It’s funny how a lot of people question things but rarely think about what they can do to change it for the better. Scratch that. Maybe they do. They just don’t do much to change things.
Back when I was setting up my business I bought a book on marketing. It was Dee Blick’s book, Powerful Marketing on a Shoestring Budget. One piece of advice that I took from that was to join a networking group. Dee recommended BNI (Business Networking International), so I found a local chapter and signed up.
It wasn’t long after becoming a member that I started hearing other members complain about it. While my experience was great, for others there was always something wrong. They’d say frequently “BNI should do this” and “BNI should do that.”
It’s easy to complain about something that other people are in control of. What occurred to me is that if something is not working, you need to be part of the solution. You can affect it from within or go out and do it better yourself. Either that or shut up and quit complaining!
With this in mind, I’ve taken a very active part in local business networking. I’ve undertaken various leadership roles and set up and run several hundred events. What I have come to understand is that running your own networking event can seriously put you on the map.
Think about it for a moment. If you ran some kind of event where you could get dozens of different businesses together where they’d come and have a great experience with you, talk about you and tell their friends, isn’t that worth doing?
If your business networking isn’t working, why not start your own event?
