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The Chamber Weekly Blog
A collection of articles that we believe will add value to you and your business!Christina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollMonday, July 22, 2024Content helps you connect, right? It gives insights into your business, your personality, and your culture. But boy, can it be draining. And as awesome as AI is there are only so many times you can ask it for blog ideas for the exact same audience before it starts to sound the same. So where do you get new content ideas and inspiration to attract and retain customers? And how do you keep your content fresh and relevant? Let’s dig into some sources and strategies to generate, curate, and hybridize content for your blog posts, articles, videos, and social media. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollTuesday, July 2, 2024In my town, businesses of all types and industries are getting into the event business. They’re offering how-to demos, social gatherings, night outs, and a lot more. Best of all, they’re collaborating with some unlikely partners. Using a similar type of collaboration can help you reach new audiences, enhance your offerings, and drive sales. Here are 15 innovative partnership ideas that can benefit small businesses across various industries. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollThursday, June 20, 2024By building a community around a shared interest relevant to your target market, you can boost engagement, gather valuable insights, and ultimately drive sales. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollTuesday, June 18, 2024For the past two years or so, it feels as if economists have been avoiding the words recession and inflation. No one wants to hear those terms. They’ve been pointing to economic equations and data to show we’re not “technically” in a recession because unemployment is low or the inflation rate is lower than it was this time last year. But if you’re feeling the pinch in your business, an economic turn of words means little to you. So, what can you do to combat this word no one wants to talk about? Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollTuesday, May 28, 2024This is not a comment on the actual item or service you sell but in how you present it. If you’re not using your audience’s language and talking to a need they’ve identified, you’re fighting a marketing battle, and you need to change that today. Here’s why: Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollMonday, May 13, 2024The business landscape is noisy and crowded for most of us. But keeping your customers happy and engaged is crucial to your success and their return. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a powerful toolkit to elevate your customer experience in ways you might not have thought of. And it’s not about replacing your employees with robots. As a small business owner, you can leverage AI to make your customers feel valued and keep them coming back for more. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollMonday, May 6, 2024Even with costs escalating, consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on a company's values. Sustainability and transparency are no longer just buzzwords – they're key factors influencing brand loyalty and attracting a new generation of eco-conscious customers. According to recent research, consumers sustainability demands are rising and customers are willing to pay more for it. Now is the ideal time to embrace going green for more green. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollMonday, April 29, 2024Small business owners and solopreneurs learn quickly that they must wear many hats. While this ability to work in every area of their business may save money in the short term, it doesn't take long to understand that multitasking can be bad for business. When your focus is diluted across many channels and business goals, you may find that you do a little bit of everything but never solidly complete anything. You spend a good part of your day putting out fires and starting projects and at the end may realize you didn't finish anything to your satisfaction. That's why keeping your focus is one of the best things you can do for your business. It also models good behavior and sets your employees up for success. Here are a few tips on how you can keep your focus in a world that rewards anything but. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollThursday, April 18, 2024Do you work from home, or do you have a brick-and-mortar business? While COVID taught us about the convenience of working from home (who can give up a one-minute commute?), it’s been the inflated economy and increase in costs that have driven many small businesses to embrace a location-independent business. That could mean a big change for communities over the next five years. If you’ve been thinking about ditching the monthly cost of office rent, you're not alone. A recent study by Clarify Capital shows a shift in how small businesses are viewing office space. Read moreChristina Metcalf and Edited by Julie CarrollThursday, April 4, 2024Ask yourself a simple question—what’s holding your potential customers back from buying from you? You might think cost. Perhaps it’s ease of purchase (online ordering), location, or not knowing about you. But there could be something much easier to fix than cutting your prices, moving, or rebranding/launching a huge marketing campaign. While all these things are important—pricing, location, and top-of-mind recognition—there is something else you could be doing to get more people in your business. You could be setting expectations. What does that mean? Read more