Latvia's second BNI group has already reached 30 members and can slowly begin looking towards an official launch. It is a group of entrepreneurs who want to grow their business on the basis of referrals. Here each "membership seat" is reserved for only one sector. The goal of networking is not to obtain as many contacts as possible, but to build professional relationships.
The agenda for these informational events is always the same: an introduction to the organisation's givers gain philosophy, information about the experience and statistics of other BNI groups around the world, exchange of business cards by all present, a 30-second presentation by each attendee, benefits and investments, as well as breakfast and networking.
Today I spent half a day at the Expo Biznesam 2015 business solutions and contacts fair, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija. There were stands from companies across various industries, two halls where parallel 30-minute seminars took place, and a private consultation room. But the greatest visitor interest and participation was drawn by two other activities in particular: the contacts wall and speed contacts.
For a large part of their lives, people work towards other people's goals - formulated by someone else, stated, written down, taught, drilled in. Rarely does anyone stop to think about their own goals. Because what we actually need is not the achievement of goals as such, but the feelings that arise at the moment of achievement or on the way to the goal.
The question of how to reach your target audience most precisely and effectively has always occupied the minds of internet marketing specialists - the greatest result with the fewest resources. So I decided to compile information I had read and heard from various sources about the best, most productive times for posting images, updates, and news on each social network.
If you are an entrepreneur whose head is overflowing with ideas about how to be different and offer something outstandingly good to your clients, then you are not alone. Ideas come easily when you love your work and your company. If you are a professional in your field, execution should be no problem either. But the hardest thing is to define your message to your target audience.
More and more is being said about the importance of networking for making contacts that can ultimately help establish successful collaboration or meet a potential client. Some Latvian companies have already taken to organising business breakfasts or afternoon sessions - but how productive these are from the standpoint of expanding a quality contact network is another question.
Every entrepreneur essentially walks their own path of growth. For one person it is long, full of trials, and winding before stable financial growth is reached. For another, everything seems to fall magically into place. Perhaps the latter has intuitively felt their way there, or consciously chosen to do only the things that deliver results.
The actual title that the Organisation Development Club representatives gave this seminar topic at the Swedbank Business Network morning networking session was far more elevated - The 9 Elements of an Outstanding Business. But summing up what was heard and practically analysed together, I would call it a well-structured business self-analysis.
I believe I have mentioned before that I quite enjoy the seminars and networking mornings organised by Swedbank Business Network. I attend them from time to time. This one was not a morning but an autumnal afternoon, whose main topic was the BOSI theory - based on four entrepreneurial gene types: Builder (B), Opportunist (O), Specialist (S), Innovator (I).
