Or… why joining a Chamber of Commerce could be a waste of your time.
No, really. Let me explain.
If you are starting a business, OR you have little discretionary funds to spend on marketing then chambers of commerce are the last places you need to be at.
Why is that?
Well, there are THREE significant factors to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of ANY marketing for your business… before you spend one dollar.
They are:
- Time
- Targeting
- Asset or Resource Allocation
Let me explain…
TIME
If you are just getting started you are probably looking to get more customers or clients for your business.
But here’s an interesting fact.
Anyone that already has an existing successful business is probably too busy or too tired to attend chamber event.
Meaning most of the successful people you need to meet who can afford your products or services will NOT be at any chamber events.
Think about it for a minute.
And the people you do meet at the chamber are all in the same boat as you… looking for customers or clients but unwilling or unable to buy from you.
In other words, you’ll find yourself in a room with all sellers and no buyers.
Wasted time, wasted effort.
And in the end nothing to show for it. Ouch…
TARGETING
Probably the single most important difference between online and offline marketing is the ability to TARGET who you are trying to reach.
Let’s get back to the Chamber of Commerce example. You walk into an after-hours event and the room is filled (hopefully?) with people attending.
Any idea who in the room is a likely candidate for your services?
But when it comes to online marketing, you absolutely can (you better) target your message to the right people looking for you.
How do you do this?
Well, there are a number of ways. But it all begins with proper (as in professional) keyword research.
Finding the keywords actual people use when they search for a solution to their problem allows you to:
- Know what they want
- Discover the language they use when describing their problem
- Target your content to educate potential customers/clients regarding your solution to their problem
Do this correctly and they really will beat a path to you door.
And in my book that’s a much better use of your valuable time then schmoozing a bunch of people at an after-hours event who are only there for appetizers, cocktails, and the faded hope that they will actually run into a buyer.
ASSET
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gotten good contacts and made some strong alliances because of the chamber.
For some people I know this would be considered a valuable asset for your business. In my view, however, building a network of personal relationships is much too tenuous and unreliable a means for growing your business.
Why?
Because people move away, change jobs, get fired, run off to Tibet to go “find themselves.” In the end do you really want to base your business growth on the “kindness of strangers?”
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
What’s more, I have wasted years and gotten nowhere fast until I realized that the chamber isn’t where my success was to be found.
And to add insult to injury the chambers don’t really care if you make it or not.
I’ve been told by many Chamber presidents that “we don’t make any money off of small businesses” but when it’s time to renew your membership, they’re hounding you like crazy to pay your dues.
Now let’s turn to creating online marketing SYSTEMS.
Once you’ve put in the hard work and effort (or hired someone to do it for you) you now have a real asset that has value.
What’s more, you’ll receive more targeted leads from a properly constructed and fine-tuned web-based marketing system then running into a bunch of “wanna-bees” at chamber events and hoping like hell that they’ll refer you to someone who could actually use your services.
Each day we generate leads for ourselves, for clients and for online lead generation customers.
And once you get a system like this up and running it works like clockwork, day in and day out, 24/7/365.
No need to worry about the system running off to Tibet to go “find itself” ever again.
Is It Time for Expert Guidance?
Whether you have worked with another web marketing firm in the past, OR you have been working at improving your website by yourself, here’s what you can do right now…
Call us to schedule a no-strings-attached phone consultation.
That’s it.
Call 888-542-2936 Today!
After you leave a voice message I will personally follow up with you to schedule a mutually convenient time to discuss your web sales, goals, and long-term plans.
And if it makes sense for the both of us to pursue a working relationship, we’ll decide together.
We can help you with a wide range of services, such as copywriting services and article marketing services (to name a few).
The choice is yours…
