Now, The Quad State Chamber of Commerce?

The Death of the Quad-State Business Journal Reveals Business Opportunities

The date was back in July of 2009 actually, but my reality occurred only in September when I called to chat with my friend Peter Heerwagen, (former) publisher of the Quad State Business Journal (QSBJ).

"The post office put the Journal out of business, Steve," was his explanation. Of course, he was talking of his 100% off-line QSBJ. "I can't make any money now."

Our 'Quad State' area covers a stretch of contiguous counties boarding on Interstate 81 from approximately Chambersburg, PA in the north and Winchester, VA on the south encompassing Washington county in Maryland and three West Virginia counties in its footprint.

This is sad. I've known Peter for 18 of the 20 years he's published the Journal. I wrote his only published 'how to' book on building a business in the Quad State region for him. I was regularly on Peter's case in the 1990s on 'doing more' win-win stuff with his data base. Now he is just sitting on it. I urged him to do something online...'at least a blog of some sort' I implored. His response?

"You know I don't do Internet stuff, Steve! Why don't you do something?"

Thanks, Peter. I think I will.

BUT LAUNCHING THE QUAD STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE?

I've decided it will not be a chamber of commerce (although that opportunity is still up for grabs).
Note: the words 'chamber of commerce' are not copyrighted or trademarked in any way and, as a former executive director of my own Washington County C of C told me, "Anyone can form a chamber of commerce..." But one truly must think through the ramifications of having a platform such as this. What are your members going to expect? Are you up to the task?

If you would like to tackle a Quad State chamber, I am willing to lend a hand. With none other than the administration of President of the United States attacking the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and hence the hundreds of county chambers, all those of us who stand for freedom in commerce must stick together. The hippies and radicals of the 1960s are now in power.

What I would like to do is develop a business network in my area and put my progress, warts and all, on this blog. I have come to the conclusion that our current administration is ultimately anti business--not just big business. I note with irony that the administration now has a program out to 'help small business' but making it easier for business owners to borrow. I can't wait to see what will probably become another program with the devil in the details.

My Quad State Business Network is developed solely with the business health of all the 35,000 businesses in its footprint in mind. I see that businesses must stay networked to keep on top of news and events, but also must develop their own version of what I call a residual customer network.

First the Local News...

The more awareness one can foster in digging up and reporting local business news and events, the more the region's businesses become aware of each other.

Our local TV station WHAG-25 is trying its best to be all things to all people, including businesses, but really leaves a gaping hole to fill for the region's business news. Same thing with the independent newspapers in the region. In this decade of the niche, people are looking vertical for solutions that give more of an in-depth treatment to subjects. And that gives rise to...

Secondly, the Regional Network...

It's not enough for businesses to be aware of each other, but they need to be bound to a common base. Their logical self-centeredness for the health of their business and their employees is a given. Their local C of C is a great place to launch from. Yet there are thousands of home-based business owners who quietly earn a full time income from E-Bay, have a traveling craft business going to shows to those who just earn money through affiliate marketing in key word development are often left with no social, let alone business, networking.

A regional network can not only tie in surface interests as a planning tool, it can become a platform upon which business owners can develop their own synergies with their own residual customer platforms (see the third area below). This one area of strategy has now become, to my thinking and looking over our geo-political landscape, the single most opportunity-laden mother lode of revenue for individual business owners.

Thirdly, the Residual Micro Intra-Business Network...

There are two parts (of several), I want to focus upon in this and forthcoming blogs. One part ia a Residual Customer Network (I'm giving it a name or RCN) where the individual owner puts his customers into one or more areas of a database. This database is not divided in terms of any accounting terms but rather by product, and if too few customers come from that gambit, by strategic 'bunching' of product interest.

Many businesses are just now getting used to the fact that they can cross-market disparate products or services with a single communication going to their customer list. (And yes, I know the number of business owners who sadly do not even have their customers in some sort of contact list (offline or online), let alone interest breakouts, are legion.) There is no 'new concept' about this gambit, but there are whole businesses that exist on the face that hundreds of owners are discovering newsletters, blogs, postcards and so on for the first time.

These product or interest divisions enable the business owner to jump into the world of keyword marketing and deployment on their websites and blogs with tremendous revenue effectiveness.

The other way (as I say, among several we are going to explore) once you have your customer list is by cross marketing with other non-competitive businesses with their lists AND/OR with a national marketer with a vertical product to your list.

A Quad State Business Network will work on the behalf of businesses, not politics as the local chambers of commerce often are faced with. It is my quest that others will see the area in and around them to develop their own regional network.

Keep thinking...