BNI Membership - is it worthwhile?

[liz.jewels]

Just curious whether any of you have tried a BNI membership and found it worthwhile. I am considering joining a local chapter, and know some reps have been very successful with it, but wondering if there are any stories amongst the folks here.

Unlike some businesses, it's not a slam-dunk that I will get enough contacts to make it worthwhile. However, just two parties a year could offset the cost, so it's not like I need MUCH business to make it work.

[liz.jewels]

No one has a thought on BNI?

[MiaColorado]

I looked into it in my area, but found it to be so expensive compared to other networking opportunities that I decided to pass.

[hnickless]

I've never heard of it.

[omahamom]

The last time I looked there weren't any meetings in my area that fit in my schedule.

[Mrs. Green Jeans]

I attended one meeting but decided not to join. I didn't want to commit the time and it was very expensive, not to mention I was unsure if the the demographics would be the best fit to help grow my business.

[ShayinSC]

I've heard of mixed results for BNI.

I would suggest perhaps starting out with less expensive networking groups to begin with and seeing how well you do with that.

If you don't have other business networking groups in your area, perhaps you could start your own. (I lead 2 local biz groups, and I find it very rewarding.)

[liz.jewels]

I have tried less expensive networking groups and they have gotten me virtually nothing. Often, I was competing against other businesses, people would miss meetings and so I wouldn't get my exposure, and there wasn't accountability for passing referrals. BNI is not that much more expensive, and provides a lot of training and accountability.

Anyway, I ended up signing up, and wanted to share a few successes:

I already have 3 parties booked with members of my chapter, and a vendor show with one of our regional BNI ambassadors. One of the parties I have booked is a Sunday football party, where I will help the guys shop for their wives during halftime. I have always wanted to do these but it has been hard to get them booked!

If even two of these parties happen and go well, it will be worth the $. Hopefully, I'll get more bookings and contacts out of them, as I usually do, and it will lead to even more business over time.

So far, so good. As with everything, your mileage may vary, but I am looking forward to spending the rest of my year in BNI in the "black" and hopefully growing my business even more!

[lani7]

I think many that join bni are more like realtors, insurance agents etc so i think direct sales party plan
would have less competition therefore worth joining.

[liz.jewels]

Well, there's only one person allowed per category, so the real estate agent and life insurance people do VERY well in BNI.

The advantage of direct sales is that because it is less common, it's easier to get into your preferred chapter.