In this Issue

• Stafford members dobusiness on a topMichelin breakfast.See Page 5

• Merseyside membersdo big business athigh noon.See Page 4

• Luvvies galore as BNImembers becomefilm stars.See Page 3

• BNI - More than a meetingSee Page 10

• Kent Chapters stage‘Expo event of the year’See Page 15

• BNI helps Tim to a cool£1.3 millionSee Page 11

• Amazing referrals?See Page 8-9

Everything turnsgold for Midas sub!

When Dougal Paver substituted for afriend at Liverpool’s Alpha Chapter last year, he

never dreamed it would result in the majorexpansion of his business and contracts worth a

fee income of £1.5m! A marketing specialist and member of

Liverpool’s MIDAS Chapter, Dougal had agreed tosubstitute for a colleague, Karl Hammil, a consultant

with Ajax Insurance Brokers. Although Karl is aninsurance broker, he was confident Dougal would doa good job representing his interests at Alpha’s meet-ing – even if he didn’t know just how well Dougalwould promote his own business too!

Soon after arriving in his role as substitute, Dougalmet Alpha Chapter’s Peter Brack, a principal in DearsBrack, the large Liverpool estate agency.“My company,Paver Downes, specialises in marketing for estateagents and urban regenerators, so I was keen to intro-duce myself to him, after I’d done my bit for Karl. Wechatted and I invited him to visit our offices.

“Peter was impressed with what he saw and sug-gested we should join forces to pitch for an accountinvolving a major redevelopment scheme in Liverpoolbeing undertaken by the Downing Group (a nationalproperty developer) for whom he was already work-ing,” said Dougal, who then produced creative ideasfor the project to build luxury apartments alongsidethe city’s famous Philharmonic Hall.

“We called it ‘The Symphony’ and were reallypleased with the final result, but you could say itwas music to our ears when we heard we’d won thecontract five months later. And it got better still,because as a result of this work, I was awarded thecontract for all the other marketing work in theDowning Group,” said Dougal.

Following the Philharmonic project, theDowning Group joined forces with DavidMcLean, the well-known property developers

to bid for a high profile £250 million project,called The Fourth Grace on Liverpool’s Pier

Head, involving housing, restaurants andleisure facilities.

“The Downing Group recommended

us to do the marketing for the bid, and although theydidn’t win the contract, McLeans were so impressedwith our work they invited us to bid for their nationalgroup account last December,” said Dougal. “Thataccount alone was worth £500,000 to us and much toour delight we were awarded it two months ago.

“One reason we were chosen for these accounts issimply that we understand the building world, andpeople in that field seem quite impressed when theyrealise we know what they’re talking about,” com-mented Dougal.

“But so much of our recent success is down to BNI,and the quality of the networking and the referralsgenerated through its chapters. We may well beexpanding because of this latest account with McLean,but I don’t care how big we get, I’ll always remain in BNItill the day I drop.”

Dougal can be contacted on 0151 293 0505

SPRING 2003

HIGH IMPACT: To find out why Adrian Goulding is dressed like this, seestory “Winners line up for London Awards” on page 4

Superman? No, SuperAL

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Fancy ‘test driving’ Chris’s mobile darkroom? Film stars galore! – including the ‘luvvies’ from Cambridge

When Ipswich florist Rob Dunger went toInterflora’s National Conference in Blackpool,he was amazed to find that BNI badges werethe favoured ‘blooms’ in the buttonholes ofmany delegates.

“I was astounded to come across more than 30other florist members of BNI, all wearing theirbadges with pride,” said Rob, a member of WolseyChapter, who runs Tower Florists in Ipswich.“Suddenly we became an elite group of florists allbusily networking and comparing notes aboutreferrals and presentations.

“There were members from all over the UK andIreland and I was struck by the similarity of BNIand Interflora, in terms of their respective successbased on national and international networking.Interflora’s national computerised network offlorists also gave me an idea which I am glad tosee BNI has since developed in a much broadercontext,” he added.

“Originally my proposal was to set up a specif-ic register of BNI florists because, if we knew alltheir names and locations we could then ensurethat, wherever practicable, all our business went toBNI members, ensuring consistency of profession-alism and integrity.

“However, with the recent creation of the newBNI WebRing, we’ve achieved the same thing,because now every member (whose chapter hassubscribed to the WebRing) can quickly identifyhis or her counterparts in different areas of thecountry. It’s a great move forward,” said Rob.

You can check out who’s who in a growingnumber of BNI chapters by logging intowww.bniwebring.com - and, if your own chapterhas not yet signed up to this substantial newservice, perhaps it’s time you had a word withmembers of your leadership team!

You can contact Rob Dunger on 01473 211 111

Having just launched what is believed to bethe first mobile digital darkroom in the WestMidlands, Stourbridge photographer ChrisBridgewater has thrown down a confident chal-lenge to BNI members across the region: “If wedon’t give you the fastest, best service you’ve everhad for an outside event, we’ll provide our servic-es for free….”

Chris, who runs CJB Photography and belongsto the Kidderminster Chapter, developed hisunique mobile darkroom (complete with its ownelectricity generator and full processing suite) sothat he could offer almost instant, top quality pho-tographs on site, to organisers of external eventssuch as corporate hospitality and training days,

conferences, exhibitions, sporting events andevening social functions.

“Many photographers offer ‘same night’ printsfor evening functions, but this entails rushing thephoto assignment in the first place, a frantic dashback to the lab and then perhaps supplying printsof doubtful quality. Our new mobile unit providesup to 100 studio-quality colour prints an hour and,because we bring all the right equipment on site,we can devote more time to taking, viewing andadjusting shots to give customers exactly whatthey want,” said Chris.

Despite having received several new bookingsfor major events involving up to 1000 guests, Chrisis anxious that BNI members should put his new

service to the test, hence hisoffer to work for nothing in theunlikely event that colleagueswho commission him are any-thing less than delighted withthe results.“It ís not an offer I’dusually make, but I want myBNI colleagues to see howmuch better we are than theopposition, so they will recom-mend us to other people,” headded.

Interested? Then call ChrisBridgewater on 01562 884 531

Lucky 13th forRochester Group

Friday 13th may be tradi-tionally regarded as anunlucky day, but it provedjust the opposite for mem-bers of Rochester Chapterwhen they celebrated their10,000th referral.

Members held theirbreath for the specialmoment and it was down toSteve Root, boss of RootsKitchens and Bedrooms tomake Chapter history! As hepassed the 10,000th referralto Alicia Burford fromChatham Courier Services hewas greeted with a round ofapplause! The referral was fora kitchen worktop.

“I was delighted to havehad the opportunity to passsuch a landmark referral,”said Steve. “Like many mem-bers, I have found a growingproportion of my business isgenerated through BNI.”

The Chapter regularlypasses more than 60 referralsa week, has topped 80 andhas a target of 100 to reachbefore Chapter Director, GaryCrouch, gives up his chair!“We’ve been working hard toreach this milestone,” saidGary, boss of Anatex InternetServices Ltd, “because itproves that the system reallyworks. We reckon that ourmembers have generatedbusiness worth around £1min a very short time. Now forthe second million!”

Manchester United’s Old Trafford sta-dium has welcomed an abundance of tal-ent over the decades, but rarely can ithave played host to the kind of celebri-ties who were gracing its hallowed hallsas SuccessNet went to press – BNI’s veryown film stars, directors and producers.

Teams from many parts of the UK weretaking part in their very own ‘cup finals’ atOld Trafford and the Lismoyne Hotel inFleet, Hampshire, to make the best BNI pro-motional movie of the year – their rewardfor being the most successful groups in therecent membership building drive when, toqualify as potential film stars, each chapterhad to attract at least six new members.

