What did you do with your Notable Networker Certificate?

20/5/2012

I’ve talked about Notable Networker Certificates before, mainly about how they should be presented, (in a great frame, so that they are of real value), so that the person who is the Notable Networker really feels, as they should do, that what they have done is special. And that all their fellow members appreciate what they have done for their chapter, all the hard work that they have done on their behalf.


But how much value does the Notable Networker themselves put on their award? Does it just make them feel great on the day and then the certificate goes in a drawer? Or does it go onto their Facebook page? Is it talked about on Twitter? Is it put up on their office wall?

Recently I met Liz Baranov of Rickaby & Co, she says that, “not all accountants are the same…” and if you were ever to met her, or already know her, I think that you would agree with her statement. But she is also a rather notable networker, as at the last count she had eight certificates. Which is pretty notable just on its own. She is also very proud of her certificates and every one of them is on the wall in the client meeting room at her offices. What’s more, she makes sure that her clients see them and have an opportunity to find out how she got them.

To date, this has resulted in five visitors to her chapter!

So, when are you next going to be your chapter's Notable Networker and what will you be doing with your certificate?

Does your 60 Seconds say anything?

Hopefully all of our chapters use ‘Referral to Look For’ sheets.  But, just in case yours doesn’t, (and if they don’t I highly recommend they do), I will explain what such a sheet is in its most basic form.

A ‘Referral to Look For’ sheet is a list of chapter members, along with their category, contact details, and a space to write notes about the referrals they are looking for.  The best I have seen are colour coded (Power Teams), have photographs of the members, Leadership Team details, workshop dates, Top 5 Categories, Director details, birthdays, and are branded.  Anything is possible if there is a great graphic designer in the chapter.

However, the single most useful thing is the space to write down exactly what each member is looking for.  Exactly how you can help them.  Nothing is forgotten.  And, it makes finding referrals, helping people, so much easier.  Nevertheless, there is one very important point here, and it was bought home to me at a recent chapter visit I made: members must give you something to write down.

As a director I try very hard to write something for every member, but at this meeting after the 60 Seconds I had six blank spaces and others had been hard to fill.  The members concerned had told me what they did, but that was already on the sheet. What they hadn’t done was add anything - something to help me find them referrals.

This is where as a member we have to do the hard work if we are to be super successful and get more referrals.  We need to provide something useful that our fellow members can write down, something that will help them to find us referrals.

So, have a look at your next 60 Seconds and be hard on yourself.  Does it tell people anything they didn’t know before?  Does it help them?  Does it tell them the exact type of business that you are looking for?  If not, write it again, and help your fellow members help you.

Sebastian Vettel

2/4/11

We all like champions: those at the top of their game. Teams or individuals, we all like winners: those at the top of the table. The news is full of them and at the moment there are only a few things I want. Arsenal to finish in the top three, Jenson Button to win races, and the British Team to win Gold at the Olympics. And I bet if I asked you to pick three sporting greats that they would all be winners. England winning at Rugby or Cricket (assuming you are English). Andy Murray winning a Grand Slam. Luke Donald to win the golf.

It’s the same in business. Sir Richard Branson, Duncan Bannatyne, Sir Alan Sugar. Apple, Vodafone, Virgin. Businessmen (and businesswomen) and companies at the top of their game. Winners. Leaders.

And, all of this makes me wonder. Why are these same people, the ones that love winners, those at the top of the tables, content with being red and grey members in their chapter’s Traffic Lights? Why don’t they want to be a green member; even top of the Traffic Lights?

My ambition has always been to be a green member and stay a green member. Why? Well there are lots of reasons. Green members in general earn more money. Personal credibility: why would anyone want to recommend someone who’s not very good? Then there is doing my best for my team (my chapter) and my friends. Personal pride. Not wanting to be bad at anything. And, I want to be a winner!

So, I have a question for you. If you aren’t a green member (and haven’t been for some time): why are you happy not to be? Why don’t you want to be a winner? No one likes being average, let alone below average, so why not check Network Central right now and find out what you need to do to be a winner? Because going green will earn both you and your chapter more money!

If you really want to you could be a green member in the next two months. Please let me know how you get on. Don’t just talk about winners. Be one!

Do you press the button?

11/3/12

I was listening to Radio 5 Live one afternoon in the car recently and the programme on was where listeners could call in and have a bit of a rant. Members of the public explained what really annoyed them and then the presenters gave them a score: top score being the Rant of the Week!

Well, one guy explained how he couldn’t understand why people had to press buttons that he had obviously already pressed. It was quite funny really. He gave a couple of examples: waiting for a lift and at road crossing traffic lights. I have to say it amazes me when people press the button at road crossings even when there is no traffic to be seen.

But, as always, it got me thinking. And, I guess that is the point here – no thinking! Most people are programmed to press a button if they want something without thinking. And, it’s not just buttons, we all do hundreds of things every day without a moment's thought.

So, what do you do in your business, within your chapter, without thinking? Or, more importantly, what don’t you do because it would mean having to think differently?

