A Podcast for Chamber Professionals Posts

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Jenna Armstrong, President & CEO of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce was our guest this week as she shared her ideas about being inclusive and what she has done in the area of community outreach. One of the key messages that Jenna shared was a motto of sorts that their Chamber uses of “seek to provide value first” in everything that they do. This motto extends to businesses that are not members of the Chamber yet so they can experience what the Chamber can do for them.

The Lake Houston Area Chamber is focused on being an Information Central for their community since their trade area encompasses several municipalities. With so many different government agencies, it can be difficult to disseminate information to the community. The Chamber has taken on the role to broadcast information as they receive it from their various community partners. With recent storms and flooding, this idea of being an Information Central has become even more important.

Another way that her Chamber strives to be Information Central is by being a very business solutions focused Chamber to establish credibility and respect in the community. Businesses in a community typically will succeed or suffer together depending on the environment. The goal of the Chamber is to help all of the businesses succeed.

A key take away that Jenna shared with us was, for a Chamber to establish stronger community outreach and to strive to be an Information Central is to build partnerships with important people in your community that will share your social media posts that are of importance. These people may be elected officials or people from your school district, but they can become social ambassadors to help spread the important messages from the Chamber, especially with traditional media sources becoming less and less effective.

If you have any questions for Jenna about how she is doing things at the Lake Houston Area Chamber, she can be reached at jarmstrong@lakehouston.org or you can follow @LHAChamber on Facebook and Twitter.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

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Kevin Hodes, Founder of Swypit came on the Chamber Chat Podcast to discuss how his credit card processing company is able to help your Chamber earn more non-dues revenue. Swypit offers a Chamber affinity program that works in multiple ways. You can find more details about this affinity program at chamberchatpodcast.com/cc where you can fill out a form to have Kevin and his team customize a program for you.

As a brief summary, Swypit can save most Chambers up to 40% on their credit card processing fees. Swypit will help to get their services integrated into your current set up and will even provide new equipment if needed. Kevin mentioned how many Chambers use Stripe or Square to take mobile payments at events that are off-site. These services, while convenient, have very high processing fees. Swypit has mobile processing solutions that will keep your costs low.

As your Chamber starts using Swypit, you will see that Kevin and his team provide great service so you can feel confident referring Swypit to your membership. Swypit can help your Chamber members become more profitable right away by providing a free cost savings analysis and can have them set up with Swypit services within 24-48 hours.

Your Chamber will earn 10% of the profits from the processing fees for each member that starts using Swypit. You will see that recurring non-dues revenue increases year after year as you continue to refer and promote Swypit. It is really a simple affinity program that requires little involvement from the Chamber but can provide large payouts as your Chamber’s relationship with Swypit matures. Revenue projections can be seen at chamberchatpodcast.com/cc. You can also see the video of the 3 things that Kevin hates about the credit card processing industry.

Be sure to Google Swypit and Google your current processor to see how they match up. After you compare, I am confident that you will want to “Get Swiping With Swypit”!

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

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Frank Kenny was kind enough to come on the Chamber Chat Podcast to share some of his wisdom with the Chamber world about social media and digital marketing. Frank really proved his knowledge of digital marketing during the recession in 2008 as he served as a Chamber president when he saw the Chamber membership double as a result of very effective social media marketing. Frank has since become a speaker and a consultant to help teach what he knows to Chambers around the world! Frank Kenny now manages the 7,500+ member (and growing) Chamber of Commerce Professionals Facebook Page.

One of the key take aways from this interview is that most people on social media are trying to push their products or events, and Frank shares from his experience that people go online and to social media to get value, not to be sold to. We discussed the tactics of Gary Vaynerchuk and Bob Burg where they both talk about giving first before asking for anything in their books below.

For Chambers of Commerce, Frank is a big fan of Facebook since that is where most of your potential audience hangs out. He also encourages other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. However, you should only be on the platforms that you like and that you are willing to manage and to keep up with. One think Frank made very clear is that social media and digital marketing needs to be a priority for your Chamber!

To start your Chamber’s social media presence, Frank suggests these 3 steps:

1. Create awareness about the Chamber (give, give, give). Let your community know what the Chamber does and how they serve the community.
2. Build relationships with those who engage with your posts beyond just liking their comments on your posts. Reach out and engage with them!
3. Once you have created awareness and built relationships, then the opportunity for digital marketing begins.

Some Chambers may be confused about their messaging. Frank suggests a hierarchy of who your messages should be targeting:

1. Your current membership base.
2. Prospective members (follow & engaged online)
3. The general community for messaging about community events as much of your non-dues revenue should come from this source.

