www.inkthinkerblog.com — Marketing and self-promotion are big topics of discussion here at Inkthinker, and with good reason: They’re the foundation of a successful business (assuming, of course, that you’re moderately skilled at what you do and not a big fat scammer), and without them, you’re probably not going very far.
As I’ve said before, most recently at the March 10 WIW marketing seminar, marketing and self-promotion don’t have to be about making a hard sale. Networking is all about building relationships, and it’s one of the best marketing tools you can have in your arsenal.
Case in point:
My friend the mortgage broker, whom I met while shopping around for financing options for our new house, is an ambassador or diplomat or something for my local Chamber of Commerce, and when she found out that I’m self-employed, she offered to personally introduce me to the Chamber membership coordinator to help me get a feel for the group and its networking opportunities.
So we met for coffee and she took me up to the CoC office. It was love at first sight, I’m telling you. My friend politely excused herself after some small talk, and I ended up talking with the membership coordinator for about an hour and a half, chatting with some folks in the lobby for another 20 minutes, and then snagging an impromptu meeting with the Chamber president for about 30 minutes of pitch-tastic fun, during which I proposed some informational content and seminars for the membership based on my experience in using written and online materials to promote a small business, as well as fundamentals of business writing and grammar boot camp — and I suggested my writing for the monthly CoC newsletter, a snazzy four-color half-size newspaper. All ideas were met with enthusiasm. Needless to say, I joined.
Then, on the way out, the prez introduced me to the communications guy, who, as it turns out, I used to work with at The Free Lance-Star newspaper right here in Fred Vegas. That was about two weeks ago, and today, my phone rang with my first assignment for the Chamber newsletter, which goes out to more than 2,000 local businesses.
So here’s the bottom-line equation:
(1 casual mention of my business) + (1 introduction) = (thousands of local businesses who will soon see me as an expert resource when it comes to writing, editing, and small business marketing and promotion)
I may have been an English major, but even I can see that that’s some exciting math.
Are you taking advantage of all of your local opportunities? If not, you’re missing out.
__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King. All rights reserved.
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
Comments on this entry are closed.
This post is incredibly timely for me! I have always planned to join the chamber here in Fort Lauderdale so I could volunteer, network and hopefully make contacts and meet clients. I was checking out their website last week so I could finally do it, and the membership fee is much more expensive than I guessed. At this point, I think it may be prohibitively expensive and the website has not really convinced me why I would want to spend the money (they need better content!). Anyway, I was wondering what the average fees are at other chambers and if anyone else who belongs to one can talk about their experiences, good and bad. I’d love to find myself in the situation you were in, Kristen. Maybe I can schedule a meeting just to get more info and meet the coordinators.
Julie, I’d encourage you to call them up and ask to meet with their membership person. That person should be able to tell you all of the benefits of membership and fill you in on upcoming events.
I’m not comfortable talking exact numbers since I don’t see the membership rates listed on my Chamber’s website, but my fee for 1 year of membership was more than $300, and I was happy to pay it for all of the awesome benefits membership confers.
Incidentally, I’ve been poking around and it seems that most Chamber websites suck as a rule. That’s why they need people like us!
For an example, check out http://www.chamberofcommerce.com, which has a ginormous error message for its entire content and a bizarre layout at 10:45 a.m. on March 21, 2007.
Thanks, Kristen. I will try to schedule a meeting. The cost is definitely more acceptable if you really believe it’s worth it.
It was also great for me to see their offices and to get a sense of exactly how many people need to get paid for the Chamber to keep running smoothly. The phone was ringing off the hook the whole time I was there, and people were coming in and out… It was downright bustling. And my little $300+ makes that happen. In the scheme of things, it’s a drop in the bucket.
Thanks for this post; I’ve been meaning to go to one of my Chamber’s luncheons to check them out, so I surfed over and signed right up for the next one.
For the town of Round Rock TX, just north of Austin, the basic membership is $250, which was steeper than I’d expected. I’m going to attend a luncheon or two first to make sure it’s worth my while.
How awesome, I’m so happy for you! This is definitely inspirational :) I doubt I’ll have anything to do with my local CoC – as I’m dark and twisty and just don’t like people in general – but it definitely makes me realize that good things like this can happen :)
Uh, Alicia, I’ve know you for a while now, and you’ve never struck me as being angst filled and antisocial. Are you sure you’re talking about yourself? ;]
kk