Four Things You Should Know about Your Business

Here are four things you should know about your business. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, it will be very difficult for people to refer you, because you won’t have communicated these key points to them.

1.  What is your mission? What are you striving for?

2.  Where is your organization going? How can you improve your chances of achieving your mission?

3.  What environment is your organization operating in? What are the trends affecting you?

4.  What are your core competencies? What do you do better than your competitors?

This is from a thought-provoking BNIpodcast recorded by BNI Founder, Dr. Ivan Misner. I’ve come to realize, after 17 years in BNI, that if we can’t answer the four questions listed above, it becomes much more difficult for people to refer business to us. Not only because our referral sources need to understand what we do, but most importantly they need to understand why we do it. This establishes our credibility. And if we don’t know the answers to these questions, do we really have a plan for our own success?

The biggest challenge lies in answering the questions – it’s top level brain work. But the time investment is worth it. Read Dr. Misner’s podcast for a few tips about finding your answers.

The BNI Experience

Make a big difference in small ways. By Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder BNI.

· It’s not about knowing a lot of people.  It’s about knowing a lot about the people you know.

· It’s not about meeting every week. It’s about trusting the people you meet every week.

· It’s not about handing them leads. It’s about giving them referrals.

· It’s not about doing weekly commercials. It’s about training referral partners.

· It’s not about what you have. It’s about what you can give.

· It’s not just about business. It’s all about relationships.

These are some of the things that help make a great BNI group and lay the groundwork for a good member experience.  But, there’s more, and it involves some small things that you can do every week to help your fellow members have a great experience.

One thing I’ve learned in these many years of working with BNI is that the small things you do can change people’s lives.  Each and every one of us can influence the experience of other members through our guidance, mentoring, support, training, and education.  This is especially true when it is done with a concern for others’ success and desire to provide them with a good experience.

A successful BNI group is about more than running a good meeting.  It’s about the experience people have when they come to the meetings.  People will either have a good experience or a bad experience based on how effectively we (all of us) can help guide members and chapters forward.

Your actions can be the pebble that sets in motion the ripple that changes someone’s life in a more meaningful way than you ever expected.
When you share your knowledge, you send forth a tiny ripple.
When you offer to help someone, you send forth a tiny ripple.
When you give your support, you send forth a tiny ripple.
When we all share and help and support, our ripples create a mighty wave.  A wave that transforms individuals and changes the way the world does business.

5 Presentation Lessons from Apple’s New Rock Star

As business people we’re presenting all the time. Having a successful presentation style has become an expected business skill. The best way to create a fantastic presentation style is to practice, but practice by emulating the best.

This post (click on the title to read the post), shares 5 excellent tips that we can use to make our presentations memorable and great. 

The 5 tips are:

1. Raise the Energy level 

2. Make People Laugh

3. Keep Your Body Language Open

4. Design Simple, Visual Slides

5. Stick to the 10-Minute rule

 
5 Presentation Lessons From Apple's New Rock Star: Craig Federighi