How we do business in person has changed quite a bit in the last several months.
Thanks to a global pandemic, things we once counted on, like networking events and in person meetings, haven’t been reliable factors when it comes to building connections and growing our businesses. However, while much of what life was like before has been altered, there are some things that remain the same.
One such thing is your Chamber’s commitment to supporting our members and their business goals through every sort of situation, including global pandemics.
Like other businesses eager to stay afloat, we’ve been encouraged to get creative in how we do this. From offering more virtual options to developing new types of content designed to support, inform and motivate our members, we too have been empowered by the pivot and it has inspired us to reimagine, reinvision and reignite ourselves. Through this time and into the future our goal remains to ensure that we are effectively serving as many of our members as possible.
If you’re looking for some ways to take advantage of your Chamber membership right now, here are a few things you can do today to grow your business for tomorrow.
Make the Most of Your Chamber Membership: 10 Things To Do Today to Grow Your Business Tomorrow
Sign up for our live event.
We are super excited to be hosting our first live, in person networking event this Friday! It is a member-only, socially distant, limited-attendance event, but it is the perfect opportunity to jump back out there and connect with people face (mask) to face (mask). Start brushing up on smiling with your eyes and be sure you register before we reach capacity!
Register here: Coffee & Contacts To Go
Pro-tip: update your LinkedIn profile before coming and let people you meet at the event know that you will connect with them on the platform.
Update your Chamber listing.
Every Chamber member business has a listing on our website. These listings not only allow people to check your membership in the Chamber (which, according to nationwide research, gives businesses credibility) they also allow consumers to find you.
Being listed on our website also has the potential to provide great SEO (search engine optimization) for your business. When filled out correctly, our listings that point to your business and website will show up very high in a Google search for you business or industry. We encourage you to take the time to check on your listing from time to time, make sure it is complete, that your description uses keywords and is informative, that all of the appropriate designations are marked and that your social media profiles are working.
You are in charge of your business’s profile on our page so we encourage you to make it work for you.
Purchase an advertorial.
Did you know our email newsletter is sent to over 5,000 Frederick area locals each week?!
Purchasing ad space in the newsletter is a great way to get your message to all of those people, the majority of which are businesses owners and/or professionals. We can help you craft a message that will effectively speak to our audience and make the impact you’re hoping for.
You can also purchase ad space on our website.
Take a moment to learn more about these options via this invaluable guide to Marketing Your Business at the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. It is updated frequently so it’s a good resources to bookmark.
Take a course.
We have an extremely knowledgeable membership filled with experts in a lot of areas who are often hosting webinars, panels and other events to share what they know with our membership.
Additionally, our team is continuously creating educational content to help you learn.
Stay tuned for an upcoming Instagram course to update you on Instagram’s new features and show you, step-by-step, how to use that intricate platform to reach your audience better!
Courses to register for now: Navigating 2020 as a Young Professional and Using Touchless Access Technology and COVID Apps for Safe Building Reentry
Don’t give up on networking.
Despite the fact that in person networking events aren’t a huge thing right now as we battle a global pandemic, getting creative about using technology and other opportunities for networking can really help you continue to grow those valuable connections we all know have the power to move your business forward.
Don’t be shy about participating in virtual networking events. They may not be in everyone’s comfort zone (neither are in-person ones though), but sometimes you have to step out of that comfort zone to achieve your goals. Embrace those virtual opportunities when they arise and figure out a way to take them to the next level.
Pro-tip: Connect with attendees BEFORE your virtual networking event via social media and get to know a bit about them so you can have a more meaningful conversation when the event begins.
Technology is also a great way to continue to network. Social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook can be invaluable resources for those who want to make connections with like minded people.
As difficult as this time is for all of us, a mindset shift may help here. Instead of lamenting the loss of personal, face-to-face connections, use this time as an opportunity to broaden your net – with more reliance on virtual connections and business, this is the perfect opportunity to expand your customer base and network beyond Frederick!
Try some good old fashioned marketing.
If virtual marketing and networking aren’t really your jam, that’s okay too. It really just means it’s time to reach back into your marketing toolkit and use some more traditional options that are still effective and at your disposal.
A direct mail campaign might be a great fit for you right now and purchasing mailing labels from the Chamber can assist you with that.
A phone call or an email can also go along way. Your Chamber staff is connected to nearly 900 local businesses. We are more than happy to facilitate introductions that are mutually valuable when the opportunity makes sense.
Even if we aren’t able to connect you directly to someone you’re eager to work with, if you take the time to connect with us and build that personal relationship, when opportunities to connect arise you will be top of mind.
Read our blog.
Shameless plug here, but to be fair, we spend a great deal of time curating and creating informative, useful content for this site and we encourage you to read it when you need ideas about how your membership can better serve you.
The Chamber members who get the most out of their membership are those who engage the most with everything we offer here at the Chamber. We encourage you to use the time you would normally spend attending in person networking events doing things like learning about social media marketing, updating your website, creating content, and truly diving into your Chamber membership and everything we have to offer.
Here are a few posts you should take a look at now:
- What You Need to Know to Scale Your Business
- 7 Insider Secrets for Getting Your Business More Media Coverage
- How to Use Social Media to Gain Exposure for Your Business
- 6 Real Ways Your Chamber Membership Can Help Your Business
Schedule a visit.
Since we aren’t able to share our space with you in the same way that we could pre-COVID, we are super eager to share yours if you’d like to invite us out for a visit.
Reach out to Amanda Rodriguez (arodriguez@frederickchamber.org) to schedule a member visit today. We will set you up with a visit from a staff member where you can share your current business goals and marketing initiatives, build a relationship with a member of our team, and tell us about what you have going on now and coming in the future so we can share that with our members and social media audience.
Read the newsletter.
Our Chamber newsletter comes out every Tuesday morning. We work really hard to make it informative, timely and quick to read and we encourage you to pop into it EVERY week for at least a quick look.
We often get emails and phone calls from members wondering why they weren’t featured or why another member received a spotlight opportunity and, nine times out of ten, those opportunities are announced and recruited for right in our weekly newsletter.
If you’re not getting it, check your spam filter first and then go here and sign yourself up (you don’t have to be a current member to subscribe to our newsletter and stay in the know about what’s going on in the business community of Frederick).
Sponsor an event.
Our event sponsors are afforded time in front of our attendees (virtual and in-person) as well as opportunities to connect with attendees following the event and social media promotion as well.
Learn more about sponsoring events by contacting jgerlock@frederickchamber.org
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.