I had someone recently ask me the following question:
“Let’s say that you, Ivan, go back 30 years and think about where you were early in your career. If you didn’t know someone personally and you really admired them and wanted to take a shot at reaching them, how would you do that?”
The short answer to that question is – “I wouldn’t reach out to them directly. I would find someone that knows them and I would get an introduction.” That’s exactly how I met Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, back in the 1990’s.
Getting an introduction from a trusted third party smooths the path to meeting someone, especially if that “someone” is well-known or very successful. In the 90’s my business was still small and I hadn’t written any best selling books so very few people knew anything about BNI or who I was. Still, I wanted to meet Harvey Mackay and ask if he would contribute a piece to a book I was working on at the time. He had written about networking and I thought he would make a good contributor to my book. The problem was that with no name recognition, I couldn’t get past the assistant no matter how many times I tried.
So, I started asking colleagues if they knew Harvey or if they knew anyone that might possibly know Harvey. I asked everyone I knew. I asked, and I asked, and I asked. I generally didn’t ask strangers (or people I just met) because they didn’t know me and would most likely be unwilling to introduce someone they didn’t know to Harvey – a good contact that they did know.
It took the better part of a year. But one day, I went to another state in the U.S. as part of a book tour that I was doing for one of my first books. A BNI member in that city asked the local Director if he could pick me up at the airport and take me to my hotel. I told the Director that I’d love to meet the member personally. We spent some time on the drive and he asked me many questions about my book and about the BNI organization as a whole. He came to the event I did that week and asked if I’d like a ride back to the airport the next day. I happily agreed.
On the ride, we continued our previous conversation. As we got closer to the airport, he thanked me for all the suggestions I had given on how to build a powerful personal network and he then asked, “is there anything I can do for you?” Well, as I said above, I had “asked, and asked, and asked, if people knew Harvey” and so I felt that I got to know this individual well enough to throw that out there. So, I said to him, “I’ve been trying to connect with Harvey Mackay and I haven’t had any luck. I just can’t get past his assistant. You wouldn’t happen to know someone that knows Harvey, would you?” He said, “Sure, I know his assistant pretty well. In fact, I have her mobile number!”
All I can say is that I sat their absolutely dumbfounded. I said, “You have her number! How do you know her?” He then went on to explain that he always volunteers to drive visiting authors from the airport because it is a great way to get them in a car for an hour and learn from them. That’s why he volunteered to drive me. He told me that he talked to her many times when he agreed to drive Harvey from the airport the previous year. He asked me why I wanted to connect with Harvey (in other words, he wanted to qualify me before he passed it on to his trusted contact). I told him that I wanted to ask Harvey if he would be willing to contribute to a book I was writing called “Masters of Networking.” I said Harvey had written a book on the topic of networking and he’d be such a great contributor I really wanted him in my book. The driver said he’d be happy to reach out to Harvey’s assistant and explain what I’m doing and ask her to contact me.
Guess who called me the next week? No, not the assistant. . . Harvey Mackay. What a great conversation that was! Harvey is an icon in the business world and I was so honored to talk to him. It was a fantastic conversation. I learned that he absolutely “walks the talk” when it comes to networking. He was masterful in getting to learn about me and about the book I was doing. In fact, he agreed to provide a contribution to the book. I got to know Harvey better over the years. He spoke at one of our BNI conventions and I had a chance to talk to him on many other occasions.
Some people may think that it all happened just because “I asked.” But I would say that is only part of the story. Yes, I asked. But I asked people who I knew and who I believe trusted me. More importantly, they knew I wouldn’t betray that trust by doing something other than what I said my intended purpose was. People don’t want to give a referral to someone that just wants to sell something to an important contact they have (unless that contact is asking for that kind of connection).
So, if I were to go back 30 years and think about where I was early on in my career and I wanted to meet someone I really admired, how would I do that? That’s easy. I’d ask people who trust me for the referral. It worked for me then and it still works for me today.
Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest book, Who’s in Your Room, The Secret to Creating Your Best Life, is available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.
BNI is introducing a fresh and exciting new look designed to help you grow your business. The BNI brand has been completely refreshed with a new logo, colors, graphics, images and copy. There is fresh a new website, social media, videos, chapter branding materials, promotional items, PowerPoint Templates, Email Signatures and more!
The refresh of BNI started two years ago with one objective, improve the relevance and attraction of the brand to help members grow their business. After months of research exploring industry design best practices, reviewing the competition, understanding color theory, and designing hundreds of BNI logos, the bold red new BNI logo was born. Its distinctive red attracts more than any other color and promotes leadership, confidence, energy and courage. The eye-catching and memorable font provides a professional, yet simple and friendly appearance. The diagonal white line across the “I” symbolizes the Member’s professional and personal growth. The BNI logo can be featured in red or white and will be complimented with black and grey for a contemporary image.
BNI’s fresh new look will help increase referrals by attracting new Members to your chapter. More Members means more referrals, sustainable business growth and an optimistic future. You are encouraged to fully leverage the refreshed BNI brand and all the all the features that BNI has to offer.
Please visit bnibranding.com to access all of the new branding tools available to you.
Additionally, please check out our brand in action with these images from Team Japan’s national headquarters.