Organised by Glasgow member DonSpence and his team from Corporate EventsScotland, the two events were concludingwith an ‘Oscars’ ceremony with trophies forthe best film-makers, but every participat-ing team was given a copy of its own film totake back to share with colleagues.

Even before the competing teamsarrived, members of Cambridge’s GrantaChapter had set the scenes for the toughcompetition ahead, with the following‘tongue-in-cheek’ email to the organisersfrom Chapter Director Tim Gale:

“There have been tears as many membersfailed their auditions for stardom, but ourteam has now been selected and we shall

arrive by limousine as befits stars…expectinggood dressing rooms and extra "beverages "for our hair, make-up and costume team.

“I think it only right to point out that wehave our own share of ‘highly strung luvvies’,so in order to keep the cameras moving and toensure no delay in the shooting schedule, itwould be helpful if you could meet ourrequirements. Specifically, no blue is to be seenanywhere, there should be a plentiful (andconstant) supply of marmite flavoured crispsand we’d like polka dot pink decoration on thewalls of our dressing rooms, with satin every-where else. Our leading lady will need both a

masseur and manicurist, and our leadingman will require chocolate ice cream to beconstantly spoon fed to him by a minimum oftwo scantily clad Swedish female ‘extras.....”

National Director Gillian Lawson com-mented: “Whether they won or not, I thinkGranta were entitled to make a song anddance about their participation, since theyare one of the largest and most successfulBNI chapters in the world, and did extreme-ly well in the recent membership drive.They passed 120 referrals at one meetinglast month, averaging 95 per meeting inrecent weeks.”

Oxford members get there by degrees! Oxford Chapter members took a trip

down memory lane and back to collegedays when they donned gowns and mor-tar-boards at a recent meeting to markthe inaugural ten-minute presentation oftheir 30th member, Adrian Palfreyman.

Acquiring such colourful and presti-gious attire was however made easy forChapter members because Adrian isManaging Director of the city’s specialisttraditional outfitters, Shepherd &Woodward, and it was his suggestion tomake his presentation more colourful byproviding each of the members with aca-demic regalia for the occasion.

Chapter Director Cathy Dunbabin

(pictured looking resplendent in her col-lege gown), told SuccessNet: “We try tospice up our meetings wheneverpossible. Adrian’s company suppliesand hires these garments so it seemedlike an appropriate way to celebrateour 30th member and, of course itsymbolises our connections with one ofthe most famous universities in theworld. This is an exciting time for us.

“Our referrals have increased dramat-ically as a result of a recent increase inmembers and the Chapter is determinedto welcome its 40th member before theyear is out.

Contact Adrian on 01865 249 491

Rob calls on WebRing Flower Power

READY, STEADY, SHOOT: Chris Bridgewater gets ready to hit the road with his mobile darkroom

A LIMMO OF LUVVIES! The ‘Stars’ of Granta Chapter arrive in style

Steve Root (left) passed the referral toChapter Director Gary Crouch

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Merseyside does it to the power of 12Lawsons’ LoreGillian and Martin Lawson,National Directors of BNI, write:Continuing with our worldwide theme for2003:“BNI – More than a Meeting”, the top-ics for April, May and June are System,Experience and Opportunity.

When asked what BNI’s success can beattributed to, we always answer ‘The BNISystem’, because this underpins everythingachieved by our members. The core foun-dations of the system are holding regularmeetings at the same time each week,adhering carefully to the meeting agenda,ensuring that all members attend and par-ticipate in the ‘Givers Gain’ philosophy –seeking to help fellow members rather thanprimarily looking for business ourselves.

The BNI system, including the weeklymeeting agenda, was not inspired by divineinsight on the part of BNI’s Founder, noranyone else. It was forged in the workshopof Experience, and annealed in the schoolof mistakes. Think of a good idea to improvethe BNI system and you’ll almost certainlyfind that BNI has tried it at some time –either having already adopted it or rejectedit, having discovered exactly why it was notsuch a good idea as it first appeared.

We are never ashamed to admit our mis-takes, but we’re also proud that, as an organ-isation, we never make the same mistaketwice, and each experience becomes part ofour heritage for members’ future success.

The Opportunity open to the businessof every member who conscientiously fol-lows the BNI system, is almost unlimited.Between them, your fellow chapter mem-bers know tens of thousands of people,many of who will, at any given time, needthe services of your business.

Where else can you get up to 40 col-leagues, trained to understand your busi-ness, motivated to look for business on yourbehalf seven days a week – without payingthem any salaries or commission!? All youhave to do is to follow the BNI system andtake advantage of the training sessionsoffered to ensure that you communicateeffectively with your fellow members, andeducate them about what specifically theyshould be looking for on your behalf while,in the same way, you seek to help as manyBNI colleagues each week as you can.

If a good chapter can generate 60, 70,80 or more referrals a week, starting atseven in the morning, imagine howmuch business could be done by evenlarger numbers of BNI members holdingan extra meeting at noon!

That was the thinking behind a boldnew initiative launched last month byMerseyside’s 17 chapters when theycame together at mid-day for the firstever “BNI 12” meeting – attracting a pow-erful group of 80-plus members and adozen guests whose single mission wasto network, network, network!

Held at Greens Health & Fitness Clubin the centre of Liverpool, the inauguralsession of BNI 12 was a resounding suc-cess, according to one of its creators,Executive Director Terry Hamill who toldSuccessNet: “The aims are simple – toprovide an additional, broader businessnetworking platform for members on aregular basis, and to make BNI member-ship more accessible to guests.

“There is no intention to competewith BNI’s highly successful structure ofbreakfast meetings, but rather to estab-lish an exciting, additional networkingopportunity for all our members.Feedback from the first event seems tohave proved its merits.”

Participants – members and guests –have to comply with three simple condi-tions: no lunch, no sitting down and nochatting to people they already know.Instead they are told to bring a supply ofbusiness cards, referral slips and theirbusiness card file, and they must promiseto follow-up any leads they receive.

Terry added: “Although traditionalchapter visitor days can be very effective,we all know that there are some would-be members put off by the prospect ofgoing into unfamiliar surroundings atseven in the morning. BNI 12 not onlyoffers members a more conventional wayto introduce guests to the organisation,but also provides them with a superbbusiness networking occasion whenthey can chat to colleagues from otherchapters whom they might not other-wise get the chance to meet.”

A healthy bi-product of the first BNI12 session was the signing up of eightnew members by participating chapters– a figure that is expected to grow as themonthly event becomes more widelyknown. “It offers members and guests upto two and a half hours for concentratedbusiness marketing, uninterrupted byspeeches, meals or anything else. Its suc-cess doesn’t surprise me,” said Terry.

Winners line up for London Awards

Door Prize pairshare crutches

Stafford marks £1m of business with a ‘Michelin’ awardThere’s an old adage that says the way to a man’s heart is

through his stomach but, for members of Stafford Chapter, itseems that a particularly good breakfast may also be the way totheir doing phenomenal amounts of business!

The Chapter’s 34 members have enjoyed more than £1mil-lion worth of business through BNI since their group waslaunched just three years ago and, while it may be pureco-incidence, the Moat House Hotel at Acton Trussell - wherethe Chapter meets - has just won a prestigious Michelin award,partly for the consistently high quality of its food.

