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Every Wednesday morning, instead of driving straight to work, a group of 15 meet for breakfast at the Ed Oliver Golf Club in Wilmington. They don’t have much in common, except that they are all small business owners, looking to grow their businesses.
They are members of Business Networking International and they are actively looking to recruit more members to their downtown Wilmington Chapter, the oldest chapter in BNI.
Despite economic hardships, these men and women are thinking outside the box to network and develop more business for themselves – and their fellow members.
There are more than 135 BNI chapters in the region with 30 or more members, all of which that have members from a range of professions: contractors, insurance, real estate, to bankers, attorneys and doctors.
“This is an in-person Facebook for your business,” said Brian Mattocks, who is the associate director of BNI for the Delaware Valley Regions. Mattocks is also a member of the Springfield chapter but facilitates the meetings for the downtown Wilmington chapter bi-monthly.
The format of the BNI meetings are firm but the mood is casual – the group follows a fixed timeline for the meetings and each member must abide by a code of ethics and pay yearly dues. But during Wednesday’s meeting, where the topic centered around recruiting more members, Mattocks joked that it was important for members to make it clear that the invitation is not to join a cult.
“Say I will buy you breakfast,” he advised. “Who can turn that down?”
Bonnie Sheer, a real estate attorney for Cooch and Taylor, joined BNI last spring and is now acting president.
“We meet once a week to build trust and establish integrity,” Sheer said.
Sheer said the range in professions represented in their chapter is outstanding.
“Some of our members sell life and health insurance and [others] cleaning supplies,” she said. “We have an electrical contractor and even a chiropractor.”
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To learn more about BNI or to find your local chapter, visit www.BNI.com. |
The meetings always end with members giving each others referrals that they collected throughout the week, or testimonials – a public thank you to any member who has inspired them.
“Referrals are what feed your business,” Marty Meissner said, who works from home selling health and life insurance. “The way I am going to go about recruiting more members is with the mindset that not only does BNI feed you breakfast, but if also feeds your business.”
Every Wednesday morning, instead of driving straight to work, a group of 15 meet for breakfast at the Ed Oliver Golf Club in Wilmington. They don’t have much in common, except that they are all small business owners, looking to grow their businesses.
They are members of Business Networking International and they are actively looking to recruit more members to their downtown Wilmington Chapter, the oldest chapter in BNI.
Despite economic hardships, these men and women are thinking outside the box to network and develop more business for themselves – and their fellow members.
There are more than 135 BNI chapters in the region with 30 or more members, all of which that have members from a range of professions: contractors, insurance, real estate, to bankers, attorneys and doctors.
“This is an in-person Facebook for your business,” said Brian Mattocks, who is the associate director of BNI for the Delaware Valley Regions. Mattocks is also a member of the Springfield chapter but facilitates the meetings for the downtown Wilmington chapter bi-monthly.
The format of the BNI meetings are firm but the mood is casual – the group follows a fixed timeline for the meetings and each member must abide by a code of ethics and pay yearly dues. But during Wednesday’s meeting, where the topic centered around recruiting more members, Mattocks joked that it was important for members to make it clear that the invitation is not to join a cult.
“Say I will buy you breakfast,” he advised. “Who can turn that down?”
Bonnie Sheer, a real estate attorney for Cooch and Taylor, joined BNI last spring and is now acting president.
“We meet once a week to build trust and establish integrity,” Sheer said.
Sheer said the range in professions represented in their chapter is outstanding.
“Some of our members sell life and health insurance and [others] cleaning supplies,” she said. “We have an electrical contractor and even a chiropractor.”
|
To learn more about BNI or to find your local chapter, visit www.BNI.com. |
The meetings always end with members giving each others referrals that they collected throughout the week, or testimonials – a public thank you to any member who has inspired them.
“Referrals are what feed your business,” Marty Meissner said, who works from home selling health and life insurance. “The way I am going to go about recruiting more members is with the mindset that not only does BNI feed you breakfast, but if also feeds your business.”
