Membership in the South Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce is, of course, my mantra. But once you join and schedule your ribbon-cutting, then what? Just because you are listed in the membership directory and have a membership plaque posted in your window, the benefits don’t stop there. Have you left a stack of business cards in the chamber lobby that we can pass out to members and nonmembers alike when they inquire about your type of business or service?
Do you send us your fliers that either state what you do or drive people to an event you are sponsoring? You need to get those in our weekly e-blasts. But to help get a better return on your investment in your chamber membership, I recommend you take it a step further. My best advice is to sponsor an event. The focus of that event is on you and your business or service. Your name is out there with advance notice in the chamber email reminders and in our Facebook postings. And we can get you a group of members attending as your captive audience. They come to learn about you and your business, so take advantage of that sponsorship opportunity. We have numerous opportunities available for 2023, but the dates are filling up, so let’s figure out which one is the best fit for you.
Our Coffee Connections are the first Tuesday of each month from 8:30-9:30 a.m. It is the first stop of our members on their way to work. You just need to caffinate them and supply some breakfast snacks and let chamber members provide that captive audience. Our monthly Chamber Luncheon is always the third Thursday of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
We’ll help you find the location and you spring for the lunch. Again, we also supply the captive audience….and we’ll add raffle prizes to make the event a little more entertaining. Then you give it all you’ve got about what you do.
Our Business After Hours is the fourth Thursday of the month from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Our last event was at Your CVB Store in the Cortaro Plaza. Everyone learned a lot about what Akhil and his staff are doing to help our community.
If you are not exactly sure what you need to do to maximize exposure to your new networking friends, give me a call at 813-634-5111. We have a checklist of what you need to do and lots of ideas we can re-purpose from other successful events. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon at your very own sponsored event.
Lynne Conlan is executive director of the South Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce. Call her at 813-634-5111, or email lynne@southhillschamber.com.
