The Official BNI Podcast

Know your audience: it can make or lose the sale, as Dr. Misner's story about the private jet company that handed Bill Gates an iPad illustrates.

In this final episode in the Get Connected--Stay Connected series, Dr. Misner shares tips on how to tell a story on BNI Connect or anywhere else. Don't just re-tell a story: re-live it. Practice is the key to becoming a good storyteller.

Jacob Jun of Candor Studios, a member of BNI Valley Networking in Salinas, joins Dr. Misner today to share 5 things he has learned in BNI.

Dr. Misner proposes 4 questions to ask regarding your business mission. Don't start new ventures if they don't align with your business mission!

This is a rebroadcast of Episode 193. Synopsis As of January 2011 51% of BNI members are members of Gen X and Gen Y: people born after 1965. This is a connected, tech-savvy population. Hence BNI has made a decision to combine online and face-to-face ...

Jeremy Walsh joins Dr. Misner again today to explain how to create your own group on BNI Connect. Any BNI member who is a part of BNI Connect can create a group, as can director consultants.

Once known as the "ten-minute talk," the featured presentation doesn't always last ten minutes: as chapters grow, the time allowed gets shorter. No matter the length, however, there are some important keys to showcasing your business in front of your fellow BNI members.

Synopsis This week Barry Johnson, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, joins Dr. Misner to talk about the relationship between BNI and chambers of commerce. For years, Dr. Misner has recommended that BNI members both join and participate in their local chamber of commerce. It's like joining a fitness club: writing the check isn't enough. You have to do the workouts. Chambers also provide resources for their members. Chambers provide access on issues, connections to other business organizations, and insights into the local marketplace. A chamber of commerce can be a great source of information about market trends and demographics. Your local chamber can also help you look into out-of-state and even international business. BNI members also have an opportunity to nominate their clients for awards offered by chambers of commerce. Through affinity programs, chambers of commerce can help their members to save money on things like office supplies and travel. Chambers have a broader scope than BNI, which allows for a collaborative relationship. Check  out your local chamber of commerce as a way to make your networking and referral success even stronger. Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 366 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA and I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you and where are you today? Ivan: Well, this week I am in Croatia of all places, Priscilla. I am part of an organization called the Transformational Leadership Council, which was put together by Jack Canfield who wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul. We have a regular conference and this time this year it is in Croatia, so I am there. Priscilla: Sounds so exotic. Ivan: It is a little exotic and I am very happy to have on the line with me here Barry Johnson who is president and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, so this is a great international call here. Priscilla is in San Francisco. Barry is in Miami and I am in Croatia. As I said, he is the CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber. It is south Florida's first and longest sustained business development organixation and one of the largest in the southeast US. He directs a team there of some 40 chamber professionals supporting some 400,000 employees of the chamber member company in south Florida. Before the Miami Chamber, he was with AT&T for 25 years in corporate communications. Barry is here today to talk a little bit about chambers. I am going to talk about chambers and BNI, and Barry is going to talk about some of the benefits of a chamber of commerce. Barry, welcome to the BNI Podcast. Barry: It's my pleasure to be here. Thank you. Ivan: It's great to have you on and I want to talk a little bit about some of the things that chambers do. You know, I have some members who are listening to this podcast going, really? You are talking to a chamber? Isn't that another networking organization? Absolutely it is, and I view chambers as being very symbiotic to BNI. I have recommended chambers for decades in my organization for the kinds of reasons that I hope you are going to talk about today, Barry. Barry: Absolutely. There is a close working relationship with the whole philosophy and concept of BNI and what chambers are all about. They are about bringing people together, developing business networking and really making a difference through people to people exchanges. That's critical and that is one of the values on the first floor of what the Greater Chamber is all about, bringing people together. Networking, of course, is probably what most people think about when they think of a chamber. Getting people together.

This is a rebroadcast of Episode 56. Synopsis This episode is a follow-up to one of Dr. Misner's blog posts, and to Episode 48, which both got a lot of responses. There were lots of positive responses, but also a lot of respondents with the “yeahbut”...

