It’s not what you know or who you know, but who knows you. - Rainer Schmoll, Think ReferralsI’d like to announce that there is a business networking group that I will be leading in Vancouver, BC. The location will be in Yaletown (which is downtown) and the date/time will be on Tuesdays around lunch time (presumably around 12).

This is a business networking group for entrepreneurs, freelancers, service providers, etc. The original group website can be found at www.trbn.com. Think Referral Business Networking is a group that I have been with for nearly a year, and it was basically through this group that I ultimately met John Chow and established business connections, and ultiamtely got into the blogging scene. Also through this group I met Gary from Bluefur Hosting, who has provided me with the most exceptional hosting service I’ve ever seen, and also to my clients. I’m sure a lot of you saw this post about John, Gary, Rainer and I, along with many others, having lunch in Richmond, BC.

Think Referrals is different from a lot of referral groups in the sense that we do not force referrals. It’s all up to you. It’s more about meeting people, discussing busienss, and once you like and trust somebody enough, you may refer people as you like. Also, you may get some business direclty through the people in your group.

Here are the professions I already have on board for the Vancouver Chapter.

• Design/Marketing/Web - Myself.
• Real Estate Agent
• Investment Banker
• Mortgage Broker
• Print Shop rep.

Here are some other professions we are looking for :

• Personal trainer
• Auto dealer
• Auto detailer
• Chiropractor
• Accountant for SME’s
• Advertising/Media
• Videographer (I’m not sure if that’s the right term though..)
• Photographer
• And anything else you can think about.

If you are not familiar with the concept of business networking, it is a network group comprised of people from many different professions, and you all make relationships. You get to know the people better, and you create a web of professionals. i.e. If somebody asks me, “Jeff, do you know a good realtor?” then my first referral will be towards the realtor in my group (as long as I like him). Simple as that. This can generate a lot of business if you make the most out of it. I remember joining TRBN last summer. I joined without hesitation - I only had $275 to lose for the membership. I already recovered all that investment, and got much more out of the group already. I can’t share details about it cause the projects are still confidential, but that investment has returned about 500% already and it keeps going up.

If you’re interested, and have a positive/pro-active/business-oriented mindset, and live in Vancouver, please go to this page at TRBN and click the link at the bottom that says “… waiting list for Membership”. You might end up meeting John Chow when I have lunch with him next time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 at 6:58 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.