BNI Minnesota & N. Wisconsin Blog

This past weekend I had the honor and opportunity to attend and present 2 workshops at Get Connected 2010. The crowd was small and conversations were poignant. One-to-ones were meaningful and focused. Connections were made and relationships strengthened.

Before leaving for the conference, I pondered on what referrals and introductions I should ask for. I was going to be bold in my “ask”! I knew that if I chickened out and didn’t ask, the answer was definitely a “no”. I decided to ignore the little voice that told me to be “realistic” because my passion was stronger than my fear.

Jeff Stay provided insights into a deeper level of referrals. He asked us to participate in an exercise where we met each person in the room and asked how we could help them. In my “boldness” I asked for personal introductions to someone connected with any of the home shopping networks for my Tiara Experiment Journal. I only got to meet about 10 people (we talked too long) but here’s what happened:

I didn’t get find anyone who could give me an introduction to someone connected with a home shopping network. I got something even BETTER!

I met someone who knew a program director (or something similar) for Dr. Phil. She said she’d make sure she made the connection after the conference was over. Yesterday I received the introduction!

To be honest, I don’t know if anything is going to come from the introduction. Time will tell. But if I hadn’t been bold and specific in my ask, the answer would have automatically been “no”!

It Only Takes One – Anything Can Happen if you Just Show Up!

by LuAnn Buechler, CMP, PMC Events & Travel

It just takes one good connection to make a huge impact in your business. If you just show up and participate you might very well find that one perfect contact or connection that will take your business to the next level. Having just returned from the international networking conference Get Connected 2010, I can give you plenty of evidence that when you participate in networking events the opportunities to “get connected” are very powerful.

Gordy Pillar owner of Dreamhouse Interiors,  a BNI member from Wisconsin came away with three potential business deals that he said will more than pay for the expense of being at the event. In addition, he received intensive networking education that he will apply to his business throughout the year which will further increase his success. Sue Henry of SueHenryTalks.com, an Area Director for BNI Minnesota made a contact to the Dr. Phil show to promote her Tiara Experiment. James Russell, an entrepreneur from France, made connections that will help him open a new BNI Region. These are just a few examples; you will be hearing more testimonials in the weeks and months to come.

The point is you must be present to make those connections. You also must be able to “articulate” what it is your looking for, what is the connection you need to make to take your business to the next level.

Mike Macedonio of the Referral Institute works with the conference speakers and sponsors prior to the event to coach them on how to get the return on investment they would like out of the conference. These same principles apply to the participants. In advance of attending any conference set goals for what you would like to achieve. How many contacts/connections would make the conference a success for you? Rather than merely collecting business cards, be sure to identify the type of person you are looking for. Be able to describe them to other participants. Then seek out those individuals and connect to them. Be able to describe what a good referral is for you or better yet a good referral partner. Bring other members of your team to spread your message, and be able to edify you and your business to the other participants who may be looking for you…

As I write this I realize, that many of the presentations spoke to developing these very skills. So, whether you need work on these skills or would like to “get connected” in a more powerful way through networking. Show up to networking events prepared to participate. It just takes one strong connection as a result to make the time spent well worth it for your business success!

By Linda Aasen

When our BNI chapters have special days for visitors often members ask why they are requested to send our 40 letters or invitations.  I wondered that myself every time we had a Visitor Day.  Well, here is the answer: it is called the Rule of ½ of ½ of ½…

If you send out forty letters and follow up with a phone call to each of the 40 recipients you will actually make contact with one half of the people to whom you sent letters (½ of 40 = 20).

One half of the people you talk to will commit to attending your Visitor Day (½ of 20 = 10).

Unfortunately, only half of the people who say they will come will actually show up (½ of 10 = 5).

Now you have 5 people of your original 40 invitations at your meeting.  Approximately one half of those people who attend will submit an application (½ of 5 = 2 or 3).  After the Membership Committee reviews those 2-3 applications only 1-2 will be accepted. 