Synopsis This week, Dr. Misner provides an example of how great customer service leads to referrals. During his recent trip to the BNI National Conference in Nashville, he stayed at the Omni hotel and had many meals sent up by room service. The employee who delivered most of these meals was named Leslie. She was courteous, friendly, helpful, and attentive--but without calling attention to herself. Dr. Misner didn't really notice how good the service was until the day he had ten BNI directors in his suite preparing for a group photo. Not only did Leslie offer to take the picture, but she took a photo with every single person's camera or phone, with no sign of impatience, taking the time to make sure everyone had a record of the occasion. Great service like that gets noticed--even by harried conference organizers. Dr. Misner took the time to write a blog post containing a public testimonial for Leslie. Tell us about your great customer service experience, especially with BNI members, and why you think it's important for referral marketing. Read the original post on Dr. Misner's Business Networking Blog. Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 364 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you and where are you? Ivan: Hey, I am doing great and I am literally leaving Portugal for BNI. I did some events here and spoke to members. I am on my way to Spain, my first visit to Spain, so I am very excited to meet BNI members. BNI members are so similar all around the world. They are so hungry for networking and referrdelival marketing. It has been a great visit to Europe. A few more weeks. I am headed to Croatia next. Priscilla: Oh, great. That sounds so great. Well, what do you want to share with us today? Ivan: Well, a few months ago, I was at the US national conference for BNI in Nashville, Tennessee, and everyday, room service would come up and deliver my meals. So what I want to talk about with”May I Take Your Photo?” is a lesson in great customer service. I think one of the ways that you really get referrals is you give good customer service with your products or services. I want to give an example of someone who just kind of went out of her way to give good customer service. It was so simple and so tactful that I just didn't quite see it at first, but it was very consistent. Room service would come up, and often, it was as a meeting in my suite was wrapping up. There was this young lady by the name of Leslie. I am going to see if we can put her photo here in this podcast. She was an employee who most often made the deliveries during the last part of my stay for this conference. One of these days, I had a group of about 10 BNI directors in my suite. They were kind enough to give me a Givers Gain plaque, which was made by local members out of automobile license plates. It had all the letters cut out. A three was turned backwards as an “E”. It was really a cute idea. They gave this to me and they started to gather around to get a photo, and Leslie said, “Would you like me to take a picture for you?” Now, that is not a big surprise. Employees at hotels and restaurants have become accustomed to taking pictures of lots of people going through their venues, right? You see this all the time. Here is the unusual part. She then said to everyone- there was like 10 people- “Okay, everybody give me all your cameras. I will take a photo with each and every one of them.” And then she dutifully accepted each camera and each phone and then, one by one, took photographs, making sure that everyone got their own picture.

July is Join a Group Month on BNI Connect. In this episode, Dr. Misner walks BNI members through finding and joining BNI Connect groups.

Synopsis Dr. Misner has recommended getting involved in service organizations since he wrote his very first book. Involvement in these groups expands the depth and breadth of your networking. In this episode, he thought he'd get more specific about how to decide which groups to get involved with. People who volunteer demonstrate their commitment to a cause without concern for personal gain, so you should be volunteering with organizations that you have genuine interest in and concern about. Volunteering is not a recreational activity: it's a serious commitment. Here are 9 points to consider. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, and is there any connection to serving the community? What hobbies do you enjoy, and do they provide any opportunities for volunteering? What sports do you know well enough to coach or teach? What brings you joy and satisfaction? What social, political, or health issue are you passionate about? What are three organizations that you can identify that appeal to you? Choose the one that most appeals to you and research the group online. Will that group give you the opportunity to meet one of your professional or personal goals? Will you have an opportunity to connect with other people who will be supportive of your business? After visiting the group, do you still want to make a final commitment of your time? Are other group members satisfied with the organization? Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 362 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you and where are you? Ivan: Hi Priscilla. I am doing great and as you know, I have been touring much of Europe for BNI. This week I am in beautiful Paris. I brought my wife and we are taking a little bit of time for ourselves as well as pulling away to do these very important podcasts. Priscilla: Oh that sound wonderful. I wish I was with you. Ivan: It's part of our 25th wedding anniversary, so it is, you know, probably just us. Priscilla: Okay, well I won't tag on to your trip. Ivan: Today we are going to talk about something I haven't talked a lot about in podcasts. That is visibility through volunteering. Starting with my very first book - which most people don't realize that The World's Best Known Marketing Secret was actually my second book. My first book was Networking for Success. I think it sold 20 copies. Nobody knows about it. But even in that book, I talked about the importance of diversifying your networks. Social organizations, I should say, were one of the kinds of groups that I recommended. In other words, volunteering. I have been pretty consistent with that over the years. I think volunteering is a great way to get visibility in the communities. So I recommend it. What I thought I would do here for BNI members is kind of give some ideas on what kind of groups and what should you think about when you are volunteering for a service organization. One of the first steps toward networking your business is to be more visible in your community. Remember that people need to know you. They need to like you, trust you, in order to refer you. Volunteering can actually position you in order for you to meet key people in the community- a connection with people who share your passion. It gives you opportunities to demonstrate your talent, your skills, your integrity plus your ability to follow up and do what you say you are going to do. It instantly expands the depth and the breadth of your networking. It’s counter- intuitive. People don't think with volunteering they are wasting their time from a business perspective.

