A typical Chamber Member Directory simply contains: business name, business category/type, phone number, contact email, logo, etc. Consider it similar to the white pages. For users to use the typical Chamber Member Directory, they need to visit the Chamber’s Website and then click into the Member Directory. Run a Google search for Accountants your city name. Is the Chamber Website or Member Directory within the first page of the results? Run Google searches for Accountants Brandon and Accountants Brandon FL. You should see www.brandondirectory.com as one of the first page results. The reason this occurs would take up 25 web pages to explain, so ask yourself this simple question – do more Internet users visit your Chamber Website or visit Google/Yahoo/Bing on any given day? By having your Member’s information listed higher in the search engine results, the more likely they are to know their Chamber Membership is a major value! Also, please click on this link http://brandondirectory.com/brandon-florida-fl/dentists-general-dentistry/sip-signature-dentistry. Does this Member’s listing look more detailed (content-rich) than the Member listings on your current Directory? Internet users, and search engines alike, would rather see comprehensive data (content) than simple contact information. If you were a consumer looking for a product or service, and didn’t have a business in mind, would you rather have a little, or a lot, of business information at your fingertips? Consumers need information before they can make an informed buying decision – does your Directory offer as much detailed business information as the LSB Directory? Lastly, does your current Directory contain the proper title tags, url’s, meta-descriptions, and H-1 indexes to properly optimize across the major search engines?

Absolutely! In fact, LSB created our hosted Directory solution after attempting to optimize a Chamber’s existing website. LSB decided to invest almost $200,000 in a replicable hosted directory solution rather than charging each Chamber individual optimization fees. If your Chamber decides to optimize your Directory and/or Website, be sure to follow the best-practices checklist:

• If the SEO provider does not require full access to your Website, it is not true SEO.
• If you are not required to create additional content, it is not true SEO.
• If the SEO provider promises to unilaterally guarantee page 1 results, it is not true SEO.
• If your entire website and Directory is not totally over-hauled, it is not true SEO.
• If the SEO provider charges a one-time fee, it is not true SEO.
• If the cost is less than $30,000 be wary and perform due diligence, including reference checks.

The Directory solution provides for free listing levels for all of your Members. The only time the Chamber would want to ask a Member to pay is if that Member wants to be listed near the top of their business category or wants to place a banner ad on the site. Most Chambers have a pop-to-the-top product within their existing Membership Directory, and almost all of those Chambers charge some type of fee for it. Most Chambers offer existing banner advertising on their Website and the LSB Directory is no different in that regard. Additionally, your Chamber will experience a tenfold increase in traffic due to your movement up the list in the major search engines. Every time you list a Member for free, and then require business-related content from that Member, you help your Directory as much as you are helping your Member. The reason is that you are building detailed content greater than any SuperPages.com or YellowPages.com could ever achieve. Besides, if you give everything away for free, then you have NO cost and owe LSB NOTHING.

We get this question all the time and the answer is actually quite simple. LSB created a few Directories (one example is locate-a-dentist.com) and learned a few things along the way. 1 – LSB doesn’t have a large enough sales force to sell Directory listings in volume. 2 – Chambers have much more credibility when calling on a Member than LSB ever would. 3 – Search engines consider the local Chamber as THE authority on local business, certainly a better aggregator of everything business than LSB. 4 – superpages.com and yellowpages.com are always listed high in the search engine results and who knows more about local business than the phone companies? Yup, Chambers of Commerce. 5 - Chambers already have the business listings and the data is certainly more accurate than what is out there on the Internet. 6 – A typical Chamber needs additional revenue sources at no investment cost, so our Directory model is the perfect fit – thus creating revenue-share for LSB.