Chapter spokesman Howard Richards said:“We’ve achievedan amazing amount of business in the past three years – involv-ing some 5,000 referrals. Having an excellent meeting venuewith good breakfasts and pleasant surroundings must help puteveryone in the right frame of mind for business. The dynamicsof our chapter are very good, and there’s no reason why we can-not achieve even better results over the next three years.”

Moat House General Manager and BNI member Mark Lewissaid: “We also gained two AA rosettes for our restaurant so Ihope our quality is reflected in the standard of food we provideto BNI. Membership has been good for us, not least by givingour staff weekly training in public speaking and presentation.”

Howard can be contacted on 07815 851 573 and Mark can be reached on 01785 712 217

A WINNING DISH? BNI member and hotel manager Mark Lewis is served the latest Michelin Guide buychef Matt Davies

STAR PERFORMERS: Winners of the Chapter Star Performer Awards pose for a group photo at the London Awards ceremony

Journalist Alan Whelan thoughthe’d got away from the sharks when hetook a well-earned winter break in CapeTown - but he soon found himself indeep water with the real thing.

A member of the Titan Chapter inChorley, Lancashire, Alan said: “I try tosteer clear of business sharks but whenthe chance arose to dive with GreatWhites in ‘shark alley’ off Cape Town, Icouldn’t turn it down. It was a petrifyingexperience meeting the real thing upclose, but at least after facing all thoserows of teeth, dealing with businesssharks will be a breeze.”

Happily, the terrifying encounterdidn’t stop Alan doing a spot of net-working for a fellow member. He added:“Just before I left for Cape Town a col-league mentioned he was looking toexpand his property consultancy out-side Europe so I made some initial

enquiries that may be helpful.”“While overseas I also came across a

new South African business looking forreferrals from the UK.They plan to join achapter in Johannesburg and I’m surewe will be able to help each other, so itnot only turned out to be a crackingholiday but also potentially very goodfor my business.

Contact Alan on 01253 739 285

Business sharks are easy, after Alan’sGreat White encounter!

Remember the story about artists RayDrainville and Peter Hill from Sheffield SucceedsChapter in the last issue of SuccessNet?Apparently they weren’t fighting over the doorprize but, ironically, both men have still ended upon crutches!

Peter decided to try his hand at ski-ing, but ittook just 20 minutes on the snow in Davos,Switzerland, before he ended up on a stretcherwith several torn ligaments in his knee.“It’s goingto take about two years before I can attempt toski again,” said Peter, “but I’m not put off, eventhough it was one of the most embarrassingmoments of my life.”

As for Ray, his accident was far less dramatic,though he did ‘break it like Beckham.’ “I was onmy way down to the basement for a bottle ofwine, when I slipped on the steps and broke abone in my foot. Apparently it’s an almost identi-cal injury to Beckham’s, but not so glamourous,”said Ray.“I’ve tried to convince friends that I sawa pram out of control while I was sky diving, butno-one believes me!”

Successnet wish the pair a rapid recovery!

Nearly 200 members and guestsattended last month’s combined awardsnight held at Watford’s Hilton Hotel byLondon’s North West, North East, South Eastand Herts & Bedfordshire regions.

Mid Herts Chapter were top dogs onthe night, scooping two of the three major

awards when website designer TimMatthews won the regional referral of theyear, and financial adviser Alan Gouldingwon the ‘Best 60-second Informercial’Category. Stanmore Chapter Director, retail-er Jeffrey Permutt won the award forRegional Networker of the Year.

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‘Miss World’double boost for Mansfield 7 a.m. white-knuckle ride for Edinburgh members!

Leeds members iron out island deal

Carl shares PM’s hot seat!

Members of Mansfield Chapter (well,the male ones anyway) had the surpriseof their lives awaiting them at a recentVisitors’ Day – in the shapes of MissRomania and Miss Venezuela!

The girls accompanied John Singh,President of Miss Tourism World, whohad been invited by Chapter DirectorVictor Bobo.“I knew John was interestedin the international element of BNI, but Iwasn’t entirely sure of his role andthought it would be a good opportunityto find out exactly what he did. I neverexpected him to bring the girls with

him. That was a complete surprise foreveryone, albeit a delightful one for myattentive male colleagues!” said Victor.

It transpired that John’s job is to pro-mote the Miss World winners throughtourism and modelling and he saw con-siderable potential in BNI membership,”added Victor, who runs the DST TyreCentre in Mansfield.

The Visitors Day attracted more than50 new faces, three of whom havebecome members.“It was a great meet-ing,” Victor added.

Contact Victor on 01623 429 993

When Carl Barton arrived to chair ameeting of the Leeds Armouries FridayChapter on Valentine’s Day he was takenaback to see Tony Blair walk past him!

Admittedly, he had encounteredsome resistance getting through thepolice and security cordon around theArmouries building, which he knewcouldn’t possibly have been for him, butCarl had no idea who was expected –until he bumped into the Prime Minister.

“It turned out that Mr Blair had decid-ed to use the same venue for his ownbreakfast meeting with local business-

men,” said Carl, boss of Im-PressPromotions.“It was strange knowing thathe was leading a business breakfast in theroom next to ours. However, I’ll bet wegenerated more business that morningthan even he managed!”

BNI’s access to the Armouries wasassured by member Jim Vincent who,luckily, is its Corporate Sales Manager

“I was only chairing the meetingbecause our Chapter Director was on hol-iday,” said Carl, “but the experience gaveme a good practice run in the hot seatwhich I’ll be taking over very shortly!”

400 years old? No problem to BNI membersBNI members have come to the rescue

to breathe new life into one of Chester’soldest buildings, the 400 year old TudorHouse – thriving again in its new capacityas a café, deli and catering business.

Partner Graeme Allsop used part of his10-minute presentation to describe tocolleagues in the Rossett Chapter hisambitious plans for the building which, inrecent decades has been a tavern, a bak-ery and a shop selling pop memorabilia.

As a consequence, chapter membersAndrew Arditti, a director with PromoteCorporate Communication, developed a

new brochure and website for Graeme’snew venture, Tim Schofield who runs PDCCopyprint literally next door to the TudorHouse handled the printing require-ments, and Samantha Jackson of ArtGraphics, (a member of neighbouringChester Chapter), was asked to providethe new livery for Tudor House’s vans.

Graeme, pictured (left) with businesspartner Tig Rockliff outside the TudorHouse, has now won awards for his sym-pathetic restoration of the building.

Contact Graeme on 01244 318 100

If you occasionally think it’s hard to beon top networking form at seven in themorning, then spare a thought for theintrepid – some would say foolhardy – soulsof Edinburgh West Chapter, who started arecent meeting with a turbulent trip on thecity’s newest ‘white knuckle’ theme ride.

Recognised as one of the more adven-turous chapters in Scotland, its members

ensured their permanent place in BNIhistory by responding to an invitation fromcolleague Nigel Benson to hold their regularweekly meeting at the capital’s mostinnovative tourist attraction, the £5million American-style TurboVenturemulti-ride simulator.

As our picture shows, the intrepid bunchwere smiles better (or at least, smiling

bravely) after their experience, even if a fewof the more faint-hearted resisted the offerof a cooked breakfast straight afterwards!

Nigel Benson, Business DevelopmentManager for Turner Technical Services andProject Manager for TurboVenture, invitedhis fellow chapter members to experiencethe ride, as part of his 10-minute presenta-tion, and he was delighted with theresponse.

He told SuccessNet: "We're an innovativecompany and that's why I asked my BNI col-leagues to see the new venue at first hand.TurboVenture is a European ‘first’ followingthe success of similar projects in Thailandand America, and being located in FountainPark, one of Edinburgh's most popularleisure centres, makes it ideal for businesspresentations because we can project com-puter presentations, such as Powerpoint,onto a 60’ x 45’ screen - the biggest of itstype in Europe.”

