who is an introverted CPA-type!

Lou Brockman, Sales and Leasing Consultant, Lute Riley Honda, Richardson, TX


BNI Rises Above the Rest

I recently started my own life coach business. As a new business owner, I spent a great deal of time examining the business networks in the area. I checked out several referral networks before choosing BNI. I chose BNI for the structure, frequency of meetings, and personality of the chapter I was joining (you should like the people you are sharing business with!). Within two weeks of attending BNI meetings, I lined up qualified referrals that paid my BNI membership fee eight times over!

Although life coaching can be a blurry profession to many people, I found that my BNI team helps give clarity to the profession. I encourage everyone to join a BNI chapter—no matter what profession you are in!

Lisa Spahr, Spahr Consulting


BNI = Better Net Income

I recently attended a Visitor Day. One of the members included the following in a testimonial for BNI:

"BNI equals 'Better Net Income' for me."

The visitors and members got it right away—and appreciated its double meaning!

Natalie Paz-Storey, Executive Director - BNI Central Ohio