This is the single most important question a Chamber can ask. Content will differentiate this Directory from every other Directory on the Internet. Content is king and is the single most important task a Chamber can execute! Ask yourself, do I know more about Plumbing than my Member who happens to be a Plumber? The answer is obviously no. The Members create the content. Each Member is a subject matter expert in his/her field. Search engines have created advanced algorithms that measure content for its authoritativeness. Having authoritative content is the simplest and fastest way to elevate the Directory on the search engine results pages. Most Chambers liken it to pulling teeth to get their Members to create content for the Directory. If this process is managed correctly, then the prior statement is the furthest from the truth! You know what every Member loves to talk about, right? Yes, their business! We strongly encourage EVERY Chamber to be trained in content facilitation. Content facilitation will directly determine the success and sales rate of the Directory. It’s actually that simple!

It all depends how you define better. If your Chamber follows LSB’s directions, then LSB’s Directory WILL place higher in the search engine results than the Chamber’s existing Directory – there is no disputing that. If you think your Members would like to receive impressions via Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. in addition to your own Chamber website, then yes, the LSB Directory is a good fit for you. If you run typical local searches (Accountants in your city, Plumbers in your city, Tree Service in your city, etc.) and your current Directory is not ranked within the first few pages of the search results, then yes, LSB’s Directory is a great fit for your Chamber. If you have ever received a call from a consumer who reviewed your current Directory listings and wanted/needed additional information, then yes, you should look into our hosted solution. If your current Members have been asking the Chamber for Internet Marketing assistance and programs, then absolutely look to LSB – we can show you how to make a couple hundred thousand dollars per year if you have active Members begging you for Internet Marketing solutions they can trust.

This is always the magic bullet. During a full-scale implementation, LSB spends roughly $22,400 before a single dollar of revenue is shared. This is why LSB has two implementation offerings – full-scale and light. If the Chamber does not have at least two salespeople (most have only one person selling new Memberships), then you will be on the light plan. During your one-day implementation meeting, your LSB Project Manager will tell you how to sell in group settings (Member events, Chamber seminars, Networking/Leads Groups, etc.). Additionally, your entire Chamber staff has full access to all online LSB training materials. Most Chambers with 6 employees or less ask each employee to sell one upgraded listing per week. Considering the average Chamber employee will speak to 21 businesses per week, one sale is actually quite simple. An LSB Consultant is also for hire on a contractual basis to present to large Chamber Member audiences (such as Annual Dinner, Business of the Year Banquet, etc.). At one successful event, an LSB VP presented to 300 Chamber Members and 97 of them signed up for a specially discounted pre-paid enhanced listing, netting the Chamber $51,000 for the night. If your Chamber follows the LSB process, sales will be the least of your concerns.

This is directly related to LSB’s up-front investment and potential return-on-investment. LSB cannot incur $22,000 worth of implementation costs for a Chamber that will sell $10,000 per year. LSB is a for-profit company and the revenue-sharing model simply will not work. However, any Chamber (regardless of size) will benefit from a higher search engine presence, providing a Directory for mobile users, offering consumers detailed business content, providing detailed testimonials, and proving Member value via a more content-rich Directory. The cost to replicate the LSB product would be completely cost-prohibitive for a smaller-sized Chamber, so LSB has a simple philosophy – we will NOT charge ANY Chamber ANY up-front monies. If the Chamber subsequently sells $0, then LSB’s revenue-share is $0, and the Chamber has not spent one dime. LSB invests more time and money based on the quantity of salespeople at the Chamber, because LSB only recoups investment if the Chamber sales team is successful. Most smaller-sized Chambers have decided to hire two full-time sales reps on a strict commission basis and then use them to sell the Directory, as well as new Memberships. LSB does provide detailed new Member acquisition training during our full-scale implementation. A typical commission-only Rep generates $175,000 in incremental revenue for the Chamber at an average cost of $39,000. Most Chambers hire these Reps as fully independent contractors and provide no base salary or benefits. If your Chamber does not have salespeople, don’t fret – we still offer free web-based training, just in smaller doses than the full-scale training.