Nigel can be contacted on 0131 337 4138

If John Middleton needed an excuse tofly out to Tenerife on a regular basis, hisLeeds North Chapter colleague DavidHobman has just found him one – and aprofitable referral to boot!

John, Managing Director of JTM ServiceLtd (a Leeds-based provider of bespokecleaning solutions to industry and thehealthcare sector) received the referral – afirm order - from David, to supply ironingequipment to an apartment ownerin Tenerife, where David himself has asecond home.

“He even volunteered to take the ironwith him on a recent trip, so he’s done all ofthe hard work,”said John.“Now I’m trying tonegotiate a service contract so I get achance to go out there regularly.”

David and John have been workingtogether for more than 20 years, with JTMService maintaining the washing equip-ment at David’s family-run retirementhomes in Leeds.

David commented: “The iron weighs 50kilos and can make mincemeat of a moun-tain of ironing. It is just what they needed inthe apartments, and I knew exactly the manto help them.”

John Middleton who is just completing astint as Chapter Director, can be contactedon 0113 257 222 1

Stroud Valleyblossoms with Patty

Patty Latham doesn’t like to see the BNIbreakfast table laid bare, so ever since shejoined the Stroud Valley Chapter lastDecember she’s been dressing it – withdesigner flowers!

Patty’s arrangements have gone downso well at breakfast that not only is she get-ting business from members, but the man-agement at the Chapter’s new venue hasnow expressed an interest in her work.

“It makes the meetings a little differenteach week,” said Patty, “and it’s also a greatway to show members how my creationsdiffer from traditional floristry.

Patty, whose company Dreamcatchersspecialises in weddings and corporateevents, is now Secretary/Treasurer – aimingto make her Chapter flourish even more!

Warren Abis, membership co-ordinatorsaid: “We are really looking forward toseeing Patty's latest breakfast contributions.

You can contact Patty on 01453 872 302

ROUGH MORNING? Members of Edinburgh West Chapter can still smile after their early morning white knuckle ride.

IRON MAN: John Middleton

MODEL MEMBERS? Miss Romania (left) and Miss Venezueia at the BNImeeting in Mansfield with John Singh, President of Miss Tourism World

IN THE HOT SEAT: Carl Barton (right) pictured with MembershipCoordinator David Norman, after his encounter with the Prime Minister

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In Brief1st passes10,000th

Members of the very firstUK chapter - Harrow - passedtheir 10,000th referral lastmonth, just over six yearsafter their inaugural meet-ing took place in a winterblizzard. The referral waspassed to founder member,estate agent Neil Marshall bydentist Nishan Dixit.

Carol’s whoppingcongestion charge!

Good news and badnews from ClerkenwellChapter: Members have justpassed their 5,000th referraland the group is going fromstrength to strength, but lesshappy was one of their num-ber – florist Carol Selida who,within days of the centralLondon congestion chargestaking effect, was billed forover £10,000 – representing11 years worth of charges.Molly, who runs Flower Cityin London’s Square Mile,should have received a resi-dent’s bill for 11 months!

The ultimateChristmas bash?

Christmas may be longgone, but members of Bristol’sSevern View Chapter are stilltalking about their festive'bash' with a difference: go-kart races on ice - when theyraced under floodlights todisco music at the local icerink! Alan Doyle, ChapterDirector said: ' We wanted todo something different thisyear and we had a lot of fun!'

In BriefBolton chaptersdine for charity

Members of the threeBolton Chapters have provedthat fund-raising can be amost enjoyable experience.Their fourth annual joint din-ner raised over £500 for theNational Society for DeafChildren and as our photo-graph shows, gave membersan ideal opportunity to net-work over a drink or three.Pictured from left to right areMike Cahill, Kathryn Toddand Phil Thompson.

Rubbish referrals:I love ‘em

Since joining BNI twoyears ago, Mark Byford hasreceived over £250K worthof rubbish referrals – and he’sdelighted! Why? Because heruns a recycling company,InkBig, specialising in help-ing charities raise money. “Sorubbish referrals, sought andreferred correctly can beworth their wait in gold,”saidMark, a proud member of theGung Ho Chapter in Bury.Contact him on 08707 455 511

Ooops!In describing the growth

of London’s HammersmithChapter (SuccessNet, Winter2002/03), we inadvertentlygave a wrong telephonenumber for Alex Stanier.The correct number is020 8930 4701 and Alex hasalso asked is to include hisemail address which is:alex@stanier.co.uk

Happy to oblige, Alex.

Referrals? You’d be amazed where they come from...

When Crowthorne travel agent Pauline Reevesreceived a referral over the breakfast table atWokingham Chapter, it looked modest enough: “Pleasefind my wife and I a good hotel room in the Malaga areafor a few nights….”

And to start with, it was. Pauline’s chapter colleagueIan Pearson had simply wanted her to find the best hoteldeal for four nights so that he and his wife Barbara couldattend Herbal Life’s Training Convention in southernSpain – along with 5,000 of the company’s other WestEuropean distributors.

But Pauline obviously offered Ian too good a deal –because when he saw what was on offer, he sent detailsaround Herbal Life’s large UK network, with the resultthat Pauline was inundated with requests from otherHerbal Life distributors asking her to arrange the sameaccommodation for them.

In fact 72 of Ian’s fellow distributors got in touch withPauline at Crowthorne Travel, and to their – and Ian’s –

delight, she managed to get them all into the samesmart hotel at competitive rates.

Ian added: “We’d talked before we left about howgood it would be if we were staying in the same hotel asother delegates but it was only when we arrived that Idiscovered just how many colleagues Pauline had man-aged to place in our hotel. She did a fantastic job,because our beachside hotel was the envy of all theother delegates, many of whom were staying up to anhour’s distance away from the conference centre.”

On his return, Ian sought clarification from hisChapter’s leadership team as to whether his originalreferral still counted as one – or 72 different – referrals.“Iwasn’t too worried when they told me it was just one,albeit quite a good one,” he said. “I’m sure Pauline washappy with the business that followed.”

Contact Ian on 01344 302 129 Pauline can be contacted on 01344 780 078

Charlie is Dad’s angel!

As a top landscape garden design-er, Dave Robinson knows that relativelyfew of us can afford his services. So,when looking for new business oppor-tunities, he thought that highly paidprofessional sportsmen would makeideal clients: he just wasn’t sure how toachieve the necessary introductions.

Fortunately, Dave is Director of therecently formed Great Barr Chapter,just up the road from Aston VillaFootball Club, a perfect target to testhis business theory, when he shared hisaspirations with BNI colleagues at arecent meeting. As if by magic, hisdream came true but, even more sur-prisingly, it was Dave’s own daughter,Charlie - a fellow chapter member -who gave him the crucial referral!

Charlie is Sales and MarketingManager at the local David Lloyd Club,one of whose members is an AstonVilla director. Charlie mentioned herfather’s business to him and hearranged for Dave to meet the Club’sWelfare officer, who in turn introducedhim to one of the Club’s internationalplayers, coincidentally looking to land-scape the garden of his home.

Dave is now finalising ambitiouslandscape designs for the soccer star,whose anonymity he promised tokeep, but he told SuccessNet: “What isso incredible is that after 24 years of sit-ting around the family meal table withCharlie, it took a BNI breakfast meetingfor her to understand my business.

