Recently I came across a remarkable and super successful real estate agent in the US named, John Lennon. He has probably made as much money as the other famous John Lennon. He has sold over US$ 3 billion, yes you read that right, not million but Billion, of real estate in Miami. Now at a 3% commission you do the Maths, this is one super successful real estate broker. The amazing thing is that he only deals with 6 uber luxury buildings in one street in the SoFi area or South of Fifth! That’s right he only deals with real estate on ONE street and only 6 of the buildings there!! There are many lessons that you can learn from him, but one of the key things I take from this is this: SPECIALISE!! It’s as simple as this SPECIALISTS GET MORE BUSINESS.
In my 6 years in BNI where I have met with hundreds of successful entrepreneurs. The ones that are in a niche or specialise end up getting more business then those that are generalists. There are a number of reasons for this:
Specialists stand out of the crowd - It’s always easy to remember a specialist and in the referral business if I can remember you then I can refer you. Specialists always stand out from all the generalists out there.
Specialists are easy to refer - Because their operate in a niche it tends to limit their potential target markets and this makes it easy for us to identify a prospect. Though the number of referrals may be small they are a better quality.
Specialists are more competent - specialists tend to have domain knowledge and skills that generalists rarely posses. Their quality and competency of their work is better. They tend to have solutions that others may not have come across.
So what do you specialise in? Share your story of how being a specialist has helped you be more successful.
In the last couple of months I have been paying close attention to Linkedin as it is becoming more and more important to business people who are looking to create credibility for themselves. In one month (June 2010) Linkedin added over 5 million new users, taking the total to 70 million users. The great thing is that these are serious business owners and professionals on here. These are potential clients, suppliers and referral sources here. This is a serious business network. Having a good profile on Linkedin is crucial part of your social media strategy. Here are my 5 top tips for creating maximum impact.
Make sure you have a good professional headshot. A good picture speaks a thousand word. Dress like you would if you were meeting your best potential client. Make sure it is easy to see your face. It is worth getting a professional to take some good head shots. This will enhance your credibility. It surprises me to see so many people still not having a photo on their profile. People may suspect that you might have something to hide. Continue Reading »
These are the key networking mistakes you have got to avoid. Watch this short video where Niiraj takes us through how to overcome the most common ones.
One of the biggest complaints I get about social media is that it can be so time consuming to manage. How do I as a business person get a a great ROI on social media without it seeming like I’m wasting my time? Fear not for help is as hand. One of my secret tools to manage social media is Hootsuite!Hootsuite is a brilliant little tool that allows you to post updates on your twitter, facebook and linkedin account without having to log-in separately to all of them. It has 4 very cool pieces of functionality:
(a) It allows you to create mini urls for web links that are very big
(b) It allows you to create posts or status updates in advance and then decide on a date and time when you want it posted.
(c) It allows you to automate feeds from your blog or any other favourite blog of yours and post them to whichever social media account you want. This feature is one of my personal favourites!
(d) It allows you to monitor multiple social media accounts through one dashboard
Simple & brilliant! Try Hoosuite out today and save time while managing social media effectively!
Many times Doctors may wonder why they should network with business professionals? Let me share some recent experiences as we are working with many Doctors from Dentists to Eye Surgeons to Gynecologists that are members of BNI. I asked a number of them why there were involved & how they have benefited. These are the 3 reasons they shared: Continue Reading »
With Facebook now having over 400 million active users and Twitter growing at a crazy 700% Social Media is changing the way in which we live and work. More and more BNI members and other small business owners are joining the social media bandwagon and finding business through these media.
Recently one of our members, Sampath Iyengar put on his status update that he had been to his BNI meeting and who was the 10 minute speaker who had a particular USP which he added in this update. Within minutes of posting this Continue Reading »
We are pleased to announce that the 4th city in BNI India got off to a cracking start with the launch of BNI Aparant chapter in Panjim, Goa. By the way Aparant is the original name for Goa. It was launched on the 23rd of April with 20 members with the help of their Regional Director, Rajkumar Kamath who was instrumental in helping put the chapter together.
We had over 55 guests, 55 referrals passed and business worth 6.5 lacs was done. Visitors were thrilled with the precision and focus of the business meeting. 10 visitors have confirmed to join by next week. They also had a number of visitors who were keen on starting a new chapter in South Goa. The BNI Aparant is having it’s second launch on 29th April at the Taj Vivanta. If you would like to introduce BNI to your business associates in Goa please contact Rajkumar at rajkumar@bni-india.com .
BNI India welcomes the new members to the BNI family.
We are pleased to announce that the Yuva Bharat show on ETV that features successful entrepreneurs has featured BNI India and its co-founder Niiraj R Shah.
Please find herewith the channel-wise Telecast Schedule of Yuva Bharat in ETV Network channels.
BNI India celebrates 5 years! Watch this great video with some of the highlights! It’s hard to believe that we have been going here for 5 years and how much has been achieved in that time. Good things do happen when good people meet … Have a look and leave a comment - what did you like best about the video
One fo the things that people comment on when they meet me is how I manage to remember people’s names and profession. It’s not something I was good at but with a few simple steps I have been able to master the same. Have a look at this short video about the same:
In the last couple of months I have been paying close attention to Linkedin as it is becoming more and more important to business people who are looking to create credibility for themselves. In one month (June 2010) Linkedin added over 5 million new users, taking the total to 70 million users. The great thing is that these are serious business owners and professionals on here. These are potential clients, suppliers and referral sources here. This is a serious business network. Having a good profile on Linkedin is crucial part of your social media strategy. Here are my 5 top tips for creating maximum impact.
