Chamber Publishing with Layne Mullin

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Episode 15 — Chamber Publishing with Layne Mullin
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Layne Mullin
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.214 Layne Mullin
I think if you have consistency in your publishing, if you have a directory that the directory comes out at the same time that it's supposed to each each go around. It doesn't have to be every year, it could be every quarter, it could be every year, every eighteen months, and if you did it every two years, that's okay too.
00:23.522 Brandon Burton
We are talking about chamber publishing today. Whether it's a map or a chamber directory or a relocation guide, whatever publications you have, this episode will have some value for you. Let's cue the intro and get into this. This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:54.894 Brandon Burton
Welcome to the Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your Chamber members and your community. Our guest for this episode is one of the sponsors for the Chamber Chat Podcast. Our guest is Layne Mullin, who's the president of Community Matters, Inc. I've worked for Community Matters for over 12 years, and I'm happy to introduce Lane as our guest on the podcast. Lane has been in the advertising and publishing industry for over 35 years. He began working as a sales representative with Sports Display Inc. in California in 1984. His success in sales and rapid growth of the company allowed for him to move quickly into training and sales management before being promoted into the corporate office to oversee sales administration. In 2004, Lane co-founded Community Matters Inc. and started with One Map in 2004. Community Matters now has partnered with Chambers of Commerce, CBBs, Cities, and Community Associations on hundreds of publications. He says as a company that they're most proud of the long-term relationships and referrals they receive from their clients. Lane and his wife Kim have been married for over 40 years. Have three daughters, three sons in law, and eight grandchildren, four girls and four boys. Lane, please say hello to the audience and share something interesting about yourself that we might not have learned from your bio.
02:36.728 Layne Mullin
good afternoon. thanks for the opportunity, Brandon. I appreciate it. well, besides being old, which you already know, thirty-five years and forty years marriage, something interesting about me and my wife both is that we love to to scuba dive and take every opportunity, every every chance we get to dive and we just love underwater.
03:04.184 Brandon Burton
That's great. I I love diving too.
03:07.713 Layne Mullin
Yes, you did.
03:08.558 Brandon Burton
I do. So that's something interesting about me for everybody. So Link, can you give us just a just like a brief summary about community matters and and what what the company's about and what you guys do?
03:21.908 Layne Mullin
Absolutely. So Community Matters is a publishing company that allows chambers of commerce to and to partner in a turnkey opportunity so we come in and and we would take care of the the marketing and the sales and the publishing under the direction of the chamber. chambers have the opportunity to review and and edit our maps. One other thing about our company is that when we started this business, we went into it with a not a cookie cutter, but a custom map in mind. So each individual city, whether it be a directory or a map, we will look at the area, the things that are important there and create a custom publication for each chamber individually. Which I believe is one of the reasons why Community Matters publications has been awarded has awarded chambers, many Texas Chamber of Commerce media awards over the last fifteen years as well, including our first map for Frisco.
04:35.758 Brandon Burton
So in those the custom publications go beyond the maps too, right? As as far as the directories and chamber magazines and stuff. It it all is up to the chamber's discretion about what their needs are and and being able to work with them to customize that. Yeah.
04:50.582 Layne Mullin
Yes, everything that we do, we do under direction of the chamber and they don't they can be as l as little involved or as as much involved as they'd like to be. but it what's important to our company is that when when the publication goes to print, that it best represents the chamber or other association that it's published for in the way that they want it.
05:16.558 Brandon Burton
Perfect. Thank you for sharing. So our overall topic of discussion today, as listeners may have already caught on to, is about chamber publishing. I think most chambers out there have some kind of published material, whether it's a city street map or a chamber directory or relocation guide, or maybe some niche publication that their chamber does. we're gonna discuss you know a little bit more detail as we as we have our conversation today. But Lane, from your experience and from your point of view, when should a chamber or an organization consider self-publishing and when should they consider outsourcing their publishing to a a publisher such as Community Matters?
06:04.558 Layne Mullin
Okay, that's a really good question. And I'll try not to be self-serving with my answer. but in all in in all seriousness, the when when a chamber has enough personnel and and hours during the week to be able to cover everything that they are are supposed to be doing as a chamber, membership and and events and all the ribbon cuttings that they get involved in. Only after that should they really consider in investing the additional time in in publications on their own. Now there's a lot of chambers that do very well at this and and there's probably many chambers that are listening now that that have done it for several years and we know of many that have done it for several years. Granbury Chambers, one that has done their their own directory for as long as I remember, and we do their map for the last twelve twelve years as well. They don't they don't want to do their map because maps are a little more difficult on a publication side than a than a directory or a magazine. But one of the one of the com one of the concerns that ends up coming across with some chambers, in their midst of of directory publications that they might be doing is that they don't have the time to do everything. And so something gives either the the publication may take a little longer to get out because there's only so many hours in the day, or something else that the chamber may suffer. And we have done magazines for and directories for chambers that have done it previously. And Coppel is one chamber that had done their directory and then we took that over and it was for those same reasons because they wanted to spend the hours that they had during the week devoted to taking care of their members and adding value to the chamber altogether.
