By Pam Sefrino, National Sales Manager

Do you really know what’s happening in your membership? What are your members truly interested in? What events or workshops have the attended in the past year? How long have they been a member for that matter, and why do they stay?   And, how can you use this information to help improve retention and even generate new members sales?

Many business associations and chambers of commerce abandon what I like to call “member discovery” because it’s just too much work, it’s not automated and it requires a ton of data entry.  Some associations may have the capability of automatically tracking member participation, subscriptions or interest groups through their web site integrated with their membership management software, but many more do not.

Also, those that do have the ability may still not have a process in place for effective information collection and use because the staff has not been adequately trained.  More often than not, associations who are tracking this information actually have no idea how to get it out of their membership management system to help them achieve their goals. 

Missed opportunities abound for demonstrating membership value and increasing retention and sales.

Here are a few things you should consider tracking if you are not:

• Reason(s) for joining
• Their interests (business and personal)
• Committees, groups, communications they would be interested in or are participating on
• Business goals, what they are looking to achieve
• Date the business started
• What events they attend regularly
• What, if any, events or programs they have sponsored
• What other groups and organizations they are involved in outside of your association
• Their social media outlets

How do these things apply to membership value? With this type of information being collected regularly, your association is now able to:

• Show members what they’ve invested in the association in terms of dollars
• Share with members what they’ve received…what’s in it for them!
• Show their participation at events, on committees, at workshops etc.
• Identify trends with individual or groups of members
• Show referrals and connections made between people
• Connect people based on activity, interests and relationships

And so much more.

And if you can show this to your members through one simple report that you can send them periodically throughout the year, even better!

Associations today need to take a proactive, ongoing approach to demonstrating membership value for retention, and it all begins with effective tracking and then sharing of results. Knowledge is power!

Pam Sefrino is the National Sales Manager for software and technology sales at WebLink International. With more than 10 years of senior level association experience, Pam, with the rest of the WebLink team, is focused on helping membership organizations to remain relevant and easily gain and use valuable member and customer "intelligence" to help streamline operations and communications and create long-lasting member value, increased retention, new member sales and non-dues revenue.

By Pam Sefrino, National Sales Manager

We all know that one of the primary reasons that companies join business associations and chambers of commerce is to network, have access to resources and grow their own business.

One very simple (but often overlooked) thing that business associations do unknowingly to hamper members’ opportunities for business growth is unintentionally hide their member directory – which is essentially a business directory – on their web site. More on this in a minute.

Some business associations do not publish a member directory at all. I’ve always had trouble understanding the reasoning behind keeping the membership list a secret from non-members. I advise associations to consider how making their member directory public on their web site can benefit their members (drive more business and connections) and also their own organization.  Prospective members want to know who else is “a member of the club.”

But back to the hidden directory. First, consider your varied audiences. Your members are a primary audience and are seeking to connect with each other. Make it easy for members to find and connect with each other by making that directory prominent on your site.

But who are your other audiences?

What about consumers and others who come to your site to learn about the industry, or who are, in fact, looking for a referral to members in your industry?

Sometimes business associations and chambers of commerce unknowingly bury their online business directory under the "Members" section or "About the Organization" section in their web site’s navigation, not realizing that visitors to their web site can’t find it or don’t have the patience to search for it.  See the example below where the Membership Directory is buried under a complex sub-navigation menu.

Here’s a simple fix. Make it easy for visitors to your site to find your members with just ONE CLICK. Place your member directory in your main navigation. Do this, but also consider other pages on your site where it makes sense to link to the member directory, such as your resource center, professional development page (members can learn from other members!) or your join page.

The key here is to think about your entire audience – members, potential members, visitors seeking information, key stakeholders – and then plan and build your web site to serve all of those audiences.

One last item in terms of impeding your members’ success – automatic directory updates! Many business associations and chambers of commerce still do not have automatic updates from their membership management software to their web site. That means when a new member is put into the member database, or a change is made to a current member’s information, that update is not automatically transfering to your web site.  This results in incorrect or outdated information interfering with the referral and connection process.

Waiting even one day for membership updates to your web site or sending changes to a third party to update when they get a chance is no longer an option. 

Lack of a seamless integration between your database and your web site hampers your ability to deliver referrals and drive business connections to your members.  

Make it EASY for your members to find other members and gain more business value from your organization.  They will thank you for it!

