A Shed-Load of Money!

2022 is coming - in fact fast!

And, I would imagine, as a good business person that you are well into planning your New Year. What you would personally like and what your business has to do to achieve it. If not, maybe we should have a chat.

Now I would certainly think that the amount of money you receive will be important, but even more significant than that, is the amount of profit you will actually make.

After all you have lots of bills to pay like gas, insurance, mortgage, school fees, car costs; I could go on and on. And, of course, there are other things you would like as well, holidays, nights-out, karting, golf; again the list will be long.

Certainly it was what I always had planned into my business plan, for example; skiing, sailing, classic Mustang, school fees; to name just a few.

So, to help you, Surrey BNI has an amazing workshop coming up, on Tuesday 25^th January, at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking.

It’s going to be very special, as the host is Phil Berg and, he is more than good, because he gets it (I've worked and listened to him for a long time), and he will help you achieve your goal. Helping you get what you want.

Whatever your plan, however far you have already got with it, I promise you that meeting Phil will help you succeed; and on so much more than just your Surrey BNI membership.

2022 could be an attractive year for you and Phil’s workshop could truly help you, so please don’t miss the chance of attending. 

You can book here:

HOW TO MAKE A SHED-LOAD OF MONEYFROM BNI – hosted by Phil Berg

Tuesday 25th January 2022 4pm – 8pm

Woodlands Park Hotel, Cobham KT11 3QB

Your great photo!

That’s assuming you have one and it’s good.

A fair number of BNI members don’t have their photo on their BNI Chapter Website; instead there’s just a silhouette of their head.

Then of course, some members even have a misleading photo, which, trust me, hurts their referral numbers. And, please do believe me, as I have a lot of knowledge on this, based on the experience gained from members over many, many years.

First you need a good photo; one that clearly shows who you are. It needs to be up-to-date, with a good pose, nice lighting, and, of course, in focus. Now I’m not saying it needs to be the perfect professional portrait, but it does need to be a good photo. Which means not using the first thing you find; on holiday, down the pub, blurry, from 15 years ago, just a mess.

Why? Because a good photo seen on your BNI website will save you losing referrals.

No photo of a member on your BNI website may not affect how you think about that person but, it’s how other people think that matters, not you. I know of many people that have left a BNI website because of the lack of a photo (also a bad photo) of the member they were considering.

So, if there is no photo of you on your BNI website, then I recommend you get a good one put up as soon as possible. I promise, you are more than likely to receive more business.

Five Referrals!

 A good friend of mine (he does plumbing and heating) is not only a very good BNI referral giver, but he also receives a very good number of referrals himself from members of his chapter.

He has been a member for many years and a few years ago he did some maths, which led to him getting even more referrals. Now I know that you can do the numbers, but you will require some information, and there are three things you will need on record. First, the number of referrals you give each year, second, the number of referrals that you receive each year, and third, the amount of business you receive from those referrals each year. That’s it!

Okay, so firstly, divide the amount of business you received by the number of referrals you were given. For example: you get £16,000 of work, from eight referrals, which makes each referral worth £2,000.

Then secondly, work out how many referrals you give in order to receive the number of referrals you are given.

My friend worked out that for every five referrals he gave he received one £2,000 (roughly) referral in exchange.

To drive him, he worked out that for every referral he gave it was, in effect, worth £400. But, this is the part that impressed me, he passed more and more referrals, and for every five he passed, he received about £2,000 in return!

So, if you did your maths, could you increase the number of good referrals you receive? All I can say is it’s worth a try – because it certainly worked for me!

First Aid

I meant to write this blog in March, as I had noticed a photo on Facebook, which when I read about it, I found very interesting and motivational. The photo is of a present given to David Husband of BNI Dylan, in Swansea.

David has been a member for around 18 months, which most of, due to Covid, has been online, and, as he has said to me, that has meant that we have all had to learn to adapt how we work, meet and communicate. And for some of us this has been very difficult; getting used to break-out rooms, not just chatting, not meeting people to invite, no business cards, less work; and some people lost their motivation.

David had his Feature Presentation, which he made interactive (with new Zoom skills). He also did an Education Slot (interactive) and encouraged members to use Zoom before and after their meetings. This then led to social media, working with the chapter's IT company, on to a members list that could be downloaded, that included lots of information about each member, Power Teams, plus much more.

