You don't need to be an expert to succeed at using social media for your chamber of commerce or business association!  What you need is a desire to connect with people and engage them in conversation.  (And you do need to actually have those conversations, too.)

Just setting up an account on Twitter and having a blog and creating a Facebook group isn't enough.   But, it doesn't really have to be much harder than that.  Simply use these tools to do the things you're already doing like delivering useful information to your members, listening to their concerns and fostering relationships.

If you're not already, you might first ask if your chamber of commerce needs to be using social media. You're mostly certainly going to hear "yes" whenever you ask this question.  It is one of the hottest topics among chambers of commerce and business associations - all businesses, really. Check out my post from last year: Should Chambers be expected to use social media?  

How do you get going?  Find 3-4 things you can devote some time to that will help you engage your members and prospects.  I would suggest: 

1. Blog - Blogs are clearly a great way to create content, position your chamber as an expert and engage your audience in conversations.  See 5 reasons your chamber should blog, chambers are not blogging WHY  and 25 things your chamber can blog about.
2. Twitter - Twitter is growing like crazy right now and plenty of chambers of commerce are using it effectively to engage the businesses in their community.  See Five ways your chamber can use Twitter and More chamber-Twitter thoughts.
3. Facebook & LinkedIn Groups - These are the two most popular social networking sites for business professionals.  Several chambers of commerce already have very active groups on these sites.  Keep your pages updated with new content and have conversations with your members in these groups.  You can repurpose existing content or create new questions and discussions.   Your members are already using LinkedIn and Facebook....why not meet them where they are?  See how chambers can use social networking sites.

Yes, using social media does take some time and effort and, as mentioned before, a desire to make connections with/for your members and prospects.

But, you don't need to be an "expert!"  There are plenty of great chamber staff out there who are simply using social media as a tool for them to further their chamber's mission and goals.  They are regular people who care deeply about the businesses in their community and they are choosing to engage those businesses using social media.  You can too!
  

Are you worried you could spend your entire day "playing" with social media and not get any "real"work done?  Check out: Tweeting 9 to 5: The Social Media Work Routine.  There are some good tips on balancing your time and getting started in social media.

As I've said before, chambers of commerce are the original social networking platform.  Using social media is just the logical next step in the evolution of your chamber. So, go out there and get social!   And let me know if I can help you in any way.