BNI the pay-for-referral networking group

I'm a member of BNI and the theory of "Giver's Gain" is appealing to me. I strongly believe in this idea. Or maybe it's an ideal that I have. I joined the group in November and have gotten a couple of good referrals, but nothing really spectacular. There are some good people in the group and then there are some not-so-good business people. I've had a couple of instances where one person in the group has taken a referral that was meant for me. I confronted this person, but have no real evidence, and do I really want to use my valuable time and energy to persue this further? No. I just won't do business with or refer my contacts to this person.

So this brings a major question to light. What if I don't like doing business with certain people in the group? Since this is a a referral based organization and we're all stuck together since we pay our annual dues, it causes some conflict.

Plus, there is the added pressure to give referrals each week to this group. I've been given 13 bad or bogus referrals. I have felt like a jackass calling on these referrals when that person has no need for my services. Just because a fellow BNI member thinks his or her friend should get a new business card, doesn't mean that their friend thinks they need a new business card. Here is what happens as a result. The person that gave me the bad referral is now etched into my memory as a "bad referral giver." This is a far cry from the "giver's gain" philosophy.

It's extremely frustrating to have spent money on such a group. Who's pocket are these dues lining? Yep, the executive director's pocket. I don't see my $400 in action within the context of BNI. There aren't a huge amount of resources out there for the members and I've found BNI to be pretty self absorbed. I'm much more open minded than my group allows. I don't like the pressure of doing business with people that are unethical in their business.

I have made a couple of great contacts through the group and there are some really kind and ethical business people. But is this worth my $400 per year, plus my weekly meal expense, time and energy? Not at all. There are much better and more effective forms of marketing that won't cost me as much in time, frustration and cash.

How do you work through a family emergency?

I had a family emergency last week (my grandmother died) and I'm also a solo business owner. Family definitely comes first over my business and I was able to cancel my appointments, clear my schedule and get in the car to make the nine hour drive home to southern Missouri. But not before I had a rush embroidery job that I needed to complete to arrive at a client's trade show via Next Day Air shipping. This made it a super rush job, taking away the three full days that I had allotted for production.

I worked for 13-1/2 hours straight to get the job completed before I could head out of town. I was left with two choices in this case.

1. Call my client, explain the situation and bail on the job (leaving her up a creek)

2. Work quickly to complete the job, delay my trip by one day and make it home in time for the funeral and to be with my family

I went with choice number two. That felt the best for me. I would still be able to uphold my commitment to my client, yet be able to attend the funeral and valuable time with my family.

Had I called this particular client to tell her I couldn't complete the job, she would have been disappointed but I hope she would have understood my situation. Communication is of utmost importance. Make the call before you can't complete a job and explain your circumstance. Stay away from the whole sob story and just stick to the facts. If you wait until the deadline has already passed without making that phone call, you are jeopardizing future business.

Be sure to change your voice mail if you will be away for a few days and put an auto-reply on your email to briefly explain the situation. Being proactive is important and keeping your clients in the loop will help you build relationships with them after you return.

You will also need to schedule some time to grieve, instead of getting back to work immediately. Maybe even an out-of-town retreat to a place where you feel comfortable.

Times like this are definitely part of the downside to being a small business owner. There is no one else to fill in while I'm gone. If appropriate steps are taken and you start planning for your emergency situations ahead of time (because they will happen), it will make the time away from your business a little easier. Make a list of things that you can do within 15 minutes of getting an emergency call so you can quickly get away if you need.

Sexism in blogs

Yes, unfortunately there are still rampant cases of sexism in this country and I have found some cases online recently in blogs. Blogging is a great vehicle to deliver a message quickly to your audience. I'm certainly not suggesting that we take any of our first amendment rights away here, but I am suggesting that we think before we write. Semantics is important. See Webster's definition here. I especially like this part from the definition: "1: the study of meanings: a: the historical and psychological study and the classification of changes in the signification of words or forms viewed as factors in linguistic development."

Here is the case and the prompting of my blog. I read a blog this morning from a pretty well known business man here in Des Moines. He was calling attention to a new blog called The Women on the Web. In said blog he included a line, "Hats off to these ladies..."

See the issue?

I'll point it out clearly. The word used in the title of the new blog is "women." That word carries great importance and significance. I have not found the word lady or ladies anywhere on that site. Probably because that word is a throwback to the June Cleaver way of life that I thought we moved beyond in the '60s.

The question of the day on WowOWow, The Women on the Web is what four women would you like to see on Mt. Rushmore? This will never happen, but it's fun to think about.

Oh, and one of the comments posted to the blog that I read promoting the WowOWow site was that there needed to be a male version with Michael Jordan as one of the writers. Come on, there are millions of the "male" version in existence already. That's what ESPN, Sports Illustrated and countless others have been doing for a long time.

Call to action: First, you women out there should consider referring to yourselves as women, not "ladies," if we are really going to get somewhere. We teach others how to treat us. Treat yourself with the respect you deserve and men will start treating you with respect. See how it works?

Where's the design?

With all this talk about branding, design is being left out in the cold. Brrr, it's chilly out there! Design, really good design, can only help your identity and brand. I've seen some really great design work and some really trashy design work. Let's face it, even trashy design can uphold your brand. Or worse, boring design. Boring design can uphold your brand if you have all your pieces playing nicely together.

So you have your logo, you have your colors, you have your website, you have your business cards and stationary. They are all being produced according to your brand formula. But what's missing? Probably something really memorable that speaks directly to your niche market. The "wow factor." Creating a wow design is a really difficult task, but it's one that I strive for in each design that comes out of my head, onto paper and into the computer. It can be done. You should consider hiring a professional designer that understands the branding process and can understand your brand.

