[Moderator David@stives]

Anyone here go to Bni Meetings ?

If so do you pay the £500 yearly fee ?

[Mark Sadler]

Yes dave £500 fee i went to one as a guest and that put me right off.

[Amethyst]

The problem with any networking organisation is that for people like us (who I am assuming are generally 1 or 2 man outfits)  you need large numbers of prospects to make it worthwhile paying the fee. It doesn't end there because you usually pay for breakfast on top and that could be £7/8 for three weeks out of 4. Add it up - it becomes expensive very quickly. In my experience of networking you tend to get estate agents, solicitors, IT people who can pass business between each other. It doesn't work like that for us - unless you can find a group that has 50/60 hoteliers, guest house owners etc going along!

[Moderator David@stives]

Ian

Have you been a member of one

[williamx]

Dave

I am a member of the Bob Clubs, http://www.bobclubs.com/ unlike the BNI where you have to give out refferals at every meeting, the Bob clubs would rather you only gve out solid refferals, not just names and numbers on companies who are not nessasary looking for your services.

I have found them very useful, I have picked up more regular and one off work, that has covered all the fees I have paid out, with all the regular work I have gained, it is more than enough to cover all my fees for years to come.

Apart from the extra business it can gain you, there is also the benefits of meeting other business people who can help your company move forward.

You need to be precise on what you are looking for, instead of saying that you are looking for window cleaning work, narrow it down to what work you are looking for, even what companies you want to be introduced too.

[Amethyst]

Yes I have.

[Amethyst]

Sorry that reply was a bit short. I was in the Business League for a year and my comments are based on that experience. Its a bit more relaxed than BNI as regards referrals but the point is did it benefit me? Answer No. Yes I did a few jobs but not near enough to cover the costs. I am currently in an organisation called West Country Networking - there are no fees - we meet once a month and you pay just for your meal. But so far its still the same problem in as much as its all down to numbers. Unless you are in a city centre with loads of office people who want their carpets or windows cleaned I can't see how it benefits.

[Moderator David@stives]

I have been to BNI and you dont have to give referals every meeting, people mostly only want HOT leads.

When i was there i only seen about 4 referals handed over and heard about the updates on a few more.

I saw is a chance to network more than refer, and the people attending were obviously successful as they could afford the £500 fee and the £6 weekly meeting fee as well as there travelling costs.

[Amethyst]

Give it a go by all means. Most of the people I came across were there because their fees were being paid by the business that they worked for (solicitors etc) not out of their own pockets. It makes a big difference.