Offline marketers...chamber of commerce rules!

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Dana_W

You know how I'm always on here saying, ad nauseum, that Twitter is like an online chamber of commerce?

Well, I joined the local chamber of commerce and went to a local mixer and...by God...it was like an offline chamber of commerce!

Seriously, I think I picked up half a dozen new press release clients at least, and two social media marketing clients, and the chamber representative invited me to speak about social media marketing, and that was just from ONE mixer.

The best thing is that everyone is there to market so you don't have to be too subtle. People ask you what you do, you tell them, give them your card, and you're in like Flynn.

I'm not bragging when I say that just with what I've taught myself, and learned from the Warrior Forum, in the past year and a half, I was head and shoulders above everyone there in knowledge of social media and SEO and driving web traffic. And so are all of you - so don't overlook such a great resource!

Amen to that. I've been going to COC mixers for about 15 years now in a variety of cities, the networking and connections I've made there have been priceless.

Here's an interesting experience I've had time and time again: even webmasters that I've run into at these mixers don't really know a whole lot about SEO, blogging correctly, article marketing, keyword research, product creation, affiliate marketing, etc.; so when I usually get up and do my "5 minute" speech (that we all get a chance to do at the end of the breakfast) I feel like I've got "IM CracK" and they all want some........

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Vikuna2009+

15 years ago

LOVE IT! So, my curiosity, since Dana is the "Twitter Lady", what is your specialty? (and forgive me, is this thread called hi-jacking and if it is, please delete, thank you). Sorry, I guess you can not delete, so PM and I will.

Just curious to learn more, take care, Eva

Originally Posted by Rod Cortez

Amen to that. I've been going to COC mixers for about 15 years now in a variety of cities, the networking and connections I've made there have been priceless.

Here's an interesting experience I've had time and time again: even webmasters that I've run into at these mixers don't really know a whole lot about SEO, blogging correctly, article marketing, keyword research, product creation, affiliate marketing, etc.; so when I usually get up and do my "5 minute" speech (that we all get a chance to do at the end of the breakfast) I feel like I've got "IM CracK" and they all want some........

Thanks
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Jillian Slack 15 years ago

Score, Dana!

The chamber here in my town is EXTREMELY expensive to join, but the chambers for surrounding towns are reasonable.

One chamber is more of an asset to its members than the others. Their meetings are structured with time for members to give a very short introduction to their businesses, another business has a door prize and a chance to speak about the business, it holds more events than the bigger chamber, and its office has all kinds of literature and marketing materials for its members on display. Just a more interactive group than the big one.

Always good to hear about other Warriors having luck with local chambers.
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- Croque 15 years ago
  
  Hi everybody!
  
  :confused: I have a question and I don't want to sound like a total dummy! but
  how exactly do you introduce yourself to business people?
  
  I mean when they ask you: So what do you do?
  
  Thanks for your input.
  
  Thanks
  
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Eric Stanley

15 years ago

Love the chamber of commerce for leads! I am a member of 2 local CoC groups and they are a fantastic source of leads!

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Steven Carl Kelly

15 years ago

Yep, and many people don't realize you can join other Chambers of Commerce, not only the ones in your area. When I do my live seminars on online consulting for offline business, I tell all of my students to join their local (and neighboring) CofC's.

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Dana_W

15 years ago

Yes, I definitely plan to join some more Chambers of Commerces. The networking opportunities MORE than justify the cost of joining.

Haven't been a member of the Rotary Club yet, I'm thinking of it, I know someone who could sponsor me, but I'm not sure if the networking opportunities are as good. Any thoughts on that?

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Mac the Knife

15 years ago

No question about it...offline networking WORKS! I have an ebook called "The 10 Mistakes We Make at Networking Events and how to AVOID Them" which will help those who are new to offline networking...if you want it, PM me...I will email it to you free...hope it helps! I am chair elect of my Chambers Young Professional Network and won the Chamber membership drive here in Howard County Maryland (top 5 richest county in the country) and there are some MAJOR players here...I attend every event I can!

Mac the Knife

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Mark Riddle

15 years ago

Dana,

Yes Twitter is a great tool to learn how to promote at business meetings.