08:12.834 Brandon Burton
I can see where with the directory or magazine kind of format where it may be something easier to bite off, maybe, at least in concept, as a chamber gets into that. In the end, as you're looking at overall profitability, what would you what would your guess be as far as a chamber self publishing versus outsourcing as far as revenue that a chamber can see from a project either way?
08:39.958 Layne Mullin
Right. a lot of it depends on the the cost of printing and what they're trying to accomplish. But you're you are correct about the the ability to to publish a directory, self-publish a directory through a chamber. one of the one of the i'm happy to talk to any chamber that would like to discuss it because I have told chambers before that you're doing a great job or this is perfect for you. keep on keep on doing that. And let's talk about your map or we'll keep doing the map. But I want the chamber to be able I want chambers in general to be as profitable as possible. And when you take into consideration all the aspects of publishing, there is a there is besides the turnkey opportunity with community matters, we've also have like a middle range opportunity where a chamber may decide that they want to sell their own ads, but They don't wanna have to deal with the actual publishing or the or the ad creation, or maybe they do. And we can design a program where a chamber can actually contract for the publication in almost off a menu of things that they wanna be able to do themselves and then things they'd like us to do. And then we can include the printing. Our printing cost is most likely better than than most local chambers. we'll get because of the volume that we do. but when you look at the whole program, you could you could sell the ads as a chamber and do the billing and collect the money. And then if you want, after you're done with with sales, you can choose to have our sales staff pick the ball up with the rest of the people and the members in the chamber to contact a lot of the members that you either weren't able to contact or are harder to reach and and we will make an arrangement for those sales to really up the the publication revenue. And we we did a we did a publication for Choctaw is a good example. It's a three two or three person chamber and we contracted with them to publish their their directory and they wanted to take care of the sales. So they did all the sales first. and
11:02.27 Layne Mullin
all the premium locations were gone and all the big investors had bought the pages and and they did a really good job and they ended up with around fourteen, fifteen, sixteen thousand in sales. And then our company went in and our sales staff went in and added another twenty one thousand dollars on top of that. And the chamber ended up making a a real handsome, a handsome profit off of that a publication.
11:30.828 Brandon Burton
I think that's a a terrific point to make as far as you know, some chambers are gonna have more strengths in certain areas than others. for example, sales. They may have those relationships with some of those chamber members that have been around a long time or they know who's gonna advertise and to be able to handle the sales on their end, or maybe they, you know, have somebody that can do sales and they have somebody in the graphic design and you know, put the whole thing together. It really depends on what kind of staff they have. on hand at their chamber to be able to to manage the project or pieces of it and to be able to have a company like Community Matters be able to help you know bridge that gap to be able to get them to over the finish line and be able to be as profitable as possible. I I like those examples. You shared a couple examples of chambers that have done some self-publishing on their own and then had Community Matters come in to do it and examples of Chambers that self-publish some publications, but then outsource for others, like their map, just because it's a little bit more complex. What would your response be to the chatter that goes on today about how everything's going digital? Digital this, digital that. Where's the value in a printed publication these days versus just an online resource?
12:51.318 Layne Mullin
Well, you know, that's a a great question. And for the last for many years, starting around two thousand ten, we've we hear about how maps and Google Maps and Waves Ways and all that come around and and so we were wondering ourselves how this was gonna turn out and what's happened is our maps our map side has has been more productive each year. people want printed maps. It's the most asked for publication, requested publication in a in a chamber. And what's really interesting is how many chambers and how many executives and and employees at chambers just shake their head and and they get they go through so many maps with with relocation packets and people new in the area and with the at least for community matters, we we we FedEx ground all the advertisers and the points and the distribution points their maps right away this so the chambers don't have to be worried about having a lot of maps that need to be distributed come to the chamber. And so it's been really neat and we have an online interactive map available for websites for the chambers so we are in the digital age in that regard, but it it is amazing on how popular the s the printed street map is. And there's something about the map or a printed directory that people like to hold on to.
14:32.622 Brandon Burton
Yeah, as you were saying all that, it it just reminded me over the course of doing some of these podcast episodes, there's been several of these chamber executives that I've talked to that have mentioned how the maps how popular maps are at the chamber. In fact, let's take a quick time out and hear what some of these chamber executives said about their maps. It's funny, one of the the biggest things that people ask for when they come here are for those, you know, old school maps. yeah. Chambers of Commerce still do maps. you would think with phones and technology and everything else, but that is one of the biggest things that we can consistently get asked for is a city map. We still produce a
15:16.344 Layne Mullin
fold out map which I know sounds crazy because because of technology, but people I mean they fly as it the maps fly off our shelves. I mean it's what and I do want to tell you Brandon that we appreciate so much what you do with our project with our community map and that is a great source of non Jews revenue and it's something that those members really value. So I also want to tell Chamber execs to reach out and
15:19.768 Brandon Burton
Because
15:26.808 Brandon Burton
People like like that.