Featuring BNI Chief Marketing Officer Terry Atkins
May 20, 2020
BNI Chief Marketing Officer Terry Atkins joined BNI in the fall of 2019 with one thing on his mind, growth. Growth for BNI and all of its 270,000 Members around the world. After all, that’s why BNI exists and why people join BNI. The first step that he and his team took towards that growth was refreshing the brand so that people everywhere would see BNI as a contemporary and progressive organization with a relevant service to offer. Certainly, now more than ever, BNI is relevant. In fact, as Members would say, it is fundamental to their survival during this period of worldwide disruption. But for those that don’t know BNI, it is hard to understand all the benefits it has to offer. The brand refresh has been designed to do one thing, and that’s attract more members. Attract them with a look that is inspiring, a look that’s professional, yet friendly. Based on consumer research and the reaction from those who have now seen it, it’s a real winner. The new logo has an energy and a certain magnetism of attraction. Why is it so important to attract new Members? Because more Members means more referrals and more referrals equals Member growth. The summarization of all of BNI’s benefits can be found in its new campaign tagline, “Growing Forward Together™”. Those words were chosen after quite a bit of dialogue and research with BNI Leaders and Members. Through all of that work it became quite clear that if there was one word that captured the essence of BNI, it was growth. The other thing that stood out were the Members’ personal stories of how BNI changed their lives both professionally and personally for the better, allowing them to move forward. Lastly, Members talked about how being part of a network of like-minded, caring people helped them to achieve things together that they could never have done alone. There was no better way to represent BNI and its refresh look than to use the words, Growing Forward Together™.
Because of the pandemic, the world’s a crazy place to live in right now. Most all of us are quarantined and confined to quarters. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get things done. The worst thing we can do right now, is stop connecting with people. We need to continue it now, more than ever. We just need to do it differently.
People don’t make good decisions based on fear. There’s plenty of that going on all around the world. Don’t succumb to it. I don’t know about you, but challenges like this give me an absolute singularity of focus. In the middle of a serious challenge, it’s hard sometimes to see through the fog that surrounds our thoughts.
But there are opportunities. To see those opportunities, you need to have a singular focus on executing a plan and not get distracted by noise that doesn’t focus on the solutions to your challenge.
In difficult times, what I’ve seen is one of two things that generally happen to groups of people. They either become frozen in fear or they become focused on solutions.
Fear vs focus. We cannot change what is going on around us, but we can change how we respond to it. Now is not the time to stop networking – it’s just the time to do it differently (at least for a while).
Keep doing what you need to do to stay healthy that’s important but, set aside your fear and focus on what you can do right now to work your way through this very difficult situation.
If you’re like many people, you probably have some free time on your hands. Use it effectively. Activate your network. Reach out to your personal and professional connections to see how they are doing. Schedule your time throughout the next week or more to do virtual 1-2-1’s. Meet people via Skype, Zoom, or GoToMeeting. Don’t reach out to them to just try to sell something to them. Instead, find out if there is anything you can do for them? Recently, I heard John Maxwell say, “you can’t help everybody, but you can help somebody.” Use this time to help somebody.
And don’t forget, it’s ok for you to ask for help also. The people in your personal network are your colleagues. They should mostly be people that you are at credibility with. It’s ok to share your needs with them.
Also, this is also a great time to pour into yourself. Work on the business plan you intend to execute when this is over. Read books that will stimulate and motivate you to do the things you need to do when this is done. Spend time learning from the amazing experts here on Entrepreneur.com.
Now’s not the time to ignore your network. No, now’s the time to expand and deepen your network. Connect with your contacts in a different way. Deepen the relationship and be there to help them where you can.
You’re going to have a business tomorrow because of the actions you take today. You’ll get through this. It may not be easy – but you can come out of this, light years ahead of your competition if, you use this time to invest in yourself and invest in your network. That investment, plus the creation of a plan that you will execute when you are all out of this lockdown will position you to weather this viral storm.
Today, you need you network more than ever.
Stay healthy and activating your network will help you stay successful.
Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest book, Who’s in Your Room, The Secret to Creating Your Best Life, is available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.
There are some people who are positive and supportive individuals. Over the years, I’ve recognized that these are the people that I really want to be around. They are solutions focused when it comes to solving problems. Plus, they are almost always willing to talk through challenges with a positive end in mind. These solutions focused people are engines. They help us be our best selves, and they motivate us to drive forward in a positive way. The quality of your personal and professional network is highly dependent on the people in your network.
We often consider people’s aptitude when we bring them into our personal network, but we often forget to consider their attitude. Based on a survey I conducted of over 3,400 people around the world, one of the top characteristics of a great networker is, in fact, their attitude. Focus on networking with solutions focused people who are engines, not anchors.
Solutions Focused People
I have noticed, as I’m sure you have, that there are some people who complain as though it were an Olympic event. And for the record, I’ve checked, and it’s not. Furthermore, they tend to be negative, argumentative, and obsessed with problems without any real focus on solutions. I’ve learned not to spend much time with these people because they focus on all the things that are wrong relating to most challenges. If all someone does is focus on problems, they become an expert on the problems and not on the solutions. These people are anchors.They hold us back and weigh us down.
Who do you surround yourself with, engines or anchors?
This is an important question for everyone. Therefore, It is particularly important if you are trying to build a powerful personal network of people around you.Is your network full of people who are engines helping you go to the next level in your life or your career? Or are they anchors weighing you down with the plethora of complaints?
Do they hold you back, or do they drive you forward? Sometimes when we first meet someone, we can’t tell if they are an engine or an anchor. It may take a little time to observe the way they do business and how they interact with others. However, it is critical that we take notice as soon as possible.
If you want to build a powerful personal network, look for engines — those solutions focused people who help you in your business and in your life. Forbid entrance to the anchors who may be trying to get into your personal network. Generally, they don’t really care about you but mostly care about what you can do for them instead.
The funny thing here is that no one thinks they’re an anchor — no one. They’ll tell you that they are an engine and that they just don’t like the direction you are going and that’s why they come across the way they do. For the record, this attitude means they are an anchor with a motor attachedwho is trying to take you down faster.
My advice is to call for “all hands on deck,” cut loose the anchors in your life. Partner up with your fellow engines and go full speed ahead. Create the life and the network that you want. Only other solutions focused people can help you do that.
