Dinah Liversidge gave great advice to the audience at the BNI Regional Members Day 2010 last Friday 26th June in London. She described all you needed to do improve your credibility which surely would lead to even more business and recognition as a market leader.

She described the importance of listening hard and following up, then following up again and again and feeding back to the people who give you referrals. When you do that you set the tone and you gain more respect as someone who follows through.

Common sense and Social Media has proven how well sharing what we learn is so powerful, so whilst it is an obvious outcome, the key is to actually do it and at the same time create the opportunity for a second chance. She even told us how BA ruined her journey and so she switched to Virgin. Unfortunately Virgin destroyed her wheelchair, but Richard Branson phoned her and bought her a new one – a really great one with go faster stripes. Proving that being a giver will enable the giving to be favoured and returned. Great story – you should have been there!

She progress with her five steps to credibility, steps I for one truly believe, have quality one to ones – spend some time real time, getting to know each other. Get to know your power circle, and dont just turn up for your weekly meetings, but prepare for them before the meeting, especially your 60 seconds. Give without looking for the gain and of course, follow up.

Well done Dinah, great stuff.

The BBC news site has an interesting article on how small businesses in America are using Twitter to communicate with their customers. You can read it here >

Thanks to Peter for his inspiring talk at our breakfast meeting yesterday (14 Oct. 2009).

The following is an outline of the strategy he discussed.

Two basics that we have to be good at as a Chapter to be successful in BNI:

1. Being good at inviting

2. Being good at third-party referrals

Referrals are more difficult to find in the smaller Chapters as there is less choice.

Why it’s important to give good referrals:

1. “Givers gain” is important – think of an oven; you have to put fire into it first

2. Member will leave if not getting good referrals

Proactive:

• Taking the initiative by causing something to happen rather than waiting and reacting to events after they happen
• Planned approach – strategy – technique – method – tactic – deliberate manoeuvre

Biblical guidebook – we need to get good at fishing!

THE PROACTIVE STRATEGY – 3 STEPS:

BEFORE MEETING OR TALKING TO SOMEONE: (if you have a chance to)

• THINK BNI: Customers/Suppliers/Networking
• Pick out one person in your mind who might be appropriate
• Work out in your mind an approach that might work – a strategy, hook and bait that you could use with this person
• Relax, look upon it as a game, a challenge – don’t take it too seriously
• This will subliminally focus your mind into looking out for clues

WHEN TALKING WITH SOMEONE

• Listen and look for general clues – something may come up for a member other than the member that you had thought of
• If nothing comes up, and if appropriate: cast the line; make your play

AFTER MEETING OR SPEAKING TO ANYONE:

• Think about what you could have done better
• Don’t beat yourself up – just notice what you could have tried differently

At our meeting last Wednesday, I talked about effective 1-to-1s.  A useful structure for these, or any business interview, is something recommended by BNI experts, called GAINS,  which stands for Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks and Skills.

If you’d like to gain an in-depth understanding of your interviewees’ core competencies, ask them about their Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks and Skills.

Doing this should help to spark off ideas of how you might find good referrals for that person.

All the best, Dean

Would you like to grow your business over breakfast? 

Below is a list of types of business people our members are hoping to meet.  If you work in one of the businesses mentioned, why not come along to our next Wednesday morning meeting at the Novotel in Paddington Central?  We’d like to learn about you, so we can refer business to you.

You can find out more about our members here.

Adam – Management consultant, software developer

Angela – 

Antoinette – 

Beader – Architect, Builder, Electrician

Dean – Trademark Lawyer, Venture Capitalist, PR, Photographer, Corporate Video Producer

Ewan - 

Elizabeth – Florist, Dentist, PR, IFA

Iain – PR, Dentist, Photographer

Hagai – Electrician, Architect, Insurance Broker, Cleaning Company

Jenifer – Surveyor, Property Management Company, Lighting-Kitchen-Bathroom Supplier

Larissa – florist, beautician, Tailor, Cab/Limo Company, Catering Company, Photographer

Lina – Will writer, Commercial insurance broker, Book keeper, Currency Exchange, business coach

Meeta – Marketing, Publishing, Exhibition and Display

Peter – Marketing consultant, PR, Estate Agent, Courier, Florist

Robin – Property Developer, Relocation Agent, Estate Agent

Sally – Architect, Builder, Photographer

Sodia – Business Banking Manager, Currency Exchange, IFA

For more information, please contact Dean Turney on 07754 537 428 or email dean@sixdays.co.uk

Do you ever read The Times writer Sathnam Sanghera’s column, “Business Life”? I find that he makes interesting observations and dispenses useful advice, with a good sense of humour.

Last Monday his subject was time management. As someone who once bought a book on time management, but was too busy to read it, I was delighted to find everything I needed to know on half a tabloid page.

His tips include:

• stop taking phone calls; let everything go to voicemail, and access it only occasionally
• cut down on visits to your inbox
• switching tasks when you get stuck

Read his column here

Who would be the best person to represent you at a BNI breakfast meeting that you’re unable to attend? You need someone who is going to do a good job of promoting you and your business.  So, ideally, that person would be:

1. Someone within your business, or…                                                                                                                                                                  2. Someone who knows and speaks highly of you.

