Since the start of the year we have passed 908 referrals (that’s business leads to the uninitiated) and the Thank You cards – our way of measuring how much real business has been passed – have totalled £166,595. Amazing in this time of recession.

But we’ve still got plenty to give, which is why we’re always on the look out for visitors and new members. In particular, we would love to hear from people in the following trades / professions:

• Architect
• Car Mechanic
• Caterer
• Florist
• General Insurance Broker
• Holistic therapist
• Photographer
• Physiotherapist
• Recruitment Agency
• Roofer
• Solicitor
• Stationer
• Surveyor
• Telephone Systems provider
• Tiler
• TV Aerial / Satellite dish installer

If you are one of the people mentioned above, or someone who isn’t already represented in our Members List, please contact us or visit one of our meetings – we’re even waiving the meeting fee for first time visitors at the moment!

In particular, we are looking to hold a special visitors day after the summer holidays on 7th September. If you want to lock out your competition from visiting that day, you had better visit soon!

BNI is all about building a network that you can use to find business for both yourself and your fellow members. Twitter is all about building a network and sharing information. So the two work perfectly together.

Tweet locally

A lot of people struggle to ‘get’ twitter. They join, follow a few celebrities, get followed by a few spammers. The celebrities are too busy to follow back and listen to them. The spammers aren’t interested in listening at all.

That sums up my first week on twitter and explains why I then ignored it for 9 months, telling everyone it was a waste of time.

Then, out of the blue, I decided to search for my home town in the search box on twitter. Suddenly, I found a whole community of local twitter users who could actually be saying something relevant to me. So I followed some, they followed me. I have made some new friends and become completely hooked, because we have a huge amount in common, we all live in the same area.

BNI is about farming, not hunting

Great! So what do I do next? Well, time to start shouting about my business.

No.

Ramming your business down people’s throats is a great way to lose followers and become one of those spammers. It is enough that these people now know who I am and what I do. If I discover a new service or have something special to offer I will tell them. If they are interested they will listen, so I don’t keep shouting about it.

But they don’t know my fellow BNI members. So being in conversation with them is no different to any other social or business interaction. Someone mentions car trouble, I can recommend a garage. Someone planning an extension? I can suggest a great builder.

Yes, I am using my network, but I am also helping my friends.  In the last few months I have helped a follower find flowers for their wedding, another find a unique Valentine’s gift for their wife. I have referred people to blind installers, carpenters, electricians and, this week, a plumber.

Twitter to the rescue

On Tuesday one of the people I follow asked…

Does anyone know any good plumbers in Whitstable as have a leaking pipe that needs fixing?

So I tweeted back with a number for Gary of Padgett Plumbing and Drainage.  A few minutes later this appeared…

Have left him a message. Thanks for all your help.

How not to fix a leaky pipe

I have a warm feeling inside from helping someone, and a smug pleasure in knowing I have another referral for Wednesday morning.

Imagine my surprise Wednesday morning when Gary stands up for his 60 seconds, bearing in mind I haven’t passed him the referral slip yet.

Gary shows everyone a bodged repair and explains that this was a pipe he replaced on Tuesday. From my twitter referral.

Everyone benefits

From a simple exchange of tweets we have all come out benefiting:

• The customer found a recommendation online quickly and easily
• My reputation as a helpful twitter user increases
• Gary receives new business, has a great 60 seconds and boosts his reputation as a fast and reliable plumber

And not one bit of spam.

Feel free to follow me

It seems like every day there’s another networking event or breakfast club popping up. Whether it’s a group of people chatting over coffee, exchanging business cards to make mini appointments in a speed dating style, small town events or county wide socials, they all claim to boost your business.

And the network I’m a member of is no different, they claim to be the single most effective way of generating new business.  What does make them different is that they measure how much business is being passed and you can actually work out what it’s worth.

You could quite easily spend an hour or two every day at some event or other, but how are you going to benefit if people are just turning up because it’s nice to have a chat?

St George’s BNI is not just a networking club, it’s a referral network.  That means that when you go along you’re not just trying to sell to everyone in the room.  You actually go with the intention of finding them more business.

And if you give them business, they will want to give you business.

Each week, we pass business to each other on little referral slips.  They contain the name and contact details of potential customers and information on what they need.  They are not just cold calls, they are expecting your call, they already know about you – they’ve been warmed up!

Later on in the meeting, we actually acknowledge how much business those little slips of paper have brought to us.  We pass little “Thank You” cards.  These are used to measure performance of the group as a whole, as well as helping people see if their referrals are paying off.  If your referrals are not warm enough, they won’t generate business.

This January we passed a big milestone at St George’s. Since we started passing those “Thank You” cards we’ve been keeping track of the total, and we have just passed the £1,000,000 mark.

If you want to grow your business and share some of that, you need to visit St George’s!

Or you can go somewhere for a coffee and a chat and just hope that something comes out of it, one day…