Pam Sefrino is the National Sales Manager for software and technology sales at WebLink International. With more than 10 years of senior level association experience, Pam, with the rest of the WebLink team, is focused on helping membership organizations to remain relevant and easily gain and use valuable member and customer "intelligence" to help streamline operations and communications and create long-lasting member value, increased retention, new member sales and non-dues revenue.

By Pam Sefrino, National Sales Manager

Your members want more. That’s the bottom line. The biggest question they are asking themselves when they actually take a minute during the craziness of their day to consider your association is, “what’s in it for me?” or “how am I really benefitting from this?”

Every day, association professionals face the challenge of not only providing increased value to their members, but figuring out exactly what an individual member finds valuable, providing that value, and also demonstrating that value back for retention and additional non-dues revenue opportunities such as sponsorships or advertising.

Typically, what associations tell us is that they provide great value to their members and they share all of these great “benefits” with prospective members during the member sales process. And, associations share the value they provide with current members in their print and email newsletters, through event invitations, and on their Facebook page, Twitter feeds and other social media outlets.

Associations tell members all about the wonderful opportunities that the association provides, and how that member will benefit.  But often missing from a typical association sales process and ongoing membership communications is finding out what’s important to each individual prospective or current member, and reaffirming those priorities periodically.
 
I think that often, part of the problem is that associations don’t consider that they have to continually “sell” the benefits of membership, and that the most important thing in any sales process is actually listening, not talking or telling.

According to Sandler Sales Institute, which, for those of you who aren’t familiar, is a professional sales training program, too many sales people – and that includes association professionals, whether your title includes the word “sales” or not – “Spill their Candy in the Lobby”…which means, they give away too much information, too soon! They make the mistake of not listening more than they talk. They make the mistake of not finding out what’s important to that prospect or member, and they don’t take the time to fully understand that individual’s priorities, goals and challenges.

So, don’t make that mistake!

Put together a plan to find out what’s important to prospects and members. Formulate some questions to get at what their challenges, priorities and goals are. Once you’ve spent a lot of time listening, and identifying an individual businesses’ challenges and goals, only then share with them a solution ---

• how the association will help their individual business to achieve its goals
• what committees would be most beneficial
• what events would serve them best, based on what they told you
• what communications, newsletters, social networks, would be best – FOR THEM!

Listen to prospects and members, identify what’s important to them, make sure you take note of it and then tailor Association benefits to their needs. Move away from One Size Fits All membership. That will bring you one step closer to creating loyal members.

And remember track the intelligence you gain on each member in your association management software and use it to create member loyalty! More on that in my next blog post…

Pam Sefrino is the National Sales Manager for software and technology sales at WebLink International. With more than 10 years of senior level association experience, Pam, with the rest of the WebLink team, is focused on helping membership organizations to remain relevant and easily gain and use valuable member and customer "intelligence" to help streamline operations and communications and create long-lasting member value, increased retention, new member sales and non-dues revenue.

I read an article today on Business Insider that QR Codes are dead.  Many chambers of commerce and business associations haven't even started using them yet. 

The article does have some good points about QR codes sometimes being awkward to use.  And as a call to action in an advertisement, they may not be as effective as hoped.

However, there are many more uses for QR codes than in advertising.   Ticket confirmations, contact information on business cards, product information, mobile optimized web forms and many more can be great conveniences if accessed via a QR code.

And, there are plenty of ways chambers of commerce can use QR codes - and many other social media technologies - to create exposure for their members and demonstrate value.  

At the core of this issue for chambers of commerce and business associations is this question: "Which new technology should we adopt and when should we adopt it?"

I think that chambers of commerce should experiment with as many new technologies and social media tools that they can.   Yes, this can be time consuming sometimes.  But running the new technology through some filters can help set priorities.

• Can our organization use this technology to help improve member satisfaction/retention or increase new member sales?
• Will our members or target audience know how to use this new technology? (How much will we need to educate our audience?)
• What is the staff time required to implement this new technology?
• What might we need to stop doing in order to use this new technology?

If you can create a moderate impact with little staff time, I say "Go for it!" even if you're a little unsure about the long-term benefits.  Your chamber will be viewed as more progessive because you are trying new things and "staying up with the times."  

Of course, you'll need to eventually evaluate the effectiveness of the technology or tool to make sure you and your members are getting benefits.  But, there will always be new technologies to evaluate and work into your communications, too! 

