I was introduced to BNI (Business Networking International) when I set out as a sole trader almost 12years ago and I continued to be a member for over 10years before I decided to leave.
It does provide excellent word of mouth business generation, as well as provide you with direct access to a number of business owners in the area you live or work who can help you and or your business.
Some will say it costs too much and when you factor in your weekly meeting fee it cost me around £900 to £1,100 per year when I was a basic member, although if you take a Leadership Team role, your membership fees are frozen for the time you occupy one of those roles, so I only paid my membership for 7 out of the 10 years as I did three stints of a year at a time in a Leadership Team role, saving me from £500 to £650 per year.
It brought in anywhere up to 85% of my business in any one year when looking at jobs I got from the room and subsequent/related jobs I got as a result of doing the initial job. I left over a year ago and this financial year (since the start of April) I can still trace over 35% of my invoiced work directly back to BNI introductions and repeat jobs/recommendations from jobs I did that were from BNI introductions, i.e. jobs I wouldn't have done if I wasn't in BNI.
I'm not a managerial type, delegation is not something I am any good at in any shape or form, I'm too fussy about how work is done, the only other sparks I work with is the one I did my apprenticeship under and one other who was in BNI with me who I worked for a couple of times. If I was managerial then I could have continued in BNI and taken on some staff, but like I say, I'm fussy and find it difficult to delegate, so I decided it was better for me to leave BNI rather than expand my business. If I can't keep a business going after 10years of developing new customers, then I shouldn't be in the business in the first place.
I have a very basic website, it worked ok 8years ago when it was new after I got a web design company to re-do my DIY website. But, I neglected it, put no money aside for it and subsequently all it ended up doing was generating spam emails from the contact form which had no verification to stop automated web bots from spamming me through it. The website has been secured so no more spam and will be upgraded soon, so I expect to get more genuine leads from that, but the most it generated was around 10% - 15% of my revenue in it's early years, I hope the revamped site will do equally as well, if not better once I can link it in to my Facebook page.
Yell was pretty useless and I think it only ever generated 1 or 2 enquiries over the first 5years, subsequently (for the last 7years) I only ever get calls from people purporting to be from Yell wanting to verify my details and that I'm the owner of the business and trying to sell me better visibility, which I've never done, so have only ever been listed as a simple listing as a result.
I've recently started, very basically, to use Facebook, so a little early to tell how well that will work over time. But, I've had a couple of jobs from it in the couple of months I've had a basic FB presence.
I've never felt the need to join, MyBuilder, CheckaTrade, RatedPeople, TrustaTrader, WhichTrustedTraders, MyJobQuote, or any of the other similar sites aiming to help trades get more business. I much prefer word of mouth, plus as a sole trader it would take up too much of my valuable time administering my profile on these sorts of sites.
Paying to advertise on Google, be it ADs or Pay Per Click style options, has never appealed to me, costs can spiral if you're not careful, or you can spend loads on the wrong campaign and get nothing back, or at least that's what I've all to often heard back from others who have tried it. or do still use them.
Word of mouth is far more appealing, which is why I joined BNI after I went to a local meeting. The meeting starts early and wraps up before 9am so you only have a slightly late start on the morning you go. I'd recommend visiting your local BNI group, providing there isn't already an electrician in your local group. You can visit twice before you need to decide on whether you want to join and it really is worth going twice, because if its an established group with 20 or more members, it can be a lot to take in during a single visit.
BNI more than paid for itself with the work I got from it every year (it still is some 14months after I left) even though I'm no longer a member. Don't be put off by rumours you may have heard about BNI being a cult, requiring too much from it's members, or only working for certain business types. Yes, it required commitment, but if you use it as part of your business and as a tool to develop you and your business, it can be very worthwhile. Not only can you get a lot from it, in terms of personal development, a trusted circle of businesses that can help your business, but it can also benefit your business too by generating a seriously good amount of business.
If you do go, remember, you're not joining BNI as such, what you are doing is joining the other people and businesses that are already members in your local group.
Hope the long post isn't too waffly, but hopefully it may help someone else.
