dreamdsnbld — April 12, 2010 — Creating the Data Source for a Mail Merge - Tutorial created specifically for the BNI "Visitor's Day" Letter Template. This is the first video in a series of two. Video two is "Mail Merge - A Tutorial for BNI's."

BNI is now the world's largest referral organization with Chapters in many countries around the globe. It was started in 1985 by Dr. Ivan Misner, one of the world's leading experts in networking and word-of-mouth marketing.

Dr. Misner was a management consultant when he started BNI. He worked with companies that needed assistance in the area of strategic planning and organizational development. As a business consultant, he received most of his business through referrals. However, he was not satisfied with the types of business groups that existed and he put together a networking group that he felt was structured, focused on doing business, and had an emphasis on positive reinforcement and support. That organization became BNI. Today, BNI has thousands of Chapters world-wide with tens of thousands of members passing millions of referrals.

Below, you will find some additional information about the organization:

Supply “why” a visitor should attend your next meeting. By Tim Houston and Claudia MacDermott

You meet Joe at a party.  Seems like a nice guy.  When he tells you about his line of work, you realize he is someone worth inviting to your BNI chapter.  His profession is open, and you believe he could be a good fit for the group.  You tell Joe a little about BNI and invite him to come as your guest next week.  "Sounds good.  I'll definitely try to make it."  Joe says, as he smiles and shakes your hand.

"Great!  I will see you next week” you say and leave the conversation feeling pretty good because you met a prospect and invited him.  He sounds interested and you are looking forward to having a guest at the meeting.

Next week, you arrive early and keep an eye on the door.  You tell some members you are expecting a guest.  But Joe doesn't show.  You now agree with the conventional wisdom: Inviting visitors to your BNI chapter is hard.  Many are invited, but few actually show up.

There are legitimate reasons why people don't attend.  But there are two main reasons:

1) People won't commit to something that's not familiar.

The Rancho Bernardo "Better Business Alliance", a chapter of San Diego BNI (Business Networking International), has joined the Social Networking World! We've launched our first Facebook "Fan Page", in order to provide our members with a place to communicate freely, post industry specific content & really reach out to our fellow San Diego businesses.

This Facebook page will be dedicated to: BBA Chapter Updates, Upcoming Events, BNI Member Spotlights, Small Business Education & Training, San Diego Business Networking, Industry Specifc News, and Much Much More!

We'd love to have you check our our new creation, as well as learn from some of our amazing members... and even Become a Fan if you'd like to see more!

Click Here to See our Facebook Page & Become a Fan