Business Network International - Any good?

Question

Anyone joined BNI? Was it worthwhile?
How much is Membership?

Thanks

Answer 1

I have been a BNI member for over 3 years, I am in the mortgage industry and BNI contribute to 30% of my business by referrals. BNI will work great if you work it, you must attend each and every meeting and make sure you attend the training classes BNI offers. Membership I believe varies from place to place. What I would suggest is go to the BNI website www.bni.com if your in southern california go to socalbni.com and look for a chapter close to you. You should contact the president of the chapter and see if you particular business is available. BNI is limited to one person per profession per chapter, I pay around $1,000 a year which is a write off for me. Please feel free to contact me via email if you have any more questions. ALSO Yahoo has a group for BNI if you go to yahoo groups you can find them and post any questions you may have,

Answer 2

I joined BNI almost 2 years ago... One of the downsides of joining is time. You have to attend every weekly meeting (if you can't be there, then you need to send a sub). It can get expensive (annual dues, lunch fees, gas to your meeting), especially if you don't get many referrals. The key, if you do join, is be active. When I first started I expected that everyone would just flood me with referrals - wrong. I really had to start building relationships with these other networkers. I became secretary (which they say if you are apart of the Leadership team, you have more visual time infront of the others and that tends to lead to more referrals). I really had to work toward getting referrals for the others - if you don't give then you don't receive too many. Why do the others want to help you out if they notice that you aren't helping them out? But, once you get things going and you start getting referrals (even one)...it could pay for your dues, lunches, etc. It is also hard if you don't come in a lot of personal contact with your clients, because then you can't get those referrals for others. So, I would join if you have time, want to build personal relationships with other business owners/networkers, and realize that this helps local businesses.

Answer 3

I went to one or two meetings in Warner Robins, GA. They let me try it for free. I thought it was a bunch of nice people, but not necessarily my target customers. Maybe your local group will let you visit once or twice for free?

P.S. I think its great if you are selling consumer products, not so great if you have industrial products. It is great for mortgage brokers.