Is your organization using QR codes?  What other technologies or social media tools are you considering that you haven't implemented yet?

by Aaron Cox, Membership Management Specialist

I have seen the puzzled look on the faces of board members, volunteers and sadly even staff at chambers of commerce and business associations when asked the question, “Do you know anyone else that would benefit from membership in your organization?”

While referrals are one of the best ways to generate new membership sales, existing members often understand the value they receive from the organization but can’t always readily see the same benefits for others. 

Further, with busy lives, packed schedules, and a thousand other thoughts how do you get current members to refer you? 



Here’s a thought — a quick survey of members that asks,  “Who Fixes Your Car,” “Who Cuts Your Hair,” “Who Does Your Taxes,”  or something similar that your members are likely to use in your community.   

Send the survey to members, ask them to complete it and end with 2 easy questions: “Are you happy with or feel you are receiving excellent value from our organization” and “If asked by any of the people/businesses above would you recommend membership in our organization.” 

Then take these business names you receive to develop a list of the common services, activities, and business categories that will be well served by your organization.

There you have it—several new referrals, potentially lots of new references, and at a bare minimum a nice new list of prospective members. 

It’s worth a shot.  Even if you get 50 people referring 3 people each and you can gain 1/3 of those referred as new members, at $200/member, you'd have $10,000 in new member revenue. 

What works for your organziation when asking for referrals from members?

Aaron Cox, a Membership Management Specialist at WebLink, brings a wealth of Chamber and not-for-profit leadership and management experience. Immediately prior to joining the WebLink team, Aaron served as the first executive director of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives (KCCE). During his tenure with KCCE, the membership doubled, revenue increased dramatically, sponsorship of the organization was increased over 400% and three affinity programs designed to provide necessary services to KCCE chamber members and their members were developed and implemented.

Prior to KCCE, Aaron managed several not-for-profits in the areas of workforce and economic development. These organizations have ranged in size from a staff of one on a shoestring budget to staff of 60 and $6.5 million budget, hence his keen awareness on how to maximize staff, technological and other resources.  You can contact Aaron at aaron.cox@weblinkinternational.com.

If your chamber of commerce or business association moved to a new location, you'd probably let your members know, right?   You'd send them some emails - maybe even send some "snail mail."  You might even hang a sign on your old office letting visitors know that you've moved to a new location.

So, when you change your website, do you let your members know about all the changes? 

Most chambers of commerce and business assocations launch new websites by telling members in their print newsletters and via email.  Sometimes, they'll even hold events to "train" members on the new features.  I've seen some organizations record webinars or screen casts detailing how members can use the new website, too.

These are all great ideas - and you should consider using all of them.  But they only reach a certain percentage of the visitors to your website.  Don't forget to include a mention of the changes on the website itself! 

Recently, MSNBC.COM made a change to the navigation and layout of their website.  The old site had a navigation menu down the left-hand side of the page.   The new layout has horizontal navigation across the top of the page. 

Instead of hoping their site visitors could figure this out for themselves, MSNBC.COM included instructions where the old navigation was and direct visitors to the new navigation.   Right there where the old navigation was, they included this text, "Where's my navigation? We've moved it to the top."  They also included a link to tour the new design.  (See image below, click for larger version).
I thought this was a great example of giving vistors to the site an update of the navigation change.

Remember, that even subtle changes to your website can confuse your site visitors.  Give them all the tools they need to find the information the are looking for.   Try to view your site like a member would.  Or better yet, like someone from outside your community, who is looking for information about businesses in your community.  Make your site as easy to use and navigate as you can.  And remember to tell your visitors when you move content or navigation.

Note:  There is also a much more technical side of telling site visitors (and search engines) about site changes, such as 301 redirects and other server setttings, but I'll save that for another post. :-)

I saw a post on Twitter today about how someone thought that texting was a useless form of communications.  It made me think about a story that a chamber of commerce president told me recently.

The chamber was having their regular board meeting and one board member was offering his opinion on a certain position he thought the organization should take.

He was getting some initial pushback from other board members and retreating slightly in his position. While other board members were discussing it, the chamber's president sent a text to the one board member with a message like, "We'll support you."

The president saw the board member glance down at his phone. The board member then took up the debate again, now with added confidence, and ultimately the chamber adopted his position.

Obviously, a call wouldn't have worked in that situation.  And, it's possible that the chamber president didn't feel like he could tell the board member that across the room.

I know that chambers of commerce also use text messages for staff to communicate during large events.  And some chambers use texting to send updates to their members on events or urgent business issues.

