Example (Modesto based print shop): Hi, I am Joe from Joe’s Print shop. We are a full service print shop offering the highest quality prints to our clients. We use safe inks and offer a warranty against fading. If you know of anyone who needs printing, we would love to provide them with excellent service.

Now that sounds like a good infomercial. We now know that Joe owns a print shop and that they provide quality service to their customers but what is a full service print shop? What does that mean to the average person who needs business cards printed, or maybe their new catalog?

In BNI we get to meet with the same people 50 times a year. Telling them the that you are a full service print shop over and over does not train them to listen to the needs of the people with in their sphere of influence. The only people that could figure it out would be the people who know what a full service print shop is.

Take each opportunity that you meet with your BNI chapter to instruct them on something different. One week you may talk about business cards, then the next week catalog printing. You could do an infomercial on printing Christmas cards if Christmas is coming up.

Think outside of the normal here. Be different. The beautiful thing about it is that in BNI we meet 50 times. You can try different things and instruct from different directions.

What are your thoughts on instructing your word of mouth marketers on your offerings?

Click the invitation image to RSVP and read the instructions below.

Place:
Downey Park on the corner of Coffee Rd and Brighton in Modesto.

Time:
4pm-8pm or whenever you can make it. There is no official time you need to be there, come when you can and enjoy food. We will plan on eating dinner at 6pm.

What to bring:
The chapter will provide the meat for BBQ, soda, water, plates, utensils and napkins. All we ask is that you bring a side dish. If your last name starts with the following letter, bring an item from that category. If you would like to drink anything beyond the scope of the before mentioned, feel free to bring that (I have Paul working on a 15 page waiver you will have to sign -kidding!-)

A-F: Bring a desert item (ie. Pie, Cheesecake…).
G-R: Bring a side dish (ie. Mashed Potatoes, Beans, Salad…).
S-Z: Bring a snack item (ie. Chips, Salsa, Dip…)

Get creative with this, have fun, make it your own!

As we get closer to the date you can view this RSVP list and see how many people are coming to get a better idea of how much food to bring.

Activities:
Curt Zimmerman with The Cleaning Authority Modesto has provided us with a Bounce House and a Balloon Artist who will be on site making Balloon objects for the kids.

Who can come:
Anybody. Bring your family, friends, coworkers or a guest that could possibly be a good fit for our BNI chapter. Tell them it’s a BBQ gathering of professionals that love to give each other referrals and share life!

If you are reading this and would like to visit our chapter as a guest, please contact us using the Get Invited or Network With Us link in the menu.

Any other thoughts or ideas, please email click contact in the menu above.

Included below are the instructions for this simple exercise. It takes little or no time to plan and was a hit today at BNI.

1. Divide the members up by there tables or rows. Keep your group sizes under 10 people per group. You can also choose mix up the groups because people tend to sit next to people they know best however, as long as the group has a random assortment of members it will still be fun and challenging.
2. Explain to the groups that their assignment is to find ten things they have in common with every other person in the group, that have nothing to do with work. (I tell people no body parts, we all have legs; we all have arms, and no clothing – we all wear shoes, we all wear pants. This helps the group explore shared interests more broadly.
3. Tell the groups that one person must take notes and be ready to read their list to the whole group upon completion of the assignment.
4. Ask each group to share their whole list with the entire chapter. Because people are your best source for laughter and fun, the reading of the lists always generates a lot of laughter and discussion. You can also catch the drift of the conversation in the small groups based on the transitions made from item to item.

This team building exercise takes 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the number of groups. To keep the exercise on time, I suggest giving a 2 minute warning before the time is up.

Get the article, Click here

Attendance:
1. Saul Carter (Perfect Attendance)
2. Jerad Hill (Perfect Attendance)
3. Brenda Olson (Perfect Attendance)
4. Katie Floyd (Perfect Attendance – 1 Sub)
5. Maria Vieira-Lee (Perfect Attendance – 3 Subs)
Having a substitute if you are going to miss helps keep your attendance clear

Referrals Given:
1. Stephanie Burnside (38)
2. Brenda Olson (38)
3. Daniel Versola (17)
4. Maria Vieira-Lee (12)
5. Jerad Hill (12)

Referrals Received:
1. Anita Stoll (19)
2. Lori Crivelli (18)
3. Curt Zimmerman (18)
4. Katie Floyd (14)
5. Brenda Olson (14)
6. Ralph Stewart (14)
Some close ties going on!

Dance Cards:
1. Jerad Hill (7)
2. Carl Stange (4)
3. Curt Zimmerman (4)
4. Linda Mangum (2)
5. Brenda Olson (2)
6. Paul Scheele (2)
Dance Cards happen when members meet one on one outside of regular BNI meetings

Value of Referrals Given:
1. Jerad Hill ($15,765)
2. Brenda Olson ($13,235)
3. Katie Floyd ($9,970)
4. James Fultz ($6,555)
5. Curt Zimmerman ($3,489)
These members have given referrals resulting in these totals collectively.

I am proud to be a part of such a thriving networking chapter. Congratulations everybody, this is proof that BNI works and that our chapter provides value to it’s members.

We would like to thank the visitors that came who were invited by our members:

Jerad Hill’s Visitors:
Jeff Chapman – Vision Multimedia
Ashley Dunne – Massage Therapist
Cory Warner – Warner Studios
Cortney Forsmann – Graphic Designer
Jim Stewart – Healthy Marriage Coalition
Aaron Stout – TechSafari
Sarah Fields – Effective Solutions

Brenda Olson’s Visitors:
Bettina Modaresi – Modesto Alarm
Ted Lew – Principal Financial

Kimberly Boothe’s Visitor:
Becca Boothe – The Heavenly Spa

Curt Zimmerman’s Visitors:
Dan Williams – WCI Construction Inc.

Paul Sheele’s Visitor:
Juliana Wanger – Modesto Flowers and Gifts

James Fultz’s Visitors:
Pablo Ocegueda – Blinds By Design
Jim Brannon – Brannon Electric
Alan Patrick – General Building Contractor

Anita Stoll’s Visitors:
Shayna Osborne – Osborne & Nelson
Michael Moradian – Peace of Mind Home Inspections

Saul Carter’s Visitor:
Nikki Hoffman – Springhill Suites
Knowledge Hardy – Hardy Appetitez

Katie Floyd’s Visitors:
Violet Whitworth – Neverboring
Harold Avila – Neverboring

We enjoyed meeting so many new people. The day was a success, everybody went home with a pocket full of new contacts.

We are expecting between 30-40 people so far so make sure you have enough business cards on you.

If you are a visitor who plans to attend our meeting on Thursday, March 12th please RSVP also so we have a clear count for lunch!

Click here to RSVP for the BNI Modesto Nooners Visitors Day