BNI in the News


Hamilton County Businesses Thrive

Despite threats of a gloomy economy, BNI (formerly known as Business Network International) says members continue to grow their businesses in Hamilton County while pumping more than $56 million into the local economy in 2007.

During 2007, BNI, a business and professional organization, had nine chapters based in Hamilton County with a total of 225 members who relied on the organization's word-of-mouth referral system to boost their businesses.

Randy Sipe, sales manager for Main Street Power Mail and a BNI assistant director, says BNI networks can help businesses break into the booming markets—like Hamilton County—while acting as a stabilizing factor in areas where the economy isn't so good.

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Business Support Served Up with Breakfast

Every Tuesday morning, when most people are reaching for the snooze button, Jonathan Black and 20 other members of The Hub tuck into a weekly mix of business and breakfast.

Despite the 7 am start, the seats around the Last Supper-sized table at Eliza's Manor in Bealey Avenue, where the meetings take place, are routinely filled.

The people who belong to The Hub are a committed and eclectic bunch. Among those partaking in the weekly ritual are a cordon bleu chef, an electrician, a masseuse, a furniture retailer, a realtor, a financial adviser and a panelbeater.

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Business-to-Business Group Forges More than Friendships

Jeffrey Turner is well aware of the advantages of membership in Business Network International, a business-to-business organization that has two chapters in Lafayette.

"We've been members for six years. It represents about 17 percent of our new business each year," said Turner, president of ServiceMaster Advantage, a Lafayette-based company that provides residential and commercial cleaning services. "It's obvious to us that it's worthwhile."

Turner is a member of Bright Futures, a BNI chapter that meets on Thursday mornings.

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Play Your Cards Right with the Written Word

The cultural significance of business cards should not be underestimated—we are judged on every aspect of our appearance in society, so having the right business card can speak volumes about your social status.

If Alan Brightman, Yahoo's senior policy director of special communities, handed you his business card, the first thing you might notice is its texture. That is because his details are also printed in Braille. The main reason is not so that his card can be read by blind people - he says "only 10 per cent of them read Braille". Rather, it raises awareness about the communities he works with. "People take it, realise it's different and look at it, that makes it a better card."

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