Effective design boils down to effective communication. You need to communicate with your audience (your existing and future clients.) You want your logo, colors and all pieces in your corporate identity to have a life. You want them jump off the paper and land into the lap of the viewer. You need your business card to work for you after you've left your client meeting. How can this possibly be done? Easy, that's my job! That's where I come into the picture. I can help you create that business card that will be jump off the table and into the hands of a client that will hire you. How do I do this? I use my training and experience in the design field (it's closing in on over 10 years now) to work with your corporate colors and your logo and recreate you (you = you and your company).

I'm a firm believer in putting your mug on your business card. But you need a good picture. Not just any crap that's from 15 years ago. Use a current, professionally photographed image. Your investment in the photography and design will pay for itself with the first business card you hand out. If you don't believe me, here is an example.

What are you going to remember from my business card at the top of this blog? I walked into a room in November with 15 people and 40 business cards in my pocket. I left the room without a single business card and 4 requests for more to hand out to others.

My business card works for me while I'm sleeping, eating lunch, meeting with clients, etc. I pick up at least one new client per week and can directly attribute that to my use of branding, but in particular my business card.

How much does all this cost, you ask?
Design: $500 (includes 3 revisions, 3 sketches)
Photography: $75-200 (depends on the photographer)
Printing: $99 for 1,000 cards, full color on both sides, glossy or matte finish
Works while you sleep: Priceless

Is something better than nothing?

When talking about branding, I am finding that 50% of those I talk to kind of get it and the other 50% of people don't get it at all. (These are very rough numbers and no official survey has been performed.) Those that kind of get it, realize that they need to rely on an expert in the field of branding. Branding is by no means rocket science, but it does need to be done with some kind of formula.

There are many pieces that make up branding. Your logo alone doesn't cut it. Your corporate colors alone don't cut it. Your advertising pieces alone don't cut it. It takes more than one item within your corporate identity to come up with your brand. It's always better for you to control your brand, rather than having your customers or patrons determine it.

I used to think that producing something, whether it be an ad, web banner or anything that another human being is seeing, even if rough around the edges, was better than producing nothing at all. Just today I have revised my thinking and I now have a different view on this. What prompted this change? I saw a flier that was posted for a local organization. The flier was obviously a Microsoft Word wonder and didn't even have the organization's logo on it. No corporate colors and some crazy ass font choice, pulled from the bowels of a mythical creature.

The organization's name is way down at the very bottom of the piece in mouse-sized type. Meaning, it would take a little mouse to be able to read it.

So how does this flier effect this organization's brand? It severely damages it. I can't even come up with enough words to begin to describe how much damage this one flier is doing. On one hand, this particular organization seems to be working hard to create and reinvent its brand, but on the other hand, it's working against itself by producing shitty advertisements.

How does this happen? One word: leadership. Or lack thereof in this case. A weak leader will bring down an entire organization faster than the speed of light. You'll lose the good workers and be left with the do nothings. The good workers will quickly find other organizations to spend their time and energy with. It's not about money, it's not about benefits, it's about feeling like you are part of a cohesive unit. Working for the greater good and being communicated with is all your workers really need to form a successful organization.

Sounds easy, right? Now, get to communicating and see what happens when you address conflict head-on.

Bill Me! Please!

Have you ever worked with a vendor that doesn't bill in a timely manner? Does that effect your relationship with the company? I sure have and yes it does.

I hired a company last year to perform service to one of my computers. This company, who is a fellow solo business owner, did not provide me a written estimate for the work to be done. This was my first mistake. I will now ALWAYS ask for a written estimate before any work is done, even from someone that I know or have done business with in the past. If I don't get a written estimate, I will not do business with that company or person.

The work was completed within a day and some extras were added (with my approval). I then asked if I should write a check right then, or if I was to be billed. The latter was stated and I waited for the bill to arrive. I waited and waited... I saw this person each week but the bill never came.

Finally, the bill arrived over 3 months after the work was performed. There were several things that I was not made aware of included on the bill. By the way, the bill was emailed as an attachment instead of snail mailed. When sending any kind of attachment, you must always follow up with a phone call or even another email just to make sure the recipient received your document(s).

The bill included a travel charge, that I had not been made aware of and a higher installation fee than I was verbally quoted. I replied by email about the discrepancies and received 2 emails back. One was ANOTHER invoice for a part that was omitted from the original invoice. I was not pleased by this surprise. I don't like surprises and make sure that my customers are not subject to my billing errors or omissions. The subsequent email responses were less than professional and I picked up the phone to state my feelings and clear the air. I stated the facts, that the invoice was extraordinarily late, I was billed for items I was not made aware of and that I was generally frustrated. I also said that this experience would greatly effect my choice to use this service in the future and the loss of my word-of-mouth referrals.

In the end, the response I received left me with an unsatisfactory result. I was refunded the travel fee, but other issues that I brought up were not addressed and/or poor excuses were formed.

I'm a caring person, but I hate lamo excuses. I will think twice before hiring this company again and will certainly abstain from giving referrals based on this.

No matter how good your work is, you have to carry through from start to finish. That means, you need to provide an accurate quote, complete the work in a timely and professional manner, communicate effectively along the way and bill appropriately. If I mess up on a quote, I usually absorb that cost. There's no reason for me to involve my customers in my mistakes. Sometimes it's a hard lesson and I have to pay for that lesson monetarily. I can guarantee that I won't do that again! There is too much value in someone that has used my service to let them have a bad experience. It's up to me to ensure their experience is smooth and satisfactory. Of course, you can't please everyone all the time. But you can do your best all the way through.