The Maryland Chamber of Commerce is kicking off their 2010
Membership Drive with a special incentive for current
members. Recruit three new members and the Chamber's
Chairman will wash your car.
Read more about the offer on the Maryland Chamber Blog.
I like this particular offer because unlike prizes or other
incentives, it personalizes the
organization. And, unlike special offers where the
new member gets a reward, in this case the
exisiting member gets the prize.
However, this does...Read More » »
Posted Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by
Curt Moss
I read a story today about how the Mesquite NV Chamber of Commerce
has worked through a rather tumultuous year.
In addition to the economy forcing the Chamber’s members to rethink their investment of membership dues, the Chamber lost a grant of $25,000 from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) – money that had already been budgeted. (Note: The Chamber did nothing wrong; the LVCVA stopped grant monies to all chambers of commerce.)
Read the full article here.
As with many...Read More » »
In addition to the economy forcing the Chamber’s members to rethink their investment of membership dues, the Chamber lost a grant of $25,000 from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) – money that had already been budgeted. (Note: The Chamber did nothing wrong; the LVCVA stopped grant monies to all chambers of commerce.)
Read the full article here.
As with many...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 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 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 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 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, 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 » »
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 Wednesday, April 29, 2009 by
Curt Moss
I
came across two posts yesterday that were very similar in nature
and I wanted to share them here and get your input.What Happened to the Original Social Network? by Joe Abraham
Is Your Local Chamber of Commerce Obsolete? by Jack Deal
Read these two posts, then continue below.
I've seen these posts mentioned on other sites and they bother me a little bit, too. Maybe it's because I worked for a chamber for 8 years and know how hard the staff works to serve the members. I've seen the staff...Read More » »
Posted Wednesday, April 15, 2009 by
Curt Moss
Today, I
found this blog post that discusses how chambers of commerce
and business associations are being affected by the recession. Rick
Cohen, the post's author, cites a number of sources, including the
2009 Economic Impact On Associations Report by McKinley
Marketing.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...Read More » »
Posted Thursday, March 26, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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...
Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2009 by
Curt Moss
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...Read More » »
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...Read More » »
| Previous | Next |
Powered by Compendium