Does your chamber or business association use texting?  If so, how?  Do you have a story like the one above? Please share it in the comments.  Thank you!

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 covered by the chamber. Here are the results:

Area Name	Monthly Search Volume
Conejo Valley	27,100
Agoura Hills	246,000
Westlake Village	368,000
Thousand Oaks	1,000,000

Conejo Valley is the least-used search term of the four and may result in referring less traffic than the other keywords.   So in theory, to take advantage of higher search volume, the chamber may have wanted to leave "Thousand Oaks" in their name.

I understand that the chamber needed to be more inclusive for the region it serves and their name gets used in far more places that just search engines. I'm not really suggesting that the chamber should have kept the name "Thousand Oaks."

But, it does bring up a good point regarding keyword content for chambers of commerce.   I recently wrote another post about how chambers can leverage their members' contact information and descriptions for increased search engine optimization.

When you're creating new programs, securing additional domain names or just adding text to your website or blog, be aware of the keywords you're using.  If you need (or hope) to reach a certain audience, be sure to include those keywords in your text.  Also, make sure you use your organization's full name and city in articles.  (Instead of saying "the chamber," be sure to use "Yourtown Chamber of Commerce.") 

If you're lucky (or have planned accordingly), your organization's name, your programs and/or your events will match more things that people are searching for.

The Zionsville IN Chamber of Commerce (just northwest of Indianapolis) recently announced a new marketing initiative using technology to promote their community.   However, several of the community's business owners are not exactly enamored with the plan.   Read the full article here.

The Chamber has purchased advertising on electronic billboards at the baggage claim area of Indianapolis International Airport.  While this is a technology used by many companies to reach their target audience, I wonder how effective it could be for a community such as Zionsville.   
If you have already landed at an airport, you probably already have an agenda or schedule of things you need/want to accomplish.  Would a billboard advertising a nearby community influence you to stop by?

To be fair, the Zionsville Chamber will also place ads in the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Authority's promotional materials.  These may do a better job or reaching potential visitors before they are already in the area.

I don't mean to beat up on the Zionsville Chamber by any means.  I've worked for a chamber and know there can be many challenges, especially with chambers in small towns.  But, I do think there are several other ways to use technology to promote the community that could be even more effective.

Search-optimized website with great content
Chambers of commerce along with convention and visitors bureaus have a great resource of content sitting right in their membership management software.  By leveraging the business names, categories, contact information and business descriptions effectively, chambers can create huge numbers of content-rich pages to be indexed by search engines. 

Coming up high in Google, Yahoo and other search engines is more CRITICAL than ever if chambers of commerce want to attract more business to their community and drive referrals to fuel local members’ business success. The higher they come up on search engines, the more traffic their websites will receive and thus create more opportunities to attract more business to the community and their members. More website traffic also enables chambers to generate significant non-dues revenue via website advertising.

And, you can reach potential visitors before they arrive in your community.

Social media engagement plan
Social media is fast becoming the ultimate word of mouth tool.  It allows your members and their customers be more engaged and share information quickly with dozens (or hundreds) of their friends.  Chambers of commerce have the opportunity to use social media not only to promote their own benefits to members and prospects, but to promote their members as well.

Chambers such as Oceanside, CA, Clovis, CA,  and Nashville, TN do a great job of  communicating their chamber's agenda and mission, AND spotlighting their members, too.  Find and follow these chambers on Twitter.  Read their blogs.  Become fans of them on Facebook.  You'll see the many ways they use social media to gain exposure for their members and community.

Teach your members how to use social media
I see chambers of commerce across the country offering workshops and seminars for their small business members on how to use social media and improve their websites.  They bring in local or national experts to teach their members about the tools and strategies for effectively using social media.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the chamber and their members to all work together to promote the community and engage potential visitors.  Social media is SOCIAL, so use these communications to help each other, make referrals and share information.

See this post from Mashable on how the resort industry is using social media.  There are several ideas that chambers of commerce and their members can adapt and use to strengthen their community's marketing efforts.

Using social media in this way allows the groups to also reach a potentially under-accessed group of visitors - people who already live in the larger surrounding communities.  While they may know you're "nearby," they may not know about many of the great things to do, places to eat or shopping opportunities in your town.  Reaching out via social media can be the first step in getting them to visit.


All of these methods help you generate additional word of mouth for your organization and your community.   And generally, they can be accomplished with little additional expense - at least when compared to other advertising options.