I just had someone send me a document that they needed to have completed RIGHT NOW for an important deadline they had. Mind you, they could have sent the document months earlier. Due to their poor planning, they waited until the last minute to send it to me. Normally, I wouldn’t sweat it and I’d fill it out pretty quickly and get it back to them. However, on this occasion, I was in Panama on business. I was headed home to Austin for less than 24 hours, then I was off to Charlotte for business meetings at BNI Global, and then I was off to Necker Island for some downtime.
They could not have caught me at a worse time – and they were completely aware that I was in the midst of my travels. Regardless, they emailed me, emailed my assistant, emailed my wife, and emailed all of us twice more (all within two days). In between my meetings, I dropped this person a message and said, “I’m sorry you have a problem, but your project is not my priority due to your poor planning. You had months to send this to me and you sent it at the last moment (when I’m swamped) and you want it right now. NO. I am not able to do it right now.”
In my book, Who’s in Your Room, I said that sometimes, “no” is a one-word sentence. This is one of the times I made it a one-word sentence (OK, I know I had other sentences but I wanted to include that one-word sentence of “NO”).
I understand this person’s frustration. She made a mistake in her poor planning and dropped this in my lap. I’ve been there before but I did not handle it like she did (multiple demands for completion, reaching my assistant and even my wife – several times)!
Poor Planning Tips
I recommend you consider these suggestions if you find yourself in a situation where you are dropping your problem on someone else due to your poor planning:
Start with an apology: “I’m really, really sorry but something has slipped through the cracks. I am getting this to you late. I know you should have had it a long time ago, but you didn’t and that’s on me. I’ve attached it to this message. Is there any way you can get it to me by X date or time? I know this may be an inconvenience, but I would appreciate if you could make that happen.
Copy the assistant on the message (once – not multiple times).
NEVER harass the spouse. Ever! Mine did not particularly appreciate being pulled into something she had nothing to do with. More importantly, she is pretty confident that I’m a big boy now and don’t really need further parenting.
When you do get what you requested – thank them. Throw yourself on the sword again. Tell them you appreciate them helping you out by getting it to you quickly.
Always remember – Someone’s poor planning can lead to problems! By the way, feel free to send this blog to anyone who tries to make their problems your projects. Maybe they’ll get the message.
I recognize that when some people hear the phrase an “Attitude of Gratitude,” they are going to think, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, more new-age psychobabble, but we want hard facts.” Well, I agree that hard facts are important and here are some from pretty reputable sources who argue convincingly about the science of gratitude’s positive impact.
Harvard Medical School recently reported that there have been multiple studies showing that people who express gratitude are “more optimistic and felt better about themselves.”
The Templeton Foundation conducted studies that showed that an “attitude of gratitude” can actually have a positive and “lasting effect on the brain.”
A paper published by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence concluded that “expressing gratitude completes [a] feeling of connection” with others (something I’d say is pretty important in building relationships).
Even neuroscientists argue that gratitude is effective. Paul Zak, professor at Claremont Graduate University states that “the neuroscience shows that recognition has the largest effect on trust. . .” Especially when it’s tangible, unexpected, personal, and public.
UC Berkley conducted fMRI scans on individuals who wrote gratitude letters and compared them to the fMRI scans of people who did not. They found that the people who wrote gratitude letters had a greater activation in the medial prefrontal cortex than those who did not write the letters. The medial prefrontal cortex is, among other things, believed to be an area of the brain that triggers responses to nicotine, drugs and alcohol. In other words, showing gratitude is proven to be a healthy way of getting high.
Studies by the Cicero Group that were published in Forbes found that people who are on the receiving end of gratitude have a 33% increase in their innovation, a 22% increase in work results, and they stay with the organization longer than those who are in companies who do not have a practice of appreciating their people.
So much for psychobabble. Gratitude improves attitude, feelings of connection, and results. It’s not new-age; it’s science.
The Gratitude Effect works when someone is coming from a place of being grateful and acknowledging people along the way. This means that it is important to take time to notice all the good things you might take for granted. Like so many other principles of success, it’s simple, but not easy, meaning that this is a simple concept – but it is not an easy concept to apply regularly in your life. It’s not easy, because the easy thing is to notice what is wrong, what you don’t like, what annoys you, or the problems that you face.
What I have learned over the years is that if you focus on problems – you become a world-class expert at problems, and it is hard to show gratitude when you are obsessed with the problems around you. However, if you focus on solutions, you can become a world-class expert at solving those problems. This process begins by recognizing what is right around us. From that starting point we can be grateful for those elements and begin to acknowledge those around us for the efforts they are making. The Gratitude Effect requires a life-long journey of developing our ability to be grateful.
Expressing gratitude completes the feeling of connection with others. Here is how you can start this practice today: many people have helped us during our lifetime. They are “in our story.” Have you acknowledged them? Have you thanked them? Have you recognized the difference they have made for you?
I recently heard a story from a woman whose sixteen-year old son pretty much stopped going to school, his grades began to fail, and he started drinking alcohol. Worst of all, he was caught stealing a car and joy riding late at night. She told me that he was making some really poor life decisions and that she was beside herself with what to do.
She decided to send him to a leadership conference to see if that would help take his life in a new direction. At first, he said, “no” but around the holidays, he said that if this was that important to her, he “would do it for her.”
He attended the multi-day event and came home telling her that the event was amazing. He learned that people matter. Decisions matter. The people around you matter. She told me that one of the speaker’s at that event had a particularly large impact on the young man. She then reached out to the speaker from that event and told him the story. She expressed her gratitude for the impact that his talk had on her son’s life. She told him “you gave me my son back.” The speaker was so moved that he sent a video message to the young man telling him how grateful he was that he said something that the boy found helpful and that he was proud to be a small part of that. What’s more, the young man replied and told him a little about the life that he was now creating for himself.
