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Keeping our members informed on the region, best business practices, and marketing. The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce is now accepting articles from members to post as blogs on the Chamber’s website. These should contain useful information relevant to your industry and might solve a problem member companies may be having or alert members to and describe a new trend. You will get by-line credit for writing the article and we encourage you to include a brief bio about yourself and your business or organization. These are not intended to be a sales pitch. All articles must be approved by the Chamber staff before they are posted to the website. Depending on the number of submissions, we reserve the right to schedule articles for later postings. If you have questions or would like to submit an article contact Nick Sharps at nick@garrettchamber.com or (301) 387-5237.
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Monday, April 10, 20235 Ways to Improve (or Build) Team Culture in Your Small Business
Many small businesses overlook the importance of team culture. They might do so because they feel they have a transient workforce and people won’t stick around. It’s possible they believe they’re simply too small and team culture is for larger companies like Nike. But that’s not the case. A team or company culture is as important as your brand. You’re not too small for one of those, are you?
Christina R. Metcalf
Monday, February 14, 2022Communicating Value to Your Customers: 6 Solid Ways
This morning, the headline inflation is at a 40-year high hit me before my coffee did. If you’re like me, and millions of other businesses, you’re probably caught between the idea of raising your prices to cover the increase in your own costs and providing your loyal customers with good value. It’s difficult these days. I see many business owners apologizing for raising prices, but it can’t be helped. You need to make a profit to remain in business, yet your customers are likely struggling too. That’s why
Christina R. Metcalf
Friday, February 12, 20216 “Better Than Surveys” Ways to Find Out What Your Customers Think
Customer-designed offerings kept a lot of businesses alive during COVID. The idea is a great one, give them what they want, make them feel important, and they’ll return. However, now every moment you spend with a business (online or in-person) is followed by a survey on your experience. These requests are exhausting and make people regret giving out their emails. But it’s important to ensure your business offerings are in-line with what your customers want, right? So how do you ensure this without
Christina Metcalf
Friday, February 5, 2021How to Get Backlinks and Why Your Local Business Needs Them
A lot of things have changed since the beginning of content marketing, but the importance of links is still relevant. Search engines use links from other sources to your website as an indicator of quality content. While it’s not the only indicator, it is an important one. Your business website needs links to show the search engines you’re loved by others. But not all links are of the same worth. Here’s how you can get some great links for very little effort.
Christina Metcalf
Friday, January 29, 20213 Ways to Stand Out When Everyone Else Is Trying to Do the Same
There can be a desperation that you feel on social media. Many businesses are creating content that demands “look at me.” But while some may believe that “shouting” into social media is the way to get attention, it rarely is. Usually, all that accomplishes is someone ignoring you the way a stranger might sidestep a toddler having a tantrum in a grocery store.
Christina Metcalf
Thursday, December 31, 2020Move Your Business Story Off of the About Page
Most businesses miss a big opportunity by stopping at the About Us page. Their business story never moves beyond it. But for the story to be believable, understood, and remembered—and thus effective—it has to spring off the About Us page and into these other places.
Cristina Metcalf
Wednesday, September 30, 2020Speaking Your Way to the Top
It’s estimated 74% of people fear speaking in public, while only 68% are afraid of death. What does that tell you? Speaking in public, for most of us, is a fate worse than death. Facing your fears and moving past your comfort zone is a popular topic for keynote speakers and life coaches right now, but never has facing your fears been more important to your career and business than in the area of public speaking. If you want your business to be remembered and you want to establish yourself as a thought
Christina R. Metcalf
Monday, August 17, 20209 (More) Marketing Tips for the “New Normal”
Are you tired of the words “new normal” yet? If you're like most business owners, you probably are. But whether we recognize it as a new shift in how we do business or a temporary tack we take to survive the current economic storm, the point is how you do business has to change if you want to continue to connect to your audience.
Nick Sharps
Monday, July 6, 20205 Ways to Communicate Difficult Business Messages
If there's one thing 2020 has shown us, it's how to bolster our communication skills. We've had cause for a lot of really difficult conversations with our customers. Nobody ever wants to give bad news but 2020 seems like the year we have to keep reiterating and sharpening our communication skills with difficult messages. But if you feel like you've had challenge after challenge and you're still wondering the best way to deliver those difficult messages, let's take a look at a few tactics you might use.
Christina R. Metcalf
