Did you work harder this year than in previous years? Did it pay off? Are you getting a bonus for all the extra time you have dedicated to the success of your business? Want to earn a bonus before the end of the year without putting in even more hours?

Visit our next BNI meeting where the bonuses you seek could be waiting.

During the time period beginning the first Friday in January to the middle of October, our members have passed 1010 business referrals. What stands between you and a bonus? A free visit any Friday morning, free introductions to our membership, a free presentation of your service or product to the group, and free time to network with local business leaders. Free up 90 minutes this next Friday morning and see why our members say, “I refuse to participate in a recession”.

We have immediate openings for a financial advisor, attorney, advertising representative, dentist, send out cards, clothing specialty, interior designer, architect, personal trainer, travel agent, and many others.

Call Chapter Vice-President, George Barnett, 205-856-1720 for more information.

“This economy is killing me. We’ve got people canceling right and left and trying to get prospects to buy anything isn’t happening — things better turn around fast.”

The above exchange was real. Although we can probably all agree with the sentiments of the salesperson — fuel prices through the roof, unemployment creeping up and low consumer confidence — talking about these facts can make your personal economy worse. The person who asked, “How’s business?” very likely could have been a prospect. Ouch!

So what’s wrong with telling the truth? A lot! No one (I repeat no one) wants to hear doom and gloom — especially not someone who might want to do business with you.

Could there be anyone worse to share the misery with than a potential prospect? Well you might think your manager or boss tops the list, and you’re right to think they don’t want to hear this bad news (and by the way, they already know about these conditions). What they want to hear is that although times are challenging, you will prevail. They want to hear that you’re doing things to produce the results they pay you for. But the person who is most adversely impacted by this negative nay saying is you!

By even thinking negative thoughts, forget saying them, you put yourself in a mental state of failure. You subconsciously tell yourself the odds are against you, and you are doomed to fail. I’m sure you know that both positive and negative energy are contagious. Your actions reflect your thoughts and people will consciously or unconsciously detect your outlook. Ask yourself would you rather buy from someone who acts desperately to stay afloat or from someone who is convinced of the benefits of his product? From someone who complains about the economy or from someone who makes any economy work for him and his clients?

People want to do business with winners. The average person, including businesspeople, takes great security in doing business with successful businesses. If you’ve ever purchased something from a person or company that has gone out of business, you know what a pain that can be. Minimally it’s going to cost you extra time calling or physically running around to find another service agent. Worse is when you find out that the product can’t be supported at all. There are two simple yet powerful ways that you communicate that you’re a winner or not, that you’re thriving or struggling in this economy: verbally –your choice of words and nonverbally - your choice of dress.

So, better ways to answer “How’s business?”:

“Our new marketing campaign is really taking off” or “Our new marketing campaign is bringing us lots of new customers.” (You don’t have to mention that your “new marketing campaign” is you making dozens of cold calls each day.)

“We’re growing market share?”

“Even with rising costs, we’ve been able to maintain our current pricing.”

Hopefully you can also say, “Customers are raving about our new product.” If you can’t, assuming your product is a good one, solicit positive responses from your customers. This can be done early in the manufacturing process, even before your product has been officially released with a small focus group. It can also be done after your customers have enjoyed and benefited from your product. Once you have obtained these glowing kudos, share them on a regular and consistent basis with customers and prospects.

Why go through this bother? Because people are innately followers. Prospects are drawn to successful businesses and typically follow the positive experiences of others. Successful businesspeople take responsibility for obtaining positive messages and passing them along.

These positive messages will also cheer you up and help you create your own economic boom.

Opportunity is knocking. Were you there to hear it? Our visitor, Cassie Hare, marketing coordinator, with Scruggs Trailer & Equipment heard it loud and clear.

The Trussville Chapter of BNI has a very strong business to business “Power Team”. The group eliminates leads and concentrates on qualified business referrals and introductions. Do you hear something, now?

The Cleaning Superhero, George Barnett, asked for introductions. To: Real Estate Agents, Blind and Window Treatment Sales Reps, Property Managers, Business Owners and Managers that cater to the general public, Office Professionals or their Office Managers, Friends, Family, Neighbors, Women, and other BNI Members for the purpose of providing the following services.

1. Ultrasonic Blind Cleaning and On-Site Cleaning of Window Treatments
2. Stone, Ceramic Tile, Grout, Shower and Bath Area Cleaning to Eliminate Soap Scum and Mildew / Mold Treatments
3. Carpet Cleaning for Residential (Intensive Cleaning) and Commercial (Economical and Effective)
4. VC Tile Maintenance Involving Stripping, Waxing (Refinishing), Buffing, and Economical Floor Maintenance Programs

Contact George at 205-856-1720 or visit www.CleaningSuperhero.com

Our Cleaning Superhero

We are expecting visitors next week in the Payroll and Communications Categories. They also hear opportunity knocking. Plan on visiting our chapter this next Friday.