The Gratitude Effect doesn’t take much effort and costs little or nothing, yet it makes a difference in yourself and the people around you. When you acknowledge people in this way, people are drawn to you like a magnet, because it accelerates the relationship building process.
As the story above shows, the Gratitude Effect can come full circle and then continue to spiral off in new, impactful directions. Believe me. It’s science.
Read these “Thank You” stories from BNI Leaders from throughout the world, featuring:
Tim Roberts, National Director – BNI United States of America – Click here to read original submission
Jessica Gomplewicz-Milot, Directrice Nationale, BNI France et Belgique francophone – Click here to read original submission
Frederick Marcoux, National Director – BNI Australia – Click here to read original submission
Sam Schwartz and Yarden Noy, National Directors – BNI Israel – Click here to read original submission
Thanking Those Who Provided The Opportunity
Submitted by Tim Roberts, National Director – BNI United States of America
BNI recently celebrated International Networking Week and its Million Thank You initiative. It reminds me of how important it is to think about those who have made significant impacts on our lives that may not have been obvious at that moment in time. Who helped you with what may have seemed like an insignificant act that, through the butterfly effect, changed the course of your business or life forever?
Thank You, Seth Tebbetts
For me, it is Seth Tebbetts, a BNI member in the BNI Power Partners chapter in Nashua NH and owner of the Tebbetts Insurance Agency. Back in 2002, Seth was a recruiter for another insurance company. He gave me an opportunity to chase my dream of being an entrepreneur. Seth was able to help me see the possibility of unlimited growth and face the fears of uncertainty. If it were not for Seth I would have ended up in a management program after graduation. I know I would have hated this and who knows where my path would have led.
I was very familiar with BNI at the time because of the involvement of my parents. However, I would not have been able to become a member if I did not decide to go work with Seth. This decision led me down an amazing path: from a struggling member getting little results, to a successful member, to finding my passion for BNI, to working BNI fulltime, to becoming an Executive Director owning multiple franchises of BNI. Now, I am the U.S. National Director. While there are countless people who I can and should thank along this now 18-year journey, it is Seth who helped me take the very first step. There is no way either of us knew at the time that this is where it would all lead, but that is not the point.
A Week of One Million Thank You’s
I challenge all of us to think back and thank those whom without we would not be where we are today. I often speak to BNI members and ask them, “When was the last time they thanked the person who initially invited them to their chapter?” We also make sure to thank the person who just gave us a referral. However, without that initial invite, EVERY referral we have or will receive from BNI would never have happened.
Thank you, Seth, for convincing me to take the leap of faith to become an entrepreneur. Thank you for helping me be able to get involved in an organization that has made such an impact on my family and me.
Tim Roberts | National Director – BNI United States of America
La Gratitude en France
Submitted by Jessica Gomplewicz-Milot, Directrice Nationale, BNI France et Belgique francophone
Saying thank you in France and receiving gratitude can be sometimes a bit tricky. Of course, you might have heard about how negative French people can be sometimes, but it is a bit more complicated than this! Let me give you a few explanations.
If you think about it, this difficulty to accept AND give gratitude starts in schools. While American teachers grade from 100% and then reduce the grade when they find mistakes in an essay or an exercise, French teachers start from 0 and add up points when you do good. It ranges from 0 to 20, the latter being perfection. You really have to prove that you are worth something, and it should suffice you. Having often 18/20 grades means you will be the top student of your class. If you get grades like 12/20 you are good enough to pass like most students, and below 10/20 means starting a schoolyear over again. 20 is not often, if ever, given. This is a good example of how French people have trouble recognizing their worth and accept and value gratitude. A lot of them are not cheer on or thanked for their hard work, and it almost feels too much when those moments of recognition arrive.
Take the French language for instance: many reactions to compliments or signs of gratitude consist in diminishing what they accomplished. “You shouldn’t have.” “It’s nothing really!” “It’s natural/normal, don’t worry about it.” “No, no; I’m nothing special really.” All these are quite common to say.
A Week of One Million Thank You’s
Thankfully we still exchange formally gratitude, especially in the workplace, through letters, thank-you notes, emails or, and that is the best possible option, gifts and food. If you want to wow a French person at the end of the year and express gratitude, chocolates, regional specialties and treats are always very happily received. It sounds a bit cliché but it’s true! Pro tip: this also works if you want to make amends for any misunderstanding or wrongs that happened along the path.
If your French coworker has trouble thanking you during the year, but later sends you a letter, an email, or even better, one of their regional products, you know they truly value you and the work you put in.
The key point that I want to make here is this: compared to American people for example, it can be trickier to make French people literally say “Thank you!” or to get the point across when you want to thank them. However, once they truly see the intentions and gratitude you give, and what they can give in returns, it creates long-lasting trust and bonds.
“ “…you’re the right person for us in finance, credit and investment.”
What a pleasure to hear that, and what a boost to my self-confidence thanks to my Chapter and an organization that allow me to thrive… I say thank you to them, they understood that human contact allows real exchanges and real business.”
“ BNI accelerated my professional life, I met the right people in the right place. I have changed my professional life and made friends. I get up at 5am once a week with a smile on my face to have fun!”
“I accepted the role of President because it is in line with my job: giving wings to companies, but above all to the people who are part of them. It’s a way for me to highlight each Member. I try to bring out the best in them and that each one can give to receive.”`
Submitted by Frederick Marcoux, National Director – BNI Australia
This year’s International Networking Week theme was “One Million Thank You’s”. In Australia we saw increidble engagement with this meaningful theme! Saying “thank you” has a strong place in our culture. Furthermore, expressing gratitude and saying thank you is easy, fun and uplifting to give and receive.
Thank you to our amazing firefighters and other volunteers
The world press gave massive coverage to the bushfires happening in many parts of our country. We are still coming to grips with what 12 million acres of burned bushland and 1 billion animals killed means. However, many are suffering from the loss of loved ones and their property. Therefore, we are grateful to our amazing firefighters and other volunteers helping to address these challenges.
