• New ways of looking at your website traffic
• Paid...

WebLink will be exhibiting at the Western Association of Chamber Executives (W.A.C.E.) Conference in Las Vegas, February 4-6.  If you’re attending this conference, please stop by the booth to say hello.   We’ll have at least 4 staff members there:  me, Tao Stadler, Mike Bryan and Jeff Cashman.

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...

Remember that song, “Video Killed the Radio Star?” Well, video is reaching equal status on the web.  If you don’t use video – you might be dead - or at least risk becoming less relevant to your audience.  Good news, though - there are lots of ways to add videos to your site, ranging from free to very expensive.

As further evidence to the video trend, a recent article on CNET news showed that online video viewing has jumped 34 percent from a year ago.   From the article:

“The data also showed that...

“What,” you say? “We’re already understaffed and we can’t add any more programs that compete for our members’ attention!”   Hold on a second and read. ;)

In his book, Purple Cow, Seth Godin discusses transforming your business by being remarkable. One of his questions was, “If you had to create a product or service to compete with yours, how would you do it?”

We know that chambers of commerce are facing competition from industry associations, networking groups, online communities and sometimes...

Some chambers of commerce are already using Twitter as a way to extend their conversations with members and prospects using social media.  Twitter is sort of a cross between instant messaging and micro-blogging and it is becoming very popular.   Watch “Twitter in Plain English” for more info. 

First, set up a Twitter account for your chamber and upload an image for your photo.  Complete your profile with a link back to your site or your blog.   Now you’re ready to:

1.     Start “listening” – Use search.tw...

Several months ago, I was asked if I knew of any chambers of commerce or membership organizations that were using technology to create value.  Short of a few conveniences like members being able to update their own information, view referrals or pay their bills online, I couldn’t come up with too many ways to create value.

I do think technology can be used to better manage and communicate value, especially when it's specific to each member. You can effectively track which/how many members...

You’ve probably heard the term “permission marketing” at your organization, but may not be sure what it is.  In this post, Seth Godin redefines and clarifies permission marketing, a term he coined nearly a decade ago.

Chambers of commerce and membership organizations must embrace this philosophy.  The days of the "blast" email and fax to all members are over.  Other sites are using permission marketing to communication with you members and build relationships.   Yes, your members have paid you...

You see these all the time on commercials or in print ads.  They are the www.dell.com/tv or www.sony.com/superbowl URLs that "big" companies use.  But they are very seldom used by chambers of commerce and business associations.

(note:  the links in this post are for examples only; they don’t really go anywhere)  J

These “shortcut" addresses can make it easy for your members to find information quickly.  Instead of directing a member to www.yourdomain.com/chamber/benefits/officedepot/signupform.htm...

As we’ve mentioned before, many chambers of commerce and business associations are jumping into blogging as a way to reach out to their audience and engage them with social media.   However, many organizations have just one person blogging due to time constraints or familiarity with social media.

Today, Seth Godin posted about the death of the personal blog.   (Don’t worry – there’s still room for your own blog about your personal interests.) However, his point is that the top 10 blogs are all...

I recently got my new ATM card in the mail from my bank (Citibank) because the old one will be expiring soon.  No big deal...this happens all the time, right?

The card was attached to the letter/insert as normal. But the insert said "WELCOME" in huge letters, as if I were new to Citibank and this was my first card ever.  But, they KNOW that I've had this account for more than 10 years and they KNOW this was just a renewal card.  So, why did they treat me as though I were new?   Is it that hard...

Many member-based organizations post PDFs to their website to create extensive resources for their members and/or site visitors.   Did you know there are ways to use the PDFs to help increase search traffic on your site?

Marketing Sherpa has a great guide called "How to Optimize Your PDFs to Increase Search Traffic."  (Membership required, but you can quickly get a free trial.)  The first tip could be an obstacle for many chambers of commerce, business associations and other not-for-profits - use...

Hopefully, you are familiar with wikipedia.org and what a great resource is can be. (If not, check it out and be prepared to waste a lot of time there.) But Wikipedia isn't the only Wiki out there.  Wikis are sites that allow users to create, contribute and collaborate on the content of a site - there are lots of them on the web.  (For you Star Wars fans, check out Wookieepedia.)

Why not create your own wiki about your community and your member-based organization?  You could have articles on...