15:44.034 Layne Mullin
Bring those resources into your chamber if you're not already doing that.
15:48.042 Brandon Burton
All right. So I I find that just fascinating with all the the digital technology out there that so many chambers are saying that the maps are still so popular at their chamber. Mane, you mentioned a little bit about the online map. Can you explain to the audience a little bit more about how that works? And we can also include a link to a sample in the show notes so people can see it. But if you can explain it a little bit so they wanna check it out.
16:14.19 Layne Mullin
Sure. We're in the in the very final stages of upgrading our online interactive map to feature a lot of the of Google Analytics and and so people are people are used to that. So there's gonna be our our cartography will be overlaid on the Google platform and all the advertisers that are participating will have their logos placed wherever they're located on the map. And there'll be a search bar or search menu for types of categories or points of interest, which includes schools. And each one, when you when you drag your cursor over the logo or the school, an image will you know pop up and you'll see at the bottom will have information about that particular business or service or point of interest. And then you can choose to click to go to the website. You can there's a function where you can zoom in further. on that on that particular point or you can also get directions to that location from where you're going to be. It's a it's a great it's a great innovation and we're really excited about hitting the hitting the market with this very soon.
17:28.533 Brandon Burton
I've seen this new online version, online map version, and it's really it's pretty impressive. better than anything I've seen out there. And the functionality of it I think will plug in well, very well on most chamber websites where you have you might currently have like a Google map or something on your chamber website and this can plug right in there, but have it, you know, focus and highlight some of these chamber members that are supporting the program. So that it's something to worth checking out. And I can see it go ahead.
18:01.502 Layne Mullin
I was gonna say and it works on all platforms. So if you have a a s a mobile device or a small cell phone, it will show up and it's very it's it's very interactive and very usable on all platforms.
18:16.334 Brandon Burton
So we'll we'll put a link to that new online interactive map in the show notes, which will be found at chamber chatpodcast dot com slash episode fifteen. So if anybody wants to check that out. But Lane, as as we've been talking, is there one action item that you can suggest for listeners that they can do to up their game with their publications at their chamber?
18:41.454 Layne Mullin
You know, well I I think I think if you have consistency in your publishing, if you have a directory that the directory comes out at the same time that it's supposed to each each go around. It doesn't have to be every year, it could be every quarter, it could be every year, every eighteen months, and if you did it every two years, that's okay too. But the consistency of the publications because I've Our experience has shown us when when they get out of sync as far as the the timing, it it starts to affect some of the advertisers and and some of the businesses that are participating on the publications. Not to mention sometimes the publications run out before you get your next your next distribution.
19:32.14 Brandon Burton
That's a good point to make. I did a whole episode on frequency and resonation with your chamber members, which is episode five of the podcast. If y'all want to go back and check that out, that'll play into what Lane is saying about having the frequency and consistency of your publications coming out at the same time when they're supposed to come out. So Lane, as we look to the future, I I ask everybody this question How do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose?
20:02.956 Layne Mullin
Well, I think chambers are awesome. I think the the sense of community, the the loyalty that chambers some chambers have that is extraordinary, versus other chambers that may struggle a little bit more. And there's a lot of reasons for that that I won't get into, but there's just many reasons and factors economically and otherwise that can cause, you know, loyalty issues either way. But I will say that the chambers that I that I've been in around over the last fifteen years, the ones that are the most successful are the ones that make sure that all the members have what they need, that they they care about the members and the added value to the membership and they're always looking for ways to extend thou those values to the members. And you know, there's that old saying about people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And I think when chambers really show the community by what they do and the actions that they do that that they care, that's when they get the following and that loyalty factor comes in.
21:15.02 Brandon Burton
I've seen that for sure. That showing the care makes all the difference. Lane, where can listeners connect with you? If they have any questions about what was discussed today, or if they have any additional questions about community matters.
21:30.37 Layne Mullin
Wow, that's a great question.
21:34.22 Brandon Burton
Not to be self serving, but where can they find you? Yeah.
21:38.018 Layne Mullin
Well, I am available. our eight hundred number is eight hundred three eight zero two four five zero. I have a SILF, a number direct, which you're you're more than welcome to call, nine seven two nine nine eight nine two two eight. And my email address is Lane L A Y N E at Community Matters Inc. com. I would love to talk to anybody that has any questions at all. I'm here to help and if even if you choose to go a different direction, I I'm happy to give you the opportunity to get all the the angles at least from where we're at and options available to you so you can make an informed decision.
22:23.222 Brandon Burton
That's great. Thank you. I'll I'll also point everybody to a page on Chamberchatpodcast dot com. If you enter ChamberchatPodcast.com slash CMI for Community Matters Inc., it'll have some more information there about Community Matters and a form that you can fill out to request some more information and a bid for your next chamber publication. But I wanted to to thank Elaine for spending some time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. And I also want to thank all of you for listening. Show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode fifteen. And again, if you have any interest in checking out Community Matters, you can fill out the short form at Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CMI to request more information about how Community Matters can help you with your next publication.
23:21.11 Brandon Burton
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