LIHU‘E — Face-to-face networking, the “old school” version of Facebook or Twitter, is still alive and well on Kaua‘i, according to Ron Margolis of Hawai‘i Life Real Estate Services. Margolis is also a member of the island’s newly formed Business
LIHU‘E — Face-to-face networking, the “old school” version of Facebook or Twitter, is still alive and well on Kaua‘i, according to Ron Margolis of Hawai‘i Life Real Estate Services.
Margolis is also a member of the island’s newly formed Business Network International group. The networking organization — just shy of the 18 members it needs to form a local chapter — has been meeting once a week for about eight months now, said Haunani Rossi of Kaua‘i Aloha Weddings.
The early morning Thursday meetings at Oki Diner have given entrepreneurs the opportunity to exchange referrals and share testimonials about each other’s businesses.
“It’s like having 20 salespeople working for you,” Margolis said. “Each of their worlds are much bigger than mine.”
In other words, they might come across someone who could use your services, while you have the capability of passing their contact information along as well, he said.
From graphic designers and architects to dentists and hair dressers, BNI supports individuals from a diverse range of professions in forming “symbiotic relationships.” Only one person from each profession, however, is able to enter an individual chapter so that it remains competition-free.
“By giving business to others, you will get business yourself,” Rossi said. “What goes around comes around.”
Membership fees might come at a significant cost to some — registration is $100 and membership fees are $330.
“In this kind of economy you have to spend more to build your business,” Margolis said.
The monetary rewards will outweigh the initial costs, said BNI Hawai‘i Executive Director Joann Seery.
In Hawai‘i last year around $8 million was exchanged between some 650,000 members in about 30 chapters of the BNI, according to Seery. More than $2.2 billion was exchanged between some 103,000 members in 5,200 chapters of the worldwide network in 2007 via some 5.5 million referrals. And in 2008, around $2.3 billion was interchanged internationally.
“We’ve been in a recessed economy,” Margolis said, adding that “a lot more distress is to come.”
Now is the time to market, he said, adding that “word of mouth is the most cost effective form of advertising possible.”
Once a chapter forms on Kaua‘i, members of the business community will have a chance to talk about what they do in an “extremely supportive and nurturing environment,” Seery said.
For more information visit www.bnihawaii.com.
