BNI Greater San Diego Chapter

Is it worth $16,200 extra per year to get up early?

Ours is worth about $16,200 per member over the last 52 weeks. Our 30 members share qualified referrals with one another, take the time to learn about each others’ business and then report back to the group what business has transpired in the previous week. We keep diligent track of all of that and the result is that in the rolling 52 weeks, our group has generated $485,675 in business for each other.

When we have more members, we can generate MORE referrals and more business for one another. We are always looking for a florist, a plumber and a pest control person. So, is it worth it to meet at 7:00 a.m.? We think so!

Greater SD BNI Group Gathers to Yelp

Our BNI group has numerous members who can benefit from having comments posted on Yelp and other review sites.

About half the group got together at Karen Dehart’s house on the evening of July 13th for a little food (we always have food) and to have a “group compute” and post comments on Yelp in support of each others’ businesses.

Jeweler Vickie Riggs & Grantwriter Corinne Knutson at BNI's Yelp party

Mike McAdoo, Yelping for Greater SD BNI

The Greater San Diego BNI group “Yelped” comments about the experiences we have had, added photos of their experiences with each others’ businesses and had just one more great get-together getting to know and trust each other.

Our kids played together in the pool and spouses were welcomed to the party.

It’s not about the food (but that always makes it even better!).

Advanced Training – 1 to 1 Dance Cards; Carlsbad

What’s Advanced Training?  Glad you asked!  It’s a terrific benefit of BNI membership to attend workshops to improve your skills as a presenter, how to ask for exactly the referrals you need to grow your business, and how to be an excellent referrer.  Why would I want to be a good referrer?  So others will want to refer to *you*.

The next Advanced Training will be held in Carlsbad on Monday, July 14th to train on efficient and product 1-to-1 member meetings (aka “Dance Cards”). Click on the link above to go right to the event registration. Classes are only $20.

Our dear President and friend, Sharon Mabrey has made the difficult decision to leave the chapter so she can tend to a family matter out of state.

The Greater San Diego BNI Chapter wishes you well, Sharon.  We know it will be several months before you can resume life as normal and we’ll miss you and your enthusiasm terribly until you can come back.

Best wishes to you and your family, Sharon.

It’s been a long road for him to get to initiation, but Clay Chadima is finally our chapter’s new Mortgage Broker.  Clay was referred by our realtor, Barbara Tackett.  Clay held on through a tough series of stack days, competing with a variety of brokers and in-house mortgage consultants.

Clay is with San Diego Home Funding, serving all of San Diego County and based in Mission Valley.  We wish you well in our chapter, Clay!

April, the beginning of Spring and the beginning of the new BNI term.  Either way, it’s a time of delights and new perspectives.  This term the Greater San Diego BNI Chapter welcomes:

• Sharon Mabrey, President
• Michelle Balke, Vice President
• Melissa Tanaka, Secretary/Treasurer

All the fun you could want in a BNI meeting, and good weather, too.  Welcome Leadership Team.  Until October!

For the past six weeks, VP Melissa Tanaka and member Sharon Mabrey have been organizing a parade of Stack Days to bring visitors to the group.  When new visitors come to the group, they always have new perspectives and contacts and needs that the group can benefit from.  And it is a surefire way to get new members, which helps the group thrive with new referrals and resources.

This last meeting of Stack Days is focused on bringing in multiple businesspeople in the Payroll and Auto Detailing professions.  If you are a Family Law attorney, Title Representative or Home Inspector, the meeting on March 25th would be an ideal meeting to attend, meet the group and see if it is a good way for you to grow your business.

And if you can’t make it, please give us the name of a colleague who does want to grow their business!

The Greater San Diego Chapter of BNI has had a remarkable summer of meaningful, business-growing networking.  Since April 1st we have generated and completed $87,834 in business for one another.  With 35 members on average, that’s $2,509 per person over a 3.5 month period.

How does it work?  We make a priority of attending our Thursday morning meeting so we can get to know each other and each other’s business.  We take our training seriously so we can do the best possible job in communicating what we want to grow our business.  We are honorable and ethical with the referrals we receive so we will get more referrals.

I heard someone say “I don’t have the money for BNI”.  That’s a very short-sighted view because on a $440 annual registration, our group is on track to create $10,038 per member, per year.  I’m not very good at math, but I think that’s a 21x return on investment.

See you Thursday morning!

We have a tracking system that allows us to understand how much money moves through this business referral group.  This last week we had three members all generate referrals resulting in more than $500 in business (just last week!).  Thank you for closed business to:

• Gene Polley, E.J. Polley & Associates Tax & Accounting
• Jeff Delaney, Aflac Supplemental Insurance Representative
• Barbara Tackett, Keller Williams Realty

When we pass more than 50 referrals in a week and average about $20,000 in business completed per month, this is just a small indicator of our members’ committment to growing their businesses.

Visit us any Thursday to see it in action!

Greater San Diego chapter of BNI welcomes more new members this week:

• Escrow Services: Teresa Harris
• Telecommunications Services: Kristin Kellam

And we just received an application from a jazz singer – she is locking out her competition, too!

Welcome new members!  We’re up to 38 members who want to share business with one another every week, and that means each member has expanded their sales force by 37 people.

Visit our meeting on Thursday at 7:00 a.m. to find out how you can have access to so much business.