Synopsis In the long term, motivation has to come from within. In the short term, motivation from others--sometimes known as KITA or "kick in the anatomy" motivation--may work, but  eventually we all rebel against those external forces. So how do you maximize your internal motivation? Here's what's works for Dr. Misner. Minimize contact with negative people. Some people complain as though it were an Olympic event. Keep clear of them. Maximize the time you have with positive people. Hang out with people who make you want to do better. Read, listen to, and watch positive things. Eliminate the negative and destructive. Prioritize the things you want to do and the things you must do. Make a list so you can get a handle on it. Remember, you eat the elephant one bite at a time. Tackle at least one thing every single day. Small wins can be very motivating, so find a short-term goal to help drive you forward. Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 361 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you? Ivan: I am in France still this week, doing a big tour of Europe for BNI and spending a little time in France. But I always have time to do these podcasts and today we are going to do a topic of called “motivate me”. This comes about because I had a message from a BNI member not long ago. He reads my columns and listens to my podcasts and he said, “What do you do when you don't feel motivated? How do you motivate yourself? What do you do to regain that motivation needed to move on with your plans and pursue your endeavors?” I thought it was a great question, so I spent a little time putting together some thoughts on this. First of all, I have to say that motivation absolutely comes from within, not from outside. No one can motivate you but yourself. At least, I am talking about long term motivation. Many years ago, I read an article by Frederick Herzsberg on motivation. It was in the Harvard Business Review. He said that others can motivate you but only in the short term. He called it “KITA”. You can do KITA motivation on the short term. It stands for – now remember, this is in the Harvard Business Review. Kick in the anatomy. He called it “Kick in the atatomy”. He was probably pretty accurate. You can motivate somebody by doing something aggressive or assertive, but the problem with that is that the first chance they have, they will undermine you. So you can't really motivate others. They have to motivate themselves. The same applies to you. You have to motivate yourself. So what do you do to motivate yourself? I think long term motivate definitely comes from within. Here are some of the things that have helped me. Some of these things may help BNI members. I hope they do. You have to find the things that work for you. Here are the things that work for me: First, minimize contact with negative people. I think that is a really important one. This isn't always completely possible but do it as much as you can, at least for a short while. I really believe that some people complain as though it were an Olympic event. Keep clear of them while you are trying to get your mojo back. I think that is really important. Stay away from negative people. Two, maximize the time that you have with positive people to refuel your energy. I really believe that they become the five or six people that you hang out the most with. Hang out with people who make you want to do better, who make you want to be better. Set meetings with them. Go to business events together, anything that puts you around positive people.