In my last blog I wrote about spending five minutes a day to grow your business. Now I bet most of you haven’t. Why? Well, it’s not because you are lazy or don’t want to. It’s because it’s not automatic as yet. The big question is how long does it take for something to become automatic? And, like most things there is no hard and fast answer. Research shows that it can be anything from one to eight months and I bet it has a great deal to do with what sort of person you are, how old you are, but, bottom line, how much you really want to do it.

My bet is that you really want to grow your business. but that marketing your business everyday is not automatic. So, how about trying this? Write in your diary, right now, ‘Marketing’ every day for the next month. Try to make it in the morning around the same time, the earlier the better.

By the end of the month it should be becoming automatic and not something that you do in response to a note in your diary: well, that’s if you really want to that is!

Please let me know how you get on.

One a day!

8/2/12

Could you spare five minutes a day to grow your business? Now I’m guessing that however busy you are that the answer is – yes.

So, this is what I want you to do, and you can’t now say that you are too busy, because I know, that in your head you’ve already agreed that you have the time. Now don’t worry, it’s a simple thing and it will grow your business.

All I want you to do is invite one person to your next meeting. It doesn’t matter how: obviously in person is best. But it could be by phone, via email, letter, text, postcard, on social media, or any other. The important thing is that you do it. Now it may take you a lot less than five minutes, but I still only want you to invite one person. However, there is a catch! I want you to do the same every day; five times each and every week, all year. And, here’s the best part, in a year you will have invited 220 people - given you time off for holidays!

Now this is the brilliant part! There isn’t a member of your chapter that can’t spare five minutes a day to grow their business. This means that all of your fellow members can do exactly the same as you by inviting one person each and every day of the year. Don’t bother looking for your calculator; in an average chapter of 36 members it would mean that you were inviting 7920 business owners to your chapter. Makes you think, doesn’t it?!

Growing your business, and your chapter, can be very simple. It just takes every member to spend a few minutes each day to make it happen.

It’s all in the flossing!

28/1/12

Standing out from your competition is so very important to the success of your business. And to that end companies and their marketing agencies spend a great deal of time and money trying to do just that. There are some great examples around; I expect that we have all seen the Virgin James Bond parody, but sadly we don’t all have the budget of Virgin to do that sort of thing ourselves. On a more modest amount of money I think the Entrepreneur’s Circle video is good – it’s simple but different.

However, in our BNI chapter it is made easy for us as there is no competition for our services in the room, but, and it is a big but, we still need to stand out. We need to be visible; we need to be remembered. And, one of the best ways to do this is to have a great 60 Seconds.

I was at the Tudor Chapter (Teddington) recently where there were three stand-out 60 seconds. The first was from a new member, Alex Mason, a graphic designer: she stood on her chair and put on a t-shirt. On it were the words, “You’re not normal”. Obviously everyone laughed but she then explained that one of the members had told her that her designs weren’t normal and that was her point – what was the point of being the same as everyone else? You have to be different!

Then there was Nikki Keeler of Essential Admin. She asked who had a ‘To Do List’. Most people put up a hand. She then asked if it looked like this, and held up a toilet roll and let it fall to the floor holding the first sheet. It said, ‘Things To Do’ and all of the other sheets were numbered. She then told us how to prioritise our lists. Number three was jobs that anyone could do: yes, you’ve guessed it – out-sourced to her.

But best was Mike Deasy, the Chapter’s dentist. He explained how we would all have better dental hygiene if we flossed every day. But people have no time is the excuse he hears constantly: it’s too hard. With that he took a box of dental floss from his pocket, cut a length, and flossed all of his teeth in front of us. Yes, in under a minute! He even stopped for time checks every few teeth. That was pretty impressive and no one could leave that room with an excuse not to floss.

So, what’s my point? Well, they were all different, they all stood out, and none cost much money. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, and anyone can do it, you just have to be creative. Then more people will remember you, talk about you, resulting in more business.

What’s more you are now reading about them.How good is that? All because they were different.

Who do you watch?

5/1/12

Lee Evans? Michael McIntyre? Gabby Logan? Sir Richard Branson? Jack Dee? Russell Brand? Tina Fey? Kelly Holmes? Jimmy Carr?

Whoever it is you can learn a great deal about presenting by watching them closely. Think about who you like to watch. What is it that they do? How do they use their voice? What expressions do they make? How do they use their body? Do they have props? It may be just a glass of water.

You can learn a lot by turning the sound right down so that you can’t hear them and just watching. Can you still understand the story that they are telling? How do they stand? What do they do with their hands?

What makes each different? Why is it that you like them so much? It certainly won’t be just what they are saying!

Watch closely and study what they do and then incorporate it into the way you present. Little things can make a big difference. But you aren’t looking to do an impression: you are looking to learn the skills of presenting and improve what you do.

Have fun. And, maybe even do an impression. A 60 Seconds in the style of Lee Evans!

NOTE:  I must give credit to Phil Berg my Managing Area Director for this idea.