Radio Free Enterprise

Networking of all kinds fascinates me. Whether it be business networking groups like BNI, network marketing companies like Mary Kay or Isagenix, or social networking applications like MySpace and LinkedIn, this type of distributed messaging really piques my interest.

While researching a post on the use of social networking sites for marketing purposes, I came across a company that is not only doing it but teaching others how to supercharge their sales through the intelligent use of these sites. They’ve even coined the term Social Marketing.

Stomper Net has posted this video as a viral marketing device for their services. Whether or not you choose to employ their services, I highly recommend you spend a few minutes watching it.

The first few minutes are a little hypey, and the animation is a little cutesy, but once you get to the statistics on the growth of social networking sites and how marketers are using them to explode traffic on their sites, the video becomes nothing short of compelling.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

When Dr. Ivan Misner founded BNI in 1985, he may have never dreamed that it would one day grow into the world’s largest business networking organization. Today, with nearly 100,000 members in 37 countries around the world, it has become exactly that.

With that level of success come many challenges, not the least of which is communication between a single founder and tens of thousands of members and directors across the globe.

As a new member to BNI, it occurred to me that the production of a weekly podcast could go a long way to solve that problem. And when I approached Dr. Misner with the idea, he saw the potential and quickly gave the go-ahead.

The result is The Official BNI Podcast, a weekly 5-10 minute audio message from Dr. Misner to the world of BNI, which I produce and co-host from my home studio.

Just as important as his regular outbound communication is the opportunity for his audience to respond through comments, questions and suggestions they can post on the podcast’s web site. From my perspective, this is the essential power of what is being called Web 2.0: the creation of a community through 2-way communication.

The production format allows Dr. Misner and his guests to call-in from anywhere in the world, which is an important consideration for a man with a packed calendar and a global travel itinerary. Nonetheless, I congratulate Dr. Misner for making the commitment of adding this project to his weekly agenda. I don’t believe he would do it if he didn’t see the overwhelming value in it.

Rather than spend too much time explaining what The Official BNI Podcast is all about, I invite you to listen to the first episode where Dr. Misner explains it himself.

I am very pleased and proud to be a part of this new production and I encourage anyone with a far-flung base of offices, employees, salespeople, franchisees, customers, members, readers - you name it - to consider adding a weekly podcast to your communication menu. It’s easier and less expensive than you might think. Give me a call if you’d like to discuss the possibilites.

Late last year I made a very important decision for my business. I joined BNI.

Choosing to join and completely engage in that organization has had a tremendous impact on both myself and my business. Every week I get the chance to meet and present before 35 or more of the most important and influential entrepreneurs in my town. Perhaps more importantly, I am now able to call these people my friends and partners.

One of the brightest lights shining in my local chapter is Elaine Gibson of BB EnviroSystems. She and her husband Nevin are top-producing dealers for EcoQuest International, the indoor environmental equipment company.

Elaine invited me to present to a group of over 100 other EcoQuest associates at a training event she produced locally. All of us in attendance were fortunate to hear personally from the CEO of this amazing company, Mike Jackson. It was a very high-energy event.

This week’s podcast is my presentation to the group on the topic of Education-Based Marketing. As you listen, think about the impact that my relationship with Elaine - via BNI - is having on me and my business. I’ll be talking about another amazing blessing which has come my way through BNI very shortly.

Stay tuned!

There are three sources of sales for any business: 1) New Business; 2) Repeat Business; 3) Referral Business.

Most owners of small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) focus their marketing efforts on #1 and pretty much leave numbers 2 and 3 to their own devices - possibly ignoring the opportunity to triple their sales.

The two factors driving this situation are ignorance and fear: Very few SMBs know how to drive repeat and referral business and most are afraid to ask for a follow-on purchase or referral.

I know of one owner of a multimillion-dollar direct-response marketing company, who was afraid to communicate with his customers after the first sale because he was sure that they would never do business with him again after their initial purchase experience.

As a result, his company, with a database of hundreds of thousands of customers - including their email and shipping addresses - did no follow-up offers of complimentary products or services, undoubtedly leaving millions of dollars of annual sales on the table.

His concern was that, by opening a new communication with the customer, he was giving them an opportunity to complain, and he didn’t want the customer service hassles. My response was that most people were almost certainly happy with what they had purchased, and, even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t admit to themselves (most people use rationalization to reinforce their decision-making process).

Even the small number who might take the opportunity to complain would give him a chance to improve his offering and delivery process, thereby eliminating the need to worry.

Oftentimes, SMB owners find it difficult to ask for referrals. Many feel like they’re begging and that they are putting their customers on the spot, potentially making them feel sufficiently uncomfortable to not buy again themselves.

Just like any successful new business development program, a systematic approach is required when focusing on repeat and referral business. Here are a three pointers:

1) Capture customer information at the point of sale. Make sure you know everything about who is buying from you, what they are buying, how much they are buying and how often. You also want to gather as much of their contact information as possible including shipping address, email address and telephone number. I first started doing this with a point-of-sale system in the late 1980s, so I know you can do it today.

2) Actively market to your customers. There is no stronger indicator of a person’s future buying behavior than their past buying behavior. Don’t send your customers the same marketing communications you are sending to your prospects. Offer them special deals, send them different mailers, produce customer appreciation events, create frequent buyer discounts and premiums. Most of all, communicate with them frequently to let them know how much you appreciate their business and how you’re showing your appreciation.

3) Actively ask for referrals - but not face-to-face. Because so few of us are able to personally ask for a referral without making everyone in the conversation feel like they just stepped into as Southwest Airlines commercial (Want To Get Away?), do yourself and your customers a favor by asking for referrals passively: on your business card; in your email signature block; on packaging, invoices and stationery; and through a systematic series of cards like the ones demonstrated in The Referral Movie (use access code 6752). These methods are inexpensive, yet pervasive and powerful.

One more great source of referral business is BNI: Business Network International. As a member of BNI, the group you meet with becomes a powerful sales force in your community, always looking for opportunities to refer business your way. Commitment is a big success factor for anyone considering joining BNI, but the amount of referral business you can generate through the organization can be flat-out amazing.

For more information on BNI and another referral resource I use, listen to this podcast.

This podcast contains a replay of a recorded teleconference interview of Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, by Kody Bateman, CEO of SendOutCards. Also on the call is Norm Dominguez, CEO of BNI.

I am a member of BNI (Business Network International), the world’s largest business networking organization and give it my highest recommendation. If you are serious about building your business through networking and what is now called Word of Mouth Marketing, you need to be a BNI member.

SendOutCards is a company I became aware of in late 2005 and have been using ever since. Their online system for sending personalized notecards is an unrivaled follow-up and referral generating tool.

This short interview will tell you most everything you need to know about these two organizations and whether you should become involved with one or both.