What other ways have you seen chambers of commerce or convention and visitors bureaus use technology to promote their members and their community?

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 require the member to recruit new members.  How about doing something special for the existing members, too, just thanking them for their business?

I saw on Twitter today that the Greater Owensboro Chamber has members personally visiting other members, thanking them for their business.     And I know that the Medford/Jackson OR and Las Vegas Chambers have staff members personally call each member just to say "Hi" and see how they are doing.  

In the fast-moving world of social media, sometimes the personal touch can go a long way.

What special things does your staff or board personally do for your members?   Please share them in the comments below.  Thanks!

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 chambers of commerce this past year, these events sparked some major changes.  The one word mentioned repeatedly in the article is accountability.   Accountability of the exec to the board, accountability of board members to each other and members and accountability of the chamber as a whole to its membership and the community.

There are many ways you could define accountability.

• Doing what you say you’ll do, when you say you’ll do it.
• Delivering on the value (and more) you promised the member
• Responsible use of membership, tax and/or grant dollars
• Accepting repercussions when promises are not kept or goals are not reached

How can you ensure you’re delivering on all your promises?   Certainly, a passion for your local community and a dedication to your members is paramount.  But, you simply can’t manage the relationships, expectations and benefits of all your members without a customer relationship management system.   Robust membership management software gives you operational, analytical and collaborative tools you need to deliver more value and be accountable to your members.

How does your chamber define accountability?  

And, how do you use technology to help you be accountable to your board, your members and your community?

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 your members to display coupons on your website is another way your organization can help them convert your site visitors into consumers. With membership management software like WebLink Connect from WebLink International, you have the ability to track the number of times a coupon is viewed, which is a great way to show VALUE to your member.

You can even go a step further and use Twitter as another way to promote your member’s discounts. The best part, Twitter links can be tracked too. (Check out if your chamber or association is “Twitter-worthy").

Everyone’s budgets are shrinking; coupon clipping is no longer just for soccer moms. So be sure to help turn your audience into motivated consumers for your membership by promoting not only their business, but also their discounts. 

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 respective social media accounts.  Use widgets to include your chamber’s Twitter feed on your blog or website and link your blog’s RSS feed to your Twitter account and your Facebook stream.  You never know when someone’s going to be paying attention for the first time, so be sure to cross promote your efforts in the appropriate media outlets.

4. Post more photos  – Services such as Flickr or Picasa and many others make it very easy to upload photos and link to them or embed them on your site.  Take lots of photos of your community or at events, ribbon cuttings and press conferences…anytime…and share them with your site visitors. Use photos in your site’s design, create photo galleries and embed slide shows on appropriate pages.  Your members love to see photos from events. With a digital camera and a notebook computer, you can even upload directly from an event! If you use Facebook for photo albums, make sure you link to them from your website, too.  (See #5 above)

3.  Add more videos - With the availability of easy-to-use pocket video cameras like the Flip series and cell phones that can capture video, there is no excuse for not using videos.  Videos add a dynamic aspect to your site and site visitors love to watch them.  Use videos to post member testimonials, “live” updates from city council meetings or events.  Include videos in your blog posts to show the human side of your chamber and communicate your position on issues.  Generally, keep most videos 1-3 minutes long with occasional more in-depth videos.  You DO have a channel on YouTube, don’t you?  (If not, go create one now.)  See this post with examples of chambers of commerce using YouTube.

2. Include search – Include a site search box on your home page.  On every page would be even better.  Usually, search boxes are located somewhere near the top right of the page, but wherever you place it, keep it consistent on all pages.  Despite all the great changes you’ve just made to your navigation (in point #9), some people simply want to search instead and they expect that you’ll have that option. If you don’t, they might not stick around.

1. Create great content – Yes, you could call photos and video content, but I’m talking about good old fashioned text.  Relevant, timely and frequent.  A blog is one way to add content and helps position your chamber as an expert and news generator.  But, you should also add content to other areas of your site.  Keyword-rich text about visiting, living in and working in your community plus local business news helps your site rank higher for local searches – something your chamber needs to own! 

Use your readers’ vocabulary to deliver relevant content.  When possible, include real-life examples from members of how certain issues affect their business.  Keep text short and simple, use correct grammar and spelling and make it unique and interesting.  You might not think you can create that much content....yes you can! You can write about the history of your community, famous residents, long-time members and their impact on business in the area.  You can write about current business issues and member benefits and all the things your chamber does on a daily basis to benefit business in your community.  Great content is what will attract visitors to your site and updated content is what will bring them back. 