Ya wander around the room, listening to conversations, and add thoughtful insightful comments to the people talking with the influential people in attendance.

Although I don't suggest that in the middle of a conversation you say "Hmmm I think I may have a rock in my shoe" -- "I think I'm going to make a sandwich when I go home"

Mark Riddle

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Dana_W

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Mark Riddle

Dana,

Yes Twitter is a great tool to learn how to promote at business meetings.

Ya wander around the room, listening to conversations, and add thoughtful insightful comments to the people talking with the influential people in attendance.

Although I don't suggest that in the middle of a conversation you say "Hmmm I think I may have a rock in my shoe" -- "I think I'm going to make a sandwich when I go home"

Mark Riddle

So next time I go to a chamber meeting, I should speak in sentences that are longer than 140 characters? That's just crazy!!!

Also - when I introduce myself - I should NOT say "Hi, I'm @Dana_Willhoit?"

I don't know, Mark, I just don't know.

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JamesFraze 15 years ago

Have you tried meetup?

There are a few reasons why I recommend this website:

1. you can create a web 2.0 profile to link to your website
2. you can find tons of free networking events.
3. you get alerted automatically when your groups are doing something - so it's easy maintenance.

Here is my profile as an example of what kinds of groups you can find, and what kind of profile you can get linking to your website:
James Fraze - Referrals Unlimited Networking EV (Gilbert, AZ) - Meetup.com

Dana - I was just wondering how valuable locl Chamber membership would be. I appreciate your post on the results, now I feel more comfortable shelling out the $300+ for the yearly.

Or are you saying just go to the meetings and the membership isn't that important?
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- Shaun OReilly 15 years ago
  
  The Chamber of Commerce can be a useful place to go
  to do some networking with offline business owners in
  your local area.
  
  The biggest benefit of networking is that the business
  owners are there to promote their business and they
  are also open to being approached by you as a potential
  supplier for their web services.
  
  However, the Chamber of Commerce does have a few
  limitations that are important from a networking perspective:
  
  1. Non-Exclusive Membership - If you go to a Chamber
  meeting you can find that you're not the only web person
  there. Your competition are also allowed to attend and
  promote their web services too.
  
  So you're competing for airtime to the offline business owner
  as they have a choice of potential web people in the same
  room.
  
  2. Irregular Attendees - Most Chamber meetings have a
  pretty loose requirement on attendance. It's up to you if
  you go regularly to the meetings or not - and it's the same
  for the other members too.
  
  This irregularity makes it slightly harder to build relationships
  with business owners quickly if they don't go to every
  meeting that you do.
  
  3. No Performance Criteria - The Chamber don't measure
  the amount of business that is being passed (or not passed)
  between attendees.
  
  What gets measured, gets improved and so the opposite is
  true in that what doesn't get measured doesn't improved.
  
  What this means is that the lack of continuity of attendees
  makes it slightly harder to build relationships with business
  owners if they don't attend every meeting.
  
  Of the networking methods I've tried, by far the one I got
  the most return from was serious networking referral groups
  such as BNI (Business Network International).
  
  The key differences with these networking groups is that they
  have:
  
  1. Exclusive Membership -so you'll be the only web person
  allowed to attend each meeting and most of the web
  business will be passed to you.
  
  2. Regular Attendees - Networking groups like BNI have
  strict attendance criteria so you have to attend the vast
  majority of the meetings.
  
  What this provides is a great continuity of the members so
  it's easier to develop relationships with the business owners
  who have joined and attend regularly.
  
  3. Performance is Measured - In BNI, all of the business that
  is exchanged between members is measured.
  
  This is great because it spurs people on to exchange business
  between each other and no slackers are allowed to remain in
  the group.
  
  So yes the Chamber of Commerce is fine but do recognize it's
  potential limitations and the other options that are available.
  
  For the biggest ROI (on time, money and effort) I'd recommend
  a networking group such as BNI for the reasons I've mentioned.
  
  Dedicated to your success,
  
  *Shaun O'Reilly
  
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naonline 15 years ago

Agreed! COC events are the best place for offline marketing. You don't have to worry about getting past the gatekeepers because all the attendees are the business owners with all the cash.

You don't have to do any selling, just tell them what you do and they WILL be interested.