When it comes to digital marketing, as a Chamber, you should have a marketing budget so you can re-target visitors to certain pages on your website through re-targeting pixels. Most important though is to be collecting contact information all along the way because sales happen through email campaigns, not necessarily through social media.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

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Our guest this week is Layne Mullin, the President of Community Matters, Inc., an award winning Chamber publisher and one of this show’s sponsors.  As Layne and I visit, our conversation revolves around Chamber publishing.  As a publisher, Layne and the Community Matters team help Chambers of Commerce realize their goals in producing high quality, award winning caliber publications that are turn-key and are customized to the needs of each Chamber.  Community Matters specializes in maps and directories (magazines) for Chambers of Commerce.  Although Community Matters is a publisher, Layne takes the time to recognize that there are many Chambers that do a great job in producing their own magazines. 

Layne points out how Community Matters can put together a package that allows a Chamber to play to their strong suites and then Community Matters can help to bridge the gap to complete your publication, or Community Matters can handle everything from start to finish.  Community Matters provides the resources and expertise to allow you to focus what Chambers do best, serve their members!

You can learn more about Community Matters by visiting chamberchatpodcast.com/cmi where you can fill out a form to receive more information and to request a bid for your next map or directory.  Layne also mentioned the new online map platform that Community Matters has to offer.  A sample of this new online map technology can be viewed by following this link for the map that was done for the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce.

Layne can be contacted by phone at 800-380-2450, on his cell phone at 972-998-9228, or by email at layne@communitymattersinc.com.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Lisa Hermes is our guest this week from the McKinney Chamber of Commerce in McKinney, TX.  Lisa visited with me about the efforts that the McKinney Chamber is doing to stay current as a 21st Century Chamber.  Some of these efforts involved trying to include technology as well as ways to adapt to the needs of businesses in their community that are evolving, whether it is more of a global customer base or a new industry in their area, they are always looking for the best ways to conned and serve these businesses.

Lisa shared an example about how the McKinney Chamber used to have a monthly magazine and an entire publishing side of the Chamber that we a for profit organization.  The magazine came about because of a need at one point to connect with the community and to get information out at a time when there were not many options for doing so.  A few years ago, the McKinney Chamber noticed that there was not as much of a need for the printed monthly magazine so they shut down the publishing side.  They did continue however to run a website that is separate from their Chamber website to connect businesses with the community while the Chamber website is focused more B2B.  You can see what both of these websites look like as you consider if this is a move that your Chamber should look at.  McKinneyChamber.com and McKinneyOnline.com.

Lisa did say that they still have printed publications, just not a monthly magazine.  Their publications now are more niche now with target audiences like a Senior Resource Guide, a B2B Guide, a Membership Directory, and a Map.

We discussed the value in having a 3 year plan for your Chamber and how that allows for you to adapt as needed without being strapped to a longer term plan.  A longer vision can be very helpful, but the plan for your Chamber should not be any longer than 3 years!

If you have any questions about this episode or if you would like to connect with Lisa, she can be reached at 972-542-0163 or by email at lhermes@mckinneychamber.com.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Shannan Reid is the Executive Director at the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce in Montgomery, Tx. The Montgomery Area Chamber is only about 5 years old and is a high growth area just North of Houston. With just 209 members at this point, Shannan explains how their Chamber is able to Play Big! They have a vision for what the mature version of their Chamber will look like and they are serving their community and membership as if they are already at this mature level. A major advantage that Shannan has is that they are in the process of creating this Chamber so it can go any direction that they feel is needed and they don’t have to be tied down to old traditions. They are very active in finding out what the needs are of their members and then creating programs to best serve their membership. By keeping a pulse on what the members needs are, also requires the Chamber to have the courage to sunset some programs that are no longer serving their members.

While surveying new members, Shannan found out that 95% of the businesses are joining the Chamber for engagement. Engagement can mean different things to each business, but there is both the give and take in the engagement process. Some businesses want to engage at the level of getting their name out in front of other businesses and the community, while others what to engage by learning what is going on in the community so they can better serve their target audience. In both types of engagement, the Chamber needs to be the trusted resource for your community. Chambers should leverage all of their relationships to best serve their members. Shannan has a neat phrase that she tells all new members, “My number should be in your speed dial”. She shares her cell phone number with each new business to give them the confidence that she is working for them and will be their trusted resource to get them the answers that they need.

We also discussed how important it is to learn something new. As a Chamber, education programs are a great way to keep your members engaged and learning how to better round out their business. I mentioned that in the digital age that we live in, education has never been easier. We used to have to be at a library or referencing a book or going through some type of format education to learn, but new we can learn about anything, even when we are on the go. That is way I love podcast! You can learn about any topic. Google and Youtube can also be great helps in allowing you to learn something new.

Shannan was a great guest to have on Chamber Chat Podcast. For anyone who would like to get in contact with Shannan about anything we disucussed in this espisode, she can be reached at her office 936-597-5004 or you can call/text her cell phone at 936-524-2484 or email at admin@montgomeryareachamber.com.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Diane Probst is the President & CEO of the Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce. This episode is packed full of useful information for any Chamber to be prepared to jump into action after any disaster. For some Chambers, they may face the threat of tornadoes, others wildfires, earthquakes, flooding, terrorism, disease, and a number of many other types of disasters. Diane shares with us her experience during and after Hurricane Harvey which targeted the Rockport-Fulton area as ground zero!

