In the past year, I've seen dozens of chambers of commerce dramatically increase their use of social media, especially Twitter and Facebook.   I've noticed a few chambers of commerce that have truly created their own community of followers on Twitter, too. 

These chambers not only promote their own events and news, but they highlight their members (using their Twitter IDs) and they engage them with conversations.   And, their members even end up promoting each other in addition to recommending their chamber to others.

How cool is that?  An online community of chamber members using Twitter to promote their business, their friends' businesses, their chamber and their physical community!

I think this is fantastic, but it can be hard to keep your followers up to date on which of your members are on Twitter.

Today, I saw one way the Mountain Brook AL Chamber of Commerce makes it EASY for members to follow other members on Twitter - all at once.   On the lower right portion of their website (and probably in other communications), they link to a list of their members on Twitter.


The page you land on is created on TweepML, which lets you create lists for any group of Twitter users you want.   What's neat about this service (and makes it a bit different from the lists that Twitter lets you create) is that you can choose to follow one, multiple or ALL of the members on the list at once. 

You simply select the people you want to follow (or Select All) and scroll down the page to enter your Twitter name and password or connect using Twitter's Oath service.   Then you'll be following everyone you selected.  Quick and easy!

I know that some applications like Tweetdeck and Seesmic let you see Twitter lists that you follow, too. But most small business owners probably don't use those applications or fully understand how Twitter lists work.  By using a tool like TweepML, you can help them directly follow other chamber members.

I did a quick test of TweepML and it was very easy to set up my list.   Try it out for your chamber of commerce or business association.  And let me know other ways you connect your members on Twitter to each other, too.  Happy connecting!

Today I came across this article that gives a glimpse into the spending habits of consumers. It’s obvious that discounts motivate buyers, but did you know it takes less to motivate young professionals?

YP’s said discounts as low as 10% would make them willing to spend. Comparatively, it would take a discount of nearly 30% to get the affluent to “open their wallets”.

So, why should you care? Members join associations and chambers of commerce primarily to grow their business. And allowing your members to display coupons on your website is another way your organization can help them convert your site visitors into consumers. With membership management software like WebLink Connect from WebLink International, you have the ability to track the number of times a coupon is viewed, which is a great way to show VALUE to your member.

You can even go a step further and use Twitter as another way to promote your member’s discounts. The best part, Twitter links can be tracked too. (Check out if your chamber or association is “Twitter-worthy").

Everyone’s budgets are shrinking; coupon clipping is no longer just for soccer moms. So be sure to help turn your audience into motivated consumers for your membership by promoting not only their business, but also their discounts. 

A few months ago, I wrote about the Pitfalls of Social Media for chambers of commerce and associations. Since then I've had some great conversations with staff from chambers and association about how to avoid these pitfalls and use social media to strengthen their brands and engage their members.

Recently, I found this post by B.L. Ochman about Three Top Ways to Damage Your Brand With Social Media.   She makes some good points about ways you could negatively impact your organization with the MIS-USE of social media.


Start a Twitter account, then don't use it - Fortunately, I haven't see very many chambers of commerce with Twitter accounts such as the @TimeWarnerCares example in the post. 

However, I have seen plenty of chamber Twitter accounts with hundreds of followers, yet they are only following a handful of people.  A big part of using Twitter is listening and engaging in conversation with your followers.  What does it say about your organization if you're not following your members or other businesses in your community?  It seems like you're not interested in listening to them!  That doesn't do much for your brand, does it?

No, you don't have to follow everyone that follows you, but you should probably follow anyone who is located in your community or has an obvious link to your organization.  When someone follows you, look at their profile location, URL and bio to see to determine if you should follow them back. (In most cases, you should). 

Not tracking your brand using monitoring tools  -  With all the free tools available, there is really no excuse for not doing at least some monitoring.   See "Is your chamber 'listening' to the internet" for more info.  Set up searches for your organization's name, your city name or other terms specific to your organization so you can know when people are talking about you. (And decide if/when to respond).  Some tools to try include:

• Twitter Search - View results in your browser or set up an RSS feed of your search
• Google Alerts - View results, set up email alerts or get an RSS feed
• Google Blogsearch - View results, set up email alerts or get an RSS feed
• Twilert - does a Twitter search, but sends you email
• Monitter - a browser based Twitter search tool that lets you search by keyword and geographic location.

If you don't monitor the web for your brand mentions, you will probably be left out of the conversations taking place in your community.  You can't do much for your reputation and brand if you don't know about these discussions.
 
Start using social media, but don't tell the rest of the organization - Good news, here.  I don't know any chambers of commerce or business associations who have done this.  Occasionally, individuals will start using social media and because they work for a chamber of commerce or assocation, the followers will assume they are speaking on behalf of the organization.  It's probably worthwhile to have a conversation with all staff about the appropriate use of social media and refinforce that (whether they like it or not) they are respresenting your organization.  Remember, too, to keep your board (and members) advised of what you're doing with social media.  We've all had those phone calls from board members who are upset because they had to find out about something from someone else.


