In my current phase of marketing activity, I have decided to join BNI Lakeside (the Wimbledon Chapter).  For those that aren’t in the know BNI (Business Networking International) is a really interesting networking organisation that helps small businesses build their business through referrals.  The process is more structured than other networking organisations I have used in the past and much better for it.  One of the founding principles of BNI is ‘givers gain’, meaning the more referrals I bring to the organisation, the more referrals will come back to me.  They have set up the meetings in such a way that within each chapter there is only one of each business type (in my case web design) and through our personal and business networks we share contacts and opportunities with each other.  Each business has an opportunity to stand up and share what they do and make a request for the types of referrals that they are looking for.  Following on from that we then have to stand up and tell the group what referrals we have brought that week.  It is very effective and interestingly some of the most successful for receiving referrals in our group are the trade practices such as plumbing and electrical services.

Some of the interesting organisations that I have met there include Frank Layton Displays, a Wimbledon printing company that specialises in printing on bespoke items including fabric printing and vehicle printing, Advintage wines, an online wine company that makes buying wine not just fun but affordable, Julia Boggio Photography a very talented Wimbledon photographer and Calm Time a mobile beauty therapy company that was set up by Fiona Gordon.

Please get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about either BNI or the networking in Wimbledon