Synopsis

BNI is 31 years old this week! The official kick-off of the first BNI group was January 8th, 1985.

This week’s topic comes from a question posted to Dr. Misner’s Facebook Page. Rick in the UK asks, “How can I connect and make contact with members in other countries? Do I actually need to visit the groups?”

Face-to-face does need to be part of the equation, but it’s probably easiest to start with BNI Connect. Join groups that are relevant to your profession and your interests. Start connecting with members—don’t sell to them.

If you’re planning to travel to another country, make connections with overseas members online and ask to visit their groups when you’re in town. BNI chapters have a history of rolling out the red carpet for visitors from out of the area. Once you’ve visited a chapter, maintain the connections you’ve made with those members.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of Episode 438 –

Priscilla:

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you doing today?

Ivan:

Hey, I am doing great, Priscilla, and this week, the first week of January is the 31st anniversary of BNI. We are now 31 years old.

Priscilla:

That is great. Congratulations.

Ivan:

Thanks. It is exciting. 31 years. That is a long time, but we have come an amazing distance in that time now, in over 65 countries, over 190,000 members worldwide. It has been amazing. The official date, by the way, for anyone that is curious is January 8. January 8, 1985 was the official kickoff. We actually had a core group that met in December of ’84, but the official kickoff of the group was January 8, 1985.

Priscilla:

That is so impressive, really. 65 countries.

Ivan:

Yeah, I never would have thought it back then.

Priscilla:

Yeah.

Ivan:

So today we have an interesting topic. You know, I have been doing a lot of Ask Ivan lately, and we put it on the podcast a couple times. I have even put it up on my Facebook. Let’s put a link in this podcast to my Facebook page. Facebook.com IvanMisner.BNIFounder. We will put a link in here. Like that page and from time to time you will see us post an opportunity to Ask Ivan.

I believe that is where this one came from. Someone asked a question. Rick asked the question from the United Kingdom. So what I am going to try and do is answer questions from time to time. I am really sorry I can’t answer questions individually. I may not get to every questions, but I am trying to answer as many of the ones- especially the ones that come up a lot. I want to answer as many as possible.

This one comes from Rick in the United Kindgom. He says, “How can I connect and make contact with members in other countries?” You thought that was a good question.

Priscilla:

I thought it was a great question.

Ivan:

He said, “Do I actually need to visit the groups?” You need to visit the groups. For Rick and everyone else, that is definitely a piece of what I recommend. You know, face to face needs to be part of the equation. It can be first. It can be later, but it does need to be part of the process. So let me give a few points that I want to mention.

First, BNI members should use BNI Connect to do this. When I end up with this podcast,