I have a couple of addtional ways beyond those listed in the post:

One way communications on Twitter - I've seen a few chambers of commerce that only post updates on Twitter with links to their own events, blog posts or website.  There are no replies to others, no retweets and no sharing of links or resources on other sites.   This practice is similar to not listening.   Even when someone replies to the organization, there are no subsequent replies. 

If someone answers your question or retweets your info, reply to them, thank them and engage them!   Some replies are certainly better sent as direct messages (and not viewable on your stream), but having some RTs and @replies in your Twitter stream shows you're engaging your audience, not just pushing out info. 

Repetitive Tweeting - Some organizations seem to post the same 5-10 things every day on Twitter. "Check out our website" or "Did you know XYZ" are great every once in a while, but when done systematically, day after day, with exactly the same text, they become the equivilent of spam.

Sure, you could argue that not all followers will see the message each time and you want to make sure you get the word out. I certainly understand that. But, you can vary your text and messaging so that you're not monotonous.  Your followers will quickly tire of seeing the same message over and over again and may choose to stop following you.


What do you think?  Are there other ways you could damage your organization by using (or mis-using) social media?

Many young professionals give back to their communities by mentoring area children and students, but rarely are they are on the receiving end such a relationship – until recently!

In an effort to get more young professionals involved in their young professionals groups, chambers of commerce are beginning to offer mentoring programs.

The types of programming for such mentoring programs vary, but two of the most popular I’ve come across include:

• One-on-one programs that pair young professionals with older, more experienced professionals for a minimum of sixth-months
• Group mentoring in which members meet in groups with a mix of older and younger professionals

As a young professional, it is exciting to hear that chambers are creating such innovative programming to help better connect the business community and to help develop future business leaders. I would be eager to join a group that offers the chance to “pick the brains” of seasoned business professionals.

Has your chamber or association already started a mentoring program within your young professionals group? If so, how is it working for you – have you seen an increase in participation, what is the feedback like? If not, is this something your young professionals group might start considering?

Consider this: For the chamber of commerce, this is not only a great way to get young professionals involved with your chamber and more informed about your organization, but it also offers your members a way to volunteer while getting more involved in the chamber. Plus, who else is better equipped in your community to do this than your chamber? No one -- because no one has the kind of connections to the local business community like you!

Retention. It's a key indicator for most chambers of commerce and business associations.  The factors that drive retention also drive just about everything else about the financial health and growth of your member-based organization.  Revenue. Sponsorships.  Event attendance. New member sales. 

Higher retention means more satisfied members, more connected members and more word of mouth advertising for your organization.  

And more fans.

Fans.  Not just Facebook fans, but someone who actually loves your organization and your staff and will tell other people about you.  In his book, Purple Cow, Seth Godin calls your biggest fans "sneezers" because they are so enamored with your company that  tell others about your products and services and help spread your ideas.

How do you get more fans faster?  Social media!

Think about how hard it would be to increase the number of true (raving) fans your chamber of commerce or business association has by hosting great events or sending out great newsletters.  Yes, you can use member segmentation and mass customization to deliver targeted, relevant information, but events and newsetters are relatively infrequent compared to how you can use social media. 

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and others all help you tell your story more frequently, more immediately and in more places.  And these social media allow your members to help you tell your story WAY more than your events or newsletters do.  (Word of mouth advertising).  Having more fans helps you build more momentum and improve retention even more since they can now all help you in your efforts.

Social media allows you to share more information than ever before without spamming your members.  They've voluntarily choosen to follow you, read your content or join your group.  They can reply, ask questions or share your content with others.   This blog and many others are full of great examples of non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce and business assocations using social media to actively engage their members and prospects and create an entirely new fan base.   I've seen great examples of members in a community reposting information about their chamber of commerce, writing blog posts about chamber events and even creating videos on YouTube about their chamber.

You can't do it with social media alone, though.  You must provide real benefits and demonstrate your value to your members using all of your communications tools.  You must ask for their input and respond.  Listening, learing, adapting and communicating helps you improve retention and all the other things listed above.  And, great membership management software can help you record and track information about your members to help you communicate your value more effectively.

But, social media lets you do this all faster and on a much larger scale.  So, go improve retention!  (And get more fans.)

While perusing the U.S. News and World Report’s website today I came across a few lists of “Bests” -- America’s Best Places to Find a Job, 10 Best Places to Grow Up, etc. And yet, when I went to some of those city’s websites, there was no mention of these honors -- a missed opportunity for the chambers of commerce, the visitor’s convention bureaus and any other city website really.

Maybe my college liked to brag too much, but whenever something like this was announced and we were on the list, it became a top story on the homepage. Does your chamber of commerce or business association ever put links to third party reports on your website, or does your news section only contain content written by chamber/association staff? If it’s the latter, there are still ways for you to promote the great news from other sources yourself – by writing a press release, writing a response to the report, etc. Finding ways to boast about your organization on your website is a great way to capture potential new residents and potential new chamber members or association members.

You might be wondering what I mean by potential residents. Well, when I was looking for a job right out of college, my biggest concern was location. I figured that after I found a city I wanted to be in, the job search would follow suit.  (A sort of ‘If you build it, he will come’ mentality :) ) And I’m not alone. My experience with a lot of my friends has been that young professionals want to live in certain cities -- not we want to move to a place because of a job (although sometimes that is what ends up happening).

