BNI Networking or pound the pavement?

A friend has been asking me to join his BNI chapter. There is 36 people in the group and all seem very positive and upbeat .The pest control guy claims 20% of his work from the group. Others state similar stats. My friend is a plumber and claims 6-8 K he first year .So the question is drop $560 for the first year and $12 weekly and commit to 1.5 hours a week for meetings and an extra 1.5 hours a week for other events they say you must participate in or take this money and advertise and use the 3 hours a week to solicit? Any ideas or true life experience?

Bro, there are like 10+ BNI topics already…

Hi Andrew , sorry I did not see the thread from 12/28 , my bad . All the threads I found where old and was just looking for ideas and suggestions . When you really think about it most questions have been asked on this forum at one time or another , but thank you for your time and the condescending " bro" comment. Best of luck to you in the New Year.

Go to your local chapter as a visitor and talk to the people in the group. See if it feels like a group of people that are working hard to refer business or if they are just a social club.

The members are what makes BNI’s success or failure. Only you can decide if you will be a good fit in any particular group. Hope that helps.

Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource

Everything you asked specifically has really been asked many times before. Someone’s experience they shared in the forum about BNI 1, 3 or 5 years ago is still very relevant to your question now and you’d still get great input from reviewing that. The only thing that’s “new” in your post is that I see BNI raised their rates…

IMO there are two valuable aspects to the WCR community.

  1. the library of previous content. This is accessible by the search feature, and is often overlooked.
  2. the huge collective experience of a large and diverse community. This is accessed by asking questions, including questions that were asked as recently as a few days before.

Obviously the OP didn’t see the post about BNI from a few days ago (or he likely wouldn’t have made this post), which means that many other members may not have seen it either… So asking again provides more opportunity for value.

This is a big “room” and so not everyone hears every conversation. For those of us who hear many of them, it can seem redundant…but we can always choose what to not engage in.

So searching previous threads and starting new threads should be used in tandem, IMO. Both have value.

I think that’s the most informative, helpful, and certainly the longest post I’ve ever seen you throw up. Usually you just sort of drive by and shoot everything up with a squeal of tires. Sort of like [MENTION=1736]JfromtheD[/MENTION] but with less fatalities.

you weren’t here when I was in my prime.

EDIT: but I appreciate the compliment, especially the JfromtheD comparison.

Im glad you posted this actually. I am in the same boat you are right now. There is a BNI chapter in our town that doesn’t have a window cleaning company. 43 members, over 2 million a year in referrals. I was in a small BNI last year. It was great at first, but the problem i had was all the members were hiring us for their own homes, once that ran out the referrals stopped. That is why I haven’t jumped into this yet. I can hand out 100+ postcards in 1.5 hours which will guarantee us one job. So I have been on the fence whether or not I should spend my time in BNI or doing other things to drum up business.

That’s my thinking , I wonder after the group referrals stop would I wasting my time . My math $560 plus about $600 for breakfast that’s $1160 . Then 150 man hours at even $40 an hour is $6000 .So that’s $7160 a year to break even. I would need a referral every week of $143 to break even. I think that is my problem , or am I being smart counting my time as money ! If I am at a meeting or selling there is no guarantee .

(Rant Warning)

How about ya’ll give JfromtheD a break? I know you you guys got beef, but really? He doesn’t bust on you guys in threads you haven’t participated in. This is starting to remind me of what the girls room in middle school is probably like (“oh, that cut down was, like, soooo totally cold”) Grow up or shut up, please.

PS: I truly love the jerseyandmole show and I have learned a lot from you guys, but it really makes it hard to respect you when the few times you post here are polluted with attacks on people. The rest of us don’t do this ALL THE TIME… Puuuuleeeeaaasssse let whatever it is go!

Jesse
Atlas Services - Exterior Cleaning Specialists
North Carolina

[MENTION=37432]Atlas1[/MENTION] I think you might have misunderstood: I love [MENTION=1736]JfromtheD[/MENTION]. We’ve got a ton of stuff in common. I even like his rants. He’s a good dude.

FWIW, I understood this post to be meant in jest. Besides, [MENTION=1736]JfromtheD[/MENTION] strikes me as a guy who can take ‘stuff’ just as well as he can dish it.

That wasn’t directed at you [MENTION=5616]Jared[/MENTION]Al I hope I have misunderstood though, it does really seem like every jerseyandmole post involves some kind of attack on J. I know he rubs some people the wrong way, but he’s well worth listening to. If jerseyandmole are just kidding around and I’ve missed some inside joke, then my apologies go out to all. But, if not, my previous statement and request stands. Not to you, but to jerseyandmole.

Jesse
Atlas Services - Exterior Cleaning Specialists
North Carolina

Maybe I totally missed the point and should just shut my mouth. (Sometimes I realize that too late.)

Jesse
Atlas Services - Exterior Cleaning Specialists
North Carolina

I think it’s my private joke: I like J’s drive by’s where people are either bleeding or thinking. He posts the stuff I only think.

Welcome to the club :wink:

LOL. Thanks bro.

Jesse
Atlas Services - Exterior Cleaning Specialists
North Carolina

I hear ya! He makes me think a lot! Like the WFP thread going right now…maybe some hurt feelings, but a lot of thinking and reconsidering going on too, thanks to J

Jesse
Atlas Services - Exterior Cleaning Specialists
North Carolina

Apology accepted. You should probably chill out a little bit.