[andy east sussex]

every couple months always get invited to these they do seem good idea as part of networking but £600 membership is a hell of alot does anyone else go to these and do you think its worth it your opinions guys

[andy east sussex]

plus some jobs obv alot better if you have a tm and as we dont somthing might come up and would have to turn away so i guess not much point joining

[wynne jones]

If you are a real go getter I reckon it's worth it.

[*Hector*]

If you are a real go getter I reckon it's worth it.

but if you are that much of a go getter .... then you are as well marketing for yourself and not some other business.. 

[Stephen Callinan]

cheers

[Carpet Dawg]

why would it be better if you had a truckmount???  outside of the carpet cleaning world, people dont even know what one is!

[*Hector*]

cheers

[wynne jones]

If you are a real go getter I reckon it's worth it.

but if you are that much of a go getter .... then you are as well marketing for yourself and not some other business.. 

If you are a supa dupa go getter, you set one up yourself, get the best leads and pocket £600 off everyone. All you have to do is get a few people interested and turn up early. 

[JandS]

Why would you want to promote somebody else's
business?...in the hope that they'll promote yours?
Isn't it £600 plus £15 per week for the breakfast?
That's a lot of money that could be spent on better
marketing material.

[andy east sussex]

thats very true

[wynne jones]

Why don't you go along and find out, or do they want the money upfront.

Although I don't do bns I reckon the biggest and highest profit work I do is for people I've met and got chatting about business.

[andy east sussex]

ye been inited to 3 diffrent ones in the last year all the same basically pay for breakfast if you want it 30 second speech about your business etc then at end they tell you the price to join

[wynne jones]

I've heard people say they feel pressured to produce new leads week after week, but I think that's a good thing. How many people would do it otherwise. Generally the more you give out in life the more you get back. The takers will eventually find it dries up for them. Reciprocity!

[John Kelly]

The FSB have monthly meets. Its cheaper, you get other benefits and theres no pressure to reciprocate leads.

[andy east sussex]

is the group you go to very big john and do you get many leads from your meetings

[david@zap-clean]

There's a few non-subscription ones about... go to the intro meets, chat to the people, and keep your ears open for the 'other B2B opportunities' in your area, e.g.: http://www.networking4business.com/

[Ian Gourlay]

I get invites all the time must be desperate for Carpet Cleaner or possibly it does not work.
Other drawbacks  if i joined I could not promote my Blind Business.
Plus you have to go breakfast at a strange hours and put on a happy succesful face .
Plus preasure of supplying others with leads.
I did offer a job to another tradeperson did not even phone me.
Plus probably find mmbers want a reduced price on their own jobs, if not for free. remember some do that for Carpet Retailers already.

I think you would get more benifit from Chamber, Roundtable,Lions, Rotary , Buffs etc where you have to give a bit of your time to local charities , but somehow your reward comes through the local network you develop.  Or you could try the Masons

I have had calls from FSB but never investigated

[John Kelly]

To be honest Andy I haven't been to any. We don't do cleaning anymore so don't think there would be much call for our products there. However that may change now we are doing janitorial as well so may get myself along. Worth joining just for the tax inspection scheme. They will pay 3k towards your fees should you ever get investigated.

[jim mca]

John
Cheap for you to join FSB as joining fees are based on number of employees not your massive turnover 
a lot of there stuff is really good 

[wynne jones]

I still think if you are keen and need a kick up the arse its a good move.

So what if you have to get up 'early', so what if you have to come along with leads and pay for your breakfast. If you are mixing with people who are trying to get where they are going fast you are probably going to be positively influenced motivationally as well as developing business.

You become like the people you associate with most.