Picture this. A college student/recent graduate has found your website thanks to your high SEO when he or she types your area into an internet search. This person sees the pictures of your area on your homepage and likes it so far. Then, on the homepage there is a blurb that says “One of America’s Best Places to Find a Job!” You better believe that young professional is more likely to consider relocating to your city with that kind of news! (BTW - Is Your Website Attracting Young Professionals?) 

But, even if that person ends up somewhere else, they become a prospect for local tourism. Sometimes things don’t work in our favor to allow us to live in the cities we want, but that’s what vacations are for, right?

So don’t hold back. Make sure visitors to your website know not only the value of your chamber of commerce or business association, but also the value of your community!

WebLink is proud to announce the winners of our big contest conducted at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, NC.   Please read on to see if any of your peers were winners.

iPod touchGarmin Nuvi GPS system
Flip Digital Video CameraiPod Shuffle
$50 Amazon gift cardIt was great to meet so many of the chamber of commerce staff I've connected with on Twitter and other social media.  Thanks for stopping by the booth so we can now match a face with the avatar. :-)   That's one of the great things about social media - ultimately connecting face-to-face with someone you've been following for a while.  The online connection leads to an offline action.

WebLink received tremendous response and interest in our membership management software, website design and development, and non-dues revenue programs for chambers of commerce while at ACCE.  From all of the chambers we talked to it appears that now is the time most of you are seeking to make a change for the better.  Whether it's creating more functional websites, better utilizing your member database or jumping into using social media, chambers of commerce are eager to keep pushing forward.

Thanks again to those who stopped by the booth.  And congratulations to all of our winners!

WebLink will be exhibiting at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, NC July 30 and 31.  If you’re attending this conference, please stop by the booth (#224) to say hello.   We’ll have at least 8 staff members there:  me, Mike Bryan, DJ Muller, Misty Stennett, Pam Sefrino, Aaron Cox, Chris Painchaud and Nathan Marquardt.

We’d like to hear about the challenges your chamber of commerce is facing during these uncertain economic times and how you are working to strengthen your local business community. WebLink works with more than 400 chambers of commerce and business associations across the U.S. – a number of our clients are doing great work right now and even increasing membership.

While you’re at our booth, be sure to learn how WebLink can revolutionize the way your chamber operates and help you deliver powerful benefits to your members.  Our unique approach combines the industry’s leading membership managment software and award-winning website design and develoment with our proven marketing methodology to eliminate technology costs AND generate revenue for you year after year. 

If you're already a WebLink client, please stop by and let us know what we can do to help you continue to increase retention, gain new members, generate non-dues revenue and strengthen our partnership.  We value your business and want to grow with you.

I’ll be glad to discuss your social media ideas and goals, too, including blogging, Twitter, social networking sites, social bookmarking, and photo and video sharing.  There are a number of chambers of commerce doing great work with social media – I’d love to “talk shop" with you for awhile and learn from you, too.

And….(saved the best for last), we’ll be giving great prizes like Flip Video cameras and Amazon.com gift cards at the WebLink booth (#224).  It's easy to win....just stop by to enter!  We hope to see you in Raleigh!

Chambers of commerce have long held a physical presence in their communities.  Their offices have been a central meeting point for business leaders, small business owners and elected officials to network and discuss local business issues.  And, the chamber office is usually a resource to visitors in town looking for maps, guides or other local information.

But, does the chamber of commerce need a building or physical offices to provide benefits to their members and their community?

The Goleta Valley (CA) Chamber of Commerce will soon find out.  The chamber will be closing its doors - but not closing for business - and have the employees work from home through several web-based software solutions, allowing them to stay connected and share information without all being in the same location.  Note: One of these solutions is WebLink's web-based membership management software, WebLink Connect.  :-)   For more info about their descision to "go virtual," read "Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce Relocates ... Online"

Yes, the chamber will continue to have events and and other meetings - they will just all be at member locations rather than the chamber's offices.  “Chambers are community-based organizations,” says Michael Kramer, a Goleta Valley Chamber member. “Going virtual forces chamber staff to meet in the community they serve."

Sure, there are some examples of virtual chambers of commerce already, but none that I know of that serve a local community.  These virtual chambers were designed to exist solely on the internet and serve a certain demographic. The Goleta Valley Chamber's move marks the first time I know of that a chamber with a brick and mortar presence has made the move to a virtual presence. 

The trend towards going mobile is increasing, for sure.  Last year, the International Data Corporation (IDC), predicted that by year-end 2011, nearly 75% of the U.S. workforce will be mobile.   And, Forrester's Consumer Techographics survey showed that telecommuting will rise to include 43% of the U.S. workforce by 2016.   A few years ago, Manpower released results of a study showing that 80% of U.S. workers would prefer telecommuting to a physical commute to work.   

What is your organization doing to be more mobile?  Does your staff use notebook computers that they can take with them?  Would your staff be more efficient if they could work from home?   Do you have web-based membership management software so your staff can utilize your database from anywhere?  What other technology would need to be removed or replaced for your staff to be mobile?