LSB will upgrade your Chamber from the light version to the full-scale version for no charge. LSB will be onsite after you have hired your salespeople.

Ask one of your Members (let’s say a Plumber) if he can currently list his references on the existing Chamber Directory, if can he list his credentials on your current Directory, can he explain all of his services on the current Directory, can he list warranty information, coupons, customer testimonials, etc.? Then ask him if was allowed to place unlimited content for free (and by the way, increase his possibility of being found in the search engines) would he feel that it is of value to him as a Chamber Member? Ask him if you could place him higher on the list than most other Plumbers would he pay the Chamber a small fee to move up? Chamber Members absolutely love the LSB Directory product. They tell us this is one of the best things their Chamber has done for them. They perceive tons of value and give all the credit to the Chamber, not LSB.

Typically, most Chambers already charge a small fee to any Member/Advertiser that wants higher Directory placement and/or banner ads. The goal is to provide your Members a service that no competitor can match (price or value) while simultaneously generating incremental revenue for your Chamber. However, the Chamber can provide these services for free to any Member. Every time you allow a Member to place free content on your Directory it increases the value and authority of your Directory. All content helps with search engine placement, regardless if you charge for it or not. It is more important to have good free content than poor paid-for content. The line between offering your Members value and charging them a fee is not as fine as most Chambers think. LSB can provide you with several scripts to help you set your Members at ease and even get them to ask if they can pay for an upgrade, before you even offer it to them. LSB recommends that you provide free listings to all Members, but charge those Members that want/need to be at the top of the listings and/or those that would like to place banner advertising on the Directory.

Don’t worry if you can’t sell listings right away. The Directory won’t index well on the search engines with content anyway, so pitch FREE listings to those Members that will provide rich content to the Chamber for inclusion in the Directory. As the Directory starts to raise to the top of the search engine results pages, you will have Members (listed for free near the bottom of their business category) calling into the Chamber asking what it takes to get listed near the top. If your Chamber is still having trouble, then send an email via the Contact Us page – we will help! Please remember if you don’t sell, then LSB does not get paid – it’s in our best interest to teach you how to sell.

We occasionally receive this request and do have a handful of Consultants that will sell for Chambers. However, due to the simplicity of the sale and travel costs, we would recommend the Chamber hire two local commission-only salespeople and then request LSB to visit the Chamber for a full-scale no charge implementation.

No. However, every Chamber should have at least two employees fully trained in the art of content facilitation. The number one reason a Chamber does not receive the expected results is poor content titles. Simply put, the content facilitation process will make or break the effectiveness of the Directory. LSB can recommend a full-trained, ready-to-go, Content Facilitator that the Chamber can hire on a contractual basis for $13 per hour. Currently, LSB has granted certification to three Content Facilitators that operate as fully independent Contractors and can be hired directly by/through the Chamber.

A Chamber with 1,200 Members and two full-time highly-trained salespeople can generate roughly $300,000 in annual revenue, assuming 75% of their sales time is dedicated to the Directory product. Because the Directory renewal rate is so high, a Chamber can expect $375,000 the following year – eventually capping out around $500,000 by year 4 or 5. A smaller Chamber can expect less and a larger Chamber can expect more.

If the Chamber follows LSB’s process, then the Directory WILL rank quite high in all major search engines. Members that have committed to high listing positions within your Directory are very unlikely to give those top positions up, especially as the Internet continues to grow and grow. Additionally, as Directory traffic increases, banner ad click-through rates increase. Members that receive higher and higher numbers of leads are less likely to cancel the subscription. Lastly, if a Member’s content is not effective, the Chamber can change/add/delete content at any time. This normally lets the Member know that you are still trying to tweak their content and they are more apt to try it for another year.