BNI Foundation Australia says Thank You!
We are grateful to BNI Global, BNI Members and Directors and others from 12+ countries who donated so far to the BNI Foundation Australia’s bushfires fundraising efforts (www.gofundme.com/bnifoundationaustralia). The funds will be used to help children and young people impacted by the bushfires. Furthermore, the GoFundMe organization itself donated $1,000 to our cause, and we are very grateful for that!
Resilience through abundance
Frederick MarcouxWe are very proud that BNI helps improve business resilience through the powerful support network we provide for business through our Chapters. It’s well documented that one of the top reasons for business failure in Australia is lack of support. Givers Gain® is serious business. Last year, the members of BNI in Australia generated $0.5 billion of additional revenue through a quarter of a million referrals. Members supported each other this way without expecting anything in return. This is an amazing display of abundance thinking and trust in the idea that “what goes around comes around”. This is why I believe that in BNI we support business by creating “Resilience through Abundance”. The meaning of those few words put together is readily understood by business people experienced in our Givers Gain® philosophy.
Say thank you and thrive!
There are many more reasons to say “thank you”. In most cultures, the desire to be appreciated is common. It’s well documented that receiving thanks can have a profound impact on someone’s outlook on the day, on the week or even on their future. Does that sound a bit exaggerated? However, I don’t think so. The best job I ever had was when my accomplishments and efforts were regularly recognized and gratefully appreciated by my superiors. Furthermore, there are even studies that show that someone regularly expressing gratitude has better heart health and more disease-fighting cells in their body!
Thank you Leaders of BNI in Australia
Great Leaders develop and nurture more Leaders, and BNI in Australia has many leaders who do just that! Therefore, BNI in Australia has more Franchisees than ever before thanks to the abundance mindset and awesome leadership of the Executive Director Team. A few months ago at the Global Convention in Poland, BNI Australia was awarded the “2019 Global Award for Franchise Development”. This means that Australia is the most developed “Franchised BNI Country” in the world today. Furthermore, that is thanks to the amazing collaborative spirit of our team. Therefore, in the spirit of recognition and expressing gratitude, it’s appropriate to acknowledge those who have contributed to this massive achievement:
Bob Greenup, Executive Director BNI Sydney Central for referring us Ilona Teremi the Executive Director of BNI Gold Coast. Plus, Paul English the Executive Director for BNI NSW South.
Braith Bamkin, Executive Director BNI Melbourne Central for referring us Lisa Thomas, Executive Director BNI Melbourne North and Helen Searle Executive Director BNI Melbourne West
Graham West, Executive Director BNI Melbourne East for introducing us David Harris
Glenn Anthoney, Former Executive Director of BNI Sydney North West for referring us Rebecca Raad, Executive Director BNI Sydney North West. Plus, Alison Attard, Executive Director BNI Sydney South West
Ilona Teremi, Executive Director BNI Gold Coast for referring us David McLean. Plus, Jeannie Anderson, Executive Directors for BNI Brisbane South East
Leisa Gill, Executive Director BNI Brisbane South West and Toowoomba without whom One Brisbane would not have been possible
Rob Warburton Executive Director for BNI Sydney North East for introducing us to Andrew Sim
Simon Derrick-Roberts, Executive Director for BNI Adelaide CBD and South for referring us Simone Douglas, Executive Director BNI Adelaide South
Finally, I hope that everyone had an insanely great International Networking Week® 2020!
Frederick Marcoux| National Director – BNI Australia
One Billion Thank You’s
Submitted by Sam Schwartz and Yarden Noy, National Directors – BNI Israel
International Networking Week has a special place in the BNI Israel history. When it was first announced about 13 years ago, we decided to have our annual conference at the same time. This year’s theme was “One Million Thank You’s” however, we focused on “One Billion Thank You’s” because in the last six years BNI Israel members reported / Generated on over “1 Billion Israeli shekels” thank you for close business. This is incredible.
We would like this opportunity and thank Dr. Misner for creating this amazing organization that is Changing the Way the World Does Business® and influencing the economy of the small and medium businesses in Israel.
An attitude of gratitude it’s not a simple and easy thing to have and changing a culture to adopt it is even harder, but over the last 15 years since BNI was introduced to Israel, we were able to have thousands of members and directors that adopted this attitude doing business Locally Nationally and Internationally with BNI member all over the world.
According to the Israeli government statistics, the SME in Israel is responsible for 61% of the job in the commercial sector, generating 53% of the product and services that generate 78% from all the new net employment. We are proud to help our members and the economy to be successful.
BNI is not only a “Business Generating System” it’s a family!
We have a member Tomer Mor that his parents went to Canada in 2018 for their Anniversary. His father felt some headaches and he was planning to go to visit the doctor but on his way, he fell asleep at the steering wheel. His mother woke him up at the last minute and took over driving. They went to the emergency care in the hospital where he had a CT done. They found 2 aneurysms: one new and one old and the brain was damaged, he was transferred by ambulance to a bigger hospital in Halifax which was an hour and a half away from the first hospital, he was hospitalized and waited for surgery.
The car they rented was at the old hospital and all their belongings were at the hotel. The family in Israel was worried and tried to find a solution to help the parents.
Tomer reached out to Hazel Walker which he met in the prior year when she was a keynote speaker at BNI Israel Conference. He knew she owned the territory in Canada. Hazel connected him immediately to Mike and Megan, owners of the BNI franchise in Halifax. They immediately took over and said, “Don’t worry. We will meet your mother tomorrow. We will take the keys and we will bring the car and your belonging to the hospital”. It took them over six hours on Friday to do all of this. They asked nothing in return! Tomer met with them after his father’s operation to offer to compensate them for all that trouble and they refused. So a big, big Thank You to Mike and Megan for the help and support.
