Last week, I presented a session at the Florida
Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP) 90th Annual Meeting
called, "Social Media Strategy for Impacting Member Sales
& Retention." It was great to see how many chambers
of commerce have implemented social media into their communications
efforts!
I follow around 700-800 chambers of commerce and their staff on
Twitter and Facebook and I see several chambers doing a great job
of engaging their members and finding ways to demonstrate the...Read More » »
Posted Thursday, May 20, 2010 by
Curt Moss
We know that one of the main
reasons companies join chambers of commerce is to increase their
business. And the exposure your members gain via your website
is the single largest way you can promote them and drive traffic to
their business.The value that members receive from exposure on - and traffic from - your chamber’s website often justifies their membership renewal each year. And, that value can be used to acquire new members, plus generate non-dues revenue through website advertising.
With...Read More » »
Posted Thursday, March 4, 2010 by
Curt Moss
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...Read More » »
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...Read More » »
Posted Wednesday, December 2, 2009 by
Natalie Ciambrone
Within the past two years, we’ve seen well-established
newspapers fold as readership numbers plummet. The culprit? The
internet, of course. As this CNN article points out, newspapers are
“losing their relevance in the lives of a majority of Americans,
particularly younger readers.”And this trend isn’t isolated to just newspapers – it affects chambers of commerce and business associations. Today, the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce (a WebLink International client) announced they will cease...Read More » »
Posted Monday, November 2, 2009 by
Natalie Ciambrone
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...Read More » »
Posted Wednesday, October 7, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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...Read More » »
Posted Monday, October 5, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Since
WebLink International works exclusively with chambers
of commerce, business associations and membership organizations, I
get to see and use chamber websites every day. And, since I
managed the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce website for eight years,
I remember all the challenges of keeping a chamber website up to
date and relevant.Recently, I was asked what things most chambers of commerce could do to improve their sites. I thought this topic would make a great "top 10" list for the WebLink...Read More » »
Posted Thursday, September 17, 2009 by
Curt Moss
You've probably been using social
media such as blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for a
while now. Have you seen your efforts pay off with new
members? Some chambers of commerce have.Read this article about how the Athens GA Area Chamber of Commerce appealed to a local businessman with their adoption of social media. From the article:
"Athens businessman Alex Sams plans
to join the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce because of a tweet - a
short message - he read through the online social...
Read More » »
Posted Tuesday, September 8, 2009 by
Natalie Ciambrone
I keep hearing that when individuals search for businesses within a
community, the first place they go is to the chamber of commerce
website. But what if that individual doesn’t know what a
chamber of commerce is? While this may seem absurd to
some, I’ll admit my ignorance – before working for WebLink, I did
not know much about chambers of commerce, let alone that
chambers are a trusted business search engine. And
the sad reality is that most of my generation is missing out on the
valuable...Read More » »
Posted Tuesday, September 1, 2009 by
Natalie Ciambrone
Recently I sat in a conference call with the Greater Miami Chamber of
Commerce. As WebLink’s Benji Craig was explaining the
importance of SEO to their chamber, it hit me – this really is
important.
Before I joined the WebLink team, I knew nothing about chambers
of commerce,
convention and visitors bureaus or business associations. It was
almost embarrassing learning about these organizations and
realizing what a great resource I had been missing out on. Whenever
my friends or I would plan a trip...Read More » »
Before I joined the WebLink team, I knew nothing about chambers
of commerce,
convention and visitors bureaus or business associations. It was
almost embarrassing learning about these organizations and
realizing what a great resource I had been missing out on. Whenever
my friends or I would plan a trip...Read More » »
Posted Monday, August 10, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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 touch
Flip Digital Video Camera
iPod touch
Dolores Simon – Chicagoland Chamber
of Commerce
Garmin Nuvi GPS system
Rebecca Trujillo – Albuquerque
Economic Development, Inc.
Flip Digital Video Camera
Kelley Schiesl – Dubuque Area
Chamber of Commerce
Steward Sandstrom – Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce
Dick Rush – The...
Read More » »
Steward Sandstrom – Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce
Dick Rush – The...
Posted Thursday, August 6, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Last week at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives
(ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, I sat in on Rahaf
Harfoush's presentation on how the Obama campaign used social
media, websites and email to connect to and engage voters during
the 2008 Presedential Election.
She explained several ways that the campaign created online connections to facilitate offline actions by voters. These included extensive use of technology and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, a dedicated social...Read More » »
She explained several ways that the campaign created online connections to facilitate offline actions by voters. These included extensive use of technology and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, a dedicated social...Read More » »
Posted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 by
Curt Moss
You've
probably heard about TweetUps before. And maybe your chamber
of commerce might have even hosted one for your members.
But...have you ever attended a TweetUp JUST for chamber of commerce
"tweeters?" Well, here is you chance!Join me for a Chamber TweetUp on Thursday, July 30 during the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, NC.
Since the last sessions end at 5:30 that day, we'll meet at The Bar in the Sheraton Hotel at 6:00 pm . (The Bar is on the second...Read More » »
Posted Monday, July 20, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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...Read More » »
Posted Monday, July 6, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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...Read More » »
Posted Monday, June 8, 2009 by
Curt Moss
WebLink International will host a webinar on July 22 titled "Top 5
Reasons to Use Member Segmentation to Drive Your Marketing
Strategy." Cathi Hight of Hight Performance Group and
Mike Bryan, WebLink's vice president of
marketing will demonstrate ways you can use technology to learn
more about your members.
This webinar will show you ways to use your membership management software plus your website and survey data to analyze and define your ideal target market for members. You'll learn how...Read More » »
This webinar will show you ways to use your membership management software plus your website and survey data to analyze and define your ideal target market for members. You'll learn how...Read More » »
Posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Last week, I did a
webinar for the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce
Executives (IACCE) on social media for chambers of
commerce. One of the questions at the end of the webinar was
"What are the pitfalls of using social
media." I wanted to share my answer and expand
on it here.There are many benefits of using social media for sure, but there are also some dangers. As long as you're aware of them, you can work to avoid these pitfalls and use them to your advantage.
Loss of Control
In...Read More » »
Posted Friday, May 8, 2009 by
Curt Moss
A couple of weeks ago, I posted
about
The Social Media Quartet, the four social media tools used most
often by marketers - Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Now that you've mastered the Quartet, are you ready for the encore?
;-)In that post, I mentioned the Social Media Marketing Industry Report. After the social media quartet, YouTube was the next most frequently used media.
At YouTube, several chambers of commerce have created their own "channel" where they can add new videos, share...Read More » »
Posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 by
Curt Moss
WebLink International will host a webinar on May 13 titled
"Leveraging Technology to Measure Member Loyalty and
Engagement." Cathi Hight of Hight Performance
Group and Mike Bryan, WebLink's vice
president of marketing will demonstrate ways you can use technology
to learn more about your members.
I first met Cathi about 3
years ago and immediately connected with her on the concept of
using member intelligence to help organizations make better
decisions and provide better benefits to their...Read More » »
I first met Cathi about 3
years ago and immediately connected with her on the concept of
using member intelligence to help organizations make better
decisions and provide better benefits to their...Read More » »
Posted Monday, April 20, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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 wit...Read More » »
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 wit...Read More » »
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