Episode 523: An Old Networker in a New Town - a podcast by Dr. Ivan Misner

Synopsis

Mickey Griffith joins Dr. Misner today to share his tips for making connections when you’re new to an area and don’t have an established network. He just moved to Sacramento after 20 years in Sonoma County and has used all these tools himself.



* Trust in the system. Join a BNI chapter in your new region and follow the program.

* Network. In addition to BNI, join at least one other network, such as a chamber of commerce or rotary club. Make sure they are groups that you’ll be able to contribute to.

* Aim high. Ask for a one-to-one with your regional director and other people in the “upper echelons” of business.



These approaches aren’t just for people who’ve just moved into a new area or a new field: they work for everyone.

Do you have something you’d like to add to Mickey’s list? Leave your suggestions in the comments on this podcast.

Brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube.

Complete Transcript of Episode 523 –

Priscilla:

Hello everybody and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube, which features Dr. Ivan Miser and many other networking experts. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan:

I am doing great. I am in Galveston this week taking a few days off. I have a guest on today’s podcast, Mickey Griffith, Mickey has been in marketing for 20 years, so not new in marketing. He has some ideas that I think will help BNI members. He has been a BNI member for nine years, an associate of BNI almost nine years.He has had almost every leadership team role including President and Director Consultant. He is presently with Ascentive. He has been with Ascentive as a coach and consultant for six years and has been in the top three in the US for franchises of Ascentive for a number of years. Mickey, close to BNI Podcast.

Mickey:

Thank you very much.

Ivan:

Yeah, thanks. It is good to have you here. So when you are new to an area and I bet that some of these techniques that you are going good to share are good for people who aren’t new to an area. But let’s say that you are new to an area or are new to a particular network. What should you do? What is y our advice?

Mickey:

Well, this came about because I am actually really brand new to an area right now. My wife and I actually picked up and moved after 20 plus years in Sonoma county and moved to Sacramento. And I find myself suddenly being without a network, so to speak.

Sacramento is pretty close to Sonoma county so I still have some people with some basic connections here but there have been a few things that have been super helpful or things that I am staying focused on that will bring me up to speed quicker than average.

The first one is I would say to trust in the system. What I mean by that is you can go out and try to reinvent the wheel, create a new network and those kind of things, but I went direct to BNI because I know BNI works. I did a lot of homework first by way of the Internet by way of BNI Connect and BNI.com and I checked out the region here which is a fantastic region. And I looked through a lot of the BNI chapter rosters and made sure to do my homework. Then so I wasn’t wasting their time or my time, I made sure that my category was open.

Then primarily, when I looked at the chapter that I am at, I made sure that my contact sphere was well-attended and that was a big deal for me. Then beyond that,

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