Posts

Sarah Giammaria

For the Love of Community

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We hear the word “community” thrown around a lot – find IT, get involved in IT, tap into IT; not to mention the various types of “community” any one could be referring to at any given time. With this word being used so frequently, it’s easy for the concept to lose its weight; the true meaning of it seems to slip by because “Yeah, yeah I know, I’ve heard it before”. But when I look around Louisville, I get a sense that a lot of people around here actually do care about community, in whatever capacity they view it, and they are running with it! That’s why I am writing this little tribute to the love of this community.

So what do I mean when I say community? Well, I view community as a group (large or small) of people who genuinely care about staying connected. That connection leads to them taking a deeper interest in those people’s lives, leading to a unique support system grounded by a common interest or goal. Plug that into the idea of building a “business community”, and suddenly you have the potential for a very strong force for mutual success. This isn’t some deep or poignant viewpoint, but sometimes it’s nice to remind ourselves.

When I was given the opportunity to work with Trailhead Wealth Management, LLC, I was tasked with creating our “brand” and presence in Louisville. Our first thought was to become a part of local organizations here, and see what we could participate in around town. The goal: to get our name out there and find out what the people of Louisville were interested in; what we found: that strong force for success I mentioned earlier was definitely evident, there was a true sense of togetherness – people CARE here, and that was a unique and fantastic discovery! It is what has kept us coming back to every event, and making sure our memberships around town are always up-to-date. By diving into this community, we not only gained meaningful business connections, but more importantly, we developed friendships and experiences that are irreplaceable as a company, as well as individuals. I found myself catapulted from a newcomer to this town, hardly knowing what a Chamber of Commerce did, to part of the Board of Directors, working alongside passionate people with a desire to make this community (yes I said it again) even greater than when we found it.

My experience in the business world is fairly new, I haven’t been involved in numerous organizations over the years, nor have I been jaded by the cutthroat corporate world, but I can tell you that based on my limited but growing experiences in the work force, I know we have something special here in Louisville. Maybe it’s the way we have a small town feel with big-city success, or maybe it’s because the people who choose to live and work here have adopted the concept that it is important to look outside yourself to better your life, and the lives of those around you. Whatever it is, I LOVE it! Our COMMUNITY is special and I want to thank all of you for being a part of it. If you’re new to it, I want to invite you to get involved with us! I know it can be intimidating, but I swear it will be worth it. Can’t wait to see you around!

KC Coburn

Getting the Most From Your Chamber Membership

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successYou’ve heard the term (or is it slogan) “Membership has its privileges,”, and with a Chamber membership that’s certainly true. With a membership in the Louisville Chamber, you get the advantage of connecting with other business professionals; taking part in on-going events and gathering; and of course, getting more exposure for your business. That last one seems to be an overlooked piece of the membership “pie” when it comes to members leveraging their profile on this very website.

Recently, we, along with Goozmo, embarked on a journey to update the Louisville Chamber’s website from top to bottom. Goozmo had the “fun” task of moving all the previous content of the old site into the new one and setting things into a WordPress environment, while we had the joy of putting a new face on this site, and building in a newer membership feature. For members of the Chamber, this latest feature has many things that are designed to help you get greater exposure for your business, and create more reach to potential customers and clients.

First Things First: Sign In to Your Profile

If you haven’t already, make sure to login to the Member Only area. When you do so for the first time, you’ll need to go through the typical steps involved with passwords and user names, keeping in mind whatever email is associated with the Chamber account is the one an email will be sent to. We’ve put a pretty good tutorial here that can help answer many questions you might have.

Once you’re in the profile area, you’ll want to pay special attention to your Profile Description and Business Card blocks; these two places are what help populate the member profiles that are seen by the public.

Beyond the Profile

This new site will give your business some extra opportunities for both exposure and advertising reach. Note the block at the bottom footer area titled “Your Ad Here”; these are spots “for rent” by members, and allow for a small image to be placed there, along with a link to your offer. Also new is a blog, which is what you’re reading from now. If you have an article that would be of interest to the membership community and beyond, contact the Chamber and ask about providing a blog for publication here. (Please note: The blog is not an advertising platform or political platform, so content is restricted to items that would be of benefit/interest to business owners, members, and the general public.)

Finally, Make Friends!

I’m not sure about you, but events and things I do are much more fun when I meet neat people, people who aren’t trying to sell me something, but are genuinely interested in connecting. If someone in the Chamber seems like someone you might want to meet or talk with, do it! Sometimes we’re all so busy running our businesses that we forget to just stop, shake hands and exchange some conversation with someone new and have some laughs without the discussion of business at all.

Not everyone is a good chatter or networker, either. As gregarious as I might seem, even I hit my times of bashfulness (or maybe I’m just tired!), as others might do. Those are the times I appreciate a kind word, smile or introduction to others. It’s at these moments that you build lasting relationships, not only with people you might do business with, but who you might refer to someone later on.