“She persuaded me to join BNI lastNovember, since when I’ve discoveredwhat a powerful organisation it is. As alandscape designer, how and wherecould I possibly advertise for such anaccount, yet a few words at a BNI meet-ing and I had my dream referral. It’s justso odd that it came from my own fleshand blood! However, I’ve learnt that ifI’m specific in my 60-second slot aboutthe referrals I want, I can look forwardto more potential business”

Contact Dave on 01543 670 342

Elmbridge Chapter photographer AlanKnox is always ready to ‘snap up’ an oppor-tunity. So when he decided to attend thelaunch of a new chapter in nearby Ashford,he saw it as a great chance to add morecontacts to his already bulging book.

Ironically however, it was the presenceof a potentially rival photographer, TimParsons that was to provide his most lucra-tive contact of the day – and mark the startof what has become a successful exercisein business collaboration.

Alan, whose business Wildcard ColourBrochures is based at Ripley near Guildford,specialises in commercial photography,while Staines-based Tim has built his busi-ness around studio and wedding photos.

“Tim had gone along to join the newAshford Chapter, and must have been sur-prised to find another photographer pres-ent. But when we started talking, it wasclear our areas of work were complemen-tary, so we agreed to collaborate, referringappropriate business to each other andjointly pitching for work,” said Alan.

“It has turned out to be good for bothof us. We’ve given each other referrals forconfirmed work where we knew the otherwas better equipped to handle a particularjob, and we’ve also worked as a team, han-dling the photography for a major wed-ding. I am hoping we will jointly pitch formore work in the near future,” he added.

National Director Gillian Lawson com-mented: “While as a general rule, only onemember of any given trade or profession isallowed into each chapter, it is often thecase that members in the same chaptercan work in the same sector without beingin competition with each other. In fact,quite often it can help both members ifthey provide complementary services or, asin this case, if they make contact with theircounterparts in neighbouring chapters.”

Alan added: “Far from regarding themas opposition, I would like to hear fromother photographers so we can expandthis collaboration.”

Contact Alan Knox on 07718 117 935

Snap meetingdevelops

photographers’collaboration

... or, how just one referral can turn into 72!

Andrew Rosamond and Keith Jones had known eachother for some ten years. They’d been good friends,socialised together, shared the same office building – butthey’d never done business together. Until, that is, theyjoined BNI’s Wilmslow Chapter.

Keith, Managing Director of Macclesfield-basedSilkmoth Plc which handles web technology, became a

BNI member 15 months ago and, six months laterAndrew came on board after Keith took him along to achapter meeting.

“I was very pleased I went,” said Andrew, who is SalesDirector of Restore Computer Services Ltd. “I couldn’tbelieve my luck when I was handed a referral worth£12,000 on my first visit as Keith’s guest and, after decid-ing to join BNI immediately, it just got better and better.”

“Within a few weeks Keith and I started doing busi-ness together. He had developed a web-basedapplication for Meridian Business Support,whose headquarters were in Altrincham, buttheir 20 or so branches didn’t have suitableInternet access to support it. I was able tooffer the whole company networked Internetaccess using ADSL, not only saving them£6,000 over competitive quotes, but givingthem a company-wide VPN, making it possiblefor head office to remotely support every PCin the organisation,” Andrew added.

“Implementation is now completed, and Iimagine there will be further ongoing supportwork. Since it was worth over £53,000 this hasto be the best referral I’ve received since join-ing BNI, but I have to say it is just one of many.”

Andrew Rosamond can be contacted on 01625 615 384 and Keith Jones on 01625 433 388

Ten years as friends - but it took BNI to bring themtogether in business!

CONNECTED AT LAST: Andrew Rosamond (left) and Keith Jones who are now doing businesstogether for the first time thanks to BNI - despite working alongside each other for ten years

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BNI-MORE THAN A MEETING!

Andy stops counting BNI benefits after £300,000!

This year, BNI has adopted the worldwide theme – “BNI: More than a

Meeting” – based on 12 crucial keys of membership designed to help

everyone get the very best out of their business networking.

Here, Executive Director Terry Hamill (Merseyside) presents two of the

‘keys’ – System and Experience - and Tony Coxhill (Cheshire & North Wales)

discusses a third – Opportunity – topics that every chapter is urged to

address and discuss with its members over the next three months.

System:The quality branding that underpins BNI

is the system we have defined over years oflearning from our fellow members.

I once shadowed the most successfulmembers within my region and asked themwhat was the one thing that made BNI suc-cessful for them. Their unanimous reply was:“For goodness sake stick to the system.”

It was once said to me that BNI chaptersare like jumbo jets flying from London toHong Kong; they go off track 20 or 30 timeson their journey, but the system and controlsbring them back to their destination point.

I have played with the system for fouryears and tried hard to add creative ideas toit. The problem I have repeatedly encoun-tered is that every time I tried to ‘improve’ or‘adjust’ the system, our chapters suffered.

When your chapter wants to get to itsoptimum 40-strong membership, use thecomplete Section 5 of the Members Manualand get everyone involved.

Why? Because it works, as I was remindedjust the other day when we launched yetanother chapter with a huge visitors input,achieved simply by the members applyingthe system.

In BNI, there are systems for systems andthe best way to get the most out of theorganisation in your first year is to indulgeyourself in the comprehensive training mate-rials that are freely and widely accessible toall BNI members. These range from books,CDs and manuals to the wide range of excel-lent workshops now being attended by BNImembers in ever increasing numbers.

Put simply, take advantage of BNI’sresources and learn how to apply its manystrengths and advantages to your own busi-ness marketing strategy.

Experience:On my recent trip to America I was priv-

ileged to meet someone who had been amember of BNI almost from its start. He hadan air about himself that was truly the spiritof ‘Givers Gain.’ Members who have suchexperience and do well, often seem overlyhelpful, almost certainly because, after yearsof good education they have finally becomewhat our Founder, Dr Ivan Misner terms a‘Master of Networking’.

In my experience, it takes three to fourmonths for a new member to get used tothe BNI philosophy. The best members re-invent themselves regularly, keep their pre-sentations fresh and are always prepared tolearn from the wisdom of colleagues.

However, experience can bring its ownchallenge when someone feels they are somuch wiser and better prepared than theirchapter colleagues, that they become arro-gant. In such rare situations, I ask those peo-ple to look back and remember their firstever BNI meeting, and what a white-knuckleride it was when they were first told ‘Thefloor is now yours….’ Quite simply, there isno room in BNI for arrogance; we alwayshave something new to learn.

If you want to be the best then find amentor who you think is brilliant and clear-ly does well from BNI, and ask them directlyif they would mind mentoring you.Tell themyou would like an hour-long meeting withthem once a month, and open yourself toconstructive advice. Then you will haveshown a commitment to developing your-self. I have three mentors, each of whom hasdifferent views of me. I value each of them.

What do your members think of you?Why not ask them and, when you get goodadvice, share it with your fellow members.

Opportunity:Isn’t the world full of moaners? It’s a real

relief to go to a BNI meeting each week,meet our positive colleagues and not talkabout terrorists, the stock market or politicsbut instead, get enthusiastic about businessreferrals for each other.

But hang on. We could all be missing anopportunity here, because when peoplestart to moan, they complain about bigthings and then about other practicalthings, which we can do something about.

All great networkers in BNI use their earsto listen out for moans and complaints,because one person’s problem can besomeone else’s opportunity to resolve. Andof course, the networker who helps toresolve the moaner’s problem will enhancehis or her own standing, improving relation-ships and perhaps, leading to greateropportunities for themselves in the future.Let’s look at some typical examples:• Moans about money or pensions = an

opportunity for the IFA, bank manager ormortgage broker in your chapter.