A Week of One Million Thank You’s
We would like to thank our Members and our Executive Teams who trust us and followed the BNI system in an organization that changed their life. “One Billion Thank You’s” from the bottom of a heart to Dr. Misner and the BNI Global Support Team.
Submitted by Kevin Barber, Executive Director – Chairman of the BNI Foundation Worldwide
Like many of you, as the new year started, I followed with disbelief as wildfires devastated Australia. The fact that I have BNI colleagues in the affected region shouldn’t really make a difference, but somehow it brought the dramatic situation even closer to home. Wherever natural disasters occur in the world, we’re always asked the same question – “What is the BNI Foundation doing to help?” In situations like this, where people are desperately in need of help, what better place to start than by turning to the organization whose sole reason for existence is to help?
It would also be easy to assume that a foundation always has vast reserves in the bank and is just waiting to distribute them where they are needed. For us, that is (unfortunately) not the case, because the BNI Foundation is not an aid organization. For the international aid organizations, with their access to a very different level of logistical resources, it is different. However, the mission of the BNI Foundation is to support children and education. For this reason, we can only be involved in projects which themselves support this mission.
This is what I said to my colleague Frederick Marcoux, National Director, BNI Australia, who together with his team founded the BNI Foundation Australia in late 2019, when he asked for advice. But we still wanted to find a solution, because 1) BNI members turn to us when they want to help and 2) there is always a very important “time thereafter” – the time when the fires are no longer in the news every day, but when those affected are still trying to find their way back to their old lives. Within days, footage of the fires had largely disappeared from the headlines to be replaced by international political tensions, a volcano erupting, another royal drama or fears of a new pandemic. But it is precisely when the world has forgotten that those who have lost everything need us more than ever – and this is where our BNI network can truly make a difference.
So Team Australia has set up a GoFundMe page : BNI Cares – Australian Fires (https://www.gofundme.com/f/bnifoundationaustralia), so that anyone asking “how can I help?” can simply and quickly donate whatever they can afford – even the smallest amount helps! Together with BNI members, schools are being identified in the areas most affected and asked what they need most urgently. Only then is the money being spent to ensure the effect of the fires on the children and their education is reduced to a minimum. In most cases we will probably be helping with clean clothes, drinking water and school supplies.
To everyone who generously contributed – THANK YOU! This is just one of the ways we can all show that wherever we might be in the world, BNI Cares. At the time of writing, the GoFundMe page is still open, because children there will need our help for a long time, especially when nobody is talking about the fires anymore. If you require an official donation receipt under Australian law, please email in English to admin@bni.com.au stating your name, the amount and the date of the donation.
While we hope that such natural disasters are rare, this is a great example of how your BNI Foundation will always work with National Directors of countries affected in the future, because BNI Cares.
This article was submitted by Debby Peters who is a 25 year Member of BNI
A little over 25 years ago I was at a Christmas party and a woman I was chatting with said, “You should join BNI, I’ll have Kevin call you.” I immediately forgot the conversation until I received the call from Kevin! I really didn’t want to go to the meeting, but figured I would go once and then I could say that it wasn’t for me. Boy was I wrong. From my first exposure that Thursday morning, I knew I had to go back. It was the middle of December and while I was too busy to return the next week, I promised that I would be there the first Thursday in January of 1995. And except for just a couple times when I woke up sick, I have been there or had a sub stand in for me every Thursday for the last 25 years!
BNI was so different during my first years as a member. What’s funny was that the chapter I joined had 12 members and we all know now that a chapter of that size was probably in jeopardy. But I had no idea and thought it was just wonderful. There was no training in those days, not even Membership Success Program (MSP) so we fumbled along doing the best we could. I received my first referral on my first visit from BNI member Lori Cannon who was selling monuments at the time. To this day I consider her one of my closest friends, she is my financial advisor and we are both in the same BNI chapter, although different from the original.
About year five of my membership, I started to doubt whether it was worth my time – it just didn’t seem to be working. I almost quit. But when I analyzed the situation, there wasn’t anything better to turn to. About then was when some of the BNI training began that helped me to know how to customize my “ask” each week so that I didn’t just stand and repeat the same words from the week before. Referrals that I received or gave were still mostly inside referrals, those between members. I had a long way to go, but I just didn’t realize it yet!
I can recall that at some point our Executive Director, John Meyer, asked me how BNI was going for me and I said, “Great!” Of course, he then asked the telling question, “How much revenue are you gaining?” I remember thinking that it was pretty nervy of him to ask that. I didn’t want him to know how much of a failure I was at this BNI thing.
The best education I received was when John asked me to take on the training hat for our region. I taught all MSPs and also developed and delivered six advanced topics that were more in depth. In order to be able to do this well, I had to live what I was teaching. I learned to develop my referral requests in advance so that I actually did the research to figure out what I needed to ask for. Because I taught members how to have productive one-to-one meetings, I had to make sure I demonstrated that behavior. By osmosis I became more and more skilled at this BNI concept that Ivan Misner had so nicely developed.
During the years, I have taken on most leadership positions, whether it was one of the “top three” or a less visible responsibility. For a couple years, I hosted a monthly meeting-after-the-meeting to teach my fellow members how to develop referrals for each other. Again, everything I did taught me how to be even better; better at getting to know people, better at figuring out how to help and in many instances, better at being a friend.
For me, BNI isn’t something I do on Thursday mornings. It is my lifestyle. Ivan Misner has cemented into my brain the value of Giver’s Gain. I am forever indebted and grateful to John Meyer for giving me the opportunity to give (and gain) as a trainer in our region. That opportunity helped to grow as a BNI Member, a leader, and a person.