Perhaps the larger question is....is this even a good idea?  What are your thoughts? Do chambers of commerce and business association NEED a physical location to be successful and to provide benefits to their members?  Please let me know in the comments below.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this move works out for the Goleta Valley Chamber.

Today on Twitter, my co-worker Benji Craig (@benjicraig) posted this tweet: 

1. What is the role of of chamber of commerce
2. What is the purpose of a chamber of commerce

There are probably plenty of businesses in your community (and even some members) that have the same questions.

Right now, go create a blog post and/or newsletter article that explains not only the role of a chamber of commerce, but specifically how YOUR chamber serves your business community.  Include specific benefit programs, recent government affairs efforts and more to demonstrate how your ogranization works for your members. 

And, use this as an opporunity to ask your members how THEY see the role of your chamber.  You may find that some of them have much different ideas about what activities your chamber should be doing.  Cross promote your new post on Twitter and/or your LinkedIn group and engage your members in a conversation.  Ask them for their opions and ideas.  Educate them about services they may not know about.  Share the information you learn.

And, if you need ideas for more blog posts, see 25 Things Your Chamber Can Blog About.

If you can use only 4 social media tools, use these:  Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn & Facebook.   These are by far the social media tools that marketers most frequently use, according to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report. (page 19)

Each one of these - Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn & Facebook - can be used in concert (see what I did there) with each other AND with what you’re already doing in your organization’s communications efforts.  But how can your chamber create a communications symphony with all these different media?  Read on...

Twitter
Use Twitter to cross-promote your chamber's blog posts, events and members.  There are a number of chambers using Twitter in other ways, too. However, don't forget to follow businesses in your area and have conversations with them, too.

And, of course, you can cross-promote your LinkedIn group, Facebook page and any other social media you use.  I will stress again, though....don't just push information.  Mix up your tweets with questions and replies to your followers.

Blogs
We know that blogs are great ways to position your chamber as an expert and create communications that engages your members.  If you've been blogging for a while and think you've run out of topics, check out
25 Things Your Chamber Can Blog About.  

See some good Chamber blogs below.  These Chambers do a nice job of creating communications that are relevant for their members. Yes, you can mix in posts about events and members with legislative and business issues as you'll see in some of these blogs.

LinkedIn
If you're not on LinkedIn yet, go there now and set up your profile and have your coworkers do the same.  Using the tools that LinkedIn provides, you'll be amazed out how quickly you can build a network.  You can (and should) create a profile for your chamber, too.  Connect with your members and other businesses in your community.  Keep you and your chamber in the middle of your area's local and online networking.  If you don't, someone else will take that role.

There are plenty of chambers of commerce who have LinkedIn groups, too.
I've been researching chamber LinkedIn groups and will post soon about using these groups effectively.  In the meantime, here are some quick tips:

• It may seem obvioius, but ask questions. Push content and concepts to your LinkedIn group members and get their input.  
• Answer questions asked by others, or at least refer them to another resource in your area.  Be the great connector in the online world just as you are in the offline world.
• Post national and local business news, make it relevant to your community and see how your group members respond.  Again, ask for their input, see how it is affecting them or show them what they can learn from it.

Facebook
There are two things (among many) that you can do on Facebook for your chamber:  Create a group and create a page for your chamber.   The biggest difference is that people can "join" your group, but they can become a "fan" of your page/chamber.

There are subtle differences in how you would manage a group versus a page. (Why not have both?  The two can live in harmony, after all.)  For example, through Facebook's interface you can invite anyone to join your group (either your Facebook friends or send email to anyone else).  Once they are a member of your group, you can send messages to them about new items in your group, invite them to events, etc.   

On your Facebook page, you can send an update to your fans (through Facebook's tools) and let them know when you've added new videos, events or other content. 

See a list of chambers with Facebook pages and chambers with Facebook groups.   Similar to LinkedIn groups, be sure to engage your Facebook fans or members by giving them frequent updates and new content.

The big finish
Use this quartet of social media tools to cross-promote each other.  Use Twitter to announce a new blog post or ask for replies to a question in your LinkedIn group.  Connect your blog's RSS feed to your Facebook page and your LinkedIn profile.   Create blog posts about successful connections between members in your LinkedIn group.  Share information about your chamber and about your members.

However, please don't simply repost everything you do to every other medium.  Occassionally that's OK, but if you do it all the time, it will seem like spamming to your biggest fans (the ones who connect with you on all networks) and you certainly don't want to alienate them. In fact, you want to reward them!  Why not create some social media exclusive items like contests on Twitter or Facebook trivia questions that you don't promote in other areas?   Your followers and fans on each network will appreciate your efforts to create unique content. 

And....have some fun!  Let your enthusiasm for your chamber, your members and your community come through in yours posts.

By using these tools, you and your chamber can be make sweet music using social media - no chamber orchestras required. (OK, enough with the music puns!) ;-)

There are certainly many examples of the economy affecting chamber membership numbers and sponsorship revenue. However, with each obstacle there are opportunities. :-)

I thought this was an interesting nugget from the blog post:

How are you implementing these and/or other strategies? How are you using technology to help you?    Are you creating segmented communications to deliver relevant information? Are you communicating value to every member using benefit tracking, referral reports or other tools? How are you attracting new members?  Are you showing your members that you "know" them?

I also found this line a bit contradictory: “Surprisingly, they identified online media (blogs, Facebook, twitter, etc.) as the least effective tool at their disposal.” The article goes on to say that most organizations will be increasing their spending on social media or keeping it the same. I suspect the response is due to the difficulty in determining direct ROI when using social media.  I know that plenty of chambers are having good success with social media and are doing the great job with it.

So, do you view social media as a valuable tool to help you survive and THRIVE in the recession? And if so, can you share your reasons why you think it's valuable in the comments below? I would love to know what you think about the article and report AND what you are doing to focus more on your members as mentioned above.

Edit:  I got a reply from one of our clients and it was so good, I just had to add it to this post.  Jessica Hibbard from the Frederick County MD Chamber had this to say.

Last week, I posted about how chambers can use Twitter to welcome and promote members.  Since then, I've seen lots of chambers using these concepts to talk about their members on Twitter.  I've also seen some great examples of chambers of commerce using Twitter in other ways and wanted to share them with you here.

Ask your followers what they'd like to see posted from you.  The Boise Metro Chamber asked their followers this exact question. What a fanstastic way to engage your followers to learn how to provide information that they want.

Share business information about your community.   The Indianapolis Chamber shared information from another organization reporting on local job creation.  Even though the chamber didn't create the report, the news is relevant for those following the Indy Chamber. 


Reach out to people talking about your community.  If you're not using tools like Twitter Search or Twilert, start right now!   Set up searches for your chamber's name, your city's name and other community-specific terms you'd like to monitor.  The Wausau WI Chamber likely used one of these services to find the tweet below:

and responded with:

This is a great way to introduce someone to your community AND connect them with businesses in your area (YOUR MEMBERS) that can provide the products or services they are looking for.  You can even go further and create links that take them directly to your employment, visitor or relocation information pages as needed.

In the next example, a board member for the Tualatin OR Chamber saw this tweet from someone obviously visiting their community.  (And maybe not sure why they were there?)
and responded with:
Wow! If I had posted that original tweet, I would be very impressed that a local business person found it and thanked me for visiting the community. How cool is that?

Cross-promote your blog.  The tweet below is a great "double play" post from the Asheville NC Chamber.  First, they are cross-promoting their blog and including a link to the post.  But at the same time, they are sharing great information about the local business community with their followers.
And, here's another example of connecting your followers and chamber members with each other on Twitter.  The Rogers-Lowell AR Chamber shared several of their members who are on Twitter with this post:
And, if you're not following what the Loveland CO Chamber and their President/CEO Brian Willms are doing on Twitter, you should be.  There are many great examples of them sharing local information, relevant business and marketing information for their members, retweeting others, promoting members and events and connecting busineses in their area.  Bravo!

I'm very excited (yes, I'm a geek) that so many chambers are using Twitter and other social media to have conversations with their members and share information.   Do you have other examples of how your chamber is using Twitter?  Please share them in the comments below or email me at curt.moss[at]weblinkinternational.com.

I've been working with chambers of commerce and membership organizations for nearly 15 years. I've never seen anyone hug their computer, let alone hug their member database. Oh sure, there have been some who've said they LOVE their database (WebLink clients, of course!) ;-), but mostly it's viewed as a necessary evil.  Let's change that!

First, why do you have a database? Or member management software? Or a customer relationship management system?

What do you do with it?  Do you:

• Create mailing labels to send your members a newsletter?
• Look up members' phone numbers when you need to call them?
• Enter event dates and committee meeting minutes?
• Send invoices to your members?

If you're just doing basic things and not gaining valuable insight from your membership data, you're missing tremendous opportunities to truly connect with your members (and future members) and expand your organization's influence.

Sure, your chamber will be able to survive by tracking basic information, sending out email and newsletters and running monthly board reports. But do you want to survive or do you want to thrive and enrich your local business community?

Why not shoot for more?  Why not use your database to:

• Extract member intelligence to help you better KNOW your members?
• Use this member intelligence to make better decisions for managing and marketing your chamber?
• Directly integrate member information with your website for real-time updates?
• Learn which members are the most (at least) valuable?
• Segment your members for more personal communications to them?
• Predict how certain members may act based on past behavior?
• Build relationships with your members in such a way that they become raving fans?
• Communicate the value your members receive so well that your retention rate soars?

You may have heard something like, "you don't have a database to put information in to, you have a database to get information out of."  So, what kind of data, information and business intelligence are you extracting from your membership management software?  Are you using that info to do work or to grow and improve?