• Moans about fuel costs = an opportunityfor those in car sales or car maintenance.

• Moans about property problems = oppor-tunities for builders and other trades.

Listen to the moans and, if you haven’tgot the people in your chapter to resolvethem, suggest to the leadership team thatyou have a stack day to fill the slots. In otherwords, you should respond to demand.

This is not easy for some people becausemoaners may not open to any approachbut, while you might have to go the extramile, moaners are great for constructivebusiness people in BNI, because they aregreat for creating opportunities. May theylive long, so we all can prosper.

In Brief

Six of the bestset record forLagan Valley

Less than three yearssince it became NorthernIreland’s first BNI chapter,Lagan Valley Belfast, has set arecord for chapter recruit-ment, welcoming six newmembers at a single meeting!

Pictured with a smilingChapter Director HarryMcGimpsey (far left) are(from left to right), newcom-ers Julie Leitch, John Kerr,Heather Johnston, KyleCromie , Aaron Wright andRory O’Connor .

Tree-mendouseffort by Swindon

Members of SwindonChapter have come to therescue of youngsters atCrowdy’s Hill School in thetown, after learning howheartless thieves wreckedthe children’s efforts toimprove the local environ-ment. Pupils had planted 50young trees in Crowdy’sCopse - part of the GreatWestern Community Forest -but, just days later they wereshocked and upset todiscover 40 of the trees hadbeen stolen.

Fortunately, news ofthe youngsters’ plight quick-ly reached BNI members,who immediately donatedenough money to replace allof the school’s missing trees– and a few extra ones too !

When it comes to gettingbusiness, Tim Burling ranksamong the Lombard Group’smost persistent account execu-tives but, for all his tenacity ittook the power of BNI to breakdown the barriers and reachone of his most coveted clients!

For five years he had triedto weaken the guard of anequally determined reception-ist who kept blocking his callsto the boss of a major car bodyrepair company, which heknew used asset finance. Thenat a meeting of his ExeterCathedral Chapter,Tim couldn’tbelieve his good fortune whenhe found himself sitting next tohis long-term target - a guestof another member.

“I immediately introducedmyself and we exchangedcards,” said Tim.“He mentionedthat he might be looking at asmall amount of business laterin the year, so we set up ameeting at which I discoveredthey were purchasing a sub-

stantial computer system andsome vehicles. I was able tooffer him some extremely taxefficient funding and we dulyunderwrote the new £105,000computer system.”

Not content with that, Timwent on to negotiate the sup-ply of company cars through acontract hire facility and lastmonth he received a £1.3 mil-lion order for 65 vehicles. “BNIhas been fantastic for our busi-ness. In previous years I wouldexpect to get around £500,000worth of business through

BNI, but this year the figurecould well be in excess of twomillion pounds,” he added.

“I’m a firm believer that thelonger you are a member ofBNI, the better it gets, becausethe trust builds up over time. Ihave several sources for acquir-ing business, but I reckon BNImust now be in my top five.However, you can’t afford to becomplacent,” he warned. “Youstill need to be pro-active tomake best use of the opportu-nities BNI presents you with.”Contact Tim on 01392 822 426

Five years of trying: Then BNI makes it happen!

Congleton Chapter member Andy Banks andMacclesfield Chapter colleague John Heath reck-on that BNI has brought so much business to theircar dealership, Links Audi of Macclesfield, thatthey stopped counting when it passed the£300,000 mark!

“BNI has given us leads all around Britain,” saysAndy,“It is definitely a foolproof way of increasing

business. My background is in marketing and thisis the most cost effective form of marketing I haveever seen. After just two years membership, westopped counting when the volume of businessgained directly from BNI referrals passed the£300,000 mark.”

Andy admitted that he’d discovered BNI just atthe right time.“We measure all aspects of our per-

formance and I knew we had work todo in the Congleton area. It was a sen-sitive issue because I live there, so Ijoined up myself. I soon realised itspotential so one of my colleaguesJohn Heath joined the MacclesfieldChapter and this has proved perfect,since his role in the company is toforge relationships with local busi-nesses. We’re delighted with what BNIhas done for our business.”Contact John or Andy on 01260 281 194

MAKING IT HAPPEN: Tim Burling (back left wearing spectacles) with his Exeter Cathedral colleagues who have helped provide a major boost to his business.

FAST MOVING: John Heath (left) and Andy Banks are firmley in the driving seat thanks to BNI

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12 SPRING 2003 SUCCESSNET

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Don makes a bigger Splash thanks to BNIWhen the Splash Home Improvements factory was moved to

bigger premises in Reading last year, it took the combined efforts ofno less than 20 BNI members to complete the exercise!

Splash supply and install high security window, doors and con-servatories in the Reading area and discovered BNI in September1999, when Managing Director Alan May joined the Reading WestChapter. Since then, BNI and its ‘givers gain’ philosophy has become

an integral part of the Splash business ethos, with the result that thecompany is now represented in seven other chapters at Windsor,Basingstoke, Wokingham, Ascot, Fleet , Newbury and Bracknell.

Don Miller, Chapter Director at Windsor, and Sales & OperationsDirector for Splash told Successnet:“We have always relied on wordof mouth for most of our business and BNI has given us the oppor-tunity to increase our market share. All we have to do is provide atop quality service at a fair price and our friends in BNI do the rest.”

In return for the extra business, Splash has a strict buying policy.“Whatever we buy, from paper clips to vans, we will only buy fromBNI members. If you’re not in BNI you don’t stand a chance.”

So when it came to moving premises last July it was only natu-ral for the company to enlist the help of BNI members. “Our newpremises were in need of major refurbishment, but we knew exact-ly where to go for help.Twenty members from six different chapterswere involved in the work, which included everything from strip-ping and refurbishing the building, to supplying and installing newplumbing, lighting, phones, computers and furniture,” he added.

“We had painters, and printers, carpenters and caterers, engi-neers and all manner of service men and professionals. PamSanders the florist in Windsor Chapter, even decorated the pillars inthe showroom with artificial ivy to make it look like a garden. Thefinished job looks superb, and our thanks go to all concerned.”

Don Miller can be contacted on 01189 313 333Linda’s flash for cashMembers of the Cannock Chapter in Staffordshire can’t wait

to get fellow member Linda Jones stripped down to her bra - forthe best of reasons! PR Consultant Linda has signed up for a“power-walk” through London next month, wearing a speciallydecorated bra to raise money for breast cancer research, but firstshe wants to lose three stones.

“Raising cash for charity is one hell of an incentive to getmyself into better shape,” said Linda. “The thought of walkingthe streets of London in a bra is somewhat daunting, but I’ll feela lot better if I can shed some pounds beforehand.

Linda has enlisted the help of Chapter colleague and per-sonal coach Tony Burgess, to re-focus her attitudes to food anddrink, and hopefully she will reveal a new streamlined look on10th May when the Playtex Moonwalk takes place. Anyonewanting to sponsor her should call Linda on 07815 851 573

MAKING A SPLASH! Don Miller has plenty to smile about after twenty of his BNI colleagues (someof them pictured with him) made light work of his company’s major relocation project.

ADDRESS WITH A DIFFERENCE: Jack Barton talks to the haggis dinner at a Tayside Chapter event

GETTING IN SHAPE: Linda Jones is preparing to bare her (nearly) all with a little help from lifestyle trainer Tony Burgess.

Breakfast? It’s a haggis dinner

New Chapters

Tayside Chapter Director Jack Barton is well used to addressingmembers around the breakfast table, but when they were all invitedto a fund-raising dinner at the home of colleague Olwyn Jack, hefound himself talking to a very different audience – a huge haggis!