This has led to a great feeling in BNI Dylan and, in return for all of his amazing ideas and work, the chapter gave David a food hamper from the chapter's butcher.

I think that we can all learn a great deal from David’s thinking; not just for now, but for years to come.

I titled this blog ‘First Aid’ because that is what David does; Dewi Development, First Aid Training. He provides First Aid training, coaching and mental health consultation.

If you like the sound of this why not give him a call?

What a mess!

Now before you start thinking that this is about something bad, let me explain.

I visited, by Zoom, the Hawke Chapter in Bristol recently, and the Featured Presentation was one of the best that I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve told lots of people about it and, via me, the company has already received more business.

The presentation started as normal and the person put on a white lab coat but was then handed a small pot of baked beans. Interesting, I thought! Then the lady talked about the various types of dirt and mess they came across. At exactly the same time (now with goggles added) pots of the stuff, including the baked beans, were poured over her head. I’d never seen such a mess of gunge.

Well, this was the type of mess (although rather extreme) that Claudia and her company - A Cleaning Service – cleaned for people and extremely well.

I loved the presentation and, as I have already said, I’ve told lots of people about it, and she has already received a referral via me.

So, what’s your next Featured Presentation going to be like?

I also liked the meeting overall. There were a few small unusual things: the Leadership Team waved as they were introduced, a great countdown clock on screen during the 60 Seconds (although only 30 seconds this day), and two Awards. The Pink Croc Award was an extra.

This meeting was rather special for two reasons; a visitors day (29 visitors, I think), plus the last meeting of the current Leadership Team, which included Matt Richardson, who had been the President for the past three years. Now he was brilliant (he also plays the Bass guitar).

The meeting was fun, well run and the Chapter is passing a very good amount of business. If I lived in Bristol, I would love to attend the meeting in future.

The Hawke Chapter really made me feel that I would love to be a part of it.

Special note: I was invited to attend by Cathy Provenzano, a rather good Lettings Agent in Bristol.

American Pickers

I have to say that I rather like this programme. Mike and Frank are amazing and Danielle is more than good in finding them leads and referrals. I’ve even got a friend (who lives in Whitton – just down the road from me) who has visited their shop in Nashville and purchased an item.

They find some incredible objects: lots of motorbikes, cars, toys, paintings, guitars, and often things from sheds that haven’t been opened for years and years.

Well I was watching it yesterday and they were taking about how stuff was found. The things came from all sorts of places, plus auctions, car boot sales and lots by word-of-mouth.

That’s why, word-of-mouth is very important for us in BNI; as it’s all about knowing what members would like and letting others know about whatever it is - recommending each other. And, often it leads to amazing things, and remarkable business, being found.

So, if you haven’t done it already, how about this week making a list of your fellow members and against each name, writing down something special they are looking for and why.

For example: not Martin – accountant. But instead – Martin loves helping film location people to make the right moves going forward.

Of course this could require a One-2-One, or at least a phone call, but I promise you, would be really worthwhile long-term. And, a great deal of fun!

One-2-One in Mumbai

 Over the years I’ve been in BNI, since 2003 in fact, it has proved very worthwhile for me, not just for referrals, but for many other reasons; obviously most often from my own chapter but also around the country.

Right now, I can remember needing beautiful flowers in Oxford and a plumber in Southsea; very good reliable companies. I’ve also recently had members supporting my new children’s book and a few years ago helping me with a wonderful trip to Australia.

Well this week, I’ve had a One-2-One with a member in Mumbai. It was early morning for me, afternoon for them and the best part was seeing each other via Zoom. It’s such a great device to use today.

We had a very good and interesting meeting and I was also lucky enough to see their full 10 Minute PowerPoint Presentation – which was very distinct and beautiful.

Anjali Vhatkar is the founder and CEO of the Elaura Art Gallery and their work is amazing. If I had rooms large enough, there was art I saw that I would love to have, but sadly I don’t have walls that big!

However, what I can do is to speak to the architects and interior designers, and even hotel owners, I know, to see if they would like to know more about Elaura Art and how they could own one of these beautiful pieces.

But, what I like best is that I love the products (the art) and I find Anjali very distinctive, which means that I will talk about the Elaura Art Gallery to my friends, and in the past I’ve often found that this often leads to my friends asking me about the person I’m chatting about (how good they are?) and then to them later receiving referrals.

