Financial capital is generally considered to be wealth that is accumulated individually or in a business and used, or available for use, in the production of more wealth. "Social capital" is in fact very similar. It, too, is accumulated by an individual or business and used or available for use in the production of wealth. Social capital is the accumulation of resources developed through personal and professional "networks". These resources include ideas, knowledge, information, opportunities, contacts and, of course, referrals.

Social capital is built by design, not chance. According to Wayne Baker, author of Achieving Success Through Social Capital, "Studies show that lucky people increase their chances of being in the right place at the right time by building a 'spider web structure' of relationships that catch information." Furthermore, according to Baker, "success is social; all the ingredients of success that we customarily think of as individual—talent, intelligence, education, effort, and luck—are intertwined with networks."

Thus, a key way that social capital is acquired is through the process of networking. Successful networking is all about building and maintaining solid professional relationships. The trouble is that we don't live on Little House on the Prairie anymore and don't have the natural community-like business relationships that may have existed before. Many people hardly know their own neighbors let alone the local business people in town. More than ever, networking is critical to an individual's success in business.

Strong contact networks like BNI help create a virtual main street for business professionals. It provides an environment and system for the comprehensive application of a 21st century approach utilizing a traditional model of doing business.

BNI provides the mechanism for accomplishing the shared objective of business development within a community. According to Eric Lesser, author of Knowledge and Social Capital, "Without a shared understanding of common terms, activities, and outcomes, it becomes very difficult to reap the benefits associated with building social capital." Herein lies the incredible power of structured networking programs like BNI. We provide the "common terms, activities, and outcomes" (or system) that lead to building substantial social capital for the people who effectively utilize the BNI program.

Consequently, as you invest your time in regular BNI meetings, know that you are, in fact, building your social capital. Strive to make the most effective use of this investment by doing everything possible to thoroughly enhance the relationships that you develop in the BNI program because social capital leads to improved financial capital.

Dr. Misner is co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Masters of Networking. He is also Founder & CEO of BNI (http://www.bni.com), the world's largest referral organization with over 2,100 chapters throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. He teaches business management at the University of La Verne, in La Verne, CA, where he resides with his wife and three children. Dr. Misner can be reached at misner@bni.com.