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Update Your Account DetailsBNI - in the news
22-Jun-2010Dr Ivan Misner, the US founder of Business Network International
(BNI), which has 120,000 members globally and 15,000 in the UK, said
that the misuse of internet self-publicising tools such as LinkedIn.com
and Twitter is fuelling a backlash against business networking.
He
said too many people are now being tapped up for business by people
they did not really know or trust. "It comes from people who either
practice premature solicitation or receive it and are frustrated," he
said. "They think hitting on people to do business is networking. And
people don't like it. There is this backlash against bad networking."
Dr
Misner, who is in the UK this week to mark his network's 25th
anniversary, believes social media sites can be as effective in drumming
up business as local chambers of commerce or rotary clubs. But he
warned that the web exposes the amateur networker mercilessly: "I say
absolutely do social media. It substantially builds the visibility side
of your business. But everything is faster online. If you are a really
bad at networking you are bad at light speed.
"There's still a
lot of misunderstanding with networking. Most people think that it's
walking around, handing out cards. Networking is more about farming than
it is about hunting. It's about cultivating business relationships."
He
is supporting a protest campaign set up on Facebook called "Facebook
Users Who are Tired of Premature Solicitation".
Dr Misner's
comments come as BNI releases the findings of a survey of 14,000 of its
members about their networking preferences. Kent has emerged as the most
successful area in Europe for generating valuable business leads
between BNI members.
Business referrals between BNI members rose
by 21pc last year to £230m, the biggest rise in 14 years, as more
businesses turned to formal networking to generate work during the
recession.
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