"We have created over 50 subgroups within our main Groupsite which mirror how we are organized in the real world. We now have the best of both worlds - online and offline."
- Michael Weiner, President & Founder, NRG
Groupsites are all about communicating, sharing and networking. This month's Groupsite Success Story certainly knows about networking. In fact, it's in their name - Network Referral Group (NRG).
Here's how Michel describes NRG:
"As President and Founder of NRG, I have seen mature and start-up companies join Network Referral Group (NRG). The level playing field is extremely attractive as the bottom line for all businesses is Return on Investment (ROI). By bringing together different industries, the NRG teams market as one unit.
We have a Mid-Atlantic focus. With over 50 groups, weekly meetings and a membership base over 1,000, we are serious about business. NRG is all about access to accounts you want to get into, and people you want to meet."
Each NRG Group meets face-to-face weekly to share referrals and help each other meet their business objectives.
"Nothing beats meeting in person," says Michael. "However, when I heard about Groupsites, I knew this was a tool that our members could really use to help stay in touch and make things happen beyond our weekly meetings, sales training bootcamps and networking summits."
"We first started by simply building a single Groupsite for all of our members. Then when we discovered the new subgroup functionality, that changed everything. We now have over 50 subgroups! We have even created subgroups to align with our "speciality" groups such as Home Owner Services, Green and Women Only Groups. In our "real world" groups, we only allow one person from each profession to participate. This ensures that two competitors will not be in the same group and creates an environment where everyone can speak freely about all aspects of their business without worrying about exposing trade secrets or leads to a competitor."
"Now that we have created a subgroup to mirror each of these groups that is invite only, they can enjoy the same level of privacy and candor online. At the same time, we recognize that there is a lot to be gained by networking with others in the same industry. By also being a member of the overall Groupsite, all members have the ability to compare notes with all NRG members.
"We used to have to wait for one of our Summits to pull hundreds of members together. We still hold the Summits; but, now members can also stay in touch online 24/7."
Groupsites makes sense for NRG.