Do you want a good stock tip? Buy into the BNI Trussville Chapter stock where you will find winners in a world of losing investments. Come to our next 2 meetings (offer never expires) and see how to beat the stock market.

During the next 2 weeks Sept. 26, the “Key Note Speaker”,

Cleaning Superhero from G & G Services, LLC

George Barnett, the Cleaning Superhero, wants guests in the personal services category ( clothing boutiques, painters, interior decorators, architects, remodelers, carpet and flooring sales, home improvement sales, and more) and on

Jeff Wilson of SBM Systems

Oct. 3, the “Key Note Speaker”, Jeff Wilson of SBM Systems, wants guests in the business to business services category ( virtual assistants, marketing, advertising agency, print advertising, dircect mail, and more). Do not let your competition take this opportunity away from you. We are a no competition networking group.

Want to beat the stock market? Put BNI Trussville in your portfolio.

Online social and business networking is at an all time high. Face to face networking, as you will encounter at Trussville BNI, helps fill the large gaps for finding the right client for your business. If you are good at online networking, you are a great candidate for face to face networking. Visit our next meeting and discover how our chapter can help grow your business.

We have enjoyed listening to these keynote speakers over the past several weeks.

Mike Holt with Central Alabama Cleaning specializes in pressure washing. He uses the appropriate pressure for the surface in need of cleaning. His new process of soft washing roofs to eliminate stains, mildew, and other problems is very popular. After last years extreme drought and heat, Mike has been cleaning many wooden decks to restore the appearance of the surface. After cleaning an application of water resistant stain can be applied to enhance appearance and add to the beauty of your home. You may see the Central Alabama Cleaning crew cleaning parking decks, sidewalks, or multi-level buildings.

Purchasing a new home will require title insurance. Birmingham Title’s Fran Aldridge can assist you with making sure the title is clear of liens or other problems. She is active among the area real estate brokers and agents. Homeowners, for sale by owners (fsbo), and commercial buyers can benefit from her many years of experience.

Our newest member, Mardis (Mardy) Nichols, of MLN, Inc. delivered an informative key note address regarding his business. Mardy provides local security monitoring should a problem arise in your home. Local monitoring speeds response time to local authorities or medical, fire services. He also performs professional installation of many types of electonics including, flat panel televisions, satellite systems, surround sound, communication systems, and more. Call him before you begin construction to install the proper connections for your high tech home.

The popularity of our group and the structured system designed to bring members business has attracted many visitors including members from other local BNI groups. Ashley Noese, attorney and Darryl Hughes, renovation contractor from the 280 Chapter, Jack Harris, health insurance provider from the Trailblazers Chapter, and Scott Howell, Inverness Chapter. Guests interested in membership are Rick Baker, D J Davis, Gatherings Coffee Shop, Sharon Wilson, Regions Merchant Services, Khalid Al-Qahtani, Birmingham Business Journal, Melanic Camp and Wanda Adams, Sam’s Club Marketing Team, and Holly Wagner, Send Out Cards.

Members have been asked to submit the introductions they are seeking or description of the referrals wanted to increase business. If know business that could use our services or products or if you need one of our services, business or personal, please contact one of our members for assistance in finding on of our reliable referral partners.

The Cleaning Superhero, George Barnett, is looking for residential and commercial customers seeking blind cleaning or window treatment cleaning. www.CleaningSuperhero.com

Our August 29 will feature an Elvis theme for our sales manager moment. This will be a fun and informative method of presenting our businesses. This would be the perfect opportunity to visit and meet our members.

BNI Trussville members are looking forward to more. More business relationships with members of other BNI groups and more referrals from their efforts. Friday Aug. 1, 2008 will bring together more BNI trained networkers for a reunion of current and former Trussville Chapter members. This will be the BNI event to attend to see how much more you can get out of business networking.

Trussville Chapter members attended the Mudtown Chapter this week. We met the outstanding networkers in this group and learned more about how we can help grow our chapters and form new business relationships. We look forward to seeing the Mudtown members during the month of August.

