Was you a BNI member for long? Would you join again?
I was in the BNI for about a year and a half. At first I quite enjoyed it; it was good to meet other business owners and I got a bit of work, mostly business cards and the odd leaflet. But once they had business cards, they didn't want much else. There were a few external referrals but most were fairly lukewarm.
It works well for people in trades such as plumbers and electricians. A builder or bathroom fitter only needs one extension or bathroom to pay for their fees, but for service providers like Graphic Designers, it's more difficult. The members think that giving someone a wee business card order won't cost them too much but will give them points in the system, so they don't put much effort into getting you anything more substantial.
There's a lot of pressure to 'perform', and a lot of the members pass around referrals which don't lead to anything but get their 'stats' up. I did find it difficult to speak to my clients about whether they needed artex removed during a design consultation, so I probably didn't put so much effort into getting forced referrals for the other members.
After a while, most of the members get stuck in a rut and end up saying the same things over and over and are quite happy to take any business going. Also, some of the 'Directors' are known to put a lot of undue pressure and stress on some members, whilst being quite patronising and treating the members (grown up business owners!) like school children.
In saying all that, there are benefits. It's great for boosting your confidence, as you have to speak in front of your group and it's good for meeting other business owners. It works for a lot of people. However, for me it wasn't that cost effective.
I would be interested in a different kind of networking group though. One that doesn't have as much pressure to perform, where you can be yourself and concentrate more on selling yourself rather than others. :icon_biggrin: