Bijay Shah

Bijay Shah

Friday, December 10, 2010

Total Networking

7 down, 4 to go. Over the last 2 weeks, John McGrann (www.drive-social-media.com) and I have been visiting BNI Chapters in Dubai & Abu Dhabi to present our ‘Total Networking’ strategy. With online social media tools such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and many more, we’re finding that BNI members and chapters all over the world are embracing this technology to grow their chapters and generate more referrals.

With over 130,000 BNI members in over 50 countries, only a small fraction are using social media tools effectively. A large number of members do not have a social media presence at all. As of December 2010, there are less than 8,000 members on the International BNI Linkedin Group and less than 12,000 members on the Official BNI Facebook Fan Page. Not all of these are BNI members, but then again not all BNI members having a presence on Linkedin and/or Facebook may be following the BNI group or fan page.

Either way, the figures indicate that only less than 10% of our membership is embracing social media. Why? I would attribute this to 2 main reasons: 1) Many of our members do not know how to use these tools effectively and are apprehensive in using them; or 2) Many members simply are not aware of the power of social media.

With our ‘Total Networking’ strategy, our purpose is to create awareness on the power of social media and educate our members on effective use of these tools. In our visits so far, the main question our members are asking is: ‘Will online networking replace face-to-face networking’? I encourage all of you to listen or read Episodes 103, 117 & 118 of the BNI Podcast (www.bnipodcast.com) where Dr. Ivan Misner shares his insights.   

In the meantime, keep tuned here as I share insights on our Total Networking Strategy in the coming weeks. I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

No comments:

Post a Comment