What would it take for you to do this?  Some features that help make this easier are:

• A web-based member management system.  This let lets you access the system from anywhere and allow for real-time integration with your website
• Seamless integration with your GL system. Integration saves you time and potential mistakes during duplicate entries.
• Robust reporting cababilities.  As you find ways to better use your data, you're going to want to see it in dfferent ways too. A reporting tool that give you maximum flexility will also give you maximum opporunities.
• Multi-user logins.  If each of your staff can log in as themselves, you can track their interactions with your data and the relationships they have with your members.
• Dashboards.  Quick-glance information centers that help you quickly understand your data and take action on it.
• Advanced member segmenation.  Slicing and dicing your membership data into chunks can help you see which type of members are most valuable.  And you can communicate with each segment to deliver more personal, relevant information.

What if you were able to do all these things and more?  You could change the culture of your organization to be data-centic and use your high-tech system to create a high-touch environment for your members.  Show them that you're listening. Provide them the information they want and need.  Communicate your value to them.   All of this requires good data, a good system and good people to manage it.  (Don't forget about the people aspect).

You can make your membership database SO valuable that you actually wanted to hug it!  And, in turn, probably make some members want to hug YOU!

On this blog I've mentioned several chambers who are using social media well.  They include the Maryland State Chamber, Clovis California Chamber, Frederick County Maryland Chamber, Salem Oregon Chamber and North Mason Washington Chamber.   I know there are others, too....tell me your stories!  (Please.)  :-)

How is your chamber and your staff using social media?  And what successes are you enjoying?

I'm doing more research looking for upcoming whitepapers, webinars and technology presentations and I'd like to include your success stories. 

• Are you using your blog to position your chamber as an expert and engage your business community in discussions of the issues?
• Have you used Twitter to reach out to prospects and convert them to members?  Or have you connected existing members to each other to foster a business relationship?
• Do you have a Facebook or LinkedIn page/group that is active with member participation? Are your members asking/answering questions and having conversations on these sites?
• Have you used YouTube or other video site to promote your members or your community?
• Does your chamber or community manage a Wiki where community members can collaborate on business topics?
• Do you have your own social network where members are connecting and building relationships?
• How else are you using social media?

As you may know, I worked for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce for eight years...chamber is in my blood and I truly enjoy working with so many chambers around the country.  I love hearing how you're using social media and I also love sharing your successes with other chambers.

Please send me an email at curt.moss@weblinkinternational.com to let me know how you are using social media (or if you have questons about how your chamber could use social media). 

There are so many chambers of commerce doing great work and evolving their organizations.   Let's show everyone that chambers are progressive and using new media to engage their members and their community!

I really do want to hear your stories!  Thank you. 

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal published a story about how chambers of commerce are helping small businesses stay abreast of the latest technologies.  The article demonstrates how some chambers of commerce are using technology to engage their members and strengthen their business community.

We're very pleased that two of our clients, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Salem (OR) Chamber of Commerce were highlighted in the article.   A few months ago, we had our PR firm contact the Wall Street Journal in an effort to help our clients get media coverage demonstrating how they are benefiting their communities.  A few of our clients' stories - and even a mention of WebLink - failed to make the final edits, however.  (Darn editors!) ;)

Now consider this blog post by Tony Rossell - Associations Get Mixed Grades for Helping Members in a Recession    (I know that chambers of commerce are sometimes different from associations, but I think there are some common themes here.)  Tony mentions a report, "Beliefs, Behaviors and Attitudes in Response to the Economy," that shows how members feel about their organization's efforts to help them during these economic times.   

In his post, Tony highlights several key points from the survey.  How do you feel about the survey? Are the results similar to what you're seeing with your members?

Tony also says in his post:


I touched on some ways chambers can do that in this recent post.   Many of our clients use referral reports and custom fields to track and report on all the ways their chamber provides benefits to their members - on an individual basis.  They then use this information in communications (phone calls, emails, mail) throughout the year to help communicate value.
The Wall Street Journal article shows some clear cases of chambers of commerce are evolving and using technology to create and communicate value for their members.   Back in December, I wrote this post about creating value with technology and have since heard from several of our clients.  We've heard that some of them are indeed able to increase member retention and generate new member sales (even during a recession) by using technology.

Grafton deButts of the Loudon County Chamber of Commerce, had this to say:

How is your chamber of commerce or business association using technology to create and communicate value? Let me know in the comments below.   I'd love to hear your success stories!

At the W.A.C.E. Conference last week in Las Vegas, I sat in on a session titled, “Communicating Value…Messaging That Works.”   There were three speakers who each presented different ideas on how their chamber creates, measures or delivers value.  However, I felt that all of them missed the mark a bit on how to communicate that value.

I thought that Brad Hicks, President/CEO of the Medford/Jackson County OR Chamber, came the closest to explaining how to communicate the value.  (BTW, Congratulations to Brad on winning the W.A.C.E.’s Executive of the Year award.  Brad’s chamber is a WebLink client.)

Brad mentioned that value is about both the “macro” and the “micro.”   He also discussed that his chamber is promoting connection rather than participation and that his staff is working to develop stronger relationships with members.  I love this approach!   In the age of constant online connections and virtual everything, a phone call or face-to-face meeting with a chamber staff person is usually a welcome interaction for chamber members.   Many member don’t have time to participate on committees or attend events, so ask them if they are comfortable with their level of connection, instead of telling them to “get involved.”

