You can ask us anything…
Recently a new Insider and business owner asked us some questions to help them decide if they should join us. We thought we would share what we said. It sums up what we can do for you, your business and your team.
We really are happy to answer any questions you may have, so if we’ve missed something get in touch here.
However, before we get started we will have some questions for you too, because not everyone uses us in the same way (you will see why in our replies below) so we need to know;
- Are you looking to grow your business?
- What do you need for business?
- What are you working on?
- How much capacity for new business / customers do you have?
- Is business good?
- Are you looking to build your team?
It is always good to know what you are looking to gain from working with the BWN so we can ensure that’s the direction we go in.
The BWN helps in 2 main ways 1. To network and gain new business – spending time with people that get it and 2. To learn new ideas, learn trends, learn ways to grow your business and share your knowledge.
Is there a membership fee? Is it expensive?
Mandie Holgate set up the BWN in 2009 and was adamant we would always be low cost and have no membership. It used to be £125 for the year (1 event per month) and then £10 per month for the Insiders. People could come along to networking events ad hoc for £15 for any of the 17 events we were hosting across the UK. (Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, London, Kent, Warwickshire, Cambridge.)
During the pandemic when we went online we moved it all to be hosted through the BWN Insiders group, so we could cut the costs again. (Our mission is not to make money out of the BWN, but to re-invest everything we make from it back into building it for the good of our members. So the pandemic became a good opportunity to do more for business owners.
We also give all Insiders a 50% discount on all business, blogging, confidence and communication courses too – https://www.mandieholgate.co.uk/rocket-profits-confidence-success/
I’ve got little ones and they don’t always want to watch CBBc!
We love it when children appear on screen. At our last event we had one young lady (5 years old) draw a picture for us and she said she intended to be a business woman like her mum – so cute. All joking aside we are a professional business growth and networking organisation so your little ones won’t delay or interrupt that. We like to run an organised networking and business growth event that is relaxed enough for everyone.
I’m not that confident, can I just come along and see what it’s all about first?
Not everyone is confident so you get involved as much or as little as you like. Mic on or off. Camera on or off. Your call.
I hate to say it, but my budget is small…
£10 a month is hopefully affordable to all – and we give business owners and their teams approx. £2000 of support a year for that £120. This includes, webinars, training, mentoring, coaching, events, exclusive competitions to win courses and training, planners, advice, business promotion on our site, writing for our blog for free (businesses pay us £75 per article – you get that for free!) promotion through our socials and more. It’s a lot for £120 a year!
Where abouts are your meet ups?
Virtual – members are mostly UK based, there’s a few in Europe, 2 in the middle east and 2 US. We think one maybe from Canada too but we don’t like to pry. You share as much or as little as you like, however it’s good to note attracting different people is really good for learning different ideas from around the world too.
What other types of businesses do you have involved?
Because our Founder is a business coach and works with businesses to grow the business and the teams too, we’ve a real mix of members. Business owners from all sectors, Public sector workers with side businesses, staff, charities – it is diverse.
How many other businesses are part of your membership?
Currently there are 130 members of the Insiders – it is not something we promote a lot because we genuinely work together and support each other in the growth of our businesses and anything else we wish to discuss. (A personal response from Mandie Holgate “It is with great regret and apologies that I admit, my eye has been off the ball for the last 30 months because my husband has had open heart surgery and cancer surgeries too – it has been a time of over 250 appointments and procedures. I still looked after our members religiously however I didn’t concentrate on growing the BWN. We are currently undergoing upgrades to our site with some new things being added so that we can do even more for business owners and for those looking to navigate through the cost of living and recession with a side business too. We are one of the top 15 resources for female entrepreneurs and an award winning business school too – we know what we do works and now we aim to focus on building that to help a wider audience, I personally feel we are better together and hope you fall in love with our business family as much as every other Insider.”
How big are you?
Personal question, but we like those too! The reach of our network is huge and not just the 130+ Insiders. All members can write for our blog at any time and that gets promoted on our social media accounts. We’ve not checked our follower numbers recently (We worry about quality of engagement not number of followers) but we believe that’s around 25,000 for the BWN accounts and then Mandie’s accounts are an additional 55,000(ish). (Her’s are huge due to her role as a blogger for big publications like @Lifehack , her best selling books (Taking control of your mind and Fight the fear – books on understanding yourself to achieve more, click here to read more), her international speaker status and the amount of years Mandie has been networking.) We’ve good DA scores for both businesses and the socials accounts connected with them.
Do you have any other network marketers?
Yes, we do, and do you know what we love? We love that they will help each other. We’ve seen 3 Tropic ambassadors in the same networking event share ideas and support for one another – we are a business family and believe in collab not competition.
Do you have anyone else from my company? I understand I wouldn’t be able to be involved if there was.
There is someone that does what you do however only as a side business and we don’t think we’ve ever heard them mention it at an event on in the confidential mastermind group. We don’t have block outs, so you would be very welcome and if this is your main business we would estimate you would do far better than the person that does it on the side and doesn’t mention they are a representative.
What coaching does your founder offer?
All sorts! Business growth, sales, confidence, team management, leadership, resilience, marketing, blogging for business, public speaking, elevator pitches. It matches a lot of the courses we have a 50% discount on – learn more about them here. And we are happy to talk more about that anytime so you can email us here or message us through our social media accounts. Mandie loves her clients like family and would pretty much do anything for them. Yes, she even did a nude calendar with 28 business owners for charity!
Sorry for all the questions
You can pretty much ask us anything, except what do you weigh? Because as Mandie says “I’ve not weighed myself since 2003 when I tried to kill myself – that’s a story for another day, but it’s why I trained as a coach so near death led to my best life.”
Ready to join us?