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Sam. Foreign. Welcome back to BNI Power of One. Thank you for joining me again this morning. Back with your show. Submissions Topics questions submitted bnipowerofone.com if you have one go there let us know. We will definitely get to it. Today is from Lawrence out in Arkansas. He says I'm in a trade business and I'm a new I am new in business for myself. Most of the people I know that are personal are already covered by the chapter I joined. How do I find people to invite as a guest? So this is a really great question. A very typical challenge I think most of us face when we not only just first get into B and I I think in general get into BNI and it is the most influential lever you have to increasing your results and it's the one that's often least pulled out of fear for some out of maybe being uncomfortable out of this not really understanding where to even start maybe. And you know who do I invite? Like I the people I know I can't invite because they're already locked out or the people I know are the ones who invited me so you know they're obviously in the chapter already which is very much something I challenge was challenged with because when I first joined I was 20 years old and you know turning 21 and you know the people I knew couldn't even join BNI they were still in college with me and stuff so it is and and I didn't I wasn't very good at inviting early on either for the same reason I had all the excuses. So how do we find people to invite as a guest the and I would encourage you to re view the whole series we did for as a chapter in the growth series it was in 5:60 something in the episode so I mean we're know rapidly approaching almost 400 episodes ago which is crazy to think about a lot of this but because I go into more detail I think in each one of the episodes is what I'm going to be able to do today in just this one. But the first question isn't how do I find people to invite. The first question is what professions do I need? What is the one profession right now I strategically need in my chapter? That's where I would start. So you're in a trade what is a profession right now that you know would be in a position to pass you consistent referrals? So somebody in your contact sphere. Contact spheres are those professions that complement your business but don't compete with them. They could be targeting the same type of people you're targeting so they're going to see more opportunities more often. Could be another trade. It could be a banker who finances these types of things. What have you. Start there. Don't start with how do I find people? Because that's vague and it's very hard to even begin. And, you know, it's all over the place and it's overwhelming. And all this, why we don't do, hey, say anybody, somebody. Anyone or someone in your weekly presentations is the same reason why you don't want to be inviting with that kind of mindset. So first step is, who do I strategically need for my own results? That's the question. You should do an exercise where you come up with a list of 10 of those. And you probably should, unless your chapter is really large, easily be able to come up with a list of 10 of those. Even in a large chapter, you might be able to do that. Make that list and prioritize that list. Okay. The most important profession I can get is, you know, xyz, whatever that is, a commercial lender, what have you, a painter, an electrician, whatever that is. Okay. Now I need to understand that that becomes my target and it's my target because this is the impact it's going to make on my business. And you're going, well, I don't know what impact it could make on my business. I would think conservatively, if you were to get a strategic profession into your chapter for you and you build the right relationship, should pass you a referral a month, if it's really in your context here and you've done a good job developing and training that referral a month. So a referral. So 12 referrals next year. And I say next year purposely. This is June that I'm recording this. So if you're really good at it and you get them into this chapter by, by July 1st, there's a time element now of building the relationship, understanding the trust and all of that. You'll probably start producing some results, you know, fourth quarter this year, hopefully. But it's not going to be as consistent yet because it's still new. The consistency might start in 2027, early 2027. And that is just a natural lag. One of the things that I think Mrs. Is missing in a lot of planning and understanding around networking is the lag between the, the actual networking and the result from it. And so, you know, we've got. If you're in a new chapter, let's just say we have a lot of chapters starting and sometimes they'll fall in this trap of like, oh, we've got time, we've got time, we've got time, we've got time. And it's like, okay, well you know, when you lack urgency on developing your chapter, you're punting the results from the chapter to next year because even once you charter and everything else there's a time and blah, blah, blah. So same thing here. But that's okay. We always have to start somewhere, right? So