The software is what makes us different than any other Directory provider in the U.S. The automation, algorithms and internal SEO technology is what we offer and why we charge revenue share. Take this away and the Chamber is almost back to the old Directory. No, we do not allow anyone to access our proprietary and patented software. Our servers are hosted by a $1,000,000,000 (yes, that is a billion) hosting company and although no Chamber data ever mixes with other Chamber data, the data is intertwined with the LSB technology. The fastest way to hurt your SEO efforts is to have your site crash. We pay an insane amount of money to ensure this does not happen, and will not allow any Chamber access to the servers.

No problem at all. The Chamber owns all of the content, titles, banner ad designs, etc. LSB will send all of the data to the Chamber at no cost. The Directory will not look the same when we remove all the SEO technology, title tags, meta-descriptions, etc. but you will have all the data you need to rebuild it back to the way it was when we originally took it over. We encourage all Chambers to leave their existing Directory up and running in parallel with the LSB Directory. This serves two purposes – the Chamber can compare the traffic and effectiveness of the LSB Directory to the Chamber Directory (great information for the Board), and if you ever cancel then you are right back to where you started from without having to exert any effort whatsoever.

No problem. They are great money makers if positioned correctly, but there is the occasional Chamber that does not want them. We normally fill that vacated space with a limited amount of Chamber news, event information, and other Chamber-related data. It breaks up the monotony of the content and is also graphically appealing.

LSB creates up to 5-tiers of pricing although most Chambers use only 3. The Chamber chooses the pricing model and LSB configures the admin tools to auto-calculate everything. We can even set up discount ratios, automated billing, and exception reporting. LSB can quickly and easily help you determine the proper pricing model for your Chamber based on several best-practice statistics. All final decisions are made by the Chamber of course and free listings are always encouraged.

Nope. All billing is automated via the Directory using secure credit card processing requirements. If credit cards are expired or declined, then LSB sends a report to the associated salesperson for him/her to update the Directory. LSB then reprocesses those transactions. If all salespersons know how to key credit card information (name, type, expiration, etc.) into the fields titled as such, then there is never a problem.

Nope. LSB provides monthly accounting reports showing net transaction details, revenue share calculations, deposits/payments to the Chamber from LSB, etc. How your internal Accountant processes the lump-sum income is based on internal Chamber policies and procedures.

LSB will make any wholesale changes to the Directory as the software is a hosted solution. A hosted solution means that the software is the same for every Chamber and a simple change to the software affects ALL Chambers. This is similar to SBA or Weblink, where a new feature is added and then immediately all subscribers have access to it. LSB is always hoping to hear about improvements we can make though! Please share your ideas so we can improve our Directory for everyone!

As with any hosted solution everything is standardized. Our reports and metrics are more comprehensive than any one Chamber would ever need, but we are always open to additional requests. We have a simple process – if we get the same request from 5 or more Chambers, we implement it. LSB encourages you to not share the reports/metrics with your Members right away. Be sure to build content, allow time for the search engines to index your content, and work out your sales process prior to sharing the data. The data will be a strong selling point, but it takes time to build up good data. LSB can help you overcome this objection during your initial sales training.

This is a great question and is asked during every implementation. No one, other than authorized trained Chamber personnel, can ever key data into the Directory. Here is why:

• Improper SEO for one listing can affect your ENTIRE Directory. You wouldn’t want one Member to jeopardize your entire Directory.
• The Chamber cannot control what is added to the Directory if the Member can add it him/herself. What if that Member writes bad things about all of his competitors, which also happen to be Chamber Members?
• Copying and pasting content created by a Member takes less than 10 minutes.
• Members are not trained in the proper title creation techniques, and the titles they create tend to have a reverse effect on the Directory. Let the trained Chamber employees do this please.

The Chamber receives 70% of every net sale, and is never charged credit card processing fees, consulting fees, etc. If your Chamber sells $10,000 this month, then expect $7,000 next month. If you sell $0, then expect to pay LSB $0 and receive $0 from LSB.