Notice a trend with these items?  Yes, they all involve work that you must do.   You must take an active roll in producing great content, setting goals for your website and making change that help produce the results you want.   Do these things well and you'll ultimately create more value for your members, which helps improve retention and generate new member sales.

And, you've probably noticed that many of these items aren't exclusively about your website - they involve other tools as well.  Your website should be the hub of ALL of your communications efforts and it should overlap with each of them.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, your blog, your printed newsletter, your events - they all should tie back into your website.  This is probably a shift in thinking for some chambers of commerce.   Think of your organization as a media company and find ways to use your various communications tools together to tell your story. 

There's an added benefit to making all these improvements, too, besides better usability and increased traffic - non-dues revenue.  I'll highlight ways you can leverage all the hard work you've done on your website and improve your chamber's bottom line in an upcoming post.


What improvements have you made to your website?  How have you measured the results?  What other ways do you think chambers can improve their websites? Let me know in the comments below.  Thanks!

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 MIS-USE of social media.


Start a Twitter account, then don't use it - Fortunately, I haven't see very many chambers of commerce with Twitter accounts such as the @TimeWarnerCares example in the post. 

However, I have seen plenty of chamber Twitter accounts with hundreds of followers, yet they are only following a handful of people.  A big part of using Twitter is listening and engaging in conversation with your followers.  What does it say about your organization if you're not following your members or other businesses in your community?  It seems like you're not interested in listening to them!  That doesn't do much for your brand, does it?

No, you don't have to follow everyone that follows you, but you should probably follow anyone who is located in your community or has an obvious link to your organization.  When someone follows you, look at their profile location, URL and bio to see to determine if you should follow them back. (In most cases, you should). 

Not tracking your brand using monitoring tools  -  With all the free tools available, there is really no excuse for not doing at least some monitoring.   See "Is your chamber 'listening' to the internet" for more info.  Set up searches for your organization's name, your city name or other terms specific to your organization so you can know when people are talking about you. (And decide if/when to respond).  Some tools to try include:

• Twitter Search - View results in your browser or set up an RSS feed of your search
• Google Alerts - View results, set up email alerts or get an RSS feed
• Google Blogsearch - View results, set up email alerts or get an RSS feed
• Twilert - does a Twitter search, but sends you email
• Monitter - a browser based Twitter search tool that lets you search by keyword and geographic location.

If you don't monitor the web for your brand mentions, you will probably be left out of the conversations taking place in your community.  You can't do much for your reputation and brand if you don't know about these discussions.
 
Start using social media, but don't tell the rest of the organization - Good news, here.  I don't know any chambers of commerce or business associations who have done this.  Occasionally, individuals will start using social media and because they work for a chamber of commerce or assocation, the followers will assume they are speaking on behalf of the organization.  It's probably worthwhile to have a conversation with all staff about the appropriate use of social media and refinforce that (whether they like it or not) they are respresenting your organization.  Remember, too, to keep your board (and members) advised of what you're doing with social media.  We've all had those phone calls from board members who are upset because they had to find out about something from someone else.


I have a couple of addtional ways beyond those listed in the post:

One way communications on Twitter - I've seen a few chambers of commerce that only post updates on Twitter with links to their own events, blog posts or website.  There are no replies to others, no retweets and no sharing of links or resources on other sites.   This practice is similar to not listening.   Even when someone replies to the organization, there are no subsequent replies. 

If someone answers your question or retweets your info, reply to them, thank them and engage them!   Some replies are certainly better sent as direct messages (and not viewable on your stream), but having some RTs and @replies in your Twitter stream shows you're engaging your audience, not just pushing out info. 

Repetitive Tweeting - Some organizations seem to post the same 5-10 things every day on Twitter. "Check out our website" or "Did you know XYZ" are great every once in a while, but when done systematically, day after day, with exactly the same text, they become the equivilent of spam.

Sure, you could argue that not all followers will see the message each time and you want to make sure you get the word out. I certainly understand that. But, you can vary your text and messaging so that you're not monotonous.  Your followers will quickly tire of seeing the same message over and over again and may choose to stop following you.


What do you think?  Are there other ways you could damage your organization by using (or mis-using) social media?

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 blog. Here are the first 5 ways I came up with.


