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Initially, I couldn’t find any groups that met my needs so I decided to start my own for business professionals. It was during that endeavor that I met someone who introduced me to EWomen Network. It is an International Networking group that initially started for business women to connect online and evolved to face to face meetings. The philosophy was about giving first vs. asking first. They have a process of breaking up into small groups where they power network for 60 seconds each (you give a 60 second precise commercial about you, what you need and your ideal client). As you do that your business card is passed among the circle. If anyone in the circle has a contact for you they write it on the back of one of their cards and it is up to you then to contact the giver of the referral for more information and follow up on the lead. They usually break up into 3 power networking circles a meeting and also have a group speaker that everyone can benefit from. I made a great deal of contacts from all over the area, however, they were not as personalized as I would have preferred. It did create a good database of local business women.

I was then introduced to BNI (Business Networking International). They have the same philosophy that givers gain and come from the premise that those who focus on what they can give vs. what they can gain will actually gain much more. It’s very true! This network is industry exclusive and for certain industries (like mine - Realtor) it’s hard to get into a group. The good news is that they are always looking for new chapter opportunities. The focus at BNI is commitment, relationship building, referrals that are warm to hot vs. leads, a strong resource base, and education directed toward improving your networking and communication craft. You meet weekly and timely. Absenteeism is minimal and under contract restrictions. This is because of the importance of relationships. How can you confidently refer someone who is late or doesn’t show up? We have one on one meetings with other members to learn about each other and how we can help them succeed. There are monthly and quarterly training classes to create a powerful personal 60 second commercial, speaking skills, management and personal development skills. I treat it as my number one client, and it is. Currently our group has 16 members and we look to grow to about 25. Everyone in the group knows me, and knows what a good referral looks like for me. I feel confident they will refer me whenever those opportunities arise. That’s leverage and that’s worth my time and commitment. It’s especially satisfying to have an arsenal of resources at my fingertips for anyone of my clients, friends and family when they need something. I know the people in my group are professionals, and take their responsibility to their respective business seriously.

Networking is important no matter what your career and is especially beneficial to someone new in the area. I also believe that the best networking groups are those that look for opportunities to give before receiving. It is my strong belief that everything you give freely will come back to you in abundance! Feel free to contact me for more details on the two groups I wrote about.