Marketing through Networking Groups

One of the fundamental principles of marketing is to build a base of people who like you, who trust you, who do business with you, and/or refer others to do business with you.

That can be done through various forms of advertising and depending on your budget, you can reach different sizes of audiences to see or hear your message. Another way is not traditionally thought of as Advertising, but it does fall under the marketing umbrella, and that is Business Networking Groups.

Two years ago I wrote about my experience and this is an update.

This morning I gathered with some old friends that I have know for the past 4 years or so. There was my Realtor who sold our last house, our Mortgage broker who took care of the financing, the Banker that makes house calls, the son of a friend of mine that has their own home remodeling business, the guy who cleans our carpets, our C.P.A. along with many others.

I first developed relationships with these friends through an organized networking group called B.N.I. There are a few chapters in Fort Wayne and I was an active member for about 3 years. In the past 11 months, I have been a sub for one of the members that was unable to attend.

B.N.I. has a strict attendance policy. You are required to be there every week or send a sub. You also pay a membership fee. You receive certain tangible benefits as a member. They include:

1. Exclusivity in your business classification. You are not competing against someone else in the same industry for leads and referrals. This builds loyalty.
2. Training in networking and business. Each week, there is an educational segment. The content varies with each B.N.I. group. I took care of the education for about 21/2 years when I was a member of the group.
3. Higher standards for membership than most "free" networking groups. Not everyone that wants to join is allowed. A little discrimination can be a good thing, when we are talking about setting standards for honesty, trustworthiness, etc. If you would not be a good friend, then you would not be a good member of a B.N.I. group. There have been times when we turned away a potential member.
   
4. Actual leads and referrals to grow your business. B.N.I. has a system that I have not seen in most other groups that includes the passing of hand written leads and referrals on a form that is then tracked so you can follow up and the group knows how many leads and referrals are being passed. I know that the Banker and the Carpet Cleaner have substantially grown their businesses directly from the leads that come from the members of this group. Each business is different.
5. People you can trust to use yourself in business. Like I said before, the room was filled with people I have spent my money with. Meeting each week helps you to know each other. There are others in the room that I do not personally use because I do not have the need, but they continue to get referrals from my because I trust them.

After I get permission from the members, I'll list them with contact information.


Here's the secret to the success:

It's all about the relationships. Just like any other form of marketing. Networking Groups that work the best are about building and protecting the trust in the group so that you build positive Word of Mouth.

You can't fake it. It has to be genuine.

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