So, 40 invitations will result in 1 or 2 new members.  Can you imagine the results if you send 10 or 20 letters?  The result it would probably be no new members. 

Some BNI members are at a loss when trying to make a list of 40 people to invite to their Visitor Day.  Here are some suggestions of where you could look:

Review you business cards, roll-a-dex, phone contact list, etc.

Who sells you products for use in your business?

What businesses are complementary to yours?

Who contacts you with offers to advertise your business?

What about your clients with businesses of their own?

Who comes to your house to repair or enhance your home and yard?

Who do you purchase services from outside your home?

Who have you invited to attend Visitor Day in the past who said they would attend, but did not?

Who have you invited previously who could not be there?

Who have you invited preciously who did attend but did not submit an application?

Who sends or stuffs your mailbox with advertisements?

Who is driving around in a car or trunk with advertising on the back or the sides??? 

These people are looking for more business…invite them to BNI!!!

Remember these ideas when you are asked to create 40 invitations for your upcoming Visitor Day!!!

While I was driving home from the holidays at the end of December I was radio surfing and stopped on a station where a minister was promoting a new education series his church was offering.  He was talking about the story from the Bible where Nicodemus visited Jesus during passover.  One of the verses he read was John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Now it may say something about my state of mind that I heard this and thought about networking. But I think this verse really describes how many people network.

They go to a networking event or a trade show or some other opportunity to meet people and when they meet someone new they immediately judge them based on their ability to BUY their product or service.  They don’t look past the immediate gratification of making a sale and look at the persons ability to introduce them to potential clients or referral partners. These people we meet are like the wind, we don’t know where they came from (who they know) or where they are going (who they will meet in the future). We here them talk but instead of truly listening to them, we think about “How long are they going to talk to me?” And how “I would rather be talking to that person over there.” Or “How do I get out of this conversation?”

The best referral I received while I was selling cellular phones and data applications a few years ago was to the facilities manager at the local IBM facility.  I had talked about how the company I was working for at the time had a data application that worked on BlackBerry phones that allowed facility managers to send jobs to their service techs and track the status of the jobs.  Since it was technology based, one would think that I would have received that referral from someone in technology, computer networking or something of that sort.  But that isn’t who passed me the referral.  The lady that makes gift baskets is the one who made the introduction!

Little did I know that she had worked for IBM in the facilities management department at the IBM headquarters. She knew ALL the facilities managers and was able to make a personal introduction to him for me.

If I hadn’t taken the time to build a relationship with her, and instead wrote her off as someone who couldn’t help me, I would not have had that opportunity presented to me.

When we meet people, we can never know what is going to come of that meeting.  If we don’t make the effort to learn about them and how we can help them we may be losing the chance to meet our next client.  Now not all the people we are going to meet will be able to help us like that, but until we make the effort none of them will be able to help us.

So the next time you meet someone who doesn’t have what you think is the right title or job to be able to use your services or be a referral partner, take time to find out more about them.  It will keep you from just blowing in the wind.

By B. Scott Binion, CPA

You hear it from your accountant.  Your financial planner keeps asking for it.  Your banker really wants to know.  Asking for what?  They want to know that you are keeping track of your business and personal financial affairs.  Are you asking yourself the same question?

Imagine if your bills were paid without knowing what the account balance was!  What if you overpaid the bank loan or your copier lease - again?  A $49 dollar late fee for paying a credit card late!!!!!

The following tips are for those that this has happened before.  Keeping track of where you are is more important than that next deal or sale, no matter how big the deal may be.  These may be simple on the outside, but pack a huge return over time.  We’d all be surprised of how many are not even given a second thought.

