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We’ve all experienced it in the business world – you join a business networking group or participate in a networking session and come out disappointed because your business seems to be no further ahead than when you joined the organisation. However, this is not the case with the combination of BNI and Referral Institute – and they have the results to prove it. More

Someone asked me the other day about the merits of radio advertising. More

A good friend of mine, Phil Berg, mentioned the other day that he regularly visits the gym, but the expected weight loss / muscle building didn't seem to be happening. More

A BNI member told me the older day that he had done printing work for a number of his colleagues in his BNI chapter, but had not chased them for payment - he said " It didn't feel right..! "  The consequence was that he had some invoices which were still outstanding after 8 months. More

A good friend of mine, Mike Belham, recently made a great blog on his website. This is what he said...
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IT is worth remembering that BNI is an acronym for Business Network International!

As this implies BNI is an international business, indeed, it’s a global business working in every corner of the world.

Those of us who travel on business or on holiday will be aware of the different cultures in different countries and of the need to be aware of this in our dealings with people.

It is well worthwhile keeping this in mind especially when we are talking to potential new members about how BNI membership can help them.

Taking a business across borders makes it important to be aware of cultural differences and sensitivities.

A comment that can often be heard about BNI is that it is ‘too American’ and we have to be mindful that BNI has its origin in the United States.

Whilst we share many things in common with our friends ‘across the pond’ there are some cultural differences. By and large Americans are brasher, more outgoing and ‘in your face’ than us more subdued Brits.

There are also people who are put off by the term chapter because of its somewhat Masonic connotations.

As BNI operating in the UK we need to reflect the culture in which we operate.

We must stay true to the universal principles that make BNI a global success but be mindful of local culture in our presentation and style.  More

AS business people we are called upon to make choices almost every day of our lives in which different considerations need to be balanced.

Much has been made of the current high level of national debt. It is not desirable for individuals, business or countries to be saddled with excessive levels of debt.

On the other hand it is important to keep the issue in context. The level of national debt half a century ago when Harold McMillan as Prime Minister was telling us that we had “never had it so good” was 150% of GDP – considerably higher as a proportion of national income than it is now.

We are not out of the woods yet but if the fragile signs of a recovery are sustained then a sigh of relief will be called for because had it not been for large scale government interventions not only in the UK but all around the world then a very serious recession would have turned into a deep global depression.

The implications of this would be huge for all of us and future generations – put in this context high levels public borrowing provided there is a credible plan to deal with it may well prove the lesser of two evils.

Looked at this way a cost can easily and with justification in certain circumstances be seen as an investment.

BNI membership should be seen in the same way - as an investment rather than a cost and it is an investment that has helped many businesses to survive the downturn of the past two years.

The most obvious and tangible return on investment is the contracts and orders that we win as a consequence of our membership. But the benefits go beyond that and if we put a price on the training then the business case becomes even stronger.

Perhaps just as important are the intangible benefits that come from the support and advice that we get from fellow members. It is hard to put a price on being around supportive and like-minded people.

Working well BNI members are more than an extended sales force – they really can be the Board that we otherwise cannot afford. More

ONE of the first things that any marketing student will learn is that it costs on average eight times as much to win a new customer as to retain an existing one. More