I went to seminar last week and the speaker asked me to meet him for a chat about what I do. He is a very influencial business adviser and he wants to refer his clients to me!
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- washoutinc 15 years ago
  
  Heck yeah... the chamber is really great. Personally I have not joined this just yet, but I know it is going to work really well for jobs and connection...
  
  Toastmasters.
  
  Local Toastmasters groups are usually filled with many high profile business people and entrepreneurs... so that might be a great place to join too.
  
  Not to mention learning to speak is a great skill... gosh I really need to join it!
  
  Thanks
  
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Steven Carl Kelly

15 years ago

In addition, one other thing I teach those who I mentor in online services to offline businesses:

Use the local library! Another great resource. Many times I'll have folks starting out on a shoestring and are worried about the cost of setting up their pitch at a local hotel meeting room and being forced to come out of pocket $300 or more just for the day's use of the room. Well, many public libraries have meeting rooms (some that accommodate a large number of people) that you can reserve and use for FREE.

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MichaelHiles

15 years ago

It's a mixed bag. Many Chambers CAN and DO rule. But they can also be a miserable, political quagmire of high school-esque petty infighting, and because of their inherent, localized nature, other political issues can create divides. They can also be bureaucratic institutions of nothingness.

I need to do a WSO for offliners on how to survive your local chamber.

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JamesFraze

15 years ago

Originally Posted by MichaelHiles

It's a mixed bag. Many Chambers CAN and DO rule. But they can also be a miserable, political quagmire of high school-esque petty infighting, and because of their inherent, localized nature, other political issues can create divides. They can also be bureaucratic institutions of nothingness.

I need to do a WSO for offliners on how to survive your local chamber.

I think the "petty fighting / politics" is a matter of perspective. I'm going to see how I can help others and market my business, not gossip. I suddenly have to talk to a friend across the room if am being slammed with negativity. I would not want to do business with that person anyway if they bring negative energy near me.

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MichaelHiles

15 years ago

Originally Posted by JamesFraze

I think the "petty fighting / politics" is a matter of perspective. I'm going to see how I can help others and market my business, not gossip. I suddenly have to talk to a friend across the room if am being slammed with negativity. I would not want to do business with that person anyway if they bring negative energy near me.

I completely agree with you. But I have seen a lot of Chambers where this is an endemic problem. I think it really depends on size of market too. I've tended to work with smaller markets, so a lot of the local politics are more "in your face" so to speak. Everybody knows everybody. Hatfields vs. the McCoys.

But I literally have seen situations wherein if you do business with someone, their local political opposition will not do business with you.

Just be aware of the dynamics of the organization and community is all I am really saying.

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AndrewCavanagh

15 years ago

Chambers of Commerce, business networking groups, rotary groups, any groups where a high percentage of business owners get together can be a gold mine for you.

One of the biggest secrets:

Most of the people at these meetings are eager to try to sell their services.

If you're the person asking questions and listening instead of trying to pitch your services you're going to build a whole lot more rapport...and you can also gather a whole pile of useful information about the businesses and the business owners you talk to.

Information you can use later to suggest ways to help them.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

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MichaelHiles

15 years ago

Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh

Chambers of Commerce, business networking groups, rotary groups, any groups where a high percentage of business owners get together can be a gold mine for you.

One of the biggest secrets:

Most of the people at these meetings are eager to try to sell their services.

If you're the person asking questions and listening instead of trying to pitch your services you're going to build a whole lot more rapport...and you can also gather a whole pile of useful information about the businesses and the business owners you talk to.

Information you can use later to suggest ways to help them.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Bingo. Maria Guidelis and I were talking about this very thing. Online marketing is such a pitch-oriented activity... direct selling, etc...

Consultative sales is just the opposite... a complete inversion of all the online methodologies.

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Dana_W

15 years ago

Another piece of advice I've been given...not all chambers of commerce are created equal.

I joined a Chamber of Commerce in an affluent suburb of Orlando. Next, I'm going to join the Orlando Chamber of Commerce. I've heard mixed things about other chambers of commerce around here, and since it costs $300-$400 to join most chambers, it can be a costly mistake if you join one that doesn't turn out to be productive.

The infighting I'm not so worried about, I'm pretty good at avoiding that.