1. Keep a physical list or ledger of your checking account – even if you have an accounting system
2. Always have envelopes available for expenses paid for using your own cash
3. Reconcile your accounts shortly after receiving your bank statement
4. Create an accounting of ALL of your transactions
5. If you are too busy, don’t know how, or just don’t want to mess with it, hire a bookkeeper
6. Outsourcing may be a lot less than you actually expect

So listen to your CPA.  Take the advice of your financial planner.  Take notes when your banker makes this request.  Next time they ask, you can say YES, I keep very good track of my financial affairs – Want to see my books? 

Creating and maintaining an effective social media presence doesn’t need to be a labor-intensive time trap. When you know what your goals are and why, the “how” becomes simple. Here are my top 5 tips to creating social media success in 15 minutes a day:

1. What do you want from your social media presence? Many people in my classes say that they want to educate readers, build visibility and credibility, become known as “the expert”, etc. While this is great, isn’t your real purpose to gain new clients/customers and make more money? It’s important you recognize what you want your end result to be because if you don’t, you won’t position yourself in a way that helps you achieve your goals.

2. Who is your target market? Identify the top 5 clients or customers you would clone if you could. What similarities do they share? Why do you like working with them? What problems do they have? What solutions do you provide? How do they benefit?

3. Now that you know who your target market is, how do you find them? 

• First, look for groups of people who have the same background, interests, etc., as you do. If you graduated from a college, you should have received an inquiry when filling out your profile, asking if you would like to find and connect with anyone with the same info. Do it!
• What other organizaitons do you belong to? Toastmasters? BNI? Rotary? ABWA? Search for online groups and join.
• What organizations, groups, colleges, or industries does your target market(s) belong to? Identify at least one group in each category and join. I look at the number of members and how recent and how often there are group updates when determing which group to choose. I want to be in an “active” group. If you join a group and it’s not what you thought, just click on “leave group. It’s that easy!

4. Read the group discussions and comments. Get a feel for how the conversaitons flow, what seems to be acceptable, and make appropriate comments. The more you share helpful tips, ideas, etc., the sooner others will respect what you say. How can you help? This is about building credibility - it’s NOT PITCHING your product. However, you can share short stories of your clients or customers, what their problem was, the solution you provided, and the end result for them. We relate to stories. Stories sell.

5. Connect with all the people you know. It doesn’t matter how you know them: high school, previous employment, social activities, past clients/customers, etc. You are already at the visibility, credibility, or profitability stage with some of these people, so use social media to renew these friendships and associations. Connect with them, read what they post, and make appropriate and sincere comments.

Social networking isn’t about how many people you are connected to, it’s about how deep your connections with these people are. People do business with people they like, know, and trust. You CAN build meaningful relationships in 15 minutes a day when you show sincere interest in others and offer helpful tips, ideas, suggestions, and yes, products and services.

LuAnn Buechler, CMP, PMC Events & Travel

Have you heard of the Butterfly Effect, and how one thing leads to another in the world of referrals? Well here is my BNI Story, a perfect example of the Butterfly Effect in action.

I was invited to BNI by a young man that grew up in my neighbored and played with my little brother. His name is Craig Oslund. Craig and I got reacquainted at a Chamber After Hours event where I was promoting my new business in 2005. He invited me to visit his BNI meeting. I jumped at the chance to network with another group of professionals. I joined immediately and became the education coordinator the second week of my membership. After all teaching others is a great way to learn the organization for yourself; and it worked. 

I fell in love with the organization and its philosophy of Givers Gain. The more I learned, the more I knew I was in it for the long term. So, I set my sights on becoming a BNI Director. A mere inquiry made to Sue Henry, Area Director, in Southern Minnesota about just what it would take to get there put me on the fast track to become a BNI Director within a year of joining.

This of course, allowed me the opportunity to meet Nancy Giacomuzzi, Executive Director of BNI Minnesota, among many other amazing people. Beth Anderson, who you may have read about in another story we wrote regarding visibility, credibility, and profitability was just one of those people.  As I gained visibility in the organization and worked with other directors in the region we gained credibility with one another, only to realize after four years that we had complimentary skills and similar goals. Beth and I are now partners in creating networking events.

