You got your chamber membership and head back to the office to reap the rewards. There is barely time to prop your feet up on your desk when you hear a rumble outside. With a contented smile, you cross your arms behind your head as millions of new customers bust down your doors—just because of your chamber membership.
That is how it works—right?
“Chamber membership isn’t a magic faucet you turn on to bring in business. To reap the rewards of chamber membership, you’ve got to give back as much as you want to get out,” says Jared Blaut, owner of DRW magazine and current chairperson of the chamber.
How to Serve
It may sound like a daunting task, but donating time and energy is what has helped many chamber members find success. For Blaut and 300 others, their membership isn’t viewed as an open door to immediate business. Rather, it is treated as an open door to fostering business-growing relationships.
However, this perspective isn’t always present at the get-go. Patrick found this out the hard way. He joined the Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce (http://www.davie-coopercity.org/) when he opened the doors to his first UPS Store. From an outsider’s perspective, he was doing everything right. As a newbie, he attended chamber breakfasts to network and pass out business cards. But the business didn’t magically roll in.
“It wasn’t benefiting me,” Eloi admits of his early months as a chamber member. Instead of dropping his membership, he did what any smart businessperson would do. He humbled himself. “I re-evaluated what I was doing, figured out which chamber members were being successful, and talked to them to find out what they were doing that I wasn’t.”
Eloi quickly realized the chamber members who were reaping the rewards of chamber membership were not just attending one function a month. They were on chamber committees, lending a hand to non-profit chamber members, and performing other volunteer work in the community. Since learning this, Eloi began doing the same, and his business picked up so much that he opened a second UPS store.
Exciting as Eloi’s story is, it’s not unique. Business professionals who put their time in reap the rewards, and that’s a truth that Blaut echoes. “If you’re going to sit back and do nothing, you’ll get nothing in return,” he says. “But if you’re willing to come to meetings, give and get referrals, be on committees, and generally be an active part of the chamber community, you should do quite well.”
Want to work with the chamber to grow your business? Call (954) 581-0790 to become a member of the Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce today, and please connect with the chamber on Facebook and Twitter.
This article was written by Daniel Brantley exclusively for The Club, part of the Amplification, Inc. social media network. Please follow along on Twitter and Facebook. Daniel Brantley is a freelance writer, email Daniel, find him online at danielkbrantley.com, or connect via Twitter: twitter.com/danielkbrantley.!
