Get Out of Your Cave!

BNI founder and networking expert, Dr Ivan Misner, suggests you should ‘get out of your cave’, meaning you should step out of whatever your comfort zone is once in a while and introduce some new networking dynamics, to keep things fresh.

New Year - which I look on as the whole of January - is a great time to consider venturing out and joining a new interest or business group to increase your networking circle.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you enjoy doing?
• What have you always wanted to learn?
• What new sport or pastime do you want to take up?

Choose something you enjoy, rather than thinking ‘potential business opportunity’, as it’s the relationships you’ll be forging that will help you.

Think ‘diverse’, and step into your ‘stretch zone’. That could mean:

• Taking up a new sport, such as golf, football, basketball
• Joining a running or ramblers club
• Joining a choir
• Taking an evening class
• Attending a book club

The secret of course is to make your new endeavour a group activity.

After all, as the old adage suggests, ‘people buy people before they buy products or services’.