Then just enter a title and some content, then select either ‘News’ or ‘Specials’ (you should see those options in an area labelled ‘Categories’ along the right-hand side of the screen).
After you’ve done that just click the ‘Publish’ button and it should show up on your site and on the Chamber of Commerce home page.

Click an image below to view larger.

The member profile page gives members the opportunity to promote their products and services to the Chamber network as well as the Chamber website’s 25,000 annual visitors.

The Perth & District Chamber of Commerce website welcomes visitors, giving them an online preview of Perth and District and its business community. From construction and spa services to maple syrup and beef producers, Perth and District has a varied membership that complements a rural lifestyle with all the urban amenities. These new member profiles will provide website visitors with a better picture of all the region has to offer.

“Our online visitors can better discover our business network before they make their way to Perth and District,” says Chamber General Manager Pauline Fitchett, adding that this latest website initiative just adds to the membership benefits. “We’ve given our members yet another avenue to promote their business.”

Working with its website designer and programmer, OnCouRSS Web Solutions, the Chamber is thrilled to move forward with this member-focussed initiative.

“We want all Perth and District businesses to reach every corner of the market,” says OnCouRSS Web Solutions Principal Shelley Montreuil. “We’ve been working meticulously on this project to ensure Chamber members have an easy way to showcase their business online.”

How the Profile Page Works

Each Chamber member will be assigned a login name and password, giving them access to their account in order to modify their member profile page on the Chamber website.

To ensure all members feel comfortable utilizing their profile page, OnCouRSS Web Solutions has set up an easy-to-use guide, providing step-by-step instructions to its users.

The best part? Members can create their Chamber profile page as they see fit. They can upload their business contact information, logo and staff profiles. Better yet, they can publish news items and promotional features through the user-friendly publishing software.

“I am pretty new to content management systems and website management, but the Chamber’s profile instructions were so easy to use, I had no problems uploading my business information,” says Angie Webster of Shadowfax in Perth. “It only took me 10 minutes to set it up and I now have another way to get the word out about my business.”

If members already have an existing website, they can utilize the Chamber’s member profile page to interact with the Chamber membership and to direct traffic to their website. If members don’t already have a website, the Chamber has successfully provided them the opportunity to reach out to an online market.

Members will also be able to use their profile to interact and network with other Chamber members in a private and secure environment. The system will allow Chamber members to create task-specific groups as to communicate and share ideas, such as tourism packaging, or simply to send each other messages directly.  An email support system has also been integrated.

Become a Chamber homepage headliner!

The Perth & District Chamber of Commerce homepage will now house business members’ news, published by its own members!

As its busiest page, the Chamber homepage will now be designated to promote its members, posing member-related news and promotions.

When Chamber members publish news items and promotional features to their own Chamber profile webpage, it will automatically be uploaded to the Chamber’s homepage as well as to an archive within the site.

“We want to let our members know that this is your Chamber, your voice and your website,” says Pauline. “Front row and center, we’re getting our members’ message across by using every form of media.”

The Perth & District Chamber of Commerce will be in touch with its 300 members this month to help them access their profile page. Chamber staff will also host information sessions, allowing members to create their own page and all its offerings. The information sessions will take place at the computer labs at the Algonquin College Perth Campus on Monday, February 13 and Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.

For more information, please contact the Perth & District Chamber of Commerce at 613-267-3200 or welcome@perthchamber.com. Better yet, pop by our office, located at 34 Herriott St. in Perth.

If you did then CONGRATULATIONS!  You are on your way to leveraging your Chamber membership to your best advantage.

The next thing you will want to take a look at are your contact/member details.  This is the information that the public will see first when they view your profile page so make sure they know how to find you.

To edit your member details:

• Log into your Chamber member profile page
• you can do this using the link in your welcome email or by going to www.perthchamber.com and using the login fields at the top right corner of the page – select ‘Visit Dashboard‘ when you are asked what you want to do
• Go to step two of the Easy Blogging Wizard
• Scroll to the bottom of the page
• Add/edit your contact information
• Upload a logo or other image (no wider than 150 pixels)

When you are done you can check your work by visiting your site- you can do this by clicking the “Preview my site” link at the top of any admin page.

For a quick screencast showing you how to edit your member details click here: http://perthchamber.com/2012/01/26/how-to-change-your-member-details/

Are you having trouble following the tutorial?  If so, send us an email at: support@perthchamber.com and we will do our best to help!

Tomorrow we will show you how to upload a personal and a business avatar.

Note: this project is sponsored in part by Valley Heartland Community Futures Development Corporation

From here you are going to be able to publish important business information to both your own profile AND to the Chamber website as well – effectively leveraging the Chamber’s consistent high visitor traffic.

Don’t worry if you already have a website you are happy with, this profile does not need to replace your current site – it is simply a way for you to be able to interact with the Chamber membership and current Chamber site visitors. However, if you do wish to grow your profile into a fully functioning website then we can help you with that too!

With this profile you are also going to be able to interact with other Chamber members in a private and secure environment, conducting Chamber business and networking with other members to maximize your mutual business potential.

We have crafted a series of emails to help you get started as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Expect to see an email a day for the next week or so, and please let us know if there is anything we have missed or could explain better.
If you have any questions about how to use your new tool please feel free to send us an email at: support@perthchamber.com – this will generate a support ticket and someone will get back to you as quickly as possible.

The first thing you are going to want to do is to log into the administrative back end of your site and change your password to something that you will be able to remember.

To do that:

1. Click the login link you received in the email with your username and password.
2. Enter your username
3. And password
1. Don’t worry if you can’t find that email, you can just use the “lost your password” link on this page to get a new one sent to your email inbox!
4. Click the Green “Wizard Mode” button and we will walk you through the rest

For a brief video screen cast of how to log into your site please click this link – we’ll show you how it’s done!

http://perthchamber.com/2012/01/30/how-to-log-into-your-member-profile-and-change-your-password/

In tomorrow’s email we will help you to add/edit your contact information that displays on your member profile page.

This project funded in part by Valley Heartland Community Development Corporation.