As a last resort, you can find a substitute from another BNI chapter, by using the following site: www.bnilondon.com/subs

The home page looks like this:

Click on “REGISTER FOR SUBS PROGRAMME” and then fill in your details on the next page:

Scroll down the registration page. In the bottom-left you will see a tool for attaching your 60-seconds (the up-to-date version which you’d like your substitute to use) from your computer:

Click on “Browse”, find your 60-seconds (Word or PDF format) in your computer, open it and click “SAVE” on the bottom of the registration page. The bnilondon.com server now has a copy of your 60 seconds. You can delete or change this with a new document anytime you wish.

Now you’re all set up to make a request for a substitute. Whenever you need one, log on to bnilondon.com/subs and click on “PROFILE”. When your PROFILE opens you’ll have another option at the top of the screen, on the right: “MAKE REQUEST” (look on image below):

Click on “MAKE REQUEST”, and the following page will appear:

Do you see the little drop-down menu (above) at the bottom of the “MAKE A REQUEST” page? Select the day/s you need a substitute.  Then click “SUBMIT”.

Now click on “View confirmed requests” at the bottom right of the page.  The page you will then see will be a more up-to-date version of this:

Check to see that your request/s is/are on the above page. You can remove your request/s at any time if your situation changes.

Members of other chapters who are looking for the opportunity to sub for you (and there are lots of them) receive email alerts twice a day, telling them about these requests. When someone books your request, that person receives your 60-seconds and the details of the meeting. You don’t need to do anything.

Any questions? Call me, Dean Turney on 07754 537 428, or email dean@sixdays.co.uk

I always admire advertising whose impact is huge compared with its production and/or media budget. Usually it’s funny or controversial ads that get talked about, or emailed around.  About three years ago Ogilvy created the Dove “Evolution” commercial, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U  It was made to be viewed on the internet as a “viral”, that is, as a communication that’s just emailed from person to person.  Millions of people have seen it and talked about it.  And it cost nothing to run. Isn’t that amazing? I have a more recent example to share with you: an ad that was made to run in the commercial breaks in this year’s Superbowl in the States. Airtime for that event certainly isn’t cheap: $3 million for 30 seconds (you wouldn’t think there’s a recession on, would you?). OK, no prizes for saving money on media. But the commercial, for Doritos, is said to have cost just $2,000 – peanuts compared with most TV commercial production budgets.  And something like 147 million people watched this year’s Superbowl. Here’s the ad:

Ok, so you’ve found the website and want to know what all this blogging is about. “How will it really help me (as a member) if I post my own entries? And even if I had the time, what would I write about?”…I hear you say.

These are the real benefits from blogging within thie BNI website, together with some pointers:

• Blogging is powerful because search engines love it. They’ll love you for it and a link from your BNI blog post to your website will pay dividends.
• People don’t like a marketing pitch. They don’t always find a brochure that interesting. A blog post isn’t an opportunity to talk about what you do, but more about what’s going no, what’s interesting and what people should know (FYI, etc.). Do that, then mention your website address, and you’re be surprised how many people will click it then.
• Updated, interesting and relevant content will keep people coming back. That is fantastic news!
• Blogging is temporal. That’s a big word for “has a limited time”. However, it’s “now”, and that is attractive to all potential readers. Your post should be about the “now”.
• Invite comments and ask opinion. Your blog post doesn’t have to have a conclusion.
• Write comments. Another opportunity to include your website link together with some relevant personal opinion.
• Use blogging to register yourself as an expert, talking about things that interest you will get others to put in their two pence. Within BNI meetings you get 60 seconds to talk to 20 people. How about the opportunity for the rest of the world to read a 5 minute blog post?
• Write a blog post now, see it on Google the same day. It’s true! Try it.

And, there’s more. Writing a blog has the following tools to help you.

• You can use the normal VISUAL layout together with the formatting options, or you can use the HTML screen to include images, or video.

• Including images is easy – you just need to find it on the Internet and put the link to it.
• Always put links to other people, sources of information and your own website. This helps them and they will be encoruaged to help you.

• Try adding video by copy and pasting the EMBED code you find within youtube when in the HTML view. I promise, it’s simple once you know how.
• Be sure to use the TAGS option below where you type your blog post. Simply type in 4 or 5 relevant words as to what your blog is about, e.g. BNI, blogging, marketing (this blog post’s tags).
• Lastly, categorise your blog post. NEWS for more temporal posts that educate others about something that has happened recently, and EDUCATION for more general information. RESULTS are used when you have something great to say about working with another member, a referal or some other success story. (Make sure no others are checked).
• Update your profile and make sure the first name, last name, website address and very short biography are completed. Your BIO should be simply what you do, nothing more. This appears at the foot of all your posts, increasing your own website’s SEO.

If you get stuck, read this article on the power of blogging.

Good luck!

The BBC is following the fortunes of 10 small firms throughout the recession. Surprisingly, considering the incessant gloom pouring out of the media, some of these businesses seem to be doing quite well. Have a look here – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7833049.stm

Dean Turney, Six Days Ltd www.6days.co.uk