I’ve been nominated at the next chapter director in BNI Broadway. I feel honoured to be granted this opportunity. The current director told me that I’d need to choose my team… How was I supposed to do this?

Ultimately, I went on the first impressions I got from any BNI chapter, went through each stage of the BNI script methodically and came up with a winning team. All of whom accepted the role.

As a visitor, you enter the room. You’re greeted (or not) by a variety of people. I decided my visitor hosts need to not suffer from bad breath (I’m harsh) but should be friendly, well presented and speak on an Adult-Adult level. I’ll put them aside for the moment.

Ok, I’ve been ushered around the room talking to different people, I’m now armed with a stodgy fry-up and a cup of unbranded coffee and sat down next to some interesting people. The chapter director stands up and introduces various people around the room. This stage is harmless so we’ll skip through. Eventually the Education coordinator stands. (S)he is the first person so far to offer any real value to the meeting. I want an Education coordinator who will offer advice and information, not one that will shame and guilt the rest of the room for not bringing enough visitors.

Mental note: Education coordinator needs to be good at constructive critisism and equally friendly, knowledgable and well presented.

Everything is going well, I recite my 60 second speech and listen to everyone elses, I’ve decided on two people I’d like to speak to after the meeting.

Suddenly, the secretary/treasurer stands up and starts talking about money! Watching the reactions on the other visitor’s faces, I realise I’m not alone. The BNI script is quite pushy considering how well things had been going so far!

Mental note: Secretary/treasurer must be someone who appreciates BNI’s value already, someone who charges at least £1000 per average sale in their own business. The person I saw in one chapter obviously didn’t and looked almost ashamed for asking.

Not forgetting the dreaded MC position; Membership Coordinator. (S)he’s the one who got us here to start with, so he needs to be methodical, down to earth, constructive and goal orientated.

Working backwards, my chosen MC for our BNI chapter accepted on the spot. We discussed the Secretary/Treasurer and came up with two ideas. My first declined for his own reasons, but the second was over the moon.

Education coordinator, events coordinator and visitor hosts quickly followed.

We have a winning team and aim to wipe the floor with any other chapter in BNI by increasing membership and bringing Broadway back to it’s former glory.

Anyone for bowling?

Facebook, Ecademy, Myspace, Xing, LinkedIn, Bebo… and many more.

The generation of networking sites has been around for some time each appealing to it’s own genre of people… and I’ve been addicted to all of them at one time or another. Now, it’s Ecademy!

Ecademy, coupled with BNI now forms the main part of my business strategy. Ecademy is daunting to use for a beginner but it’s easy to focus on getting to grips with the control that grabs you the most and move forward one step at a time exploring each aspect. Ecademy has tools for blogging, messaging, watching educational videos, listing adverts and much much more. Ecademy is also loved by Google so anything you post is on Google within around 20 minutes!!! Unfortunately, it also drops off fairly quickly, so regular contributions are a must.

In three months of using the site, I’ve had 391 Ecademy people read my profile, 110 of them talked to me, and not too many were direct sales. I’ve found a great local businessman who wants us to work together and potentially share an office later in the year. I’ve found energetic people telling me how great I am, and I’ve had the opportunity to help a large number of people. I get to advertise any special offers and people do actually read them, and often this generates leads. I get to post general information/questions or just ask for advice, and at least 3 people reply with the right answer.

In these months, I’ve gained around 8 leads in total through Ecademy, and 2 good clients. I have a small network of people I could call for advice, including a copyright lawyer, graphic designers, marketeers, accountants and many more

Ecademy is mainly a paid-for service. But it’s cheap for what it gives to me and my business. The paid service means all the Internet loiterers aren’t involved.
Ecademy is a large, constantly changing site and Google loves it! This means a link from Ecademy to your website (on your profile, blogs, adverts etc etc etc) will boost your site through the rankings. You are rewarded for contributing!

What’s the catch with Ecademy? Occasionally you get someone trying to ‘spam’ your inbox with direct and unwelcome sales literature. This has happened to me and still I turned them into a valuable contact and potential future lead.

Ecademy, like all forms of networking does of course need you to work at it, work doesn’t fall into your lap without giving some time and effort to it. But Ecademy works. You can put as much or as little effort in as you like. You can also gain as many or few leads as you like. Get onto Ecademy Now and see what I mean!!!!

Contact me if you want help with Ecademy or any other part of your online marketing strategy, including web design, Google rankings or general internet advice.

Also see my Ecademy HTML Cheat Sheet – Download the cheatsheet to print and help you add some html styles to your profile, blogs and Marketplace listings.

Or upload images for use on ecademy (and even get the code! upload Ecademy images)

Ecademy Rocks!!! I dare you to try not making some good contacts!

Last week, I designed my BNI 60-seconds around estate agent website packages we had put together. I wanted to talk about our software which managed properties, sent automatic emails and synchronised with central portals like Primelocation, Right Move, and Property Finder.

Whilst picking up some spray-mount from my local crafts shop, I spotted some green cardboard boxes poking out of the bin. I instantly thought about those little green monopoly houses. I asked if I could take them, and I did.

I have an interest in magic effects, and have been looking for cunning ways to slip them into my 60 second presentations. I had finally found a way!

I designed a simple effect in which a large 3 dimensional house appears at my side during the presentation. I structured the content to fit this in with the maximum effect and had a fantastic model.

The house itself looked great, sloped roof, door, windows, exactly as a house should look. Apart from the fact it was made of cardboard, had opaque windows and a clever system of elastic bands inside to make it work.

During our BNI meeting, I managed to keep everything concealed until the big moment.

My time had come. I stood up, walked centre-stage and started my well practiced presentation… It was a disaster! In my nervousness and excitement, I raced through it, missed my own cue and stumbled over my words. The house popped out and very few people were even watching. I sat down and listened to the next 60 seconds… no-one said a word…

On the plus side, the house did work, it remained hidden and flat throughout the meeting and popped up nicely on the table exactly as I had planned.