even if we're like, okay, you know, a lot of these results aren't going to start coming until fourth quarter this year, heavily into next year, that's okay. That that means we need to start right now because any other day I wait just further punts that there is no like how do I get it? So it's quicker right now that that doesn't exist. So you know, it goes to the whole like when was the best time to plant the tree? You know, 100 years ago. When's the next point, best time today. And that's kind of where you're at. So you pick the profession. The next thing you're going to do now is do some research on all of the companies and all the professionals within a if you're a live chapter, 30 mile radius of your chapter that you could potentially invite. So that's the next step is okay, I need a painter. I'm googling all the painters in a 30 mile radius. I am going to LinkedIn and searching all the painters in a 30 mile radius and then I'm going to Facebook and asking for referrals for painters in a 30 mile radius. And I'm going to take all of the research I'm finding. I'm going to take all of those. I'm going to make a list of at least probably 20 different people, probably more. But you can narrow it down based on ratings, reviews, who recommended them on Facebook, all that kind of stuff. And I'm gonna make a list of those 20 people and then I'm going to invite every single one of them. I don't care if the first 10 say yes, I'm still inviting the next 10 of them. Every single one of them. And the reason for that is because I need a painter, whatever. In this room, I can't rely on the first yes to be automatically I can't rely that they're A going to show up even though they said yes doesn't mean they're going to show up and B, that they show up and it's the right fit for them and they decide to join, I need to maximize the odds that I'm going to get a painter as a fellow member that I am now integrating into my system of meeting with them every single week, doing one to ones, training them with my weekly presentation presentations, training them in these one to ones, having, having that reciprocal mindset established out of the gate, all of those things that come with them. Being in our chapter, I need to maximize the odds that I get that to happen as soon as possible. So the only way I can maximize those odds is get as many yeses as I can so that I get as many people to show up as I can. So that with that competition in the room, multiple people apply and the chapter picks the best one. So it's not about finding people to invite, it's the people who are there. You just gotta narrow your focus and implement some pretty basic but very valuable and important strategic planning to your membership, which I think is missing the most in bni, most people join, they do the activity, you know, they go through those motions, but they don't spend a lot of time stepping out and strategically planning what those motions can actually do for them. So that's where I would start and I would use episode, I think it's 566 on how to actually do the inviting and walk through how to invite all of those people for you. So really great question, really appreciate it. Everybody else, same. If you've got questions, Topics, go to bnipowerofone.com if you're finding value, share this with others. Leave us a review, all those stuff. Appreciate you all have a great day. Sam.
Host: Tim Roberts
Air Date: June 24, 2026
This episode tackles a common BNI challenge: how to find the right people to invite as guests—particularly when you’re new to the group and your personal contacts are already involved or “covered." Host Tim Roberts responds to a real listener’s (Lawrence from Arkansas) question, sharing a clear, strategic approach to enhancing chapter growth and, ultimately, the results each member gets from their networking activity.
“The first question isn’t ‘How do I find people to invite?’ The first question is: what professions do I need?”
— Tim Roberts (02:40)
“There is a natural lag between the networking and the result…any day I wait just further punts that.”
— Tim Roberts (07:10)
Process:
Memorable Quote:
“Even if the first 10 say yes, I'm still inviting the next 10… The only way I can maximize the odds is to get as many yeses as I can.”
— Tim Roberts (11:20)
Observation: Many BNI members do the activity but lack big-picture planning—thinking ahead about how inviting can shape long-term results.
Tip: Refer to episode 566 for a deep dive on the mechanics of inviting.
On strategy:
“Most people join, they do the activity... but they don’t spend a lot of time stepping out and strategically planning what those motions can actually do for them.”
— Tim Roberts (13:40)
On mindset:
“Don’t start with ‘How do I find people?’ because that’s vague and overwhelming. Start with, ‘Who do I need?’”
— Tim Roberts (03:20)
On follow-through:
“Even though they said yes doesn’t mean they’re going to show up—and if they do, they might not join. Maximize the odds.”
— Tim Roberts (11:40)
Summary Tone: Practical, motivational, and gently corrective—Tim balances empathy for new members with a call to be proactive and strategic.
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