Please refer to the case study listed on the LSB Website. LSB created this product due to the exact question posed. LSB partnered with the software company that designed SEO solutions for Monster.com, Men’s Wearhouse, and 5 other Fortune 1000 companies. Both companies quickly realized that Chambers were looking to optimize their Member’s data in order to provide value-added services and reduce non-renewals. We realized the patented SEO technology would work better for a Chamber than any other business, and the need was there too! LSB would happily provide your Chamber with a reference to the software company that originally created this amazing product. You should expect a cost of roughly $50,000 and have to decide to spend either $50,000 on your entire Website or $0 on the Member portion of your Website. Most Chambers prioritize the Member value over everything else and opt to work on the Member Directory first.

LSB tries to remain invisible in order for the Chamber to be credited for the additional Member value created by the Directory. Additionally, LSB does not want to answer questions, make content decisions, or provide suggestions on behalf of the Chamber. The Chamber owns the process, the Directory content, and the Member relationships. LSB will ALWAYS refer a Chamber Member back to the respective Chamber, so please do not have them contact us directly.

Absolutely not! The standard response when any advertiser wants a page 1 guarantee for a search term is to visit the search engine (normally Google) and sign up for a pay-per-click, PPC, campaign. If the advertiser is not comfortable running a daily PPC on his/her own, then your Chamber most likely has a Member that manages PPC campaigns for a small fee and would love the referral. If any SEO company or product guarantees permanent first page search engine placement, be skeptical. Google owns Google, Yahoo owns Yahoo, and Microsoft owns Bing – only these companies can promise page 1 presence. You can, and should, however promise your Members that likelihood of getting to page 1 in the search engines depends on a few factors:

• First of all, your Directory now has a much better chance than it used to and you switched to this new Directory format for the Member. This alone will increase their chances.
• Secondly, content really is king! If they do a terrific job creating authoritative content, work closely with their sales rep, and think like a consumer versus a business owner, then they will dramatically increase their chances to be on page 1.
• If they create content that is truly unique and different from that of their competitors, then their chances increase dramatically.
• If they are listed higher in the Chamber online Directory, then their chances are greater.

If you remember one thing and one thing only – please remember that content is king! If a Google user is seeking a licensed plumber and your Directory does not contain licensed plumber you will never be found. If a Member provides you with a great testimonial and you title it testimonial, then what term would a search engine need to find it? Correct, the Internet user would have to search for the word testimonial. How many Internet users search for testimonial do you think? Very few to be sure. Now, suppose the glowing testimonial was in reference to the fact that the Plumber was open 24 hours, showed up when promised, was insured, and offered a lifetime warranty. The correct title for this testimonial is not testimonial, but rather Dependable and Reliable Plumber in Anytown, ST. Do more people search for a reliable plumber versus the word testimonial when they actually need a plumber? If you plan to skip content, please do not sign up for this product.

This sounds like a great idea but really is not recommended unless in small doses. Here is why:

• If a link to another part of the Website (i.e. Events Calendar) is ever broken, the Directory is penalized by the search engines.
• If you ever change data in one place of your Website, but not on the Directory, the search engines could penalize you.
• If you are taking your users away from the business/Member content and into Chamber-related topics, then are you really helping your Members?
• The search engines like authoritative Directories that focus on high-quality business content. Users needing a business want to find business content. Although the upcoming Coffee Club event is important to the Chamber, the search engines will say it’s not important to the potential consumer looking for a Chamber Member/business.
• If your Directory stays on point and on topic, you WILL index better. It has been proven!

No, LSB will accept an export of your existing data and reload it all to the new Directory. LSB will even clean the data if needed. The only time you need to key data twice is when a new Member signs up. Keep in mind, the data you are keying twice is limited to business name, phone number, website, address, and a few other minor details. Currently, it takes roughly 3 minutes to duplicate the data but LSB is has plans to work with major Vendors like SBA and Weblink to automate this process; thus eliminating duplication. Until then, you only have to key the following twice: business name, business address, business phone number, business url, and business email. You can copy and paste it after you key it into your master database.