It was Nancy G. however, who made the most significant impact on my butterfly spreading its wings. In recognition of a job well done, I was given the honor of picking up Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of the Board for BNI, at the airport on a visit to Minnesota. I was to get him checked in at the hotel and bring him over to the party at Nancy’s house promptly at 6pm. This gave us over an hour of free time to get to know each other before the party. Being the man that he is, he asked me all about my business and what a good referral is for me. Nearly a year later, I received a referral from him to the Transformational Leadership Council; the most amazing organization of transformational leaders and fascinating people, for whom I have the privilege of working with on their annual events.

Strengthening the relationship and gaining credibility with Dr. Misner through these events, coupled with the strong relationship he already had with Beth Anderson, allowed us to ask him to participate in and support our International Networking Conference.  PMC Events, Get Connected Conferences are now a strategic partner of BNI, which has created the mutually beneficial relationship Ivan speaks of as profitability.

Dr. Misner since then has introduced several TLC Members to BNI as keynote speakers for our director conferences. From this we struck up a strategic partnership with Lisa Nichols, the bestselling author of “No Matter What”. Having built credibility through both the organizations and these relationships, we were able to create a Get Connected Conference in Minneapolis that featured three TLC members along with Lisa Nichols.  It was an extraordinary day of education and inspiration.

At our first annual International Networking Conference: Get Connected  2009, I was able to spend time with another BNI Director and author of “Remember the Ice and other Paradigm Shifts”; Bob Nicoll, with whom, I am now co-authoring a book on customer service using empowering word choice. He and six other speakers from that Get Connected Conference approached me at the 2009 International BNI Conference, with a proposal to help manage seminars for them all over the country to help increase their exposure. Yet, another mutually beneficial relationship that grew out of networking and supporting one another.

The butterfly effect from building these relationships through networking exposure continues to amaze me. The process has moved my career along exponentially, expanding my reach beyond my wildest dreams. Yet, the simplest of connections that I make every day, from which who knows what maybe the long lasting implications for others, continue to drive me and excite me. It even gives me goose bumps when I know that the people I have connected are destined to do great things together.

And it’s all because Craig Oslund invited me to a BNI Meeting in September of 2005. Today, Craig is a BNI Ambassador on my team here in Southern Minnesota supporting the overall growth of BNI in everything he does every day; truly living the Givers Gain philosophy as Dr. Misner, our leader does. 

What is your butterfly effect? What allowed you to get where you are right now, today? Think about it. If you wish to expand your network and exponentially grow your business relationships, check out www.GetConnected2010.com.  Get Connected to the Butterfly Effect that will fulfill your destiny……

Get Connected 2010, International Networking Conference is presented by PMC Events.

By:  Linda Aasen, Assistant Director, BNI - Minnesota

As we begin a new year I would like to share something I recently read.  The book title is “Choosing Civility” by P. M. Forni.  Mr. Forni is cofounder of the John Hopkins Civility Project.  The sub title of his book is “The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct”.

And…here are those twenty-five rules:

1.    Pay attention

2.    Acknowledge others

3.    Think the best

4.    Listen

5.    Be inclusive

6.    Speak kindly

7.    Don’t speak ill

8.    Accept and give praise

9.    Respect even a subtle “no”

10.  Respect others’ opinions

11.  Mind your body

12.  Be agreeable

13.  Keep it down (and rediscover silence)

14.  Respect other people’s time

15.  Respect other people’s space

16.  Apologize earnestly

17.  Assert yourself

18.  Avoid personal questions

19.  Care for your guests

20.  Be a considerate guest

21.  Think twice before asking for favors

22.  Refrain from idle complaints

23.  Accept and give constructive criticism

24.  Respect the environment and be gentle to animals

25.  Don’t shift responsibility and blame

It sounds amazingly like our BNI Code of Ethics in non-BNI terms.

