Episode 670: Networking Is a Contact Sport (Classic Podcast)

This is a rebroadcast of Episode 424.

Synopsis

Thoughtful engagement is the answer to a return on your investment in BNI. Engagement is a critical step in the networking process. It involves a promise to support one another, and action to fulfill that promise. The law of attraction only works if you take action.

That means you have to connect with your fellow BNI members on a deeper level than you do with most business contacts. Here are five ways to be more engaged:

Have you taken the time to meet one-to-one with your fellow BNI members?Have you taken the time to educate your fellow members---individually---on the key elements of your business?Have you taken the time to become educated on the key elements of other members' businesses?Have you visited your fellow BNI members at their places of business?Have you used the products and services of other BNI members?

What new ways can you find to support your networking partners? Share your answers in the comments.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of Episode 424

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 today?

Ivan:I am doing great, Priscilla. I have, I think, a fun topic for today.

Priscilla:Oh great.

Ivan:I got on a rant last week about what success is. This week, I want to talk about networking is a contact sport.

Priscilla:Okay. Tell us about that because I have no idea what you mean by that.

Ivan:For everyone listening to this podcast, I am guessing that you would like a return on your investment of time and money in BNI. The truth is that it really is thoughtful engagement that is the answer to a return on your investment in BNI.

Engagement is an absolutely critical step in the networking process. It involves a promise and an action. So in order to achieve success with your fellow members in BNI, you have to promise to support one another. And then you have to take action to fulfill that promise.

Most people have either read the book or seen the movie, The Secret. Have you either seen the movie or read the book, The Secret?

Priscilla:Yeah.

Ivan:It is about the Law of Attraction. I believe in the Law of Attraction, but you know, the word "action" is part of the word "attraction". So part of attraction is taking action. You have to make a promise and then you have to take action to achieve that promise, commitment, or that attraction that you want to bring into your life.

The only way to do this effectively is to connect on a deeper level than you do most of your business contacts. So in a BNI context, you want to connect with people on a deeper level than you do with the average business contact that you have. There are several ways that you can become more engaged with your fellow members.

I am going to share those with you. I have five.

One, have you taken the time to regularly meet with the people in your group on a one to one basis? This means setting up time to meet with them outside of normal meetings and getting to know them on a professional level.

Now, here is the thing. I know there are people going, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I am supposed to do it but I haven't done it." Okay, why not? Stop making excuses. That really is the way to help not only generate referrals for other people but to generate referrals for yourself. You have to do those one to ones and make a deeper connection with people than you can make in a group meeting like in BNI. That is so important.

Number two, have you taken the time to educate them regularly, your fellow members? Individually and regularly on the key elements of your business so that yo...