Networking Opportunity

It's a networking group. You network in good faith and get to know people. You build credibility. If someone reneges or some other shady thing, they're blackballed and it seriously hurts their business.

This is legit and happens all the time in business.

The reason so many of you people don't get it is that you're drones for someone else's company where you aren't part of the hobknob process. There are other things that happen that are outside of your sphere of understanding in life. Accept it.

 

Probably because of the get rich quick type wording in the OP. Somebody asking for $500 a year to attend meetings while being promised large sums of money seems kind of fishy.

 

That $500 a barrier to entry from anyone who isn't serious. It's not about the money, it's about the commitment.

My best friend was part of a real estate group like this. They shared info and resources. He was a poor kid when I first met him in High School. He was worth several million dollars when he passed away last year.

 

Well said. I've never heard of BNI but it makes sense to me. I don't understand why Paul can't just go to CVS for his small penis needs but I do understand networking.

 

Pugsly....

Can the BNI group branch out and host informal get togethers? For example, could a lawyer, an accountant and a financial adviser put on a dinner with each inviting their own clients? They then each give a presentation and interact with each other's clients?

 

Only problem I would have with this type of deal is that I would feel obligated to send business to the various people in my network (since they are doing the same for me) but I likely wouldn't have a great working knowledge of whether or not the people who I'm giving these referrals to are worth a crap at what they do.

My lady friend needs a massage therapist? Here's a card of a guy I know. Is he any good? I have no idea, but he sends business my way so hopefully he doesn't rape you! Tell him I said hi.

 

How do you vet the people you refer others to now? Do you personally have to get a massage or your plumbing fixed before you do? I'd be more inclined to send referrals to someone who is actively trying to network and thus care about their reputation more than some other friend of a friend.

 

That doesn't sound anything like what a business would do.

Join a group with big fees where you have to refer people to businesses you know nothing about except what you learned in a short presentation? Where you have to show up every week and pay $20 or get booted?

Where are all these fees going?

I refer people to friends and colleagues I trust and know or to businesses I have used

 

Sure. You can do that. And your network will likely remain small. You have to be willing to give up some control and provide some trust in the system to try to grow it outside your normal realm of interaction.
I don't know anything about BNI but I can see how it could work well.

 

Networking oppurtunity.

Anyone need to set up a staples business account . Message me through the board!

 

The control I'd give up is I would have to refer my friends to people in BNI instead of to people I actually know and trust.

Do I get a cut of the fees if I bring new people to BNI?

 

Yes, that's exactly what I do. I don't know about you, but if I'm interested in services of some kind and I ask for advice on who I should use, I would like to be referred to someone that the referrer has actually used. That's the whole point of asking for input, because otherwise I could pick someone randomly. Being involved in a referral network has absolutely no bearing on how good a person is at their actual craft.

And for that reason, if someone I know is looking for service of some kind and they are someone that I actually LIKE, then I'm only going to point them in the direction of someone who I've used before (and who did a good job).

It's very strange to me that anyone would find that to be a foreign concept.

 

Why not just search online for reviews of services you need then?

 

What if a dude on the group has like a 1/2 rating on yelp.

You still have to refer family and friends to them?

 

1) Not just anyone can get in. They contact clients, go through an interview process, etc.
2) If you don't like the person, then don't refer people to them, just don't expect anything in return. If you're not passing any referrals at all to anyone, then expect to be booted, but if you decide you're not going to give some specific people any referrals because you don't like them for one reason or another, that's ok, just make sure you're ok with the same probable treatment from them.