Or, as BNI members say:  Givers Gain!

WIshing you a 2010 filled with considerate and productive networking!

I was told a story last week about a traveler that went to LA.  He arrived at LAX and called his hotel to arrange the shuttle to come pick him up.  15 minutes later, nothing.  30 minutes later, nothing. 45 minutes later, STILL nothing.

About this time a driver from another hotel, which happened to be next door to the travelers hotel, noticed the traveler and asked if everything was ok.  The traveler told him his dilemma and expressed his frustration over the situation.  The driver grabbed his phone and called the other hotel and found out the status of the shuttle, time of arrival and current location.  Never once did he try to scoop the traveler for his hotel.  After he told the traveler the information all he said was “Next time you travel to LA, please consider trying our hotel.”

What impression did this driver, who didn’t have to help,  leave on the traveler?  Did he create credibility for his hotel? Absolutely!

As we go about out day and interact with numerous people, what impression are we leaving them with?

Dr Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI, the world’s largest networking organization, along with David Alexander and Brian Hilliard have a new book coming out called Networking Like a Pro.

In this book they talk about how we have three opportunities to create a positive impression on the people we interact with. They call it the 12 x 12 x 12 rule. It involves three questions.

The first is “How do you look from 12 feet away?”

How do you look to the other person?  Are you dressed appropriately for the situation?  Are you disheveled or well put together. If you are attending a morning event, do you look like you are all there?

It is important that you look the part that you are trying to play at the event.  This doesn’t mean that you should try to deceive the people you are meeting but that you fine tune the message that you are sending so that you don’t derail your networking.

The second is “How do you look from 12 inches away?”

Are you as good up close as you are from across the room? Even if you look like the quintessential professional you can still ruin your image when you get up close.  What is your body language conveying?  Are you portraying a positive and inviting attitude? Are you organized.  Having your papers flying everywhere and fumbling around to find your business cards or a pen is the fastest way to tell someone “Look at me! I don’t know what I am doing”, even if you are the most qualified person in the room.

The third is “What are the first 12 words out of your mouth?”

So you’ve made it this far, but it is still possible to mess it up.  When someone asks you what you do, don’t say something non-descript such as “I’m a consultant”.  Develop a unique selling proposition (USP) or mini-commercial that tells people what you do and how you help.  For example, here is mine for when I am representing MoveOneDegree, “I work with medium sized companies to help them drive more of the internet market to their business.”  Short, to the point and tells them what I do.

Perception is a big part of building credibility the first time you are meeting people.  What are you doing to build credibility when you meet people? What are you doing after you make first contact? Make sure that you aren’t letting little things you do make up people’s mind for them before they even to get to know the real you.

B. Scott Binion CPA

Everyone has a need to know.  Cell phones are just not enough.  Got to have email on your PDA or wireless card built inside your laptop.  Better yet, got to read that text message during an important client meeting or at your son’s soccer game.

We must think society demands real-time or instant response – but do we or even should we think that way?  But customers or my boss demands it?  Again, do they really?

In all my years as a consultant, I’ve had only one client get upset due to not receiving his return email within a few hours or until the next day.  One out of hundreds!  I think it’s fair to say, we probably impose or impart some of the “constant contact phenomenon” with regard to our customers and clients.

Try these tips to keep your constant need to know in balance:

• Turn OFF your PDA or cell phone after 7:00 each evening
• Check your email only a few times over the weekend
• Better yet – leave your laptop or cell phone off ALL weekend
• Everyone needs a break – away from the distractions during family time
• Give your best clients your home number just in case of a weekend emergency

One thing to know – they will still be there tomorrow or on Monday morning.  Most likely the so-called urgent call or email is really not that serious.  It may be hard to use these tips at first, since our addiction to this type of constant contact is quite strong.  Try to get rid of this phenomenon and see if you can relax a little.  As you do it more and more, you will experience many positive changes that will last if you let them.

Have a great week!