We may be moving through the thick of winter, but BNI is running hot as our chapters and our members continue to notch up success after success.
We’re still coordinating the Hospice fundraising results, but this year looks set to break all records. Well done and thank you for your support – it’s clear from the results that you agree with me that Hospice is a very worthy cause.

We are aware that as the website is geared to service BNI countries across the world, we have been experiencing some teething problems – thank you for reporting these faults and errors to us. Please continue to do so – we don’t expect the teething problems to last very long.  We are continually implementing suggestions and improvements forwarded to us by members and in this regard we have now updated all the Downloads in both the member and leadership team sections of the website.

At the moment the BNI Entrepreneur Support Programme is rolling out in chapters across New Zealand – if you haven’t adopted it for your chapter yet, please do. As you will read in this newsletter, our first BNI Entrepreneur Support Programme candidate, Natalie Robertson, is enjoying tremendous success.

Wishing you a year of Givers Gain
Graham Southwell

Success stories and money raised by BNI chapters during Hospice Week are trickling in and BNI NZ is expecting the impact to be HUGE!
While all the money and all the stories are yet to be collated – and will be reported on in subsequent issues of the newsletter – BNI Support has heard about a number of chapters initiatives.
BNI Support’s Sue Redknap says that while some chapters hosted especially successful Gold Coin Collections (BNI will donate two dollars for every dollar raised during the Gold Coin collections), other chapters made extraordinary efforts to raise money for their local hospices, including special fundraisers such as quiz nights, auctions and medieval dinners.
The Northland Chapter of BNI delivered an incredible effort, raising more than $5,382.00 for Hospice.
Chapter secretary / treasurer, Peter Peeters, says Nicola Teal from House of Travel and Caroline Kitchen from Manor Foods decided to organise an event to raise money. Brad Malins from Placemakers put up a bar tab and various members donated items for the auction.
“Two paintings by one of our members, Tristan Tuckey (Big Fish Creative), raised $400.00 and $800.00 respectively – they were beautiful paintings – and other prizes included books, wine, vouchers, grocery vouchers and car servicing among others.
“Don Cameron – from my real estate firm Allens Realty – was the auctioneer. He recently had a family member in hospice – so he had a passion, which helped to boost the fund raising. Don put up a $100 donation to kick it off in the Allens office, and earned close to $400 prior to the auction starting. We also raised funds through the normal Gold Coin collection,” says Peter.
The Lower Hutt Chapter of BNI raised more than $1,000 for Hospice on Friday 26 May. The chapter chose Te Omanga Hospice as its charity – one reason being it is right next door to the venue where the chapter has been meeting for the past five years.
Fundraising Manager from Te Omanga Hospice, Helen Kelland, visited the chapter for a ten minute presentation before joining in the charity auction.
Chapter member, Helen Down (of Synthesis Marketing Ltd) says there was a wide range of interesting things donated to the auction by the members, including framed art, a car cleaning kit, a voucher for a luxury facial, a bottle of wine and even a paper clip.
“We brought in a real estate auctioneer from Harcourts (a member) and the auctioneer came from up the Kapiti Coast just to run it for us. We had a total ball and were delighted with the result,” says Helen.

President of the Whangarei Chapter of BNI, Gary Bell, has been appointed to head up Northland Cricket.
Approached about the position a couple of months ago, the current director of nutrition business Eat for Keeps – a company that provides personal nutrition plans – was glad to extend his association with Northland Cricket.
“I was involved with cricket as a player in my younger days before going into coaching and various administrative roles. I also served as a convenor and selector for Northland Cricket before stepping aside for eight years or so – however my involvement in Northland Cricket has been considerable over the last 20 years,” says Gary.
Northland Cricket’s new Cobham Oval was developed at a cost of more than $4 million and boasts a very special pavilion which is the exact replica of the one at the famous Lords Cricket Ground.
“We also have a large indoor centre which allows a full run-up for bowlers that has three lanes and video equipment. At the moment the facility is being warrant of fitness tested for test class cricket and we’re looking forward to hosting domestic games here in the near future.”
Gary, who is the president of the Whangarei Chapter, says he will remain involved with BNI at least until his term is completed, at which time the other consultant in his company will probably take his place.
“BNI has been a very valuable network for me. Most of my business is done by word of mouth. When you work by yourself it is particularly valuable to have BNI and the people in your chapter as a resource,” says Gary.

The two-woman team at Event Designers joined the HBC chapter of BNI eight months ago and have seen enormous growth in their business within that time.
One of the directors, Hellen Hyndman, said the weekly BNI breakfast meetings have not only reinforced their brand within the immediate area, but have also secured them many small events to oversee, plus two significantly larger events over the coming months.
One of those two ‘biggies’ in the planning is the latest must see show ‘The Vaughan Code’ - a stage show featuring renowned Profiler Peter Vaughan, a fellow HBC BNI chapter member.

More than 20 local Te Awamutu businesses gathered recently (Friday June 9) for the breakfast launch of the Te Awamutu Chapter of Business Network International (BNI) – the 80th BNI chapter in New Zealand.
Chapter vice-president and local businessman, Mark Ryan (Money Managers), says it is encouraging to see how many people are excited about growing their businesses through a formalised referral network.
“I am continually surprised by the fact that if you wanted to meet anybody else in business, there is usually somebody in the chapter who could give you a referral to that person.”

By Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman, BNI

One of the strengths of BNI is that the members of a chapter become friends. One of the weaknesses of BNI is that the members of a chapter become friends.
Friends don't like to hold friends accountable. However, accountability is the key to any successful referral network; therein lies the paradox. BNI is not a friendship organisation. It is a business referral organisation. Granted, friendships must develop in order to make BNI work. However, those very same friendships can get in the way of maintaining accountability in a group.
Last year I read a newspaper article about BNI that made me really mad at first. The author started off talking about BNI and the fact that it met every week. He then compared it to a local, independent group that met every other week. The writer talked about BNI having a "strict set of rules" and then pointed out that attendance was "not mandatory" in the other group.
He showed how structured BNI was and how flexible the other group was. It seemed like a one-sided view of BNI, until, at the very end, he asked both group leaders how many members they had and how many referrals were being passed on average each month.
It turned out that the BNI group had 25 percent more members (not a big difference), and they were passing 600 percent more referrals. No kidding, 600 percent!
When I read that article, I realised once and for all that BNI is not for everyone. I hoped that the people who read that article and felt that structure and accountability were important would join BNI. And I hoped the people who did not think these factors were important would join the other group.
That said, I believe BNI is not as "inflexible" as some people may think. Remember, people implement systems. The BNI system, when implemented properly, works well and allows local control as well as a certain amount of flexibility.
However, these systems and accountability have to be within a context of help and support. I believe that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And not everyone understands that these policies need to be applied in a way that shows that the group does have expectations and also cares about the members.

Director of Fatgrape Design, Natalie Robertson, became the first successful recipient of BNI New Zealand’s Entrepreneur Support Programme scholarship when she joined the Warkworth Chapter in March – and she hasn’t looked back since.
“It’s going fantastic,” says Natalie. “I really like that I’ve expanded my networking with other business professionals in the area and referrals are absolutely brilliant. BNI has also expanded my knowledge of other businesses in the area – graphic design is very competitive, but BNI has grown my network,” says Natalie.
Designed to help start-up businesses, The BNI Entrepreneur Support Programme aims to help small business owners benefit from being a member of a BNI chapter – the benefits include not only business referrals, but also the opportunity for leadership development, public speaking skills, mentorship and support from fellow members.
The idea is for every BNI chapter to actively seek to assist a new business to become established, by nominating them for a complimentary 12 month membership.

The first International Networking Week™ (an initiative of BNI) is officially scheduled to run each year, starting on the first Monday in February 2007, and will feature a number of networking events across the world.
In New Zealand, BNI members across the country will participate in the annual Big Breakfast – an opportunity to cross network between chapters, listen to great speakers and enjoy good food and coffee. The date for this will be confirmed later this year, possibly the 3rd week in February.
BNI NZ Director, Graham Southwell, says the goal of International Networking Week™ is to celebrate the key role that networking plays in the development and success of businesses across the world.
Don’t forget to mark your calendar!

While the new leadership term has just gotten underway and has some distance to go yet, BNI Support would like to encourage all members to think about putting their hands up to join the next leadership team.
BNI Support’s Fiona Harrop says that not only is the philosophy ‘Givers Gain’ pertinent to success in BNI, but in any endeavour you will literally get out what you put in.
“All the leadership team training dates for the next term are already up. If you would like to give something back to your chapter and want to see it go from strength to strength, let you’re current leadership team know you are interested in being part of the next leadership team. Then diarise your local leadership team training session so you’re prepared months ahead,” says Fiona.

BY UK SuccessNet Editor Malcolm Grosvenor
Yes, we all know the golden rules when it comes to inviting visitors to our chapters: don't 'sell' BNI, highlight the business benefits, adopt a warm and friendly tone when extending your invitations, and so on…
But is that all? If so, why do significant numbers of members struggle to find good visitors, when others seem to have no difficulty bringing guests along on an almost weekly basis? The answer is that while there are no hidden secrets to attracting more visitors, you do need to adopt the right blend of confidence, a positive attitude, sincerity, creativity, commitment—and timing.
"Don't push it if they're not positive"
These are all qualities you'll find in accountant Denis Fuller, a founder member of the Magna Carta Chapter in Runnymede, UK. In the past 12 months, Denis has dazzled colleagues by introducing no fewer than 53 visitors to his chapter, nine of whom have since become members. "There really is no special formula, but it's important not to try to sell the BNI concept. I merely tell potential guests that I'd like to introduce them to a group of colleagues who may be able to offer them new business, knowing they'll soon discover the opportunities for themselves. The other vital aspect is to follow up with every visitor after they've attended a meeting."
"I turn unsolicited calls into visitors"
Derbyshire telecommunications provider Jason Smith, a member of Long Eaton's J25 Chapter, takes a similar approach to the many calls he receives daily from sales and service representatives. "When they've finished telling me about their business, I ask them if they'd like even more, and invite them to my chapter. It obviously works because I've brought along 35 guests in the past year, seven of whom have joined."
This article has been condensed from its original version which appeared in the UK edition of SuccessNet. Our thanks to UK SuccessNet Editor Malcolm Grosvenor for sharing it with our international audience. Undoubtedly the same principles for visitors apply to BNI members worldwide!