So, have you a great story to tell, that your fellow members will want to convey to their friends? Because, if you do, you might just find your referral number increases afterwards.

150 Prospective Customers!

 I was talking to a friend of mine recently about them finding new customers and I asked them what it would take to find 150 to talk to. How long it would take, how much effort it would be and how much it would cost them? Not just money but the time lost, doing what they liked best, working on the good parts of their business.

The answer was that they didn’t know and, in fact, that they doubted that it would ever happen.

But, by being a member of BNI, meeting 150 new prospective customers every year is easy; well it can be!

Just imagine what 150 different people listening to you about your business every year might do for your business. I know many people where the results for them have been outstanding.

So, why does this often not happen? The answer is, not having three visitors at your chapter every week; because in a year, if the chapter did, that would be 150 prospective new customers.

Now I know chapters that often don’t have any visitors in a week. I also know members that have not brought a visitor in over a year. I find both of these things hard to understand.

And, I’ll tell you why. Most of us have a business to grow; we are members of BNI to help us grow our business. We are asked by BNI to bring visitors and they give us training to help us. But many members still don’t bring visitors.

Here is a little bit of maths for you. If you are in a chapter of 38 members and each member brings four visitors a year, the chapter will get 150 visitors per year.

Now, as an individual member, you find four prospective new customers, but if every member does it, you get to sell to 150 prospective new customers.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I want to grow my business, and finding four prospective new customers is far easier that finding 150 myself.

So, who are you going to invite this week? You will get more new customers and more referrals if you do. Make it fun.

10 Minutes of Fun!

 Sounds good doesn’t it, but it does involve a little hard, physical work.

I was chatting recently with a Personal Trainer, who’s pretty much closed for business at the moment. But, she is doing lots to make sure that her business is not only better, but ready for training sessions when the lights go green and lockdown ends!

One thing she is doing is making a 10-minute training video. It’s aimed to not only keep people fit but also for them to have some fun. A real bounce! She suggests that you do it every day because it will relax you and help make the whole day better. One of my other friends actually works out, at 8.30 every morning, and it energises their day.

But, as far as her business goes, it’s even better than that, because it will be sent to every one of her customers and friends. Many of whom I’m sure will thank her for it. But, also she is going to ask them, if they enjoy the workout, if they would send it to three of their friends.

I asked her how many people she was sending it to and her answer was 43. Now not only is that fun for them but business-wise it could be a real winner. Imagine if people that are not already one of her customers, really find it stimulating; maybe they will become a new customer? But imagine if those 43 people each sent it to three of their friends; that would be another 129 people.

Now that really makes you think about the possible number of prospective customers she could have when the lights go green!

So, what could you make a 10 minute video about? Why not do it today!

Zoom, Zoom Two!

We have been having Zoom meetings for around nine months now and it looks like many more months of them are to come. Our current Leadership Team could well do a whole year without sitting with the chapter, all together, in our normal venue (a lovely golf club). I have to say that I think that is sad.

However, a lot has also been learnt for us as individuals. For example: many people have discovered that meetings can be shorter and at the same time, more productive. They have also discovered that you save a great deal of time by not having to go long distances to places. But, as one of my friends has discovered, it can also lead to not receiving as much work, as random meets and conversations are less likely to come up.

There is also the ‘on/off situation’. I expect you have noticed this in a meeting; someone is with you and then they aren’t. Their connection has failed, for some unknown reason. Then, of course, their voice might disappear or they sound like they are in outer-space.

Now, with more months to come, the technical problem I think could be looked at, if for nothing else, but to improve a person’s thinking (sanity).

Another of my friends has this very problem and they cannot stand it. Their meetings could well come to an end. You see the difficulty is that the issue could be one of many things or a combination of the whole lot. So, where do there start?

And, that’s where we as members of BNI can help. As a Utility Warehouse Partner, for example, I can help with broadband, supply a modern router, and check the wireless channel (and some other stuff). Of course hardware might need looking at, so an IT member is perfect for advice and any new kit.

One of my friends, with his children now learning from home, had a problem with getting everyone on the web at the same time. A Mesh system (click photo to see it) solved his problem. Then there is sound and vision; a good camera could be the answer here.

So, with what looks like many months of online meetings to come, if you are having problems, I would suggest passing a few referrals to members that can help solve your problem today. And, of course, chat to friends who are also having these problems. You might just be able to give them help.