From the Founder
Networking Trends
And why they point to a healthy future for the small business owner.
Dr. Ivan Misner

In the early 1980s, John Naisbitt wrote in Megatrends about the emerging importance of the networking process in society. In the late 1980s, Tom Peters wrote in Thriving on Chaos that this "process can be systematized."

These two statements weren't made all that long ago. Networking (or relationship marketing) is a fairly new kid on the block. From the mid 80s to the 90s, systems and structures began to emerge—not the least of which was the development of BNI—that shifted many business owners from a single-minded focus of direct selling to a broader scope, which included relationship marketing and networking.

Now in the 21st century, there are several emerging networking trends, as entrepreneurs look to effectively develop their business. Here are three of the most prominent:

1. Online and face-to-face networking will thrive.
I'm a proponent of online networks like Ecademy.com and others. I think they will continue to grow successfully and help many of their members; however, they are not the final answer to business marketing or networking. They are another great tool for people to connect with others (especially outside their local geographic area).

On my Referrals For Life blog (referrals.ducttapemarketing.com), someone recently said: "I don't know that it is true anymore that referrals are about relationships." He went on to basically say that technology is changing the rules and that just participating in a web site will be good enough. I would have to disagree.

Referrals are all about relationships. Whether referrals are built online or face-to-face, they still involve relationships. People refer people they know and trust. They will not regularly refer someone just because they are listed on a web site—that's called advertising, not networking.

Online networking works, but relationships must still be part of the process. Using the Internet to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and increase your visibility will be imperative in the coming years. But it will not replace face-to-face networking—a tried and true system.

Those who foretell the demise of face-to-face networking fail to note that face-to-face networking groups continue to expand. The growth rate of BNI points to this truth. Since the Internet first became popular in the mid 90s, BNI has experienced a 1,186% growth rate.

The more "high tech" business owners become, the more and more they really need to foster those "high touch" opportunities that face-to-face networking affords.

2. Networking & social capital education will emerge.
Don't hold your breath for college and universities to begin teaching networking and social capital. At this point there are only two colleges in the world that offer regular, core-curriculum courses on networking and social capital. One is at Davis College in Ohio, taught by Debby Peters, and the other is at the University of Michigan, taught by Wayne Baker.

The college and university systems are behemoths of bureaucracy that are so far behind the curve of small business development that I'm beginning to despair that they will ever catch on. Most professors have never had a real job in the business world and are completely out of touch with what is happening in real life—especially in small business.

I predict that professional training organizations will become the primary educators of networking and social capital, much the same way that the private industry has controlled the educational market on sales techniques (another area in which colleges fail miserably).

Companies like the Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com) that offer a series of trainings specific to the techniques and systems of networking, social capital, and referral marketing are starting to pop up. These are refined and polished slates of seminars and trainings for those business owners who want to learn how to harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

3. Small companies will have the edge.
For the most part, big companies are clueless about building sales through the networking process. They continue to teach sales people traditional methodologies while relying heavily on advertising to create buzz. Mind you, there's nothing inherently wrong with these strategies. The problem is big companies don't effectively integrate referral marketing into the process.

When it comes to developing social capital and the networking process, small business is king. Big business is slow to move out of the mindset of splashy ad campaigns, big dollars spent on traditional marketing, and the same-old, same-old.

If they do get it, however, they are likely to run over the little guys. They will learn how to develop social capital and will teach their people how to do true relationship marketing. For now, there are only a few forward thinking big companies who consistently apply these concepts. For the rest, it is a trend to watch for in the distant, distant future.

When The World's Best Known Marketing Secret came out in 1994 it was one of the few books that talked about networking. Now there are dozens if not hundreds. An entire industry has been born over the last decade that is now being codified and refined. Over the next several years, you will see more and more about the importance of networking to build your business. It is developing into a science as well as a way of life.

These trends are not just an American phenomenon but an international one. The introduction of "International Networking Week" (www.InternationalNetworkingWeek.com) is a prime example of how this approach to doing business is growing worldwide.

Small business development through the process of building social capital will continue to grow in the global market we are currently experiencing. No one has a crystal ball, but based on what I'm seeing and what I've seen in the past, I believe these are some of the key things to look for relating to networking and referral marketing over the next few years.

Take pride in the knowledge that as members of BNI, you are ahead of the curve when it comes to learning about and learning how to use the power of networking and building your business by referral!

Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the Founder & Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world's largest referral organization with thousands of Chapters in dozens of countries around the world. His latest book, Truth or Delusion can be viewed at www.TruthorDelusion.com. Dr. Misner is also Senior Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He resides in Southern California with his wife and three children and can be reached at misner@bni.com.