Marketing on your level in most forms is no-win situation when it comes to ROI. Sure everyone needs a site on the web to offer validity to your services but look at it at that. Websites are mandatory in marketing.
The biggest mistake most make in joining a chamber is that they think they will automatically get business. If you can not work a group or crowd (be a sales person) then you will fail at networking on all levels. You have to learn to be a sales person 1st and then offer your trade and/or services.
A chamber membership if dealing in B2B sales is putting most other business owners within your reach in a public setting (meetings) you have to get up the nerve to go introduce yourself, strike common ground and create a friendship/acquaintance. From here you have to realize that people like helping people... I mean look at how often you have given out names from say someone asking you "do you know a mechanic"..yada, yada, yada. You yourself could have never used their services but you will pass along a name!
If you can not sell or have a product that is in demand then you will not make money, end of story.
Me, I just like meeting people. I can shoot the shit with a bum on the street or with the executive at the country club and neither one of them could not tell I didn't belong. Do you have that trait?
One of my largest customers ever came from a janitor in Corporate America. I was waiting in the lobby for a meeting, janitor and I struck up a conversation and he asked what I did. I explained it to him and he said "My sister-in-law owns a company that subs a lot of that type of work out" I told him to hit her up for me and if I get the services I will give him a 10% commission on the profits. After 6 months he finally looked at me and said "You have treated more than fair and have paid me $15K for basically introducing you to my sister-in-law so I expect nothing else"...I then told him that I would not accept that and that I felt obligated to at least give him another $15K.
Moral of the story? Do not ever discredit anyone or any avenue in getting business, even Craigslist.
Me, I was successful in business but never greedy. I started my business from my garage when I was 29 years old. I worked a full time engineering job and done the business when I could. In 6 months I leased out 3000 sq ft and hired 2 people to help, I still continued working my engineering job for another 3 years.....I slept maybe 3 hr a day. I grew the company by myself from blood sweat and tears (and a compassionate wife) to just over $1.5 million in revenue and 13 FTE's and 5 part time employees. I was offered a fair price for my business by the largest competitor in the area and I sold at the age of 40. I retired. Though not a "rich" person I made enough to enable me to live an "average" life and do nothing but be lazy for the next 30 years. Can't buy a new car every 5 years (more like 12) and can't eat out 3 times a week, but at this point answer to no one, can sleep til noon if I choose and let the rest of the world pass me by and I am 42. Most friends call me the "luckiest person alive" that I was able to quit at 40. But what they fail to see is that from the age of 18 til 40 all I done was put 60 years of work into a 22 year time frame and I was able to sell!
In college I knew I was one day going to be a sales person. I was taking a public speaking class and I missed the mid term speech. My professor approached me and said that I was such a good public speaker and that she would give me a double grade for my final to make up for me missing the mid term speech, but only if I would escort her to a party (Mayor). She paid for the tux and picked me up, had a great time, even for the night cap. From that point on I realized that maybe engineering wasn't my intended profession but instead I should focus on the being a salesman.
Are you a salesman? Do you have the trait to strike up conversation with anyone and are you well enough rounded to hold an extended conversation about "anything"? Do you put on heirs (if so don't). Are you an expert in your field? Ask yourself these questions and be honest with yourself, then either go make a living doing your own thing or go find a job working for someone else.
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