I am so thankful that Kevin Carmony picked up the phone to invite me to that December meeting. I am sure that he was trying to grow the chapter, but instead he grew my life. Now when I am asked what my revenue from BNI is, I can easily deliver that figure. Many years it is the profit for my business. As I wrote earlier, where else can I find marketing that is so useful and cost effective? The answer is easy: nowhere!
Connext Nation is a training company that helps business people to put procedures in place to gain more referrals, through our Referral Pursuit class. It is taught in Toledo, Cleveland, OH and Ann Arbor, MI. Additionally we can offer keynote services. Debby has a book, Tell Me Exactly What to Say, available on Amazon that addresses 33 networking conversations that might happen out there in the business world.
Before I tell this story, let me say up front – I used the student loan in this story to pay tuition. That said, let me tell you how that led to a multi-million dollar company.
Most people know me as the Founder of BNI. However, I actually started an investment property company three years before I started BNI. The property business is still going strong and now owns almost a dozen commercial properties today.
I was recently going through my old files and ran across the paper work for an old student loan that I took out during graduate school. It was 1982, and I had applied to USC for a doctoral degree. I really wanted to do my Ph.D. there, but I also had to figure out how I would pay for it if I was accepted. Several years earlier, I had been accepted to Occidental College for my bachelor’s degree. I was offered a 50% scholarship to go to there, but I couldn’t afford the other 50% (nor could my family). So I went to a community college and then a state college, because that’s what I could afford (by the way, they were great schools). Although I didn’t know how I could pay for the doctoral program at USC, I didn’t care – that was my big goal, so I applied and I was accepted. I received a couple small scholarships, but the lion’s share of my tuition still had to be paid for by me.
At the time, I had a full-time job in L.A. but I wasn’t making enough money to cover living expenses and the doctoral program. So, I took another job and worked as many hours as I could so I could save up enough money to pay for that semester’s tuition. I discovered that one semester at USC cost me more than my entire bachelor’s degree! But that was my vision, and that’s what I worked towards.
I worked the two jobs AND I applied for a student loan of $5,000 to help pay for a semester at the university of my dreams. I had no idea if I’d get the loan, but I applied, AND I worked to make the money in case I didn’t get the loan.
Well, a few months later (right before I was to start at USC), I was approved for the loan! The thing is, I had also saved $5,000 from my extra work to pay much of the tuition in case I was not approved. So, I had $5,000 in cash and $5,000 available as a student loan. What should I do? My friends said I should buy a new car, an awesome home sound system, or some other extravagance. For me, I saw only two options; should I use my $5,000 cash to pay for school, or should I take the low interest loan for school and invest the cash that I earned into something that would have long-term value?
Well, I knew I couldn’t keep working long hours for the next several years, so I decided to take the low interest loan and use the $5,000 in cash that I had earned and apply it as a down payment on a condominium. And that’s where my journey began in the investment property business. You see, I flipped that condo a few years later for a larger house. I then flipped that house a few years later for another larger house, which I then flipped for another two homes. Eventually I flipped those two homes to pay about 50% of a commercial property that I was building in Texas!
The original loan allowed me to take my $5,000 in cash and turn into a $1.8 million dollar commercial property. Of course, my wife and I made other cash investments over the years that turned this little company I started into a multi-million dollar business with almost a dozen commercial properties and dozens of tenants. All of this happened because I got a $5,000 student loan (and of course, I worked really, really hard to earn money and invest it – not blow it on things that wouldn’t matter decades later).
This is a story about the use of leverage and the commitment to discipline. Discipline and leverage are lessons any business can learn from. Leveraging your money and using discipline can lead to incredible success. I used leverage and discipline later to help build the BNI business.
By the way, I paid off all my student loans including interest years ago. It was a proud day for me. However, four weeks later, I got a letter from another university that read: “Congratulations Dr. Misner, your daughter has been accepted to our college. You can go to this portal to make the tuition payments on her behalf.”
This time around, I didn’t need student loans.
Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest book, Who’s in Your Room, The Secret to Creating Your Best Life, is available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.
The whole premise of BNI is to build business through building relationships. This is one of the major distinctions between BNI and other networking groups –building an in-depth understanding of one another’s core competencies. Group meetings can’t provide that. One-to-Ones are the only way to do it. What is a One-to-One? Simply put, it’s a meeting, in person, between two BNI members (or even prospective members) to deepen the understanding between them in order to foster a better business relationship.
To be effective, follow these 7 tips for effective One-to-Ones:
1. Schedule an initial one-to-one with everyone in our chapter as soon as possible,
2. A One-to-One needs to be both structured and social. The more you can find overlapping areas of professional and personal interest, the more successful your One-to-One is going to be.
3. If you ask someone for a One-to-One, then the focus of your meeting is the other person, not you. You ask in order to learn how to give referrals to that other person, not how to get them. It’s Giver before Gain. You may have time in your One-to-One meeting to switch roles and focus on you, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s still a successful One-to-One. Of course, if someone asks you for a One-to-One, then you’re in the spotlight. If nobody asks you, you may want to look at how you’re interacting with other Chapter members.
4. Distribute your GAINS worksheet, or GAINS Profile. GAINS is an acronym for Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills. If you use this as a structure for your discussion, you’ll find the most valuable, and useful information about your fellow BNI member. This may surprise you, but the GAINS profile can also be incredibly useful in ANY business interview situation: a new employee, a new client, or a new vendor. You want to end each One-to-One with a clearer picture of how you can bring good referrals to the other member.
5. End each One-to-One with a commitment. This may be to refer someone to the person you had a One-to-One with, or it may be to follow up with another One-to-One meeting to find out more about your BNI partner before attempting to make a good referral, or to focus on you and your business needs. It doesn’t matter what you’re going to do, just make sure that you’re going to do something as a result of your meeting. If you don’t come away with an action plan, did you really accomplish anything, or were you just socializing?