One other tip - on my name badge, I just put "Dana Willhoit & Associates". I am incorporated, but not under that - so I'm going to go get a DBA next week. Originally I thought I should come up with a name like "Web Content Services" or something like that, but it turns out that having a non-descriptive name actually seemed to help - as opposed to, say, "Joe's Photography" - because then people have to ask me what I do, and I can then tell them. Everyone's eyes lit up when I said I do social media marketing, and they all wanted to quiz me about it.

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Dana_W

15 years ago

Croque, it's not a dumb question, I really struggled with that myself. I used to be a newspaper reporter - it was easy to tell people what I did!

When I went to this event I told people I write press releases and web content, and do social media marketing.

I'd love to hear what other people here say they do for a living when asked at a Chamber of Commerce type event.

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Croque 15 years ago

Originally Posted by Dana_W

Croque, it's not a dumb question, I really struggled with that myself. I used to be a newspaper reporter - it was easy to tell people what I did!

Thank you

I'm a manager at a restaurant, so yeah is really easy to say that I flip burgers for a living!
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rashamba

15 years ago

Great post and encouragement. Good luck to you

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melanied

15 years ago

When I introduce myself, I tell people that I do Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. Or, if it's entertainment industry people, I say I manage clients' "online presences" or "digital profiles." For some reason that's the terminology they use.

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Croque

15 years ago

Originally Posted by melanied

When I introduce myself, I tell people that I do Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. Or, if it's entertainment industry people, I say I manage clients' "online presences" or "digital profiles." For some reason that's the terminology they use.

I think that the "lingo" is very important when addressing your audience, because you don't want to sound too geeky or unknowledgeable, otherwise your audience will go: "I'm sorry, what?"

And first impressions are always important, mostly if you want to get money out of these people.

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Dana_W

15 years ago

Originally Posted by melanied

When I introduce myself, I tell people that I do Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. Or, if it's entertainment industry people, I say I manage clients' "online presences" or "digital profiles." For some reason that's the terminology they use.

Hey, if it works, it's good terminology! I've also considered calling myself an "online publicity expert". What do you think?

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Leads4Builders 15 years ago

Great Thread..I sell to builders and contractors, so when I'm asked what I do, I try to peak their interest by saying that "I specialize in helping builders and contractors build and manage their sales pipelines."

I have found that most small business owners don't know what Search Engine Optimization and such terms mean, so I try to focus on communicating to them what I do in ways that resonate with them.

The truth is we as marketers love to talk about cool stuff like link building strategies, on-page optimization, article writing, traffic, list building etc., but the bottom line for the business owner is this...what can you do for me? If you try to talk to technical with them, you'll either bore them and/ or make your services seem too complicated to for their business.
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Mark Riddle

15 years ago

Here's one of my openers...

I help business owners build their business, and increase their profits.
Tell me what YOU do so I can give you an example.

Mark Riddle

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myob 15 years ago

It takes a bit of personality and perhaps some gutsy audacity to pull this off, but it is powerfully effective in generating leads and referrals. In first time social occasions and business mixers, my reply to what do I do is to say loudly "I just mind my own business". After the shock and laughter subsides, everyone within earshot will almost always listen to my 45 second "sales pitch" and we all exchange business cards! Subsequent visits brings even more referrals when newcomers are "dared" to ask me the same question. LOL! I really do show people how to start and mind their own business.
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AndrewCavanagh

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Mark Riddle

Here's one of my openers...

I help business owners build their business, and increase their profits.
Tell me what YOU do so I can give you an example.

Mark Riddle

Yes if I'm talking to a business owner I will nearly always deflect the questions what do I do with something simple like "I have my own internet based business" then start asking THEM questions about their business.

I don't have any interest in talking about myself until I know I can help them and I have a fair idea what it is they need to hear to persuade them that I'm the guy who can help them.

Asking questions and listening is the real key.

That will set you apart from anyone else at these events.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

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Croque

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Mark Riddle

Here's one of my openers...

I help business owners build their business, and increase their profits.
Tell me what YOU do so I can give you an example.

Mark Riddle

This answer is just what I was looking for!

Is so simple yet so powerful.

thank you Mark.

Thanks

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Offline marketers...chamber of commerce rules!

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