International Networking Week on February, 2025: BNI - Business Networking International?

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I have been in BNI in the past and am not now.

It is fairly costly for membership and local dues which includes the meals.

There is a major change in membership over a 6 month period and they have substantial membership drives - which are critical to keep the group alive due to the member exits.

Many members are in financial services, real estate sales, insurance, and car sales so you can see mutual benefits with these. There are MLM representatives who are actually looking for others to be MLM reps under them and claim to be selling their wares to get around the BNI criteria prohibiting MLM recruiting. There are many "glorified vitamin" sellers who try to sell overpriced product under the guise of "all natural" or "superior absorbance into the body" or other marketing mode; in fact they offer nothing, sell little, and drop out rather quickly.

They are very structured and there is intense pressure for members to produce leads. This causes people to bring in claimed leads that end up being no lead at all - which is often a bigger problem. Others will claim to have a handful of leads which consisted of bring himself and 3 others to a BNI member restaurant claiming 3 leads, or claiming 2 leads because he fueled his 2 cars at a BNI member gas station last week, etc.

New members are supposed to forge relations with BNI members and drop relations with non BNI members. This means that you should drop affialiaiton with your bank unless your bank is represented (same for cell phone rep, car and home owner insurance, etc). Some do this; many do not. If a member of one discipline from one company (e.g. banker from a given bank) is replaced by one of the same discipline from another company (e.g. banker from a different bank) you are supposed to change banks - and this is asking a lot.

BNI is a franchise. There is a regional manager, who has a financial stake in the busienss. Usually he refuses to remove a member who does not meet the BNI criteria - as it will cut into his earnings. There is no financial accountability so you do not know where money actually goes on the national level. On the local level financial accountability is not a lot better.

If the chapter you are considering joining has a group of members who are in the types of business that will be of mutual support (e.g. car mechanic, car salesman, car insurance rep or mortgage loan rep, realtor, home owner insurance rep) it can be helpful. You will also get to know other people which may be helpful.

There are other similar organizations. BNI is often considered the dominant player. Clearly they have the rules and game plan well defined. Some love it but most are in it for a 12 month period and drop out.

Weatlh Master International and Others?

Well Harry, sorry to hear about your "bad" experience with Network Marketing, but that doesn't mean that ALL network marketing is a bad investment.

I quite resent your remark about those of us in NM can't think on our own and looking for a magic stick! You don't know me or anyone else around me, so those kinds of statements are ridiculous to say the least.

You got in with the wrong company. Period. Any company in this day and age that charges $1495 to get started in, is one that would send me running for the hills. So that was your first mistake.

If a lot of people said you didn't work the system.....you probably didn't work the system. Everyone else can't be wrong.

If your reason for not working the system was because you did not have anyone to show you, then that would be another black mark against the company you chose. Any company worth their salt these days, offers full training and mentoring...at every level. I have NEVER left anyone swinging in the wind and never would.

Before you decide that NM is for those with no brains, perhaps you should broaden your horizons a little and do YOUR homework.

Too many people think that they just have to buy a kit, tell 2 or 3 people about it, throw the kit in the closet to collect dust, and then decide that the system doesn't work.

Well, that is not the case.

You have to get into a reputable company and expect that you will actually have to do some work. Any company that promises that you will be doing no selling, no stocking of any inventory, nothing, it's all automated, is going to be belly-up in a short period of time.

You have to find a company that is inexpensive to get started, has an excellent compensation plan, and full training and mentoring. All the tools need to be in place.

Then.....you have to actually get to work. You have to speak to your upline daily, set goals and work with them to achieve them. You must be teachable, and most importantly, have a clear picture in your mind of what you expect to earn and what you are willing to do to earn it.

If you have all those things in place, network marketing is merely a vehicle to increase your net worth to the point where you are financially able to invest in stocks and real estate, which are both excellent by the way.

Network marketing isn't for everyone, but it does offer an opportunity for ordinary people to earn extraordinary income.

I really don't think it's for you, but please don't bash those of us who take it very seriously and earn in excess of $20k/mo.

One bad experience doesn't make you an expert in any way on all the reputable companies out there.

Good luck to you too.

Reliv International buy in scam?

I'm going to give you the long answer to this. First of all, a pyramid is where the person at the top makes all the money while the people at the bottom do all the work. Network marketing is taught by Harvard school of business as a valid business model. It is a model where people help others to become successful in business, and when doing so they also benefit in their own businesses. In network marketing people at lower levels can easily bypass those at higher levels financially simply by doing more work and helping more people. It follows the old saying, "You can get whatever in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want".

As for Reliv, it has been written up widely by Fortune, Forbes and Business week as one of the finest businesses in the country. They are debt free and have solid science behind their products.

I own a health and nutrition business and have taught fitness.

When I was first told about Reliv, I was very concerned that it might be a scam and spent three months researching it before I would let my friend talk to me about it, as I was afraid he might be getting himself into something where he might get hurt. Here is what I found.

Reliv is a nutritional supplement which the body interprets as food - what they call optimal nutrition. It is in a powder form, but taken as a liquid, and 98% of it is absorbed directly into the bloodstream within just a few minutes minutes of ingestion when taken correctly. This company holds, I believe, 5 or 6 United States patents on their products, of the 13 that the US patent office has issued on food products in their entire history for all companies combined. Basically, the FDA says that in food supplements, only 30% of what they say on the bottle is in the product actually has to be in the product when sold, and of that, usually only 30% or less is actually absorbed into the body. With a US patent on the product however, that means that 100% of what they say is in the product actually has to be in the product - and you have the added benefit of 98% of that being delivered to the bloodstream within a very short period of time. Additionally, to have that patent, they have to prove that what they have is different and unique from anything else on the market, and they have to prove that it works - although the company itself makes no health claims, because the body is the miracle, and when you deliver optimal nutrition to the body, the body knows itself what to do with that nutrition.

Because of the way it has been developed, with a perfect balance, bioavailability and synergy, and because the body recognizes it as food, and not just as a "salad of vitmins" that someone put together, (or a "juice" it has a much better chance of giving the body it's best chance at optimal health. I am not trying to make health claims here - and the company makes no health claims - but when you put the right things into the body, the body knows what to do with it!

The Reliv company - a food science company - is a 21 year old company with an excellent business reputation, and which has never had a lawsuit. They produce high quality products, are listed on the NASDAQ, and have been recognized by major publications such as Fortune, Forbes, Business Week and Success From Home as one of the top 100 best run businesses, and one of the top 100 hot growth companies. They are sold in 15 countries.

I have taken this supplement for a while now with excellent results. Debilitating carpal tunnel and painful joint issues in my left hand have completely disappeared; my husband, who thought he was going to have ANOTHER surgery in his shoulder instead avoided having to have it and is now pain free; my 85 year old mother in law, who had severe arthritis in her hands, is also pain free and her cholesterol has come down 64 points in since November 2007. My son uses this product for his athletic training and has reported increased energy and stamina.

Interestingly enough, while vitamin supplements - even your children's Flinstone vitamins - all have health warnings on them, Reliv products are so safe that they carry no health warnings, are given even to babies in their bottles and in feeding tubes for people in the hospital with no adverse effects.There is nothing I have seen for kids safer nor more easily assimilated into their bodies than these products.

I've been trying various supplements for over 35 years, and have never seen anything that has given us the life changing results that these supplements have.If someone is talking to you about them, I hope you will give them your ear and let them connect you to some people who can share their testimonies with you.Doing so, by the way, is the best way you can investigate Reliv, because you are talking to real people, not just some recording or something written on a website, and so you can hear real experiences and ask questions directly from them.We have been delighted with what these products have done for us!