6. Always remember that a One-to-One is not a one-time deal. You should go back and do another One-to-One with all members
7. Remain focused and prioritize your one-to-ones!
So, here’s a quick review:
HERE’S HOW YOU GIVE:
One-to-Ones build relationships, which builds trust.
If you ask for the One-to-One it’s about the other person; if they ask, it’s about you.
Use the GAINS Profile and the BNI One-to-One Planner, which we’ll talk about more in January.
Come up with an action plan at the end of every One-to-One.
Repeat One-to-Ones with all members to build deeper relationships
HOW YOU GAIN:
One-to-Ones are how you train your sales team to bring sales to you, and how you get trained (by them) to bring referrals to them.
Benjamin is a very special BNI® Member and we are recognizing him this week as Ben was born in Burgundy region, France, on January 8, 1985 (The exact same day that Dr. Ivan Misner started BNI).
After earning a master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering, Ben started in 2007 as a business consultant in Paris. This is ironic because before BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner was also a business consultant in California.
In 2013, Benjamin and his wife Barbara moved to their seaside home in Trébeurden, France. The problem was that they couldn’t find jobs, so Ben decided to start his own business: Ampletus Team. They help manufacturing companies solve business challenges.
Like most entrepreneurs, Benjamin struggled growing his business with cold calls. However, somebody told Ben about BNI and invited him to the BNI Lannion chapter. He immediately fell in love with BNI as it was well-suited to his personality and his way of doing business. Benjamin became a BNI Member in 2014 because BNI helps him to get those opportunities that he wouldn’t get by cold calling.
In 2017, Ben became a BNI Director Consultant for 2 chapters in Christophe Ribaimont’s BNI region: BNI Morlaix MX29 and BNI St Brieuc Baie d’Armor, which are both among the best ranking chapters in France’s traffic lights. According to Ben, “I love being able to help out more than 80 business owners with BNI.”
His wife Barbara also became a BNI member in 2015. Ben says, “The fun part is that as we both love BNI, we have the chance to participate together at large events like the BNI Global Convention”. She also became a BNI Director Consultant: She manages 2 chapters, launched 1 chapter, and is now responsible for Members’ training.
What Benjamin loves most about BNI is the culture of our Members and the global support he receives. Ben is now starting to support others globally. Ben helps BNI members in other countries get in touch with French businesses. He also found his first foreign customer at the 2018 BNI Global Convention in Bangkok, Thailand with another BNI Director Consultant from BNI Germany.
Happy 35th Birthday Benjamin and Happy 35th Anniversary BNI!
Last year was the 20th anniversary of the BNI® Foundation, but as you would expect from an organization that embraces “Givers Gain®”, BNI chapters have been supporting their local communities from day one. In truth, that is what happens when business owners come together and use the Core Values of BNI to help each other grow their businesses – they want to help others too!
To celebrate 35 years of BNI we are excited to announce that Dr. Ivan and Beth Misner have generously made us an offer we cannot refuse. They will match every donation of $35 made via the BNI Foundation’s website between 8th January 2020 and the end of International Networking Week 2020 with their own $35 donation up to a total of $10,000. What better way can there be to start the year?
To participate, please visit our donation page and enter $35 in the amount box and complete the form. This gives us a great chance to kick of the new year with a realistic and generous goal of raising $20,000. These funds will then be used to repair or rebuild a school in a place where our help is most needed – in line with our mission of supporting Children and Education around the world.
But that is not all… The Foundation Board has set another ambitious goal: In addition to the 9 countries in which we already have a formal BNI Foundation presence (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, UK, USA) we are aiming higher than ever and aiming to launch in at least another 35 countries by the end of 2020.
By launch we mean one of two things:
1) The formation of a legal entity BNI Foundation, duly constituted and registered under the laws of that country.
2) The establishment of a Business Voices program represented by a specific “go to person” appointed in cooperation with the respective National Office.
Business Voices is integral to the foundation, giving chapters a perfect opportunity to work actively with local schools and other organizations. They do this by teaching children and young people basic business and networking skills, thereby ensuring that they are better prepared for the adult world. Business Voices is a global social movement and if this interests you, and you would like to know more, please write to us at info@BNIFoundation.org, David Kauffman at Davidk@bnifoundation.org or myself, Kevin Barber (kevin@bni.com) directly.
Here’s to lots of 35s – $35, 35 new countries and the next 35 years of Changing the Way the World Does Business! Thank you and a Happy New Year.
35 years ago, I put together about 20 people in a small coffee shop in Arcadia, California for the very first meeting of BNI®. However, it was not called BNI at first. The original organization, “The Network”, was run from a small bedroom that was converted into an office inside my house in La Verne, California. I recognized back then that I had struck a chord within the business community. Networking is not taught in colleges and universities anywhere in the world, although businesspeople are hungry for referrals. They simply had no viable way to generate them regularly back in 1985.
What’s amazing is that BNI has had 35 consecutive years of growth – each year growing over the last. Very few companies in the world can say that. I was in Rotary Club when I started BNI and it took Rotary 80 years to get to 10,000 clubs. I dreamed back then that one day we would have 10,000 chapters, and here we are in only 35 years just shy of that goal with 9,400 Chapters. It’s important to dream big, work your plan and do everything possible to make those dreams come true.
It is very humbling to me to see what BNI has become. I simply had this nugget of an idea 35 years ago. If it was just me, it would be two chapters, not approaching 10,000. It was all of you that made the dream a reality. BNI’s impact on the world of business and on individual lives continues to flourish. I feel so proud of how the Givers Gain® philosophy has been embraced by millions of people and expanded around the world.
In celebration of BNI’s 35th anniversary, I share this video story of BNI’s beginning and my astonishment at just how successful BNI has become. Thank you.
