What does the local chambers of commerce do for their members?  In most cases they keep their members up to date on current affairs with e-mails, scheduled events, and the web.  Networking events and meetings are one of the most important ways to get, and keep your name out there. During these, you develop relationships  that hopefully help  grow, what ever business you’re in.  Chambers do work if you get involved. But, what if you don’t have the time to devote to meetings, what then?  Do you feel the dues don’t  justify a return on investment?  Belonging to a chamber does give you some clout, I believe. Chambers do stand for  community involvement and members  are given credit for that.

One chamber has gone a little further to help its members in this economic down turn. The North Clackamas Chamber of Commerce has started a new program. It is call BizBoosters! We didn’t come up with the idea ourselves, but we embrace it. It is away the members can directly help one another.  Last Friday, for example, we had 29 members and friends attend lunch at Bajio’s Mexican Grill on 82nd. It was an informal get together and all that participated had a good time. Nothing better than breaking bread with friends!  The NCCC plans to extend this program to service, retail, and other members that supply consumer goods. Want to know more? Visit: www.yourchamber.com (events calendar)

You are a small business owner who is considering joining a local Chamber of Commerce to help promote your business. Is there a better way?

Chambers of Commerce have changed over the years. In the past it was a prestigious honor to be a member of the local Chamber. Today they are much easier to join, but the message is the same, “Do business with other members.” But is it working?

Here are some things your local Chamber does not want you to know:

• Each meeting will require approximately 3 hours of your day. It will include about 30 seconds to 6 minutes to promote your company before the entire group. You will also have 30-45 minutes for “Networking”, which is a buzzword for chatting with other business owners.

• All of the information you shared is virtually lifeless once you leave the meeting. Yes you may walk away with some business cards, but are you connected to those people? Probably not. Most of the cards end up in the trash or an unused database.

• After a few months of attending the meetings, you will discover that most of the same people are there each week. Well, so much for meeting lots of new people every time.

• It will usually require one year of attending meetings before you receive an order large enough, to pay for the membership fees.

So what’s the alternative? On-Line Social Networking and Business Blogging. If you are like most business owners, you are probably not sure what that is or entails. Yet me try to explain it.

In today’s business world, a website is mandatory. It should be the storefront window into your company. You can direct Internet traffic to the site by writing articles or stories, which will be beneficial or interesting to your customers.

Here is an example: Let’s say you sell insurance. Write a story about a customer’s loss and how the insurance saved the day. Or you could explain different types of insurance. Just make sure you are not giving a sales pitch.

People want to do business with people they like. So let them get to know you. It’s no different then meeting someone at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. Other members are not going to do business with you until they know you. The only difference is that you are writing instead of talking face to face.

But here is the best part. IT ALL FREE! Social networking does not need to cost you any money. You can post the articles on Portland Business Community.com. This is a free service, which is designed to help the small businessperson stand out in the crowd.

Once you have posted the article, send it out on Twitter.com. That information is now searchable on the web. Just like a good newspaper add, you can continue to send it out over and over again. It will take a little time to write a handful of articles or stories, but the time is well worth it!

Remember I said that in a Chamber meeting you conversation “is virtually lifeless once you leave the meeting.” That’s not true with anything you publish on-line. It’s all searchable and can be linked back to your website.

The next thing you will want to do is set up a Goggle Analytics account. That way you can track the added traffic to your website. There’s no need to wait months to see if your advertising is working. You will have measurable information within a week or so.

I decided to pay Zenith Exhibits $350 to jump start my Twitter account. I have a summer seasonal business so I did not have time to waste. You can do it on you own if you choose. I was guaranteed 1,000 followers on Twitter within 30 days. I actually received over 3,000.

From 3/1/09 to 4/1/09 I had 63 visitors to my website with the busiest day at 6 visitors, but no calls.

From 5/17/09 to 6/16/09 I had 1,307 visitors to my website with the busiest day at 62 visitors and the phone is ringing and I am making money!

At the time of this publication, Portland Business Community.com has over 1100 visitors per month and has continued to grow since its creation in late 2008. Being connected to that website will increase your Goggle rating and move you closer to that 1st page listing.

Notice we have not tried to sell you anything. We just want you to be successful.

Ken Bear Cole
Portland Business Community.com