Episode 921: Why Time and Chapter Size Matter - The Official BNI Podcast

Summary

Summary of "Episode 921: Why Time and Chapter Size Matter"

The Official BNI Podcast
Host: Dr. Ivan Misner
Episode: 921
Release Date: July 30, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 921 of The Official BNI Podcast, host Priscilla Rice welcomes Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, to delve into the critical factors influencing the success of BNI chapters: the duration of membership and the size of the chapter. This episode provides valuable insights backed by empirical data, aiming to enhance the return on investment (ROI) for BNI members.

Setting the Stage: BNI Museum and Current Activities

Priscilla Rice introduces the episode from Berkeley, California, while Dr. Ivan Misner participates remotely from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ivan's Current Focus:
"This week we're doing a board meeting... I'm going through old memorabilia and helping to set up the BNI Museum..." (01:25)

Dr. Misner shares his enthusiasm about reviving the BNI Museum, which showcases memorabilia dating back to 1985. He hints at future episodes where he will reveal more about the museum's contents.

The Pillars of BNI Success: Time and Chapter Size

Dr. Misner emphasizes that time in a chapter and chapter size are the two most significant predictors of success within BNI.

1. The Importance of Longevity in a Chapter

Impact on ROI:
"People that were in BNI for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years did 3, 4, 5 times the amount of business that those who were in for one year." (02:11)

Dr. Misner references Podcast 276 (Why BNI and Why BNI), highlighting a J-curve graph illustrating that longer membership duration correlates with increased business referrals and ROI.
Supporting Evidence:
"In episode number 177, we showed that BNI members who are in for three to five years will double or triple the number of referrals that they generate." (04:00)

Additional support comes from Podcast 528, which showcases a BNI member from Portugal whose referral slips grew consistently over five years, demonstrating the scalability of referrals with longer membership.
Extended Recommendations:
"Podcast number 3 plus one equals member success." (06:45)
Dr. Misner encourages listeners to revisit past episodes for detailed graphs and data supporting longevity's impact.

2. The Significance of Chapter Size

Squared Connection Effect:
"The squared connection effect shows that 16 people in a room have 256 connections. 32 people in a room have 1,024 connections." (08:30)

Drawing from Podcast 469, Dr. Misner explains Metcalfe's Law as the "squared connection effect," illustrating how doubling chapter size exponentially increases potential connections and referral opportunities.
New Data Insights:
Dr. Misner introduces fresh data from BNI Connect, presenting a graph that correlates chapter size with average weekly business generated per member.
- Chapter Size vs. Revenue:
  - 10 or fewer members: ~$600/week
  - 20 members: ~$940/week
  - 30 members: ~$1,281/week
  - 40 members: ~$1,556/week
  - 50 members: ~$1,958/week
  - 75+ members: ~$2,886/week
    ("Chapters of 10 or less generate on average per member, about US$600 a week... over 75 members, you're at $2,886.") (10:15)
This data underscores the undeniable advantage of larger chapters in generating higher business volumes.
Practical Implications:
"If you want 5 times your return on investment, you build a larger group." (11:00)

Dr. Misner urges chapter leaders to focus on growth, highlighting that larger groups not only increase referrals but also enhance the diversity of professions represented, leading to more robust business opportunities.

Actionable Strategies for Maximizing ROI

Dr. Misner outlines a clear action plan for BNI members to maximize their ROI by leveraging the principles of longevity and chapter size.

Stay the Course:
"Don't quit before the finish line. BNI is a marathon, not a sprint." (10:45)

Emphasizing the importance of patience and sustained effort within the chapter to build trust and generate referrals over time.
Grow Your Chapter:
"Invite other strong professionals. There is clearly a direct and dramatic linear correlation between length of time in a BNI group and the amount of business generated for the individual and the size of the chapter." (11:30)

Advocating for active recruitment to expand chapter size, thereby increasing the network and referral potential.
Engage in the VCP Process:
"Visibility, credibility, profitability. Success in BNI doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design. It's not magic, it's math." (11:50)

Encouraging members to be purposeful in their interactions and utilize the Vision, Credibility, Profitability (VCP) framework to build meaningful connections.

Conclusion

Dr. Ivan Misner wraps up the episode by reiterating the crucial relationship between the duration of membership and chapter size in determining the success and ROI of BNI members. By staying committed and fostering chapter growth, members can harness a powerful networking engine designed to maximize business opportunities.

