Recently, the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Regional Chamber of
Commerce changed is name to the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of
Commerce to create broader appeal for the region it serves.
Read a brief article about this change
here.
While the new name is certainly a bit easier to type and say,
I was curious as to how those various place names could
potentially drive traffic to the chamber's website.
Using Google's Keyword Tool, I looked for the monthly search
volume for each of the areas...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 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Earlier
this week I posted
Part 1 of 10 Things Chambers of Commerce Can Do To Improve
Their Websites. Today, I continue with Part
2.5. Cross promote your social media activities – You’ve probably got a Twitter account, a blog, a Facebook page and a LinkedIn profile. You might even have a Flickr account or a YouTube channel. How will your site visitors know about these unless you tell them? Include social media icons on your home page (every page would be better) and link them to your...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 Friday, October 2, 2009 by
Natalie Ciambrone
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...
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 Thursday, September 17, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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...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 Friday, August 28, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Over
the past few weeks, I've spent quite a bit of time talking face to
face with chamber of commerce executives, both at the American Chamber of Commerce
Executives (ACCE) Convention and the Western Association of Chamber
Executives (W.A.C.E.) Academy. We've talked about
improving retention, increasing new members sales, generating
non-dues revenue and more. But by far the hottest topic has been
social media.I find it puzzling that so many chambers of commerce are still "holding off" on using...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 Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Recently, I posted about
chambers of commerce being "Twitter-worthy." Since then, I've
had some good discussions with chambers of commerce on how they are
working to be remarkable for their
members.
In some cases, chambers are leading the way in their community by being on Twitter and other social media and showing their members how to use it. In others, the chamber is just learning how to use social media to connect to and engage their members to improve member satisfaction, increase...Read More » »
In some cases, chambers are leading the way in their community by being on Twitter and other social media and showing their members how to use it. In others, the chamber is just learning how to use social media to connect to and engage their members to improve member satisfaction, increase...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 Thursday, July 16, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Chambers of commerce, assocations and member-based organizations
use a variety of tools to determine their members' satisifaction
with their organization's services and benefits. Member surveys,
Net Promoter
Score, retention rate, event attendance, referrals, new member
sales and many other tools are often used.
How about a new measure of your members' engagement with your organization?...
Is your organization "Twitter-worthy"?
Whole Foods recently launched a billboard campaign promoting how their...Read More » »
How about a new measure of your members' engagement with your organization?...
Is your organization "Twitter-worthy"?
Whole Foods recently launched a billboard campaign promoting how their...Read More » »
Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 by
Curt Moss
If you're
wondering how you can start using social media more, here's an easy
one - add a comment to a blog post!I spend about an hour a day reading various blog posts from chambers of commerce, business associations, marketing organizations and social media experts. I'm amazed at the time, energy and passion that writers put into their posts. And their insight and ideas help me be a better communicator. But, I don't tell them often enough.
And, of course, I try to compile and create useful...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 Wednesday, May 27, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Last
night, I participated in a Small Business Buzz Twitter Chat
(Hashtag #sbbuzz)
with staff from chambers of commerce and small businesses around
the country. The discussions centered on how chambers of
commerce and small business can use social media to benefit their
community and each other and how members can gain benefits from
being members of their local chambers.The question of “What businesses will receive the most value by joining their local Chamber?” sparked some very...Read More » »
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