10 Reasons to Join Your Local Chamber

Full disclosure: I’m not only a member of several local chambers but I’m also involved in the marketing committee and board of one.

A chamber membership is much like a gym membership in that you get out of it what you put in. If you’re not working it, you won’t get any of the benefits.

That said, here are several reasons you should consider joining your local chamber:

1. You meet your neighbors. Today, many of us don’t take the time to get to know neighbor businesses. Chamber events are a great way of doing it. Who knows? You might discover some hidden gems.
2. There’s a comradery among chamber member businesses. In a strong chamber, there’s a kinship among the members. It gives you something in common to talk about and you want to see one another succeed. Yes, the chamber can make introductions for you but the members will too.
3. Social media exposure. Most chambers have pretty large audiences. When they talk about the good things you’re doing and share it with their audience, you get a pretty large reach.
4. They know everyone. If I’m struggling with something in my business or wrestling with a challenge, most likely the chamber has seen the issue before. They often can direct me to someone who can help or tell me how some other business handled it.
5. I’ve made a lot of friends at the chamber. People I hang out with socially. That’s brought me an added enjoyment to life.
6. I’ve learned new things. From marketing seminars to best practices in social media, the speakers they bring in are inspiring and I’m able to use what I learn from these seminars in my business.
7. The obvious–I’ve gotten new customers out of membership. Some come from chamber referrals and some come from just meeting new people. Sometimes it’s not even those new people but others that they refer to me. The chamber network is much larger than just membership.
8. I have fun at their events. They make me feel a part of things like they’re happy to see me. But I have a feeling it’s not just me. <Wink, wink.> It’s all the members. Being a part of a group is important.
9. Some chambers offer member-to-member discounts. This helps people think about chamber members first when they’re faced with a buying decision.
10. The chamber gives me an opportunity to “show” not “tell.” People buy from you because they know, like, and trust you. Chamber membership gives me the opportunity to meet people and build rapport but some of my best leads have come from people seeing me in the community at chamber events. I show my commitment to the community, I donate my time and sometimes my product and people witness that. That example is a whole lot more powerful than simply getting up in front of a room and telling them how awesome the business is. People tune out to that. But when they see it for themselves in action, it makes a big difference. The chamber gives me many opportunities to showcase my business through action, not just talk.

Finally, chamber membership for smaller companies is usually the price of a cup of coffee each day for a year. It’s a small investment that yields big results, but only if you show up.