Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. Blogs. I know there’s a ton more social networking platforms and apps out there, so what am I forgetting? Oh yeah: Yelp. Discussion Boards. Flickr. YouTube. Viddler. Does that cover it? Nope, because I forgot the biggest, baddest, oldest, most important social network of them all: Word of Mouth.

It’s amazing isn’t it? Most of us who live and work online think and talk about and interact with social networking platforms all day, every day thinking all the time that the world of social networking is some new phenomenon that we need to learn how to manage. But humanity has been networking since we’ve had language and Ugg told Grog about that new warm and bright thing in the back of the cave.

A good friend of Office Nomads, Jeremiah Andrick, who happens to be a social media guru brought all of this to our attention yesterday with a post that says simply:
“We forgot about word of mouth.”

Often when I hear people talk about the how “Twitter is changing everything” I laugh because while I get that twitter and other social platforms are changing our ability to stay in touch, these tools are just enabling us to have conversations that we might have had by other mediums. Real change occurs not by a medium, but by people how people use it.

Take some time to read it. Jeremiah’s idea is pretty brilliant in it’s simplicity, and it’s definitely a D’Oh! moment because it reminds all of us who are in customer service (and which of us running our own business isn’t?) that every interaction is a social interaction, replete with all the opportunities and risks inherent in every social media platform there is.

Office Nomads is a member of our Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.  And we are proud of it.  Particularly proud today, as the CHCC was featured in the Capitol Hill Times!

Why join your local chamber of commerce?  Let me give you a couple of reasons:

1. It gets you engaged on a local level. As a member of the CHCC, we get regular communication digests from the Chamber about interesting events, important happenings in our neighborhood, as well as updates on what the Chamber is doing to represent us as Capitol Hill businesses.  It’s a great resource, it’s well put-together, and it is a constant reminder of the world that is right outside our door.
2. They advocate for businesses. It may seem obvious, but one of the central roles of a Chamber of Commerce is to support the local businesses around them and ensure greater support from local government and individuals.
3. Increased visibility of your business. Being a member of the CHCC has provided us with a certain amount of visibility that we could never get on our own. The Chamber offers marketing and publicity for its members that is simple and speaks directly to our audience: our neighborhood.
4. Networking! I know, I know. There are a million outlets for networking these days. But the cool part about networking with your Chamber of Commerce is getting to connect and chat with businesses that are right around the corner. Some of them you know, and some of them you never would have heard of otherwise – the Chamber is a dynamic catchment system of businesses and organizations of all sizes and types that are all interested in supporting one another. It’s a no-brainer for us.

Got any other reasons you’d like to share?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!