Being active in BNI is like having up to 40 sales people working for you, because your fellow members will be carrying your cards and referring your business to people they meet, without you having to pay them any salaries or commission. Successful businesses depend on 'word-of-mouth' marketing as the best form of promotion there is.
BNI provides a structured, supportive, business environment in which local business people can get together to network, learn valuable new marketing skills and develop the strong personal relationships that lead to trust and the consequent generation of significant business for each other.
Benefits to members and visitors
- Promotes your business to and through a network of people. There are currently 25 businesses in our chapter and more than 4,900 people in the BNI network: use them and educate them on your business)
- More cost effective than other advertising mediums
- Time efficient – our meetings don’t impact our busy work schedules
- Grows business through the power of referrals
- Develops a Network of professionals
- Improves business and communications skills, improves our ability to deliver a succinct, positive message about our companies. We are learning the SKILL of word-of-mouth advertising
- Create meaningful relationships that will last a lifetime.
- We work hard to make sure that our chapter is also a good social network. We organise regular Golf outings and other social events to help members get to know each other better.
What to expect when you visit
- Arrive before 7a.m. then you’ll have more time to mingle with the members and new contacts
- Remember to bring lots of business cards that you will pass out
- Upon arriving you will:
- Be greeted by a friendly visitor host or the person who invited you.
- They will help sign you in and get you started on a cup of coffee or tea to kick start the day
- Will informally introduce you to members of the group until 7:15a.m.
- Structured meeting begins at 7:15a.m. sharp
- A full Irish breakfast is served after the meeting. Our breakfast and our panoramic view over the Lough Corrib makes doing business a treat!
- You will be given time (60 second slot) to stand up and promote you business in front of the members.
- You will also have an opportunity to pass out your business cards so remember to bring at least 50.
- Where and when we meet
Time: Thursday Mornings 7:00am – 8:30am ***Sharp Location: The Glenlo Abbey Hotel, Bushy Park, Galway City, Ireland
How much does it cost to join the BNI?
BNI is extremely cost effective form of word of mouth marketing. It currently cost's a one off joining fee of €130 plus VAT and €600 plus VAT a year, it also requires a contribution to the meetings. When considered against an advert in the yellow pages as you can see by the members pages www.bnigalway.com, it has a much larger return on investment. Understandably, this outlay causes caution from some young or small businesses, if you are concerned on how this will return your investment then why not request an invite and come along and talk to businesses who were in your position before joining.
You can visit the Tribesman Chapter in The Glenlo Hotel on a Thursday morning. This is the best way of finding out what it is all about.
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