U.S., SOUTHEAST: Networking With the (Tip)Club

By Larry Block

U.S. Southeast Bureau Chief
(The Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida)

I recently attended a meeting of the Tip Club, an organization out of the northeast that is trying to make its mark on the South. Tip Club is a business networking and support company that allows members to meet face-to-face, over the phone, or on the Internet to form strategic partnerships, build business alliances, share sales referrals, and exchange business contacts. The Tip Club takes networking a step beyond traditional groups by helping business professionals gather business intelligence, meet business people, and generate new business opportunities. Launched in 1999 in the northeast, the Tip Club started with a couple of groups in Atlanta in November and added the downtown Atlanta group in late December.

The format for the monthly meetings is a little bit different than you would normally find in a networking group. Once a month each group has a traditional networking meeting called a Sales Meeting. In this meeting guests are invited and everyone gets a chance to sell their business and make new contacts. In an effort to more deeply understand the other member’s business a Board Meeting is held once a month. This meeting is open to only members. The format is slightly different in that each member is given a minute to remind the group who and what they do, then the group gets an additional three minutes to ask questions and really get to the nitty gritty of the business in question. This allows both the members and the “speaker” to learn important aspects that will help everyone in the networking process. Also during this Board Meeting, one member will present his/or business in greater depth.


In addition to the two monthly meetings, the Tip Club gives each member many resources that will help them better succeed in their endeavors. Each quarter this is a evening social event and each month country wide teleconferences are held in key industries so that members can gain insightful feedback from other industry professionals. In addition, once a month web training is held covering a variety of subjects.

The Tip Club gives its members the ability to cross-network and have a wide variety of business opportunities while maintaining close knit relationships. They have an extensive tracking system so that members are held accountable and thus, become more valuable resources.

The Tip Club offers different levels of membership from a FREE basic membership that includes the ability to view reports and resumes and profiles, submit a profile, contact other members and read member blogs. Their Premier membership, which is reasonable in cost, gives access to actual leads and sales referrals, find key business contacts, schedule meetings with other members, and post blogs in additional to all the features of the basic membership. For more information go to their website at www.tipclub.com or call 1-800-798-0270 to find a group near you.

Larry Block is a text messaging expert, president of Mobile Marketing Technologies, Inc. he provides text message advertising and marketing services nationwide. Need an advertising solution that actually works and gets directly to your target market – visit www.hippocketads.com, Larry can be reached at larry@RuTxting.com
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U.S., SOUTHEAST: Networking With the (Tip)Club

Specializing in Enthusiasm - Tapped Into the Source!

By Anne Kelley
Southeast Bureau Chief
(the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi)

How could I possibly resist the line: "Specializing in Enthusiasm - Tapped Into the Source!"? Of course I wanted to know more!

That is the tag line that closes Benjamin Turpin’s email. I know Ben and it is certainly true. Ben is a Christian, a husband, a father of three, a master (of Dutch, his chocolate lab) a friend, a businessman, a salesman, a coach and a good listener. His is also half of the Inspiration Agents team (www.inspirationagents.com) that helps bring networking to a different level. I have enjoyed many of their seminars over the past few years as well as attended hosted events in Atlanta. Not only to the attendees learn new or improve upon their networking skills – they also network for their businesses as a result of the format of the meetings.

The newest launch for The Inspiration Agents is Leads To Business. This closed networking group has Hubs rather than teams and each Hub is owned by an individual, not the Inspiration Agents. There is a standard format and agenda for the weekly meetings with different formats for each week keeping things fresh and interesting. Once a month the weekly meeting is “open” to allow guests from any category to visit even thought that seat may be “owned” by someone on the team. The non-intimidating way of sharing leads is also unique to this networking group, yet everyone that attends leaves with a lead or referral. I have seen this system work in an open networking luncheon of about 70 people. Needless to say I was skeptical at first and totally impressed as I left the meeting.

The annual membership is currently $250 with a $25 application fee to secure your seat in the Hub. Meeting fees apply to cover food or room cost depending on the location of the hub meeting.

The exciting thing about the Leads To Business group for me is that it is connecting members from the Sarasota, Florida area hubs to members of the Metro Atlanta hubs by way of a member only website that features profiles, blogs, networking ideas and education.

Also available is a new tool for preparing your “elevator speech” ( www.elevatorspeechbuilder.com ). I know this is always a challenge for me. What do I say that will make an impression? How can I tell someone what I do in just 60 seconds? For me, it is about creating enough interest to be able to talk later. I always envy the people that can stand up and totally engage a room full of people when they speak. The Elevator Speech Builder will help you do just that. Increasing your confidence level is always a bonus in sales!

As interest grows in other states it will be exciting to see this close contact member network helping our businesses grow. As Ben says, “the object of the exercise is the building of a better networking mouse trap -- one that does what networking is intended to do and that is get people more business, without intimidation.

This month’s question is….What do you do to make your elevator speech more exciting? What works well for you? I will share your responses in next month’s column.

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Specializing in Enthusiasm - Tapped Into the Source!

Small Group Has Big Mission

By Glen Gould, Southeast Bureau Chief

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If you were to bring together business and community leaders in a small group setting and provide breakfast in a convenient and attractive environment, one might argue that you would have the recipe for a successful business networking organization. If you added interesting and knowledgeable speakers and packed the program full of opportunities to meet people, learn skills and grow both personally and professionally, you’d have an atypical networking group. But add in a mission, something that the entire group could focus on and you’d have an extraordinary opportunity. In short, you’d have the Atlanta Community Breakfast.

The Atlanta Community Breakfast is a network of individuals who are interested in exploring issues of success, personal leadership, and life-balance as they relate to our personal, professional and spiritual lives. It is a weekly breakfast in a convenient, attractive location where business and community leaders can grow in their faith and mentor others while networking with and meeting like minded individuals.

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Small Group Has Big Mission

The Connect, Grow, Profit Network

By Glen Gould, Southeast Bureau Chief Glen's Bio Email article RSS feed

Phil Minnes knows networking. From successful network marketer to president of the Atlanta Jaycees, Phil has built his business and personal life around meeting, helping and sharing with others. Which is why his involvement in International Business Academies Limited (IBAL) is no surprise. What IBAL does for its members is different.

“It’s a peer support group more so than a networking group” explained Minnes as we chatted recently. “Our programming focuses on getting to know the person” he added. That’s exactly what I observed when I attended a recent IBAL Breakfast at The Buckhead Club in Atlanta. Business owners and high level executives from various backgrounds attend IBAL breakfasts, lunches, socials and strategy sessions each month, learning more about each other and themselves in the process.

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The Connect, Grow, Profit Network