Who’s in your little black book?

Having spent 30+ years in a corporate job I didn’t have business network around me that could support my Interior Design business.

I was always told at my annual appraisal to ‘network more’ but if I am honest, I never really knew what that meant. I thought it was to just get to know my fellow team members better.

I knew when I set up My Claybrick Home I would need a set of trades around me to call on for client projects, but where to start.

I was fortunate to receive a Facebook message from a lady called Marcia, inviting me to attend a local networking group as a visitor.

The meeting was on Zoom every Thursday (we were in lockdown 2.0 at this stage) at 6.30am. I did ask Marcia twice to confirm the time as I thought surely it was a mistype.

Surely meetings didn’t start at 6.30am. Yes, they do. ?

(Certainly, the trades – electrician, builder, plumber, roofer etc – wanted to get off to work by 8.30am latest)

I attended my first BNI meeting in March 2021 and straight away saw the benefit of the network. This was going to be my tribe of trades. Not only did I have the trade connections in my chapter group of 22, but access to the full global network.

If you need an Electrician in Edinburgh, or a Plumber in Peterborough, I can refer you to a quality trade.

Even though there was a significant outlay I was joining a group as a founder member, and my 1-year membership wouldn’t kick off until the group fully launched in November 2021. Having my business head on I also knew how many design jobs I needed to pull from my new network connections to have a good ROI (return on investment).

Now, the franchise owner for my region (Brian) always says “Vicky will turn up to the opening on an envelope”.

I take this as a compliment.

Why, because I am being visible in the BNI network.

I am being recognized within Essex as a member serious about my business and supporting the businesses of others. Other chapter members are getting to know, like and trust me.

This is leading to quality referrals for work.

So, when someone says to you “do you belong to a networking group?” or “would you like to visit my networking group?” what’s your response.

Would you shy away, or would you embrace with open arms?

Going into a meeting with a room full of strangers can be scary but we often must do the scary stuff to move our businesses forward.

If you are in a networking group, I’d love to know which ones, and how you find it.

In the second half of 2022, I’m going to trying some other local groups and I’ll let you know how I get on.

If you’d like to chat with me specifically about BNI or the power of networking, then feel free to grab a day/time that works for you from my diary. You can do that here.

Have a great weekend.

Vicky

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PS If you’d like to find out more about BNI meetings near you then drop me a reply and I can let you know which groups local to you have an open category seat. The policy within BNI is only 1 seat per business. So, in my chapter, I hold the Interior Designer seat which allows me to lock out my local competition.

PPS New week (Tuesday 5th July 8pm) I’ll be hosting the monthly goal setting workshop for the Interior Design Business Hangout community. You can find out all the details in the events tab in the Facebook group. Or feel free to drop me a reply for more details.