Block weekly time for inviting
Posting on social is fine. It will not build a club. Warm individual invites — in person, by text, by phone — will.
In practice: Tuesday from 4 to 5pm is yours. Phone in hand. No tabs open. One conversation at a time.
Start a Club
Start a referral club that doesn’t act like one.
For the people who want to lead a referral club in their city, town, or industry niche — with a proven structure, real autonomy, and none of the long-term lock-in that comes with the big-name groups.
Why ThinkBiz
What makes a ThinkBiz club different
We exist because other referral organizations created a real underserved gap — people who still need a referral club, but don't want what those clubs have become.
Member-led, not corporate-led
Every club sets its own agenda, splits seats its own way, and structures leadership the way it actually works for the room. No corporate template forced down on top.
Try it before you commit
Visit a club. Bring your friends. We tell you the price the first time you ask — never the third. If it is not for you, that is fine. Pushiness is not the product.
No long-term lock-in
You are not signing a contract that survives your interest in being here. Come for a season. Come for a year. Stay because it works, not because you cannot leave.
Community first, referrals second
Referrals are the engine. Camaraderie is the reason people stay. When somebody is having a rough day, they have fifteen to thirty people who get it.
Inclusive over competitive
No public stats. No ranked leaderboards. No quiet shaming of the people who had a slow month. We do not push the ranking, so the room does not push each other.
Cross-clubbing is built in
Members can visit and participate in other ThinkBiz clubs without paying extra location fees. The network is the network — not a set of walls.
The Right Mental Model
You’re not starting a club. You’re starting a planning committee.
Most people picture launching a fully-formed club on day one. Twenty members. A venue. A printed agenda. That is the wrong picture, and trying to build it that way is why most new clubs die in week three.
“If they try to start a club from the get-go, that doesn’t work. You have to start a planning committee, and do it at a coffee shop — so that if people show up and they only see three people, hey, that’s okay, it’s just a planning committee. But you start it at the time and location that you could grow into. The time and the day can’t change. And you have to be there.”
— Dirk Neitzel, ThinkBiz Co-Founder
Here is what that actually looks like. Our Thursday club was one person and Dirk for two weeks in a row. Week three, a third person showed up. The next week it was ten, and we couldn’t meet at Starbucks anymore. We needed a real spot. It was just consistency until we found it.
The early days
Two people at a coffee shop. Maybe three. Same day, same time, every week — no matter who shows up.
The build
The room grows because you keep inviting and you keep showing up. Visitors start asking how to join.
The launch
You outgrow Starbucks. You find a real venue. The planning committee becomes a club, and you set the day you start charter membership.
The Commitment
Small list. Non-negotiable.
It is honestly not a lot. But every item is required, because each one is the reason the next item is even possible.
Three founding committee members, fully committed for two months.
Same day, same time, same coffee shop or venue — every week, no exceptions.
A visit to at least one existing ThinkBiz club before you launch.
A weekly calendar block for warm-inviting people, one at a time.
That’s it. The rest is consistency.
The Playbook
The three things that make a club succeed
Operational tactics from the founders. These are the patterns that separate clubs that grow from clubs that quietly disappear.
Hunt visitors, not members
A visitor who feels valued asks, "How do I join this?" A prospect who feels pitched leaves. Your job is to invite, give value, and let the membership question be theirs.
In practice: when somebody visits, your only job is to make sure they leave glad they came.
Hunt referrals, not customers
Use the room to find referred members and referred visitors — never to ask someone to buy.
Use this script
"Hey Bob, my club is actively looking for an accountant. Do you know somebody on your team who might be interested in this?"
The Mental Reframe
The invite is not the point — the conversation is.
“I’m not inviting people to come. I’m inviting people because it gives me a reason to talk to them. I don’t care if they come or not. We use the club to grow our businesses — we don’t work for the club.”
— Dirk Neitzel, ThinkBiz Co-Founder
The club is permission. It is a reason to call somebody you haven’t talked to in months without making it about selling them anything.
There’s a list of people you haven’t talked to in months, and you don’t want to call them and ask to be their financial advisor, their insurance agent, or their next contractor. But you can call them and say, “I’ve got a group of friends I love and meet with every week. I’d love for you to come.” Whether they come or not, now they know you care about them. The relationship is better either way.
ThinkBiz is a gift you can give your friends. Not a transaction.
Get Better at Inviting
Three tips, in order of importance.
Do it more.
Quantity times quality. You get better at inviting by inviting. The first ten will feel awkward. The next hundred will not.
Don’t narrow it to a "target market."
The club is not a niche product. Anyone who runs a business — or works in one — is potentially the right person. Wide net beats clever filter.
Reframe the ask.
You are not asking them to come. You are inviting them because it gives you a reason to talk to them. Whether they show or not, the relationship is better.
“Ask the struggling business person, ‘What do you need more of?’ They’ll say clients. We have a powerful system to get them more of that. Why would you not talk to your family and friends about this? You’re rude not to at some point.”
— Dirk Neitzel, ThinkBiz Co-Founder
Pre-Register Your Committee
Tell us who your planning committee is.
You’re not applying to start a club. You’re telling us you’ve got three people ready to meet at the same coffee shop, at the same time, every week — and that you want help making the first meeting count.
What happens next
- We’ll reach out within a few business days.
- We’ll connect you with a nearby ThinkBiz club to visit.
- We’ll help you set your first committee meeting.