• Pre-plan your personal greeting. Planning a 30-second personal greeting beforehand will allow you to attract a person’s interest right away. You need to sell yourself before you can sell a product or service.
• Be first to arrive and last to leave. The longer you stay, the more contacts you will meet.
• Be aware of how you smell. Sounds funny? It’s really a very important part of how people react to you. Do not smell like a cigarette. Likewise, too much of strong perfume and cologne can be overbearing, force people away and offensive.
• Be positive and enthusiastic. A positive attitude will increase positive results. Enter the event in an upbeat mood and keep smiling.
• Spend time with people you do not know. Spend the majority of your time meeting new people. Networking meetings should enable you to expand your contact list.
• Say the other person’s name three times. A person’s name is a pleasing sound for them. In addition, repeating the name will help you to remember it. People are impressed when you remember their name the next time that you see them after you had only met briefly before.
• Collect business cards with a purpose. When you leave you should have a stack of business cards with notes on the back. Each one should generate a follow-up call.
• Learn what the other person does. Not only do people love to talk about themselves, but it will give you time to understand their needs and how you may be of service.
• Dress for success. Attractive people receive attention and anyone can be attractive with the right attire. Dress for a networking meeting as you would if you were going to visit your biggest client.

As part of the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s “Think Local” campaign, the Chamber is giving “Think Local” campaign signs to all member businesses, on request, to advertise at their business location. Please stop by the Chamber today to pick up your sign.

Don’t have a place to put a campaign sign up? No worries? We also have posters to disply in your window or nice glossy Thank You cards to give to your customers thanking them for ‘thinking local’.

The Chamber would like to thank South Baldwin Regional Medical Center for sponsoring our campaign signs and posters and Bestsouth, LLC for sponsoring our Thank You cards. 

The Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce that the 2010 Central Baldwin Magazine is in!

The magazine presents our area as an attractive and progressive place to live, work, shop and visit. It includes color photography of people, places and events, as well as interesting features and profiles.

Some of the features included in this magazine are:

• Calendar of Events
• Area Attractions
• Local Education Articles
• Business Related Articles
• Area Map
• Central Baldwin Photos
• Chamber Membership Directory (listed both categorically and alphabetically).

These are being delivered to select businesses including real estate companies, health care providers, financial institutions and advertisers for distribution as well as to businesses that purchased ads.

Please stop by the Chamber today for your personal copy!

The Chamber is proud to announce that we now have brochure racks installed in our new Chamber building! Chamber Members are welcome to display brochures in the Chamber’s brochure racks located in our “Area Information Room” at 23150 Highway 59, Robertsdale.

Visitors enter the Chamber daily to inquire about different businesses, the community, relocation, and much more. Members have the opportunity to reach these visitors by displaying their brochures in our Chamber.

• Materials must meet the following size requirements: Either 8 1/2 x 11 inches (for fliers) or approximately 4 x 9 inches (for -fold brochures).
• The Chamber cannot monitor the quantity a visitor takes from the brochure rack (i.e., coupons, special offers, etc.).
• The Chamber cannot guarantee the length of time a member’s material will be displayed, nor the quantity on hand.

We also have an area to display your business cards!

For further information, please contact Jamie Mangion at 251-947-2626.