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Thread: Chamber of commerce

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    Default Chamber of commerce

    I think I brought this topic up on the old forum. Does any one belong too there local chamber of commerce? I have been thinking of joining for quite some time, but haven't been wanting too spend the money for the member ship fee at this point. I live in an area that they call the Blackstone Valley. It is where the industrial revolution started in the U.S; and consists of 9 towns in there chamber. Just wondering if anyone has any of you had or have experiance being a member, and if it helped them to network?

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    Years ago I did join one of the local chambers of commerce here and I know it directly led to at least one client who found me through the chamber website and wanted to hire someone who was local.

    I'm no longer in that chamber and haven't joined any others since, but I have thought of joining the Boulder chamber and probably will at some point.

    I think you have to make the commitment to network in the chamber to really get something out of it and not everyone wants to do that. I did once go to a chamber even for Boulder to see if I wanted to join and one thing I didn't like about it was everyone seemed to be there just to promote themselves, myself included. The problem with that is when everyone is trying to promote themselves no one is really open to being promoted by someone else. I suspect if you go to the gatherings again and again there are better networking opportunities.

    One thing that might be worth joining your local chamber regardless of what you get out of the networking is most chambers of commerce will link to you from their site. Chambers are generally trusted sites in the eyes of search engines and the link you get is probably worth the cost of a year's membership. It's something consider if you're looking to build links into your site.
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    I'm a member of our chamber and we are pretty involved. I don't think I've gotten any business from it, but that's because I'm lousy at networking. It just kind of feels right to be a participating member and it doesn't cost much.
    Steve B

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    I have not yet joined the local chamber, though it is something that i even went as far as printing and filling out the membership form, but just never mailed it. The primary reason i have not done anything more recently like this is that i just do not know where i am going with my business which is something that i need to look into a lot more closely.

    Maybe one thing that may cause you to appear a better networker, could be to go and listen to anyone that wants to promote to you and simple ensure they receive your business card. I have read that listening, in some people is perceived as more then anything you could possibly say, but i really cannot remember the exact piece.

    Above the link and listing on their website, i think some chambers allow you to use a member of This Area Chamber of commerce logo they provide. Maybe not all but some do i believe and this could be another thing to build trust if used on your website or such.
    Joel Brown
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    I get the feeling that success with a chamber of commerce has a lot to do with the other people in the chamber. Similar to any networking group. Some will no doubt be more beneficial than others.

    It also depends on what you put into it. People aren't going to recommend your services if you don't spend the time getting to know them and tell them what your business is about.

    I do want to point out again the possibility of getting a link back from the chamber. If your industry is even slightly competitive the link you get from a decent chamber site is probably worth the cost of joining.
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    I belong to our Chamber because it's automatically built into our store lease. As we're in a tourist destination it makes sense to be a member. I can't say that we've got online orders from being listed on the Chamber web site but since they do a lot of advertising to draw visitors to our Valley it makes sense to be a member.

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    Makes sense for you to be a member given your business. What I was saying about the link were less to do with direct traffic and more to do with search engine traffic. Links play a big role in search results and the search engines, particularly Google, like links from web pages and web sites they trust. Most chambers will be a trusted site so the link you get is likely given weight in search algorithms. A link from your local chamber should help improve your rank, though of course that one link is only one. Not suggesting you'll see miracles, but links can be hard to come by for some and this is one way to get a good link.
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    Chambers vary a lot. I've moved a lot in recent years and have been involved with four Chambers of Commerce. In all of them, there has been a core group of people who have been active with volunteering for the various roles to be filled with the majority just paying their membership fees and doing little else through the rest of the year.

    The one in my new home town is pitiful. They are more politically oriented than I've ever seen a chamber be and services to business owners are ineffective as far as I have seen. From what I can tell the Chamber is stifled by a group of board members who are in it for themselves and spend little attention on the smaller business owners...too busy shmoozing with politicians to do the real work that makes a Chamber great. (Seriously, I'd say 10 out of the last 12 events they've hosted have been luncheons with politicians - the next one on August 19th is a BBQ lunch for a Federal Minister...hosted by the constituency officeholder and his wife- but put on (paid for, I assume) by the Chamber - I wonder how any of this helps me or my small business owner friends)

    Having said all that - I still joined...

    Mostly because I figure if I'm involved then I can work towards change (or at least make the attempt). If I just complain about it without being an active participant then I'm really not doing anything to help the situation.

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    That's what I was thinking about chambers. I've only been involved with two, but even those two varied substantially.

    Good that you joined your chamber with the goal of changing it to make it better.
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    I'll either make it better or tick a whole lotta people off...either way - I'll have fun :-)

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