An "Other Gift"

by Ray Huse

People around the world recognize the end of the calendar year as the holiday season – a time of giving. During the holidays, we find joy in giving to someone else with no anticipation of receiving anything in return. Some implement this with extra charitable donations of service time, or goods and money. Others give a surprise thoughtful gift to a friend, just because.

BNI members around the world know our philosophy can be summarized into two simple words: Givers Gain. BNI normally focuses on the business aspect of giving referrals, in the anticipation that others will give business back to us in return.

Giving is in our DNA in BNI. Ideally, we’d love to give referrals to all our members in our chapters continually. Realistically, we know this isn’t possible for everyone all the time, especially for our newest members who haven’t had the opportunity to cultivate the relationships necessary for this to happen.

So what do we do when we want to give to another member, but just don’t have that referral they’re looking for? My first recommendation is always to do more One to Ones to build that relationship. But if you’re looking for something more immediate, there are some other things we can do in the spirit of Givers Gain.

Marketing by the Numbers (12-4-2-2-2)

by Nellie Nutting

It’s 6 am and I am up early on my computer – ready for yet another Zoom Meeting. During this strange time of COVID 19, many of my friends are spending hours learning new technology skills and honing a few others. 

Attending virtual meetings, listening to podcasts, watching webinars, and ordering my groceries online are among the activities that have increased in my world. 

A few weeks ago, our County 4 Connector Education Coordinator introduced a marketing concept that she had heard on The Official BNI Podcast, number 621 – Doing an Annual Marketing Plan, with Jared Yellin. (Listen to the podcast by clicking here.) I found it very interesting and decided to explore it further to see if I could implement his plan. Here is the basic outline and my takeaways.

All About Attitude

By Carrie Dorhout

"Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill." - W.C. Fields

When you hear the word "Attitude," you probably think about teenagers. I know that I have had more than a few conversations with my teenagers about their attitudes. Somehow they take a lot of heat for having attitudes, and maybe rightfully so for some. The Miriam-Webster Dictionary definition of "attitude" is: "a position assumed for a specific purpose, a mental position with regard to a fact or state, a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state." This final definition is, however, my favorite - a bodily state of readiness to respond in a characteristic way to a stimulus (such as an object, concept, or situation). I love this definition because it implies we have a choice to take action regarding attitude. It isn't just something within us. 

Plan. Don't Panic!

by Jodi Freeman

What happens when life throws you or your business a curveball?  Do you panic, or do you have a plan?  

The answer should be that you have a plan, and not be left scrambling.  Call it being proactive.  It’s difficult to think clearly when you’re in a panic.  Stressing and fumbling to come up with answers is never fun when curveballs are flying at our faces. 

This year feels like it has been one giant contingency plan.  How many of us were cruising along with the status quo until mid-March?  Even back in January, when we first heard about a possible pandemic, I just shrugged it off.  I was thinking about what “Vision 2020” looked like for my business.  I know others who did the same.

When spring rolled in, many of us were in a mess and wondering what the next few weeks would look like.  Then what we were worried about for “just a few weeks” started looking like it might be around a month or two. Now, we’re several months into all sorts of unprecedented obstacles and situations.  So how do we overcome these challenges?