Ok, the hardest part will be referring them business. I plan to go and see how things go.
No it's not hard to give referrals. And there's no "quota" for referrals. Throughout your day to day routine, you will come across people that need something and it's very easy to hand them a business card or just verbally tell them something. An example...last week while sitting in my office, I heard a guy (name is Irv) that owns a neighboring business say to someone "well I gotta go find an auto emissions place, I have a day left to get my car checked". There is a car mechanic/auto sales guy (Pete) in my BNI chapter. I yelled down the hall at Irv to come down to my office...and I handed him Petes card...said "Go here...tell him Brian sent ya, he will take care of you". The next day Irv came in and thanked me, said he was in and out in 10 minutes, Pete took good care of him, and he was going back to Pete soon to get other work done on his card.
First...as A_G already covered, it's not a pyramid like scheme at all. If you do a search on these forums you'll find a lot of threads about BNI, and in many of them I've written very lengthy replies about BNI. I don't have the time this morning to retype one of those....if you wish for more details PM me and we can exchange e-mail addresses and take the conversation there over the weekend.
Around 8 years ago my colleague started attending a local BNI chapter, he became a member. I substituted for him a few times...thus I go to go to a few meetings and see how they were.
Any opportunity to meet more local business people is good, so I enjoyed it.
I learned of a neighboring BNI chapter having an opening for their "computer guy" slot. And in that neighboring BNI chapter, an owner of a web design company was a long time member...and we wanted to build a relationship with this website guy. So I joined that chapter. I did very well in that chapter, did it for a few years.
That chapter went through some changes, it relocated. I wasn't as happy anymore. I learned of a new BNI chapter that opened up (chartered) right in my back yard..they did not have a computer guy yet...so I applied for a transfer to a different chapter, and I got in that group.
I've been in that group for almost 3 years now, matter of fact....this year I'm president of that chapter!
My colleague is still in his chapter..which is 1x town north. So our business is represented by 2 of us...in BNI groups right nearby our office.
I will brag for a moment...our business has been around for a long time, we hardly do any advertising in the traditional sense, we do no SEO stuff, our website is ancient. We get a huge amount of our business from BNI, some through local business chamber events, and generally through those 2 things..."word of mouth" and referrals has done very well for us.
BNI costs a hair over a dollar a day for the primary membership. Each chapter also has their own dues..those costs vary but are smaller than the main chapter dues. But lets assume worse case scenario that the dues are the same and you're at 2 bucks a day, just under 800 bucks a year. Each year I make waaaay more than that back in business I received through my BNI chapter.
Meetings typically start at 0715, once a week. They last until 0845.
BNI has some fairly strict attendance rules, get 3x absences in a 6 month period....plus some substitute times where you're allowed to have a sub go for you. If you're consistently absent technically what happens is your category (the computer guy) can be "opened" and membership committee will allow people to apply for it, and you may be replaced (basically kicked out and a new guy takes over that position in your chapter if they vote him in). These rules are not cast in stone, adherence to these rules varies from chapter to chapter. If you are value to the group you probably won't be kicked out, but if you're a dead beat in the group, gives them a chance to boot you. We want quality people in our groups
Some advice for people considering BNI...visit several different chapters. Each chapter has their own personality, different members make up different groups. You may find some poorly run chapters of boring people, you may find some well run chapters with fun people.
Also when visiting chapters, you should be smart..and look for chapters that have key players that are able to bring you business. From experience, key positions that typically bring me business are *website guys, *accountants *lawyers. If you find a chapter with a well known local website business...you're golden (unless you do websites too...I don't). Accountants are also great sources of business clients, as they drive the line of business software..thus workstations and servers.
You do better in BNI if you have an outgoing personality, versus the shy meek person. Being a bump on a log in the corner won't get you far.
Here's how to extract the most business from BNI..."Be specific...ask for a specific client each week!" This is for those computer guys that do SMB networks, not residential. Each week I stand up and ask for a referral for <some specific business name>. As you drive around your area each day, you pass businesses...when you drive by a business...don't you think to yourself "I wonder who takes care of their computers, I'd love to do their computers!". So next weeks BNI meeting, I will stand up during the "60 second commercial" and ask for a referral to that business. Chances are pretty good that someone in that chapter knows someone that works there...possibly the owner, or a manager, or just some employee. And hopefully they can create a "warm lead" for you. It's a beginning to try to get your foot in the door. And it's one of the best ways you can get in there.
Ask some more questions, I gotta stop tying and get some remote work done...can reply much more.
It takes time for the BNI group to start to refer biz to ya. Often things will remain quiet for several months, other members want to see your dedication. Then they'll start handing you small jobs, like their personal computers...to start testing you. Once you've started earning their trust and they see your dedication, and a few have tested your work, you'll start getting more referrals. Cuz nobody wants to get egg on their face by referring you to a friend or colleague right away and you end up not being a good computer guy.