The Chamber owns the Directory and all content within it. LSB does not want to own the Directory or the content, but we do need full-time access to the Directory to execute our software, drive off-page SEO, provide upgrades, host it, etc.

Absolutely. The Chamber is the only entity accessing it from a content and user standpoint. LSB accesses the software driving the Directory, or may link off-page SEO content back to it, or may conduct tolerance tests – but that’s the extent of it.

LSB provides training regarding these simple tasks. Most Chambers figure out how to perform these tasks before training even starts. The software is simple and very intuitive.

Yes to both. We are bonded for $300,000 and insured for $500,000.

Absolutely. All federal and state laws are followed, data is encrypted, transactions are secure, etc. LSB cannot see any credit card data – only the Chamber and the credit card processing agent can. This is why LSB must contact the Chamber salesperson when a credit card had been declined or is expired. LSB cannot correct the information – only the Chamber can.

Although sometimes unavoidable, refunds are generally discouraged for a few reasons:

• SEO takes time so the Chamber should sign the Member to a one-year contract for the first year.
• Members are slow to produce content and without content they will want a refund because they will not get results.
• The Directory should always be sold based on potential. If the Member needs immediate results steer them towards a PPC campaign.
• LSB will more than adequately train the Chamber on how to avoid refunds.

Cancellations are a different animal altogether. If the Member created great content, the Chamber followed the LSB process, and yet the Member wants to cancel at the end of the contract, then let them. The Chamber needs to put the Member first and maintaining that relationship is more important than a few hundred dollars. LSB recommends a one-year contract and then the Member can go month-to-month beyond that. When the Member cancels, the Chamber sales rep simply removes the credit card data and the Member is no longer charged. The Chamber receives 70% of net sales, so any refunds or cancellations obviously decrease the net amount.

LSB can pay the Chamber via wire, paper check, or setup payment directly from the credit card processing agent. The Chamber is normally paid within 14 days of final reconciliation between LSB, the Chamber, and the credit card processing agent.

At this time, no. However, we have several Chambers asking us to incorporate Membership dues into the Directory functionality and plan to add it in the very near future. As far as sponsorships or other Chamber products, we have not had any requests as of yet.

Focus on the Member, the Member, and the Member. The LSB Directory will provide more Member value than your current Directory if you follow the LSB process. Additionally, it will not cost your Chamber money, unless you make money that you otherwise would have not. It is truly a win-win.

The Chamber provides many things that LSB cannot, such as: ability offer the product directly to Members, more credibility with Members and search engines than LSB has, trust amongst the Membership base, brand recognition in your area, etc. LSB knows that if we collectively implement this product successfully, then both parties will make money that wasn’t there prior to our partnership. The Chamber will ultimately sell the solution and invest in personnel so LSB feels that is sufficient equitable risk for the Chamber to take on.

Although we cannot share other Chamber results (we would never share yours), we can provide aggregate reports that will give management more than sufficient information required to make an educated financially-based decision.

Knock on wood, it never has. The servers we use are triple-redundant, meaning if one goes down in Texas, then another one in Colorado immediately takes over, and in the rare event that one goes down, then one in upstate New York takes over. The hosting company we use has revenues exceeding one billion dollars and is used by most Fortune 500 companies. The only down-time we have encountered is when a Chamber makes a DNS change, effectively re-pointing the link to the wrong server. We can easily identify this and immediately help the Chamber make the correction on their end.

There are two types of software you can buy – custom and standard. Microsoft Office is standard for example. A custom software provider could, in theory, tweak your Microsoft Office software (assuming they had a license agreement to do so), but 99.9% of Microsoft’s users are satisfied with the software as-is. Because LSB uses a hosted software solution, we do not need access each Chamber’s Website, we do not have to update each Chamber’s Directory when we roll out new features, etc. This keeps costs down and upgrades consistent.