Synopsis Jeremy Walsh joins Dr. Misner for the seventh podcast in the "Get Connected--Stay Connected" series. The topic today is how to use BNI Connect to invite visitors to BNI meetings. To use the visitor invitation tool in BNI Connect, go to Operation | Chapter | Create Email | Send Visitor Invitation and fill out a simple form with the invitee's contact information. Add your personal message. BNI Connect inserts the information you've provided into an email template and fills in all the pertinent information about your chapter along with a request for an RSVP. Using BNI Connect to invite visitors to BNI provides a process for invitations and ensures that visitors get all the information they need about the meeting time and location. But remember, you still need personal contact with prospective visitors. Have a personal conversation before sending the invitation and make a follow-up phone call afterwards. Listen to other BNI Podcast episodes on the subject of inviting visitors. Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 350 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio, which is in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you and who do you have with you today? Ivan: I am doing great. I just think it is funny. You are in Berkeley. I am in Texas. Jeremy, you are in Maryland today? Jeremy: I am in Maryland. Ivan: He is in Maryland. It’s truly all over North America, this call. I have Jeremy Walsh with us, Priscilla, for our 350th podcast. 350. You have been doing this with me for a while now, Priscilla. I appreciate everything you do. Priscilla: I love it so I am glad I am here. Ivan: Jeremy is the Director of Support, Training and Documentation for BNI Connect. Together with the BNI Connect team, they help people get connect worldwide through BNI’s online social media platform, BNI Connect. Jeremy has also been a member of the BNI Wakefield chapter in Rhode Island for more than 10 years and serves as the Director of the region. He is also the owner of Right Click. I love that name, Jeremy. I think I have told you that. A computer support and networking company that drives you kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Jeremy, it is great to have you on the podcast again. Jeremy: I am so happy to be here. Thank you, Ivan. Ivan: Listen, I know I have said this before. You are the only technology support guy I have ever met that everybody loves. Nobody ever gets mad at you. They get mad at the software but they say, “We love working with Jeremy.” I have you on today because we are talking about the Get Connected Stay Connected series today. BNI Connect is a game changer for the organization and we are going to talk about parts of it in this series, which is inviting visitors. Now, we can spend a lot of time talking about how and why to invite visitors, but we have done that in the podcast, so I am not going to do that here. So if that is something you want, if you want to do a search in the search engine for “inviting visitors” then you will find those podcasts. But today, I want to talk about inviting a visitor as it relates to the utilization of BNI Connect. So, Jeremy, you are the expert on BNI Connect. There is a tool in BNI Connect that will help individual members, those people listening, to invite visitors. Do you want to talk about that a little bit for me? Jeremy: Absolutely. There is a tool and it is a great little function hidden in BNI Connect. It allows you to supplement or invite a visitor. Usually, we do this after we have already made verbal contact or started the invitation process, but you can use it, really, anytime,

Synopsis More than 1000 members, representing every populated continent of the world, responded to the BNI Business Index Survey in 2013. Over 76% thought that business was better than in 2012. Only 6% felt that business was declining in 2013. For BNI members, everything is going in the right direction. The most common reasons given for doing well were restructuring or reorganizing, niche marketing, and networking. One of the most promising indicators was the response to the hiring survey. Just over 35% of respondents were definitely hiring. Of the businesses that were struggling, many attributed their difficulties to government regulation (irrespective of which country they were in). Go to BNIBusinessIndex.com to see the whole report. There's a lot to be learned here about why people survived the recession. What more can you do in the way of niche marketing, reorganizing, and networking? Use the comments to tell us whether your business is better or worse than it was this time last year? Will your business be hiring in 2014? Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 349 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you and where are you? Ivan: Hi Priscilla. I am doing great and I am in the 25th floor of the W hotel looking at the state capitol in Austin, Texas today, so that is my view as I record this podcast with you. Priscilla: Great. How is Austin? Do you like living there? Ivan: I do. It is not like a lot of the rest of Texas, but it is a happening town. Priscilla: Great. So tell us what you plan to share with us today. What is this BNI index? Ivan: I want to talk about the BNI Business Index results for 2013. The BNI Business Index was started a few years ago as a suggestion that someone made. We have over 160,000 members. It would be good to get sort of the pulse of the small business person, entrepreneur, salesperson, professional as to a number of topics, particularly the economy and how is business for you(them) today? So we have been doing a very similar survey every year for the last four years or so about business. It is called the BNI Business Index. I am going to talk a little bit about the results that we got for 2013. BNI doesn't take a position on politics and religion. We do not take a position on- some of these things and comments that I will be sharing today, comments that were made in the survey. BNI does not take a position on some of those kinds of issues. But I want to share with you what came out in terms of the survey. When I get there, I will mention it. So for the BNI Business Index 2013, we had over a thousand members in every populated continent in the world respond to the survey. According to the survey, almost 76% of the respondents said that business was better today than it was over the last few years, particularly than it was over 2012. That's up over 9% from the 2011 survey. In addition, only 6% felt that business was declining in 2013, which was far less than almost double that of the 10% in the survey from 2011. So everything is kind of going in the right direction as far as today compared to this time last year. We have the graphs for 2013 here on the podcast that you can look at. Almost 16% of the respondents said that business is growing substantially. Over 60% said that it's growing. Only about 18% of the respondents said that business was kind of flat. Like I said, only 6% said that it's declining or declining substantially. Only 2% said that business is declining substantially. The economy has definitely picked up from where it was a few years ago.