These personal conversations are a great way to reach out to members, ask them about their business and LISTEN to their concerns and successes.  And you can use this opportunity to explain the macro reasons for being a member of your chamber such as how your chamber works to create a strong local economy and advocates for business in the halls of government.   These conversations can help explain the high-level benefits your chamber offers.

But, how are you handling the micro portion?  Can you use technology to track, monitor and communicate value that’s specific to each member?   For your members to make their own decisions about the value your chamber provides, you’ll need to provide them details on the referrals they’ve received, discounts used for office supplies or health insurance, events attended, sponsorships completed or any other benefit that can be tracked.   Can you demonstrate to each member what your chamber did specifically for their business?   Find a way to track this information in your member management software. Then, use this data to communicate the value to each member. Use email, letters, phone calls – anything – as long as you speak to specifics.  

You can speak to specifics somewhat in your newsletter and blog posts, as well.  Wherever possible, use real life examples of how a certain issue affects your members.  Rather than state that “the Chamber stopped a tax bill that would have cost area businesses $1.3 million,” find members to give you specific examples.  Something like “Joe Smith, owner of Speedy Dry Cleaning, has 6 full time employees.  He estimates the defeat of the tax bill will save his business $1,500/year” carries more weight than large, generic numbers.  Weave in examples from several different sizes and types of businesses so your members can find one they can identify with.

When it comes time to renew their membership, your members want a way to equate the dollars they spend to the value they’ve received.  And the decision about value is THEIRS.  Make sure you give them all the tools to make that decision in your favor.

Marketing Sherpa just released their Social Media Marketing and PR Benchmarking Guide.  The full report is $397, but you can get the Executive Summary for free.   There are some key points for chambers of commerce and business associations to consider:

1. 76% of marketing and PR professionals agree that social media is changing the way their company communicates.  So, if your members feel that social media is changing how they communicate, they also feel that YOU should change the way you communicate with them.  Are you using social media yet?  See this post on how chambers can use social networking sites.  Once you’re on these sites, you’ll also need to engage your members/followers with new content and questions.  Setting up a LinkedIn Group isn’t enough; provide additional value by having conversations with them and listen to what they have to say.  Remember that social media is more than networking sites – it’s blogs, video, photos and more.  Check out five reasons your chamber should blog and five ways your chamber can use Twitter.
2. Social media and email were the only two marketing budget areas listed where more companies are planning to increase spending than decrease it.  Again, your members plan to use social media more in 2009 and they’ll be expecting you to do the same.
3. Lack of knowledgeable staff was the largest barrier for companies in their efforts to adopt social media.  After talking with several chamber staff at the W.A.C.E. conference in Las Vegas last week, this is clearly a barrier for chambers as well.  How can you overcome this?  You can start by asking the young professionals on your staff to help. Find out what sites and social media they use to stay connected to friends and share content. Ask them to use similar tools to help your chamber communicate. It may not seem as “fun” to them as sharing personal photos and stories with friends, but challenge them to be creative in applying your chamber’s mission and goals to create useful content and employ social media to engage your members. Yes, you can still maintain your image as a professional business organization and engage your audience in creative ways.
4. Inability to measure ROI was listed as another barrier.  This is one of the hottest debates in social media today:  can you measure its ROI?   My answer is “sometimes.”   This is illustrated in Marketing Sherpa’s report - marketers view many types of social media as very effective even though it can’t be accurately measured.   And perhaps a bigger point is that you shouldn’t let a perceived lack of measurable ROI prevent you from trying something.  From the report, “Marketers obsessed with only tracking social media results quantitatively are missing the point and may find themselves employing much less effective social media tactics for the sake of measurability.”  Social media is largely about having conversations.  Can you measure the value of each conversation you have?   Of course not, but over time those conversations can add up to increased member satisfaction, higher retention rates and brand loyalty that you can measure.

I’ve also noticed that many chambers around the country are hosting seminars to help their members learn about social media, but very few chambers are effectively using social media themselves.   Remember that in your efforts to help your members, it can be extremely powerful if you’re also using the tools you’re recommending to them.  There are some chambers who are using social media effectively and I’ve mentioned them before: Clovis, CA; Loveland, CO; North Mason, WA; Salem, OR; Frederick County, MD and the Maryland State Chamber.  And the staff from many other chambers of commerce are using Twitter and blogs to engage their members and others as well.  If you’re using social media, too, please let us know in the comments below.

And, just as I was typing this post, I came across this article that calls chambers “old school networking.” The author states they mean no harm to chambers, but the perception is already be there.  You've probably heard similar comments from businesses in your community.  Beth Bridges from the Clovis CA Chamber says, "Chambers MUST become "new school", or we'll be as good as gone."

What can you do to help your chamber become “new school networking?”   Get Social!  Start using social media today. Learn from your peers who are already using social media.  And, please let me know if I can help you in any way.

Times are tough, money is tight, and No One is spending money right now.   Well the first two points are certainly true, but the latter is not.  The truth is; everyone is more selective in how and where they spend their money, but they ARE spending money.  Your members are looking to make the most of their dollars and get a clear Return on Investment (ROI) from your chamber.  You are in the right place at exactly the right time to make money with your website and provide tremendous value AND results to your members.