10.  Leverage your analytics – Stop worrying about page views and visitor sessions without understanding how the design of your site influences your visitors’ behavior.  Rather, focus on the outcomes you want from your site. Do you want 10 new members to join online each month?  Would you like to get 500 new people to sign up for your e-newsletter?  Do you want visitors to order something or register for an event?  Once you set such goals and review your analytics, you can determine how you can change your site to help create your desired outcomes.

9.  Streamline navigation & overall design – Streamline your navigation into as few main items as possible.  Try to view your site through your typical visitors’ eyes.  What are the main reasons people visit your site?  What information are they viewing most often? Create main navigation buttons or links that reflect the major areas of your site and use sub-navigation for everything else.  Don’t design navigation or critical information so it looks like advertising.  Keep the site as open and easy to view as possible.  Look to some of your favorite web 2.0 or social media sites for inspiration.

8.  Make it shareable – Sharing information via social media is hot right now, so why not make it easy for site visitors to share your content?  Services such as AddThis and ShareThis (see example at the bottom of this post) give you code to embed on your website that make it easy to share your site’s content via multiple popular social media services such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs.  Including such tools on your site shows that your chamber is progressive and understands the current media trends.

7.  (Don’t ) click here – The words “click here” don’t add anything to the usability of your site and they certainly don’t help you with any search engine optimization (SEO).  Instead, use strong anchor text (the text that’s actually linked), such as “Download the Chamber’s annual report” or “Watch our latest State of the City video.”  Where you can, use both a graphic (such as the cover of your annual report) AND a text link to help guide readers to your content.

6.  Use internal links – Linking from within your text to other relevant areas of your site does two things.  First, it improves the usability for visitors since they can now easily move on to additional content on your site. Second, it helps improve your rankings in search engines and can get more of your content indexed.  Usually 3-5 internal links per page is good.  More than that can become distracting to your readers.


Part 2 of this list will be coming soon. What other items do you think should be on the list?

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 with older, more experienced professionals for a minimum of sixth-months
• Group mentoring in which members meet in groups with a mix of older and younger professionals

As a young professional, it is exciting to hear that chambers are creating such innovative programming to help better connect the business community and to help develop future business leaders. I would be eager to join a group that offers the chance to “pick the brains” of seasoned business professionals.

Has your chamber or association already started a mentoring program within your young professionals group? If so, how is it working for you – have you seen an increase in participation, what is the feedback like? If not, is this something your young professionals group might start considering?

Consider this: For the chamber of commerce, this is not only a great way to get young professionals involved with your chamber and more informed about your organization, but it also offers your members a way to volunteer while getting more involved in the chamber. Plus, who else is better equipped in your community to do this than your chamber? No one -- because no one has the kind of connections to the local business community like you!

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 loves your organization and your staff and will tell other people about you.  In his book, Purple Cow, Seth Godin calls your biggest fans "sneezers" because they are so enamored with your company that  tell others about your products and services and help spread your ideas.

How do you get more fans faster?  Social media!

Think about how hard it would be to increase the number of true (raving) fans your chamber of commerce or business association has by hosting great events or sending out great newsletters.  Yes, you can use member segmentation and mass customization to deliver targeted, relevant information, but events and newsetters are relatively infrequent compared to how you can use social media. 

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and others all help you tell your story more frequently, more immediately and in more places.  And these social media allow your members to help you tell your story WAY more than your events or newsletters do.  (Word of mouth advertising).  Having more fans helps you build more momentum and improve retention even more since they can now all help you in your efforts.

Social media allows you to share more information than ever before without spamming your members.  They've voluntarily choosen to follow you, read your content or join your group.  They can reply, ask questions or share your content with others.   This blog and many others are full of great examples of non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce and business assocations using social media to actively engage their members and prospects and create an entirely new fan base.   I've seen great examples of members in a community reposting information about their chamber of commerce, writing blog posts about chamber events and even creating videos on YouTube about their chamber.

You can't do it with social media alone, though.  You must provide real benefits and demonstrate your value to your members using all of your communications tools.  You must ask for their input and respond.  Listening, learing, adapting and communicating helps you improve retention and all the other things listed above.  And, great membership management software can help you record and track information about your members to help you communicate your value more effectively.

But, social media lets you do this all faster and on a much larger scale.  So, go improve retention!  (And get more fans.)

