Transcript
A (0:00)
Hello, this is Priscilla Rice, and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio. This week we're going to have a rebroadcast of one of our earlier classic podcasts. We hope you enjoy it, and thanks so much for listening. Episode number 721. Don't let your group deflate while you wait.
B (0:22)
You're listening to the official BNI 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 (0:44)
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the official BNI 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 and the Chief visionary officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Hello, Ivan, how are you and where are you?
C (1:06)
Thank you, Priscilla. I haven't been traveling through zoom or, you know, much of anything lately, as some of you may know. I had some of my health numbers spike and so I went to a clinic for a couple of weeks. Got a lot of writing done, by the way, Priscilla, while I was there. I mean, a lot of writing and my numbers have gone down. Things are good. It's an old issue that I've talked about. And go to my public Facebook page and you'll see information from time to time, updating. But I'm doing great and look forward to zooming around a lot again.
A (1:38)
Oh, that's wonderful, Ivan. Well, we're happy to know that you're doing well.
C (1:43)
Thank you. So this is an interesting topic and I've been playing around with this in my mind for a couple of weeks. Don't let your group deflate while you wait. So I've been thinking about all the reasons that people give for saying, well, I, you know, I can't invite people right now. And so here are some of them and I'm going to talk about each one individually. I don't know anyone to invite or too small to invite visitors. I want a different group of members. They have a niche business. Our meeting space is too small. People I invite don't show up. The economy is not good. The economy is too good. Meeting online doesn't work. I'm waiting to meet in person. I have zoom fatigue. Do any of these sound familiar to you at all?
A (2:30)
Yes. Yes.
C (2:32)
Well, all except for the last few. They're the same excuses that I've heard for 36 years. So let's hit each one of them one at a time if we can. I don't know anyone to invite. Go listen to episode number six, three, three, three. I once said that. I said that I don't have anybody else to invite. And. And I had a BNI member who took me to school on that and she gave me suggestions that from her suggestions I found a boatload of people that I could have been inviting. Listen to that, that episode to, to hear what I learned from a BNI member. And I'm sharing with you. You'll find if you do what I say there, that there may be a lot of people that you can still invite. We're too small. Number two, we're too small to invite visitors. If that's holding you back, you'll never grow. Right, Do a visitor's day. Check out episode number 5,05 where we talk about how to do a visitor's day. And I have seen chapters who had 15 members do a visitor's day and end up in the high 20s or 30s by doing a great, not just a marginal visitors day, but an all out fantastic visitors day. And they got there. So don't let that hold you back or you'll never grow. I want a different group of members. That's another one. Okay, then create it. Create it. I know a person who said, look, if I want a different group of members, I can't join. There are no other chapters that have my opening. So I got to make this happen. So he got on the membership committee. He invited people he wanted into the group. You can be a curator of your chapter. He completely changed the chapter. He was the impetus to changing that chapter around and bringing in great members. Here's another one, number four. Well, they have a niche business. Oh really? Listen to episode number 244. It's about unique professions. Do you remember me talking about Nordi Turchin? Priscilla who sold commercial light bulbs. Right. That's episode number 244. There is no more of a niche business than what Nordi had. Check that out. Here's one that I think is just crazy. Our meeting space is too small. Here's a thought. Move to a bigger space. I mean really. That's an air sandwich as an excuse. There's no meat to that. Find a bigger space and don't say there aren't any. I have talked to people who said there aren't any and then somebody else in that chapter found one. So they're around. Look for Them people I invite don't show up. That's another one. Okay, so this has happened to me. It's happened to me. So I did a blog@ivanmeisner.com about the fear of rejection. And in there I say, I quote Dr. Mark Goldston, who's been on our podcast a number of times. We have a lot less control over winning or losing at something than we do over trying or quitting something. Always try. You can eventually win. If you always quit, you can never win. Keep inviting. You think I haven't invited people who didn't show up? I'm the founder of the organization. It happens to me. It's okay. Having people not show up did not stop me from pursuing success in the group I was a member of. So keep plugging away and do it right. There's so many podcasts on how to invite. Just do a search on inviting visitors. There's a lot of podcasts on how to do it. These two, I'm going to give you back to back. The economy is not good. The economy is too good. I love those two because I hear them both. When the economy is bad, oh, the economy's not good. I can't, you know, it's hard to invite people. And then, you know, a year later, oh, the economy's so good. I don't, you know, I can't invite people. The beauty of BNI is that when the economy is not good, people need BNI because the economy is bad and people are struggling. When the economy is good, people. People need BNI because their competition is making it difficult for them to be successful. BNI is one of the few businesses I have ever seen that when you have a recession, we've grown. When you have a booming economy, we've grown. It doesn't matter what the economy is, the needs still exist. Now, here's a few that are more recent than I didn't hear two years ago. Meeting online doesn't work. We know that's not true. We've opened over 600 BNI chapters during the pandemic. Over 600. We've added thousands of members during this time. Check out episode number 689. The only difference between online and offline is the spelling. It's a great episode, and it talks about the fact that online works. We know it works. I'm waiting to meet in person. Well, that is, by definition. Don't let your group deflate while you wait. That's the perfect definition of it, that if you're waiting, your group's going to deflate you don't want to do that. So don't wait to meet in person. Listen to episode number 659. Inviting visitors is easy online. Priscilla, you said offline before we recorded that you thought it was easier online than in person.