Why chambers exist
Now is an opportune time to revisit why you exist in the first place, or at least why members belong to your organization.  Chamber initiatives are diverse and you do so many important things for the local economy you serve, but members join to grow their business. 

It bears repeating.  Members join primarily to grow their business.  If you are helping them grow their business, you are VERY valuable to them. Most especially in tough economic times. 
                                                                                              
The chamber brand = Credibility
Chambers of commerce have a “brand name” advantage over other local directory sites as most consumers know each community has a chamber and they will seek out a chamber’s website to search before the site of a local newspaper, TV station or radio station.   And chambers have a physical presence to support their efforts – something most directory websites do not.  Local means physically local and that still matters to buyers.

In the 2007 Schapiro Study, a key takeaway is that when consumers know that a small business is a member of the chamber of commerce, they are 44% more likely to think favorably of them and 63% more likely to purchase goods or services from that company in the future.  This translates directly into credibility.  Why does that matter?  People do business with businesses they trust.  They can’t afford to take risks with their money and a chamber membership is an implied seal of approval by the local business community when people search for local businesses online.

So what is the potential?  Let’s look at some important trends.

Internet advertising trends
In 2008, $100 Billion was projected to be spent on local advertising across all mediums (Insiders Report – Universal McCann Dec. 07).  Local online advertising was expected to reach $13.1 Billion in 2008 according to Borrell and Associates.   What was your share of the $13.1 Billion spent in 2008 and are you positioned to take advantage of the $100 Billion already spent locally that is migrating online?

Online usage trends and directories
According to a recent Pew Internet and American Life Study – 49% of people use online search at least once a day.  More importantly to you, a study conducted by Piper Jaffrey & Co. in 2007 determined that 58% of online activities are searches for local information!  People are already searching online for local businesses in your community EVERY DAY.

New sites with interactive directories are popping up continually and other sites are adding them to compete for advertising dollars.  Traditional local media websites such as TV, radio, newspaper and yellow page sites are moving to designs and features that blur the lines regarding their media type.  In essence, everyone is going online and you have a fantastic resource in your online business directory that is under-promoted and under-monetized as a profit center. 

Results matter and conversion is king
A client of WebLink is generating a 2.9% click through rate on ads on their website. As a point of reference, industry-wide average click through rates for web advertising (impressions delivered / clicks) are typically 0.1% to 0.2%.  This means that ads on chamber sites can 14x to 28x more productive than other websites.  Conversion rates are high on chamber sites because you are trusted by visitors.   Greater credibility AND greater results.  Now that will get members’ attention.  And their dollars.
  
History shows that the greatest opportunities often come during the times of greatest adversity.  Your chamber IS the most valuable cost effective advertising medium there is.   Your chamber website provides targeted, immediate, affordable, and measurable results.  Remember that members join primarily to grow their business and you can help them do exactly that with your website. 

To summarize: people are searching for local business information, your website has high credibility, and businesses are already purchasing local online advertising.    

NOW is the time to take action and make money from your website. 

If your chamber is like most, you go through a certain process to sell memberships to local businesses.  At some point in this process, the business will decide to join or not to join.   If the business joins, you can be well on your way towards gaining member intelligence for your chamber.     But what if they don’t join?  What can you learn from these businesses?  Plenty!

Let’s start with this, “Why not?”  Ask them why they didn’t join.  AND, record that information in your database!  You’ll soon be able to determine the top 5-10 reasons why businesses don’t join your chamber.  You probably hear things like:

• I don’t have time
• The corporate office says we don’t join chambers
• Dues cost too much
• You don’t have “X” benefit
• I’d like to, but the boss says no
• I was a member once and didn’t get any new business from it
• We’re already a member of an industry trade group

Create a way to track these objections in your member management software and assign them to these prospects that don’t join.   (If you can, be sure to record their type of business, how many employees they have and how long they’ve been in business, too…more on using that information later.)

Over time, you’ll notice trends for why businesses don’t join. Then you can adjust your messaging going forward.  For example, if you continue to hear “I don’t have time,” you may want to alter your advertising, website text and selling process to focus on how businesses get benefits from your chamber even when they don’t participate. 

You can also revisit some of these businesses in 6 months to a year and demonstrate to them the ways you chamber has benefited businesses just like theirs in the past year, using their own objections “against them.”   First, find businesses that are similar in industry and/or size, by mining data from your membership database.  Then check the objections from this business when you first tried to sell them a membership.   Run referral and benefit reports from your member management software and get testimonials from these similar businesses to use in your conversation.  You can create mini “objection kits” for most objections to help you go back to those businesses that told you “no,” and demonstrate why they now should say “yes.”

For example, you might say “When we talked last time, you said that you didn’t have time.  I want to show you how some other businesses like yours are seeing value from our chamber even though they don’t attend events or participate on committees.”    

The effects of such a conversation can be very powerful.  Foremost, it shows that you listened.  And, it shows that your chamber cares about the businesses in your community and you are interested in forming relationships with your members, not just collecting dues.  And listening and strengthening relationships go a long way toward improving member retention and generating additional new member sales.