Submitted by Ross Davis, BNI Winner’s Circle Chapter, BNI Houston East & East Texas Region
Recently, I was asked if I was interested in filling a new BNI position focused on representing the Southeast BNI region on Facebook. I was flattered and excited to explore the opportunity. The day the offer was made was the same day I prepared my 60-second presentation for my chapter meeting the next day. An idea for my presentation hit me like a bolt of lightning. With social media on my mind, I asked my fellow BNI members to take a picture of my business card, post it on their personal Facebook pages, and add a brief testimony about how my company helped them, their clients, or another BNI member. I also asked members to “like” the testimonials posted by other BNI members.
As expected, the results were almost instantaneous. Within two hours of the meeting, a member posted my business card plus a testimonial. Within minutes, her mom, who needed computer help, called the number on my card.
When another member posted my card and testimonial, her friend commented how glad she was the card was posted because she was in need of computer help. She brought in two computers!
In true BNI fashion, I decided I needed to reciprocate. That’s when things really got interesting. My first business card post of a fellow member not only got several likes, it was shared by two people who weren’t even BNI members. I struck BNI gold!
My next experiment will be to ask my Facebook friends to post their favorite landscaper or chiropractor—or the profession of another empty position in my. Once I get a name, I can call him or her, saying he or she came highly recommended. From there, I’ll simply apply the GRIP method for inviting them to BNI.
My initial 60-second presentation, which normally would have only reached the 35 people in my chapter, reached thousands of people within seconds.
