Why join a BNI GrOuP

when you can start your own good ol boys network  

you can always start your own group with out all the strings attached to a bni group

you know your own good ol boys networks

you have customers and friends that already own business they know your work and you know theirs.

I have built up pretty much my own network.

here is an real example of how it worked

I am cleaning a house the owner who does not know anyone in town asks me about who to hire for electrical and some stuff

so I have right on my phone the number of a trusted contractor BAZINGA! He comes over fixes the light and some other things she needs to rent the house so he gives the number of a trusted good ol boy agent. From one job three were created.

I say start your own network.

And it didn't cost ya a thing or an hour of your time huh. Some people aren't very outgoing though and need groups like bni to pull the envelope.

I think your idea is SMART and quite useful.

My issue with BNI goups......

1 Expense. Fees are involved so you can make a presentation every so often and you are asked to only recommend those in the group for services.
2 There is no real guarantee those in the group are REALLY the ones you would recommend.
3 Did I mention you are PAYING to make a presentation to people who are supposed to be recommending you anyway?

Network YOURSELF and save not only money, but maybe even embarrassment.

I've been doing that for years and didn't realize it. I always tell my customers that I try hard to find people that do a great job for a fair price and are honest and trustworthy. I've got a plumber, an A/C tech, an electrician, a carpenter, an auto mechanic, and a tile layer that I can recommend. It's taken about 10 years to accumulate that group.

I average about 20 jobs a year off of referrals from those guys. Of course, I also get referrals from those referrals, so it works well.

Service industry is full of crooks, its wise to network imo.

Yea

I can tell you a lot of reasons, why to join......but you prob don't really want to know, and I'll just be the 'negative A-hole'. LOL

And I think can think of a lot of reasons why your "good ol boys network" will have marginal success at best.   

But if you were ever part of an organized Marketing Group you would know all this.

Let's start with the number of leads the "good ol boys network" group is referring per month, or the number you're getting?

Ryan hit the nail on the head, good luck getting the average person to pull their own weight, even though they talk a mean game!   
That's one thing an organized group does, is it get's members to commit to being active by meeting weekly, and having an investment in the group, and that doesn't even always work, 50/50 maybe?.........again you know this already, if you've been in a group before.   

BNI is a business in it self with dues mandatory meeting and requirements of bringing new members into the collective.

The problem is the value of the referral carpet cleaning is not always a high ticket item. Oh sure 100 bucks there a 100 bucks here. You being a carpet cleaner your referring them has a higher ticket referral

Selling a house getting a listing $$$$$$$ thousands of dollars.
wood floors plumbing and jobs to a general contractor.

You get them thousands and in return you get peanuts.

Yup it's a biz, and the reason it works.

And That's right, and the reason I quit the group.........got tired of $100-200 jobs, that were just basically paying expenses.

You two hit the biggest negative of the BNI for carpet cleaners. Low return if your marketing to your group for leads in residential. I would always market to the group for commercial leads only. That would give a better return IF your group could produce for you.

I still believe BNI is best for those who really don't feel competitive in the cold call sells arena. BNI would do that for those type of people.

Personally I like the pressure of knowing I have to produce more business and hit the streets running. You never know what you will learn about yourself. This type of sells also give you a big boost of confidence when you do close a sell.

Terry, I have been doing that for years also. As I meet people I get to know these contractors and I have a group of people who I can refer out. I have gotten a lot of jobs from them and I have sent them a lot of jobs. And it doesn't cost me a dime and I do not have to go to meetings.

I was in BNI and I couldn't last a year in it (7 & a half months). The group was lame, I got a lot of bad leads from members who were just trying to win a referral prize for most referrals given.

I love it when people say its your fault for not getting referrals or your presentation needs work. They don't even think that the whole group might just be a worthless pile of shitt like the one I was involved with.

All of the people were new in their business. A few people in the group used my service but it wasn't worth investing my time with them any longer.

Shortly after I left, the group dissolved. I know a cleaner who belongs to a group that is great and gets weekly work from it.

I visited about 15 different bni groups and they all had the same "feel" of new business owners desperately trying to get work.

I learned that every group has a Realtor, investment broker, insurance agent,  and a gift basket lady that is just starting.

I suppose it may work well if you have a nice group that is committed. From what I experienced, I would rather be investing my time in sleep.

what's nice about having your own network ( which in some way we all do ) is no one is keeping score. It does take years and it does work better in smaller towns and counties like where I live.

The nice thing is when you get that phone call or bottle of your favorite thank you out of the bleu with no strings attached ( it was just a pure thank you )

I have a cleaning lady I clean her carpets for free but she wont have it so I do it for some home made pie.

I learned this from a customer of mine Some times when doing some one a favor or free job always charge something. Like pie or a seattles best coffee it has to be something easy.

This makes the person feel better and not like now they owe you something in return

I have a rental agent has upscale rentals when I leave the bill on the kitchen counter I always leave a bottle of nice beer or a custom soda or something like that.

He says I don't have to do it but it is a nice surprise because he never knows what it will be.

Many of these things make business fun  

Davey Cracker wrote:Yup it's a biz, and the reason it works.

And That's right, and the reason I quit the group.........got tired of $100-200 jobs, that were just basically paying expenses.

From your own admission, I think you have a very good reason why NOT to join. If BNI were great in your eyes, you'd still be there. Right?

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. It should be moreso judges by the ROI.

BNI has to keep bringing in the fresh meat with any closed group the referrals can dry up.

The problem is closed group

I went to a bni meeting once my car buy kept bugging me so I went, can you say fresh blood in the water!!!!!!! there was a feeding frenzy of people giving me business cards.

for some reason the last carpet cleaner dropped out.

Just what we need a new carpet cleaner OMG

the nice thing is with our own good ol boys networks you can have more than one plumber and real estate agent or what ever.

I think it was 450 dollars for year and 10 dollars a meeting for the breakfast.

Well put! 
When I was first starting out I was part of a start up called "young entrepreneur under 30" We paid for advertising in the paper and hosted events etc etc.. needless to say it didn't take us long to figure out that we were all in need of those in established, thriving, businesses. We wasted a lot of money and time on this.. at least I learned and refuse to join any group now!
I now have guys/girls that all use each other and we are all pretty tight, I get more jobs from these people than any other venture I have tried yet. We all do sales for each other and it works better than presenting your own company at times.