Submitted by Braith Bamkin, Executive Director – BNI Melbourne West & Geelong and Melbourne Central
In a previous post, I discussed the concept of owning a ‘BNI share’ rather than buying a membership. I talked about how shareholders in BNI can do simple things to increase the ‘yield’ of their share and I discussed how you can do simple activities to generate tens, hundreds or thousands of times returns on your investment.
This week, I want to talk about how you can increase the capital growth of your share.
If you buy a share on the stock market, you want to see it increase in value over time. The same should be said for your BNI share. Increasing capital growth is really easy in BNI if you follow these simple guidelines.
Each time your chapter lets another member join, you are effectively splitting your share. Unlike normal shares, this increases the value of your original shareholding. It’s possibly counterintuitive to those outside of BNI, but listen to this podcast from Dr Misner and you’ll learn just how powerful large chapters can be and he back sit up with hard stats.
Be careful who you let into your chapter.
Not everyone is right for BNI and BNI certainly isn’t the best marketing tool for many. If you have new people join your chapter, you want to ensure they understand the commitment required by being in a BNI chapter. Just like any shareholding, your BNI share comes with certain responsibilities and expectations. Quality members are the goal of every chapter.
Dr Misner, founder of BNI discusses the concept of “Who’s in your Room” in this informative podcast.
Ensure there are people looking after your best interests.
If you have stocks, you probably have a stockbroker or investment advisor. He or she is charged with looking after your investments and making sure you are protected. In BNI we have a similar function, we call it the Membership Committee. They are there to ensure your BNI share increases in value.
Being on the membership committee is a great way to serve your fellow members and those that take this task seriously, ensure everyone benefits from having the right people in the room.
Listen to this podcast from BNI founder, Dr Ivan Misner on the ‘function’ of your membership committee.
Measure and track
Like any share, you want to measure and track the results. BNI has many tools that help you to measure and track your investment and also those of other ‘shareholders’ in your chapter. Many regions use the Power of One reports. Some regions use the member commitment report. Either way, you have valuable tools on hand that help you to manage your BNI share.
I really like the Power of One report (traffic lights) because this easily shows al members what activities they need to do to meet the minimum expectations of the chapter. As discussed last week, these basic activities combined will deliver a strong yield which over tie will increase the overall value of your share.
Approach your membership like buying a share and your behaviours and activities in BNI will definitely change. You’ll spend more time doing the basics and ensure that the overall health of your chapter is maintained.