Voice coach Olwyn had organised a fund-raising Scottish ceilidhfor BNI colleagues and friends at her country home, complete with atraditional Scottish meal including cockaleekie soup, haggis andtipsy trifle. Proceeds went to Carpathian Aid, and the Maggie’s Centrebeing built in Dundee to support cancer victims and their families.

“Jack was the natural choice to perform the ceremonial address-ing of the haggis,” said Olwyn,“Even so, we made sure he had plentyof whisky to get him in the mood!”

Olwyn can be contacted on 01382 350 239

SuccessNet has come across somerather unusual chapter names lately, butthe recently established Chesterfield AndNorth Derbyshire Opportunities Chapterdefinitely takes the biscuit!

So much so in fact, that when one of itsmembers observed that their full title

made the perfect acronym,transforming the original cum-

bersome title into the ideal chapter name,there was unanimous support for animmediate change.

“Our name was such a mouthful, mem-bers didn’t need much encouragement toshorten it to the CAN-DO Chapter, saidSecretary Treasurer, Keith Mason, a con-

sultant with web designers and hosts,Esites-UK Ltd.“Now all we have to do is liveup to the dynamic image inferred by ournew title.

“We’ve certainly got a very positiveattitude,” he added, “and we’ve grownpretty quickly. We are confident that 2003will see us become a very strong group.”

In keeping with its unusual title, theChapter already has some strange namesamongst its members’ businesses, includ-ing Clown Embroidery (Tracie Morrison)and Chequered Leopard Photography(Shane Madden).“We’ve even got possiblythe only ‘chocolatier’ in BNI, in the shape ofAndrew Thwaite, whose confectionery is apermanent attraction to sweet-toothedmembers,” Keith added.

Over the years, SuccessNet has fea-tured several hundred UK and Irish chap-ters but, if yours has an unusual name, aunique venue or, better still, members withunusual occupations, we’d love to hearfrom you. E-mail us at:

successnet@write-angle.co.uk

Keith Mason can be contactedon 01246 236 123

It’s official – BNI ‘Can Do’!

BNI finds a home for stranded honeymooners!

When safety inspection expert AndyMcCutcheon flew off on his honeymoonlast August he never expected to be at BNI’smercy after being stranded in Barbados!

A member of Buxton Chapter inDerbyshire, Andy had booked outbound-flights for himself and his new brideMelloney but, with the flights arrangedthrough his previous employment with BA,he had been told the return flights would

be confirmed while they were in Barbados.Fortuitously, as it turned out, Andy

missed the camaraderie of BNI breakfastmeetings during his island visit, so he paidan early morning visit to the localBridgetown chapter. ”The members werevery friendly and Curtis Belgrave theChapter Director, made me very welcome.At the time I didn’t realise how much Iwould appreciate going to that meeting.”

A few days later, Andy rang BA to con-firm their return flight and was alarmed tofind every aircraft full for several daysaround his scheduled departure date.“Realising we’d be delayed for some time, myfirst thought was to contact Curtis to see if hecould help us find somewhere cheap to stay.

“Luckily, he found us accommodationwhere we stayed for several nights before Imanaged to get one seat on a flight homefor my wife, and another the following dayfor myself. It just shows the power of BNI –wherever you are!” said Andy.

BNI is now represented in nearly everyregion of the UK, as the number of chapterscontinues to grow apace.

So far this year more than 20 new chap-ters have been launched including threemore in the North East (in Darlington,Durham and Middlesborough) where BNIonly established a presence last autumn,and a first chapter for the Welsh capitalof Cardiff.

New groups include: Abbey (Renfrew),Bath Circus, Borders (St Boswell), Can Do(Chesterfield), Cardiff, Crinis (St Austell),Delta (Aberdeen), Dewar (Dumbarton),Finchley (London North West), Great Barr(Birmingham), Guildford, Halifax, Harlequin(Twickenham), Harrogate (ThursdayChapter), Highfield (Middlesborough),Hull (Tuesday Chapter), James Watt(Greenock), Mansfield (Notts), Meteor(Derby), Oswald (Durham), Phoenix(Rugby), St. Swithins (Bristol), Tarka(Barnstable) and Walworth (Darlington). STRANDED: Andy and Melloney McCutcheon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Members of the CAN--DO Chapter have their sights set high!

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BNI system “insures” 98% of Jane’s businessMost of us will have come across a chap-

ter colleague for whom BNI referrals con-tribute a significant percentage of theirbusiness turnover. But how many can saythat a remarkable 98% of all their businesscomes directly or indirectly through BNI?

One person who is happy to make sucha claim is Jane Swain of Sheffield’s KaizenChapter, who acknowledges that withoutmembership of BNI, her specialist insurancebroking business would not have flourishedto anything like its present extent.

Jane is a Director of Protokol ConsultingLtd, and working directly with accountantsin general practice, identifying cost efficientprofessional fee insurance for their clients.She and her brother set up the company 18months ago and, since they were startingwith a clean sheet and no clients, it wasimperative to find an effective marketingstrategy. That was when she turned to BNI.

“As a new business with a unique serv-ice, we needed to penetrate our target mar-ket efficiently,” she said. “It was opportunethat I was introduced to BNI by a colleaguetwo months later, and I soon realised thatthe potential for our business growth wasunlimited if we embraced the BNI system

totally. Since I was responsible for achievingsales targets, I focused all my efforts intoadapting the BNI system into my salesmethodology.”

Jane added: “This soon resulted in anenormous increase in the number of refer-rals both for and from colleagues in myChapter. It is safe to say that we now receive98% of our business as a direct conse-quence of BNI membership and I feel thatmy approach in using Dr Ivan Misner’smodel for notable networking has been thekey to our success. My secret is simple:‘develop a system, be positive, alwaysinclude others in your good fortune andconfidently ask for what you want,’”she said.

Jane can be contacted at ProtokolConsulting Limited on 01142 211 773

BNI simply Essential in HungerfordJust months after joining BNI, marketing

services specialists Teresa Dadey and SamRudland reckon that over 60% of their busi-ness comes through referrals from theirchapter colleagues!

Sam is currently Chapter Director ofDidcot and Teresa, who had been strugglingto find a BNI group to join because all thelocal chapters have their marketing positionfilled, has now become a founding memberof the new Wantage Chapter – about tolaunch as SuccessNet went to press.

The pair established their new ventureEssential Communications in Hungerfordjust under a year ago, offering a comprehen-sive range of marketing services under oneroof. “We identified from very early on thatthe key to our success would be network-ing,” said Teresa, “so we visited several net-working groups, but BNI came out tops inevery direction.

“We felt particularly good about itsstructure and discipline. Other organisa-tions felt it was a good selling point to beflexible and informal, but the level of com-mitment shown was nowhere near asstrong. So it had to be BNI for us and this hasturned out to be one of the best decisionswe made.”

She said that referrals from within the

chapter started to arrive very quickly,although it took slightly longer for thirdparty introductions (outside the group) tofilter through.“We’ve been really impressedwith the quality and strength of our referralsthrough BNI, and the fact that it now pro-vides nearly two thirds of our business.”

SuccessNet would like to hear fromother members who receive the majority oftheir business through BNI.

Sam and Teresa can be contacted on 01488 738 61

WORK THE SYSTEM: That’s Jane Swain’s recipe for success

Accountant Diana Gerrard, a member ofStirling Chapter, has received an ideal refer-ral, guaranteeing her practice £10,000 ayear in fees for the foreseeable future, plus ahealthy initial £15,000 contract fee.