"Success in BNI doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design. It's not magic, it's math. And momentum." (12:00)

Notable Quotes

Dr. Ivan Misner:
"BNI is a marathon, not a sprint." (10:45)
"The squared connection effect shows that 16 people in a room have 256 connections." (08:30)
"Success in BNI doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design. It's not magic, it's math." (12:00)
Priscilla Rice:
"Sometime on the podcast, you're gonna have to tell us what's in the museum." (01:25)

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as a pivotal resource for BNI members aiming to enhance their referral marketing strategies. By combining the insights on longevity and chapter size, Dr. Misner provides a comprehensive guide to achieving sustained business growth within the BNI framework.

Timestamps

Introduction and Current Activities: 00:00 - 02:09
Longevity in Chapters: 02:11 - 06:45
Chapter Size and Squared Connection Effect: 06:45 - 10:15
New Data on Member Revenue: 10:15 - 12:00
Conclusion and Quotes: 12:00 - End

Note: The timestamps are based on the provided transcript and may correspond to the podcast's timeline.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Episode number 921. Why Time and Chapter size matter.

B (0:07)

You're listening to the official B and I podcast with BI founder and chief visionary officer, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Stay tuned for networking and referral marketing tips from the man who's been called the father of modern networking, along with suggestions and insights into getting the most from your membership in the world's largest networking organization, bni.

A (0:30)

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the official B and I Podcast. I'm Priscilla Rice, and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. And I'm joined on the phone today by the founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of B and I, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Hello, Ivan, how are you? And where are you?

B (0:50)

I am in Charlotte, North Carolina. This week we're doing a board meeting. I'm speaking to members and staff. I love visiting the staff, but I'll tell you, the coolest thing that I'm doing this week in Charlotte is I'm going through old memorabilia and helping to set up the BNI Museum, which we had years ago, and we've got more space now. And so I'm going there. I'm gonna. I'm gonna be in jeans and a T shirt most of one day, setting up the B and I Museum at BNI Global Headquarters.

A (1:25)

Oh, sometime on the podcast, you're gonna have to tell us what's in the museum.

B (1:29)

I will, I will. It's stuff that goes back to 1985. So when you. I don't even remember everything. But I tell you what, I'll take notes and I will share with everyone what's in the museum. I'll take a few photos and maybe we can put them up.

A (1:43)

Yeah, that sounds great. Okay, well, tell us what you're doing now.

B (1:48)

Well, listen, I. We've done 900 and some podcasts now. You know, close to 920 or 30 podcasts. Honestly, I think this is going to be one of the most important podcasts I've done yet.

A (2:09)

Oh, wow. Okay.

B (2:11)

