A local chamber of commerce is one of the best business hubs for new entrepreneurs as well as established business owners at any level. Here are four services every chamber of commerce should offer to their members to keep them engaged and also to keep the membership growing and thriving.
Community and Business Events
A chamber of commerce should display their events on an online calendar. This keeps its members aware of the best networking opportunities coming up for them and allows them to make time to attend chamber events. A community and business event calendar that is published online also enables people who are considering joining the chamber to see how active your particular branch is. When they see that your branch has a good number of events happening, they will be more likely to join and to attend the events that your chamber of commerce is hosting.
Niched Groups
While General events that happened within the entirety of the chamber of commerce should be featured on an online calendar, there should also be the opportunity for niche groups to get together that is also within the chamber. For example, a group focused on young professional business owners that get together once a month to discuss issues specific to that. Another good group idea would be for mature people who are just starting their new business and have just registered with the chamber. Being able to connect to others who are at the same stage of life as they are will be helpful. These are just a couple of ideas of niche groups that you can have within your chamber of commerce.
Mentorship
Every chamber of commerce should be able to offer a mentor to those who are looking for one. Mentorship not only benefits the committee, but it also benefits the larger chamber as a whole. When a person is mentored by someone in your chamber of commerce, then they can offer a testimonial to how beneficial your chamber has been to them growing their business and learning more about who they are as a business owner, entrepreneur, or CEO. Mentorship also benefits the person who is giving the mentoring because it allows them to share their expertise and knowledge in an area that they have built credibility in.
Presentation Opportunities
Part of the great thing about being in a chamber of commerce is the ability to reach a large number of people at one time during any given event. That’s why every chamber of commerce should offer presentation opportunities to its members and allow for them to show their expertise on a given subject. The key here is to properly vet the people that you are opening the presentation opportunities to. Have an application process as well as an interview process that the presenters go through before being given the opportunity to present from your Chamber’s stage.
By offering these four services through your chamber, you will notice a greater retention rate in your membership and an increased rate of attendance at your events.
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