2008-07-09 09:16:08 -

- for BNI Michael R. Drew, 512-858-0040 fax: 512-857-9428 or Erin Mellinger, 1-800-825-8286 At the Global Networking Conference for BNI members, which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 27th-30th, 2008, Dr. Ivan Misner (BNI's Founder & Chairman) became convinced that local businesses everywhere need to shift their thinking about business networking. Most small businesses around the world have

tended only to network locally but Dr. Misner says that the world is becoming smaller in many ways -- technology and online social networking being the most obvious -- and therefore business owners need to embrace the concept of "local business, global network."

Misner says that although it is true that some businesses, such as private practice medical doctors or local beauty shops, need to operate purely on a local plane, many other businesses can do business across the country or state and even across the world. "The key," he says, "is finding those that need your service and connecting with them."

To give an example of the power and increasing importance of global networking, Dr. Misner brings up an occurrence from BNI's recent Global Networking Conference. Out of the hundreds of referrals that were passed between the 520 BNI members from 24 countries that were in attendance, one referral stood out as an amazing testament to the benefits of networking globally.

One of the sponsors of the event was a BNI member from the United Kingdom named Marcus Emery, owner of the logistics company Emery Worldwide. Two days after the Conference ended, a local Malaysian dentist named Dr. Faye Yunus, who had met Emery at the conference, passed him a multi-million dollar referral. Yunus connected Emery with one of her patients, a top executive for a company with a $1.5 billion dollar shipping budget that was looking to streamline their operations. The company's executive called Emery the next day to set up an appointment. There is a video taped discussion between Emery and Yunus which explains the power of local business networking in a global community and the video can be viewed by clicking here.

We are living in a global economy where it is becoming easier and easier to do business around the world; and with economic instability currently affecting many parts of the world, networking globally is quickly becoming a tool that is imperative to businesses everywhere.

Questions? Call Misner at BNI Headquarters in the USA at 1-909-608-7575.

BNI (www.bni.com) is the world's largest business networking organization, with more than 5,000 chapters in 39 countries worldwide. BNI's Founder & Chairman, Dr. Ivan Misner is the author of several books including Masters of Sales, the latest addition to his bestselling Masters Series (www.Mastersbooks.com), and the #1 best-seller, Truth or Delusion -- Busting Networking's Biggest Myths (www.TruthorDelusion.com). He is also the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com), a referral training company with operations around the world.

Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder & Chairman of BNI, the World's Largest
Networking Organization, Explains Why Networking Globally and Not Just
Locally is Becoming an Increasingly Important Tool for Businesses
Worldwide