This week, our keynote speaker was Nancy Drinkard of ReMax Realty. She is a highly experienced full time real estate agent. This allows Nancy to respond to the needs of her clients very quickly. Many of her sales come by helping ”for sale by owner” (fsbo) homeowners by assisting with the real estate sales process. Her sales team consists of her husband, Alan, and daughter Kelley along with many other agents. Call Nancy weeks or months before the sale of your home and allow her to guide you with preparing a smoother process leading to a quicker sale.

Last week kenote speaker, Jerry Dick of Dynamic Business Solutions, gave an excellent examples of how he helps businesses succeed. Jerry works along side your business to help make it more profitable through better use of time, proper marketing, developing a business plan, and more. Providing a proper insight by working along side the owner will create a better business and personal life as Jerry’s education and experience can be a guide to success. His standing offer of 2 hours of FREE consultation should not be missed.

Our members will be providing links and other information readers can find useful.

Micah S. Adkins from Massey, Stotser, and Nichols law firm offers these links:

Trussville BNI members are looking forward to the next several weeks of bonus networking opportunities. Many will be visiting the Mudtown Chapter on July 23 for the purpose of passing along cross chapter business referrals and introductions. See www.bnialabama.com for more information on the Mudtown’s members.

Former members of BNI Trussville are invited to a reunion on August 1st. This event will bring together BNI trained business networkers and should provide a large number of referrals as we have all adopted the “Givers Gain” philosophy.

Cassidee Gooden with Snap Fitness and Charlie Baker from American Foam Insulation visited over the past few weeks. They have expressed interest in becoming members.
Our Key Note Presenters from our meetings have included:

New Creation Landscaping owner Colby Sisson acquainted members with his business. He told an amusing story about his endeavor with portable toilets and explained his involvement in “The Basement” ministry. Colby is a member of the Alabama Turf Grass Association and is well educated in his field. You may see New Creation servicing the landscaping needs of restaurants, churches, schools, and numerous homeowners. His crew is capable of installing new sod, outdoor lighting, irrigation systems, flagstone patios, as well as providing regular treatments to enhance your lawn or solve problems with fungus or insects.

Tom Mooney explained Long Term Care Insurance to members. He is retired from Rust Engineering and spends his spare time fishing, wood working, and building the “dream garage”. Persons anticipating problems or may require assistance with transferring, bathing, using the toilet, in need of supervision due to mental or physical disabilities should consider talking with Tom about long term care insurance. You can look for Tom’s message during his free group talks or newsletters available in print or through email. Financial planners are a great source of referrals for Tom as they can better serve their clients through introducing them to long term care planning.

“Life comes at you fast”. Nationwide’s own Jay Grogan began in the car sales business but now is a very successful insurance provider. He began the Trussville Chapter of BNI around 9 years ago and contributes much of his success to the word of mouth referrals generated through the group. Call (205) 661-AUTO for your personal, (home / auto) or commercial insurance needs. Jay will provide “peace of mind” knowing your valuable possessions are insured under Nationwide.

Our next meeting is soon, every Friday in fact. Make plans to visit and share your business with our networking professionals. See you there.

One thing is for sure about being a member of the Trussville Chapter of BNI. We keep busy making introductions, attending Power Team meetings, and helping each other grow our businesses.

Well I’ve been covered up with new business and thought it would be a good time to catch you up on our meetings.

Several members have given great 10 minute presentations. Here are some highlights from each.

Josh Vernon, Branch Manager for Regions Bank. Josh explained how Regions strives to be more customer friendly. Each branch offers a nice customer greeting and excellent customer care. Josh asks to report any poor service to any branch in order to improve customer relations. Regions has recently reduced some of the fees to also make banking with them a more pleasurable experience. Regions offers much more than loans, checking, and savings. Ask Josh how his branch can better serve your personal and business financial needs.

The following week Kerri Gulledge, stylist and cosmetologist at Salon 2000 in Trussville, explained how when life gets hairy, you should call Kerri. Kerri’s home town is Pell City, Alabama. She attended Jacksonville State for a short while and also attended cosmetology school. She worked for a short time at Sport Clips. She provides great looks for children as well as adults. Waxing is also available. Kerri would like to meet Mary Kay, Arbonne, and other cosmetics representatives. Call her if you are planning a wedding. She can style each member of the wedding party for perfect pictures. Photographers will be happy to send customers to Kerri for the best portraits. Clothing boutiques can be assured of customer satisfaction when your client has the perfect style for your clothing line. Ladies groups can look their best when seeing Kerri for a style before the meeting.

Mark Wright, C.P.A., whose hobby is reading the tax code by candle light lightened up his 10 minute presentation with some very unusual tax deductions. He can help with your tax problems throughout the year. If you have a small business in need of bookkeeping, payroll, or other accounting needs call Mark for great accounting services.