We perform SEO two ways – one is the actual proprietary software while the other is traditional SEO. For instance, to search engine optimize one of the Chamber’s business categories such as Private Schools is not that difficult due to limited competition within the Chamber’s geography and our software alone is likely to optimize this business category quickly and easily. However, to optimize a business category such as Attorneys creates a much bigger challenge as there are many Attorneys vying for clients and those Attorneys tend to have large advertising budgets. This is where off-page SEO would come in. Some examples of traditional off-page SEO include: the creation of separate and unique blogs (off the main page of the Directory) that then link back to the Directory, linking relevant websites (off the main page of the Directory) back to the Directory, linking a newsworthy article (located off-site on wallstreetjournal.com for example) focusing on one of your Member Attorneys back to the Directory, and more specifically to his/her listing within the Directory. As you can tell, off-page SEO is very time-consuming, requires daily (even hourly) effort, is an art more than a science, and requires a certified (SEMPO) resource. LSB simply spends 45% of its revenue share for this one task. Increase your Chamber sales to increase the amount of off-page SEO LSB performs.

Certainly. One of our best references resulted from the initial prototype design of our Directory solution. This reference is so revered in the Chamber arena that she is the upcoming President for her state’s Chamber association. She is also the CEO of a 5-star Chamber that was recently named Chamber of the Year in her state. To respect her privacy, LSB chooses not to publish her details on the world-wide web, but will happily provide you her detailed contact information should you seriously consider the LSB solution. We will also provide additional references upon request, but choose to protect the right to privacy of our references on this Internet medium.

No. This model fits perfectly with Chambers as Chambers ARE THE LOCAL BUSINESS AUTHORITY. There is simply no other organization that knows, lives, and breathes local business like the Chamber. The search engine algorithms factor this in, so LSB wants its technology where it has the most effect. We sign an exclusivity agreement with each and every Chamber.

Technically no, since the LSB solution is free; but LSB does require a Chamber signature on the standard LSB agreement. Our agreement gives the Chamber the rights to everything except the software and no Chamber has yet requested to modify it.

If your Chamber signs the standard LSB agreement, then no, LSB cannot walk away at any time. If the Chamber fails to sell the Directory product, then LSB will only provide remote web-based assistance, but will not remove the Directory. LSB’s time and attention is clearly focused on those Chambers creating revenue share for LSB, however LSB will offer high-level support to every single customer (Chamber) regardless of revenue share amount.

Chamber tax implications vary from Chamber to Chamber, so LSB is not qualified to provide tax advice. Please consult with the Chamber’s Accountant regarding this issue. Revenues are normally recorded as non-dues revenue, so ask your Accountant how/if that will affect your organization. Plan to account for Chamber income that did not exist prior to the LSB implementation though.

Yes, if your Chamber refers another Chamber and they subsequently sign up, we will lower our revenue share by 5%. You can refer as many Chambers as you like until LSB’s revenue share reaches 10%.

Typically not, but we are certainly open to ideas.

Most Chambers grant LSB a free base Membership for the first year and then require LSB to join as a paying Member after that. We will pay to join if the Chamber uses the LSB product however.

Most Chambers have Members very capable of SEO, Internet marketing, and the like. However, very few Members could ever replicate the LSB Directory without spending at least a few hundred thousand dollars. These types of Members are perfect attendees during the Chamber’s due diligence as they ask great questions and ensure LSB is right partner for the Chamber.

The LSB software is on a triple back-up plan. Knock on wood, we have never lost once piece of data. The Chamber’s data is also maintained by an escrowed data back-up company, so rest assured, your important data is safe.

The Chamber is only legally bound by any contract or agreement signed between both parties.

LSB is only legally bound by any contract or agreement signed between both parties. LSB’s main legal concern is protection of our intellectual property (i.e. LSB software).