While perusing the U.S. News and World Report’s website today I came across a few lists of “Bests” -- America’s Best Places to Find a Job, 10 Best Places to Grow Up, etc. And yet, when I went to some of those city’s websites, there was no mention of these honors -- a missed opportunity for the chambers of commerce, the visitor’s convention bureaus and any other city website really.

Maybe my college liked to brag too much, but whenever something like this was announced and we were on the list, it became a top story on the homepage. Does your chamber of commerce or business association ever put links to third party reports on your website, or does your news section only contain content written by chamber/association staff? If it’s the latter, there are still ways for you to promote the great news from other sources yourself – by writing a press release, writing a response to the report, etc. Finding ways to boast about your organization on your website is a great way to capture potential new residents and potential new chamber members or association members.

You might be wondering what I mean by potential residents. Well, when I was looking for a job right out of college, my biggest concern was location. I figured that after I found a city I wanted to be in, the job search would follow suit.  (A sort of ‘If you build it, he will come’ mentality :) ) And I’m not alone. My experience with a lot of my friends has been that young professionals want to live in certain cities -- not we want to move to a place because of a job (although sometimes that is what ends up happening).

Picture this. A college student/recent graduate has found your website thanks to your high SEO when he or she types your area into an internet search. This person sees the pictures of your area on your homepage and likes it so far. Then, on the homepage there is a blurb that says “One of America’s Best Places to Find a Job!” You better believe that young professional is more likely to consider relocating to your city with that kind of news! (BTW - Is Your Website Attracting Young Professionals?) 

But, even if that person ends up somewhere else, they become a prospect for local tourism. Sometimes things don’t work in our favor to allow us to live in the cities we want, but that’s what vacations are for, right?

So don’t hold back. Make sure visitors to your website know not only the value of your chamber of commerce or business association, but also the value of your community!

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 resources of chambers simply because we don’t know about them.

A perfect example. I recently moved to Indianapolis from Dayton, Ohio. After settling in my new apartment, I decided I seriously needed a hair cut before starting my new job. So I turned to the internet. My search (hair salons near 46268) had over 300,000 results, all of which were individual websites requiring me to sift through more results than I cared to. Had I known that chambers of commerce are the ‘Google of their community’, I would have saved a lot of wasted time going through various websites – some that did not even relate to my search.

Chambers are not only valuable to their members, but also to people like me who just want to easily find relevant information on the internet in ONE PLACE. Membership directories are like a one-stop shop for people looking for local businesses. Chambers of commerce easily connect searchers with their member businesses – saving the searcher time, and giving the business a potential new customer.

How is your chamber making sure you reach consumers who might not know what a chamber is? There are probably residents in your community who don’t realize the tremendous resources and services your chamber of commerce offers.   Sure, you might say that “residents aren’t our target for membership.”  But, consider that all those residents have to work somewhere, right?  Are their businesses members of your chamber?  And, what happens when all the young professionals start their own businesses or move up the corporate ladder.  It would be beneficial to your organization if they already knew what the chamber was.  It would be even better if they already had a relationship with your organization.

How are you getting the attention of young professionals in your community?  I know many chambers of commerce have started separate young professionals groups.  How is that working? Are they eventually transitioning over to your chamber or are they losing interest?

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 outside of our community we – like most – started on the internet. Searching for generic terms such as “hotels” or “attractions” often lead us to multiple pages that gave us headaches on our quest to find what we wanted. If only we had known about chamber of commerce websites!

If someone does a generic search such as hotels and attractions in your area, would your chamber’s website come up?

But it’s about more than just SEO – your website needs to not only be appearing high on the results page, but needs to be easy to navigate, esthetically pleasing and informative.

My generation is your chamber’s next major audience to reach, and our reputation of having short attention spans needs to be accepted! Within the first couple of seconds on your website a tone will be set about the professionalism of your organization. In addition, if we cannot find what we want within those same seconds, we’ll turn somewhere else.  If possible, reach out to the younger professionals of your organization and have them or their friends audit the accessibility and overall appeal of your website.

If a person wanted to find a hotel or a local business in your area, would they be able to from the homepage – without clicking through many navigation tools? Do you have a search box on your home page?  What does your home page say about your organization?  Although we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover – we do, so make sure your homepage gives visitors the impression you want it to convey.

And, it’s not just about site visitors either. Your community is full of young professionals that may have pre-conceived notions of what a chamber of commerce is.  You can show young professionals that your organization is “up with the times” by creating a modern, easy to use website that contains updated and useful information for local businesses and visitors alike.