The introduction came from colleagueNorman Jack, The Royal Bank of Scotland’sArea Manager for Business Banking.

A senior partner with Stirling-basedDickson and Middleton, Diana is a foundermember of the three year old Chapter and akeen hill walker in her spare time. Her latestchallenge is taking part in the annual GreatOutdoors Challenge, climbing 30 Munros(mountains over 3,000 feet for those with-out a Scottish dictionary). “Wherever I’mwalking I always have my BNI badge dis-played on my rucksack. You’d be amazedhow many enquiries it attracts,” she said.

Contact Diana Gerrard on 01786 474 718

Sterling base forStirling accountant

Kent stages “business event of the year”Professional magician Laurie Philp has

conjured up what has been described byseasoned directors as “a groundbreakingevent for BNI in the UK” – the recentlystaged 2003 BNI B2B Business Exhibitionheld at Canterbury’s county cricket ground.

Laurie is Education Co-ordinator of theCanterbury Chapter, and it was his idea forthe Chapter to mount an event whichbecame the most talked about businesshappening in Kent so far this year..

Every member of the Chapter as well asother local businesses took a stand at theexhibition, opened by local MP JulianBrasier and the Lord Mayor of CanterburyMary Jeffreys (who are pictured withChapter Director Barry Williams). More than500 visitors participated in the one-dayevent which, in addition to a major tradeexhibition, included an early morningchampagne and pastry breakfast and a net-working forum giving visitors and standholders the chance to network, learn some-thing about each other’s businesses andidentify potential new customers.

Laurie Philp, whochaired the B2Borganising commit-tee, was delightedwith the way thingswent. “It more thanexceeded our expec-tations. On average,BNI stand holderseach received 40good referrals andenquiries and everyexhibitor is verykeen for B2B to berepeated. We evencreated a dedicatedexhibition website atwww.b2bcanberbury.net”

The Canterbury Chapter prides itself onbeing one of BNI’s leading UK chapters. Itwas formed in July 1997 with 10 core mem-bers, nine of whom are still in the group andit now has a membership of 42.

During this time, more than 16,000referrals have been generated.

To find out more about B2B, and ‘Magic for Business’ call Laurie Philp on 01304 369 328

Meanwhile, members of GatwickChapter have just staged their first businessexposition with 20 of the group’s 31 mem-bers exhibiting their products and servicesto local business leaders.

The idea developed from discussionsbetween Chapter Director Keith Montagueand one of the members, Julia Pockett who,as Area Manager for the national businessaccommodation group, GainsboroughHouse Business Centres, was keen tooffer her company’s facilities for a localbusiness expo.

Keith said:“For our first such event it wasvery successful. We’d invited hundreds ofbusinessmen and women from the Crawleyarea along with leading business and civicfigures, and while the attendance was mod-est, we were satisfied with the numberswho turned out on a damp Friday evening.We’re also hoping that we may have attract-ed some new members to our Chapterbecause, for a lot of visitors this was theirfirst taste of BNI, and they showed a lot ofinterest. There were also some very signifi-cant business contacts made. We’ll definite-ly be repeating the event.”

….As Gatwick’s first Expo takes off!

A new Internet football game,‘Funkyfootball’ has just kicked off andcould net a small fortune for two youngmen who met each for the first time bare-ly six months ago at the launch of BNI’sOmega 1297 Chapter in Glasgow.

Derek Gillanders, boss of Hiper Ltd(IT & Telecommunications) and DerekHusbands of Creative Test Solutions Ltd,had both gone along as visitors to theChapter’s launch and, within minutes ofstriking up a conversation, realised theyhad complementary expertise for a newbusiness venture. After the meeting theycontinued to talk for hours about the tech-nical practicalities of turning DerekHusband’s’ brainchild Internet footballgame into reality and, by early afternoon,‘Funkyfootball’ was born.

“We’re both involved in similar fields,”explained Derek G. “Derek H designs andlinks databases on the Internet, and my

skill is in making the end result attractiveand user friendly. We very quicklyrealised that together we could bring‘Funkyfootball’ to the marketplace veryquickly. What now seems incredible is thathad either of us not gone along to the BNIlaunch that morning, this project wouldprobably still be in its infancy.”

The new game is Internet-based andthey hope it will have instant appeal tofans of fantasy football manager, althoughit goes further, adding dimensions such astraining players, managing a budget andeven dealing with strict referees!

Needless to say, both Dereks immedi-ately signed up for membership of Omega1297 Chapter, and their new colleagueswere among the first to play the gamewhen it went on-line earlier this year.

Contact Derek Gillanders and DerekHusbands on 01355 268 300

Two Dereks go Football Crazy!

SIMPLY ESSENTIAL: Business partners Sam Rudland (left) andTeresa Dadey say BNI is crucial to their new venture.

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T h e L a s t W o r d

How many Irish men (andwomen) does it take to build aTV set – with a difference? Notas many as you might think, saysRathdown Chapter’s MichelleByrne of Axiom Design.

Michelle was given the chal-lenge to design a sitting roomset using clever lighting tech-niques, for the Irish TV pro-gramme, Beyond the Hall Door,(similar to the UK’s‘ ChangingRooms’). The set constructionpresented quite a test since itcould not be fitted out like a real

room or building, so Axiom’sdesign team decided to enlistthe help of BNI members toconstruct the set.

Her Chapter colleague EdRhatigan(Rhatigan Restoration)built the main piece of storagefurniture for the set, while fel-low member, Carl Fortune tookcare of the electrical installa-tions including light fittings inthe floors, and Dun LaoghaireChapter member, Colette Wardcreated the soft furnishings.

“The whole job became a BNIevent,” said Michelle, “It was agreat experience, and it reallystrengthened bonds between us.“

Irish members can judge theresults for themselves, and seeMichelle and the team in action,

on the RTE1 channel at 8.30pmon Thursday May 8th. ContactMichelle (00) 353 1 235 1985

All set for TV...

Ciaran Hamill is a dab hand at houseextensions and conversions, but whenDun Laoghaire Chapter colleagueDaphne Wayne passed him a € 57,000referral to build a log church hall, hedidn’t know whether to laugh or pray!

Daphne runs LogArt,, importing pur-pose-designed structures in kit formfrom Finland and overseeing the assem-bly of the buildings on site, using a localconstruction team. “We’ve built up astrong portfolio of builders aroundIreland and the UK,” she said, “but myreason for choosing Ciaran and his

Goldstar Technical Services team, wassimply that he always gets such greattestimonials at the chapter meetings.”

Ciaran soon got into the spirit ofbuilding Greystones log church hall andjokingly reported back to his Chapter’smembers: “I just took delivery of aScandinavian forest - but we’re reallyenjoying the challenge.”

There was one more surprise forCiaran – and Daphne – when it came tothe opening of the church hall.To every-one’s delight, Greystones PresbyterianChurch committee had invited MaryMcAleese, the Irish President, to performthe ceremony!

“I had never met the President,’ saidCiaran,“let alone constructed a buildingthat she was to open.” Then Daphne letCiaran in on a little secret. She told him“We’ve built lots of homes for people inIreland and the UK, but this was actuallythe first church hall!”

Daphne can be contacted on 00 353 1 280 2879, and Ciaran on 00 353 1 295 9324

SITTING PRETTY: Members of the Rathdown Chapter whose set design will shortly be featured on TV

…While members in Dun Laoghaire were building a church

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You & SuccessNet

THE HALL THAT BNI BUILT: Daphne Wynne and Ciaron Hamill outside thelog church hall recently opened by the Irish President.