Absolutely not. LSB has no ambitions of creating any type of conflict of interest. Some Chambers have approached LSB to create new Chamber product offerings (e.g. online videos) which the Chamber would be the exclusive reseller to the Member base. LSB typically shies away from this because almost every Chamber has an existing Member that could offer a similar solution to the Chamber. The revenue is not important enough to LSB for LSB to cause the Chamber any trouble with an existing Member.

Stature Software is the intelligence behind the LSB Directory solution. Stature Software owns the intellectual property and LSB licenses it from them. Stature Software has 15 existing Clients from the Fortune 500. Stature Software is an important Vendor to LSB because of their SEO expertise combined with their non-SEO technical experience. 24/7 Media is the current SEO company that LSB uses to handle off-page SEO, improve on-page SEO techniques, stay current on SEO trends, etc. That leaves most Chambers asking why they even need LSB. LSB is the founder of this Directory solution and has hired both Stature Software and 24/7 Media as two critical Vendors. LSB is the entity dealing directly with the Chambers, providing world-class sales training, the operational contact for the Chambers, the marketing arm of the Directory, and the owner of the aggregated solution.

Both Vendors would happily consider a business relationship directly with the Chamber and/or its Members and LSB is proud to serve as a referral. Both of these prominent Vendors typically sign minimum contracts of $50,000, so be sure your project is large enough to request their assistance. Of course, LSB, Stature, and 24/7 Media have many contacts and could recommend other niche Vendors for just about any need your Chamber may have.

Yes. Chambers that plan to never sell one single listing still use the LSB Directory for this fact alone. The mobile version is simple to read, easy to use, and works with every major PDA on the market. LSB is currently designing an application for the iPhone and Droid as well.

LSB encourages the Chamber to keep the existing Directory as-is for as long as feasible. This allows the Chamber to share and compare stats of both Directories with both the Board and its Membership base. Additionally, if the Chamber someday chooses not to participate in the LSB Directory then the old one is already functional. Many Chambers have simply replaced their existing Directory with the LSB Directory and that is perfectly acceptable also.

LSB cannot optimize content, update the technology, host the Directory, perform analysis, provide reports, manage collections, update Chamber preferences, update the Directory homepage design, etc. without having access/control to do so. LSB will not load our software onto a technical environment that we cannot control. LSB cannot improve the Directory without access to it. LSB cannot allow even the most remote possibility of the LSB software being hacked or manipulated due to the search engine penalties that could result. This could jeopardize the entire Chamber Directory.

Follow our Contact Us link and we will be glad to help. If your Chamber has already signed up, then you have already been assigned an LSB Project Manager. A member of Chamber management is sure to have the necessary contact information you require.

Most of the administrative functions in the Directory can be changed on the fly and will have minimal impact on SEO. Most of the design decisions can be changed at a later date as well. The Administrator of your Chamber-LSB Directory will know what can be changed and what cannot. We will first refer you to your Site Administrator and then ask you to contact us if you need further clarification.

Part of our SEO strategy is to show the search engines that if a Chamber Member Directory is utilizing the LSB platform, then it is a viable quality Directory that can be relied on by all search engines. Additionally, most Chamber Members want to see what is backing up this new and improved Chamber Directory and the LSB Website explains it so the Chamber employees don’t have to keep repeating themselves.

It is more efficient for LSB, and the Internet user, to work through the large city Chamber than it is to work through several small town Chambers. Search engines prefer more comprehensive data, and gravitate towards the city Chambers. LSB’s philosophy is very simple – a city Chamber has first right of refusal. LSB will only work with town Chambers if that town is within a larger city, that larger city has a Chamber, and the city Chamber has opted not to work with LSB. If a town Chamber is not geographically sharing coverage with an overlapping city, then LSB will offer our product to the town Chamber without asking the nearest city Chamber first.

Please, by all means, use the Contact Us link on the LSB Website to send in your questions. LSB will likely add it to our extensive list of FAQ’s, so you will be doing us a favor!