Too much reading by candle light may cause some eye strain. You will want to make an appointment with Dr. Irwin Fingerman, Dr. Optical, on the corner of Chalkville Mt. Road and Old Springville Road. His 10 minute enlightened the group for finding referrals from 5 to 115 years in age. Dr. Fingerman provides thorough annual exams to help identify problems which may cause squinting, dry, itchy, or red eyes. See Dr. Fingerman should you experience problems with focusing after using the computer, seeing while driving, or other vision problems. He can provide post operative eye care and consultations about refractive eye surgery. Persons with diabetes, high blood pressure, or cataracts would be well served to make your appointment with Dr. Fingerman. You will find excellent care in finding the right contact lens even for the most difficult to fit. Glasses are available from economy to designer with many types of lens from sunglasses with polarized lens, sports wear for athletes, driving glasses, computer glasses, bi-focals, progressive lens (line-less bi-focals), transitions, and more. Call Dr. Fingerman should you have assisted living facility for great care for your residents. Dr. Optical will be seeing you and you’ll be seeing better.

Scott Jennings with Jennings Pest Control was our Friday the 13th of June 10 minute speaker. He can help you with your pest problems. Scott can provide termite bonds and regular pest control of fleas, ants, roaches, flying insects, and other creepy things that may be bugging you. He serves both the commercial and residential markets. Don’t swat, call Scott.

What are you waiting on an invitation to visit our chapter? You are invited. Now there is no excuse not to be there next Friday. 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., St. Vincent’s East, 2nd floor next to the cafeteria. Call George Barnett, President, at 205-856-1720 for more details.

Why would I want to be in a power team if I am already in BNI?

Why should I meet with my power team if I see them at my BNI meeting?

If you ever grasp the idea of what a power team is and how it works, you will understand the importance it to your  business. It is the heart of each BNI chapter and the source of referrals for everyone in the group.

Source? Yes SOURCE!

Let’s look at what power teams are in your chapter. Every chapter is made up of 5 different power teams;

1. Home services.
   This is real estate, mortgage, home inspections, landscaper, remodeling, HVAC, pest control, or any other category that has to do anything with a home. Most every chapter is strong with this power team.
2. Financial.
   This team includes CPA’s, Financial Advisors, Banks, estate attorney, and anyone else that has something to do with handling money.
3. Personal.
   This team is tougher to build in a chapter. This one includes cosmetics sales, body shops, mechanic shops, auto sales, apparel sales, interior designer, life coach, photographer, and so on.
4. Health and Wellness.
   This group includes most anyone that has to do with health. Chiropractor, cosmetic sales, dentist, fitness trainer, eye doctor, etc.
5. Business Services.
   This final group is the ones that do business with businesses like CPA’s, Banks, computer sales, payroll services, printers, promotional services, business coach, etc.

Now, if you look close you will notice a couple of things. First, each group is doing business with the same type, if not the same, customers. By that I mean the Realtor is doing business with the new home buyer and so can the mortgage person, the home inspector, and so on. This is how the teams are divided up. Second, each member often are in more than one power team, i.e. CPA’s are in both Financial and Business Services.

Everyone has a primary power team, which is where your focus is in business, and most have a secondary power team.

Now here is where the “Power” in power team comes in – 70% of your referrals will naturally come from within your power team! This makes sense since when a house sells, the mortgage person and the home inspector and the real estate appraiser and the closing attorney has a high potential to get a referral, but the auto mechanic and payroll service probably will not. Since this is a fact then it would be beneficial to you to not only build strong relationships within your power team, but also invite people from open categories that would be in your power team. The more in your power team, the more referrals you will get.

This is one important part of networking and building a referral base. BNI power teams are the base of any chapter. The stronger your teams, the stronger your chapter will be.

Where were you this past Friday? The Trussville Chapter of BNI was hoping you would be there.

Tom Mooney our Power Teams Coordinator reported several teams met this week with very good attendance. The referrals will be increasing with each meeting.

Our member’s 10 minute presentation was given by Zack Archuletta. You may find it interesting to know Zack is from a family of 9 and grew up in Alaska. Now he lives in Alabama and works for WTTO 21/ WABM 68 as an account manager. If you are spending your advertising dollars on print news, direct mail, or shiny magazines it may interest you to know about Zack’s television advertising packages. He feels the persons most likely to benefit from tv advertising will have a unique, service based business and may be looking for something other than yellow page ads or outdoor billboard advertising.

This Friday will be the best day for you to plan a visit. Give one of our members a call and tell them you’ll be there.