With this disaster being a hurricane, they had the advantage of seeing the storm coming and a warning system to allow for evacuations and for residents and businesses to be prepared for impact. Their E.O.C. meetings would normally have around 75-100 people from the community attend, but as the storm got closer, Diane found herself as 1 of 15 people at this meeting to prepare to respond and to safe guard their community. At this point, many people had already evacuated inland but Diane was determined to be a hero to protect their businesses.

As the storm approached they were given timelines as to when certain services would no longer work such as toilets, electricity, and internet. Once Diane saw they were about to loose their internet, she went inland about 3 hours to be with family and set up a “remote Chamber office” on a kitchen table. Diane and her daughter were glued to any updates and were doing their very best to push information out to the community. Looking back, she would have developed a social media team to data mine information to better keep their businesses and community more informed.

When Diane returned after the storm, they found that the Chamber office, her husband’s business, and their home were all still standing and in good shape while most of the area around them was destroyed. This turned out to be a huge blessing to the business community to have a Chamber that was still able to function. A Go Fund Me account was set up and raised over $1.4 million dollars to help with the recovery. Over a half a million dollars was provided in small business grants. Over 5,500 white trucks showed up to help restore power and to clean up the area.

As the community continues to rebound from this terrific storm, 93% of the businesses are open again. Since the Rockport-Fulton area is very tourism driven, George Strait stepped in to help with a campaign to bring tourism back to the area.

There have been a number of other “silver linings” that the community is being blessed with as well. Ellen DeGeneres and Lowe’s have partnered to build a new gymnasium. Yeti is helping to rebuild the Fulton Pier. There is a new Center for Performing Arts that is planned, as well as a new Convention Center, and Courthouse & City Hall. The Rockport-Fulton Chamber is also partnering with other Chambers to build solar panel kiosks to help provide power, internet, and information to be better prepared in the future.

Some lessons learn are:

1. The world will respond. Just 6 weeks after the storm, the Chamber held their annual fundraiser which turned out to be their 6th best ever!
2. Every Chamber should have a seat with their Emergency Management Team. Do it now!
3. Visit other Cities to learn how they establish and implement their crisis plan.
4. Be prepared to be a leader when disaster strikes!

In addition to being a great leader at the Chamber and in her community, Diane is also an author. Many Chamber professionals know of her book, Chamberology. She is also coming out with a new book, co-authored with her daughter, titled When the Storm Comes which will be out in July 2019.

If you need to reach out to Diane about anything she shared in this episode, she can be reached at: president@1rockport.org or on her cell phone at 361-463-1585. You can also connect with Diane on Facebook.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Sandy Barton is the President at the Greater Magnolia Parkway Chamber of Commerce.  In this episode, Sandy shares her experiences with us around building/rebuilding a Chamber.  Sandy joined the Greater Magnolia Parkway Chamber of Commerce in 2017, shortly after efforts were made to combine two existing Chambers in the Magnolia area into one Chamber.  This effort brought some challenges with some mindset and logistical changes as well as some opportunities to chart a new course while taking the best attributes from the previous two Chambers.  

One of the great programs that Sandy shares with us is their new member ambassador program.  This allows the Chamber ambassadors to pair up with new Chamber members as a mentor for the first year of the new businesses membership.  This allows the new member to learn about the many benefits that they receive as a Chamber member.  This program also gives the new member a friend to look for at Chamber events.  The ambassadors get to choose which businesses they would like to mentor and often times the two businesses will be complimentary to each other and support each other very well.

Sandy is going a great job to get the Chamber’s message out into the business community and to build the trust of the local businesses to know that the Chamber supports them and will be there for a long time to come.

For those of you who would like to get in contact with Sandy, she can be reached by email at sandyb@greatermagnoliaparkwaycc.org or on her cell phone at 936-520-6828.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Tony Moline serves as the President & CEO of the Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce.  In this episode, Tony shares how he has been able to effectively participate in the decision making processes with his City.  Tony shared a great example of where the City of Cedar Park wanted to introduce a “no waste” mandate for the residents and businesses in the City.  Tony and his Chamber recognized how a mandate could be a hindrance to local businesses and to future growth. 

In a response to this proposed mandate, the Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce created and introduced a Green Business Initiative which encourages businesses to be green by creating a point system that contributes to different levels of how green a business is.  They also help businesses realize the green things that they are already doing such as LED lights and recycling that count towards the point total.  Tony mentioned that in these kinds of situations, you can either look for a problem, or you can help to be part of the solution.  

For more details or to connect with Tony Moline, you can reach him by email at tony@cedarparkchamber.org or by phone at 512-260-7800.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.