Summary: Synopsis<br> <a href="http://www.fusionforgeconsultants.com/">Josh Perry</a>, winner of the <a href="http://bnifoundation.org/video-contest/">BNI Foundation video contest</a>, joins Dr. Misner this week to talk about how it’s not always in your best interest to protect “your” industry spot too aggressively.<br> The people who “step on your toes” because they overlap with some areas of what you do can be your best referral partners and let you focus on what you love, for two reasons:<br> <br> * Abundance. Givers Gain tells us there’s enough work for everyone. The more people who are doing similar things to what we’re doing, who are meeting similar people to those we work with, the better chance there’s going to be someone they meet who needs what we do.<br> * Focus. By having great referral partners you can turn to, you can help your clients solve problems on the fringes of what you do while still concentrating on the part of you work that you love most. Having these people in your chapter also helps you focus your weekly presentation and ask for the best possible referrals.<br> <br> Don’t be a <a href="https://www.bnipodcast.com/2010/07/21/episode-164-classification-cowboy/">classification cowboy</a>. Clear, open communication turns the members who “step on your toes” into your best referral partners.<br> Brought to you by the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavppwZDxSx_PbqWoG9leXw">Networking for Success Channel on YouTube</a>.<br> Complete Transcript of Episode 535 –<br> Priscilla:<br><br> 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?<br> Ivan:<br><br> Hi Priscilla. I am back in Austin. I took part of the week off last week. I went to Galveston and had some vacation time last week. It was Thanksgiving here in the United States. It is good to be back home.<br> Priscilla:<br><br> Great.<br> Ivan:<br><br> I have a guest on today. His name is Josh Perry. Josh and I met about a month or so ago. Josh was the winner of the BNI Foundation video contest and his punishment for that was to be required to spend a day with my wife and me with his lovely wife, Kay. I joked a lot about the fact that we jammed so much into one day. It’s like I wouldn’t normally do all that in a week, but I wanted to make sure that we had lots of things to do. By the end of the day, Josh, I think you were probably pretty exhausted, but I will let you comment in just a seoncd.<br> Let me introduce you to everybody. Josh is a consultant with Fusion Forge. He is a disciple of continuous improvement, an advocate for small business. He is a BNI member of just under two years. He is a native of Indiana. He has been a BNI member, a great BNI member. When we met, Josh told me about a couple of things that I thought was really interesting and would make a great podcast. So I asked Josh to be on.<br> Josh, before I throw your first talking point at you, how bad was it hanging out with me for a day?<br> Josh:<br><br> Good afternoon, Ivan. It was a great day. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If anybody out there is listening and has the chance to come and visit Austin, it is a beautiful city. Your hospitality couldn’t have been better. Thank you and the foundation for sponsoring the contest and allowing us to come and enjoy a week with you in a day.<br> Ivan:<br><br> A week in a day. I like the way you put that. It’s good. For anyone interested in the foundation, go to bnifoundation.org.