I really do. I think this is gonna. Years from now, we'll play it back as a classic. This will be a podcast that I'm gonna refer people to. I really. We have hard data now that BNI Connect has been out for more than a decade that absolutely, positively shows that the amount of time that someone stays in a chapter and the size of the chapter absolutely unequivocally make a huge difference in the return on investment. So I want to dive into the two most powerful predictors of success in bni. The time in a chapter and the size of the chapter. So it's really about the power of staying in and scaling up for your business. I want to explore how the longer you're in bni, the greater your ROI is and why larger chapter sizes significantly boost member referrals and income. And I'm going to refer to a couple of podcasts. So if you're listening to this, you know, just jot down the number of a couple of podcasts and when you have a chance, go back because there are graphs involving those podcasts. So I'm going to start with that one. Podcast is why BNI and why BNI is podcast number two, 276. And it's based on data from a number of years ago. But the one thing that I think is really important is the second graph in there, which is still absolutely accurate to this day. It is basically a J curve that shows that a J curve literally looks like the letter J or something like it. And it directly shows. And this particular study was done, actually done before B and I Connect. We had all the data, but it was done in a region that did research, hired an outside research firm and they found that people that were in BNI for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years did 3, 4, 5 times the amount of business that those who were in for one year. Hard data. Go take a look at that podcast podcast number 276 ybn I. And so longevity, we've always known, is important. You can take a look at another episode, episode number 177, where in there we showed that BNI who are in for three to five years will double or triple the number of referrals that they generate. And also a podcast number five, 28. That's a really important podcast. And take a look at the photograph that's in this podcast. And we don't do referral slips in most chapters now. It's all done online. But this is a great podcast because it was a BNI member in Portugal who had every referral slip he got in one year, the next year, the next year, the next year, and the next year he had five years of referral slips before they transitioned to online. And it is, it's like a scale up. And it clearly shows that the longer he was in, the more referrals that he got. Another podcast that I would highly recommend is that you take a look at podcast number. It's a podcast. Three plus one equals member success. Now, now we're moving into the second topic, which is the number of members in a chapter so what I've talked about so far is I've given you data, giving you very specific data that says the longer you're in, the more likely you are to get a lot of referrals. So don't quit before the finish line. I see people quit before they hit the finish line. BNI is a marathon, not a sprint. Those podcasts I just gave you are hard data, hard evidence. Now here's hard evidence about the size of a chapter and what difference it makes. The podcast I'm referring to first is 4693 plus 1 equals member success. And in it we have what's called the squared connection effect. And the squared connection effect shows that 16 people in a room have 256 connections. 32 people in a room have 1024 connections. So you double the size of your chapter, you quadruple the number of connections that you have in that room. It's also known as Metcalf's law, and it has to do with network theory, but not business, network technology, networks. And it's, it's basically the same concept as my squared connection effect theory. So you really want to increase the amount of business that you're generating. You got to be in a larger group. Larger groups absolutely are going to generate more business. And here's the big one. And this isn't in any podcast that I've done. This is a brand new. And I'm going to have this slide in this podcast. And it's the member revenue based on chapter size. And this is new data based on BNI Connect. And this is weekly data for chapters that are in bni and it takes a look at members who've been in for at least a year. So if they've been in for less than a year, it's not. We take them out of the data because it's hard to average that. But if you look at members who've been in for a year or more in chapters of 10 or less, all the way to chapters of over 75. And if you have a chance, look at the graph while I'm describing it. Chapters of 10 or less generate on average per member, about US$600 a week. A week. On average. When you hit 20 members, it goes up to about $940. When you hit 30 members, it goes up to $1,281. When you hit 40 members, it goes up to 15 $56. When you hit almost 50, it goes up to almost 2,000. $1,958 a week is being generated on average, when you hit 50 members or more, it's over 2,000. And when you hit 75 members or more, you're at 2,886. It is, it is a straight line up from left to right. So based on this new data that we have, and this is right out of BNI Connect, and remember, this is people that have been in for. In BNI for a year or more. More members mean more professions are represented, more opportunities exist, and more connections are made. Large groups create referral momentum for a lot of reasons. One is that you get more power teams and you have more power teams. One referral can be multiple referrals, but also there's a lot more excitement in a larger group. So look at this graph as, as you're listening to this podcast, or if you're an education coordinator, make sure to show this graph. And this is the average amount of business generated per member per week, on average. Now, okay, there's something about average we need to know. Not everybody's going to be average. One of my statistician professors once said, if your head is in the freezer and your feet are in the oven, on average, you should be okay. And obviously that's not the case. So, you know, average is average. And so, you know, if you're a florist, your average might be lower than this. If you're a real estate agent, your average might be higher than this. But these average numbers, they speak to us on the size of the group. There is just no question about it. Larger groups have a much higher return on investment. And so when chapters say to me, yeah, we had 20 members, we're happy, we're good. Wouldn't you like to have a 5x on your ROI? 5 times your return on investment? Well, if you want 5 times in your return on investment, you build a larger group. And so combining the two, combining longevity and chapter size, and it's a one, two punch, you're building trust inside a powerful networking engine. So here's. Here's the action plan for everyone. Stay the course. Trust takes time. Grow your chapter. Invite other strong professionals. There is clearly a direct and dramatic linear correlation between length of time in a BNI group and the amount of business generated for the individual and the size of the chapter and the average amount of business generated per member for the entire group. Lastly, engage in the VCP process. Be purposeful in your interactions. Visibility, credibility, profitability. Success in BNI doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design. It's not magic, it's math. And momentum. This is probably one of the most important podcasts I've ever done. For BNI Podcast, take a really good look at the podcasts I recommended and the JPEG slide that we'll include in this. And take this to your chapter members. It's really powerful. That's it for today, Priscilla. It's back to you.