Once a month in West Chester, a group of about 30 women meet up in the community room of the Fitworks near Cincinnati/Dayton Road.

It's not a clandestine meeting by any means, but it is a meeting of the minds. It's a chance for these women to network and exchange ideas before some Cincinnati ladies have even started their days - between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. It's a meeting of the members of The Business Network - Women (TBNW). "TBNW is all about face-to-face marketing and networking," says meeting leader Cheryl El-Alfi.

The purpose of TBN, she says, is to help small businesses in Cincinnati connect with each other and grow through a social meeting. "This is a member-to-member supported concept," says El-Alfi. "The whole idea is to help."

TBNW is part of a much larger networking organization called The Business Network, a group that conducts at least ten networking meetings a week in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. Meetings are about a variety of topics and usually focus on the idea of improving a member's business relationships and helping them become business leaders in the communities where they work. The group has grown to about 450 members in three years.

"Today, business is all about who you know and people having to do word-of-mouth marketing," says Lori Schnur, another TBNW meeting leader. The group has four such leaders for the women's only meeting. Schnur got involved with TBNW on a membership level first, before moving on to her leadership role a short time ago.

Schnur says the most important thing for the the women's meeting is to keep it interesting for the members. The weekly women's meeting has 30 minutes of open networking before and after. "Our motto is, 'taking women to the next level,'" says Schnur. She also says the TBNW women's meeting is adding some programs and volunteer opportunities, partnering with 85 Broads and planning to walk in some 5k events together.

"We are trying to build the concept of a team," Schnur says. "We just want members to get a strong and helpful foundation to grow their businesses."

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