How to Join a BNI Networking Group

BNI Networking groups can be found in all areas. BNI is the world's largest business networking and referral organization of its kind. Area chapters include representatives from a variety of businesses and provide members with the opportunity to sharpen their presentation skills while networking with other professionals.

Instructions

1. Talk to professionals in your office or community and mention BNI. Express your interest in joining a group.

2. Investigate what types of professionals area chapters are looking for. BNI chapters only admit one professional from each area, such as estate planning attorney and personal injury attorney. So if they already have a representative from your specialized field you'll need to keep looking.

3. Look for BNI groups that are local to you. The purpose of BNI is to help you grow your business, so getting too far outside of your community won't be as profitable.

4. Ask someone from the group you've found if you can attend a meeting. You must be invited by a current member of the local chapter in order to attend.

5. Attend the BNI meeting you have been invited to with your host and prepare a very short presentation about who you are and what you do.

6. Decide if this group is right for you, except the invitation to join when it is given and pay your dues.

7. Attend weekly meetings regularly. BNI members depend on one another for support and referrals and expect you to be an active member of the group.

Tips & Warnings

• There are BNI chapters available just about everywhere, so if you don't find what you're looking for right away, keep looking.

• Remember that each BNI group wants one representative from a particular field. This does not mean one doctor and one lawyer. It means specialists within each field.