Posts by msaddik_madlen@alamedachamber.com
The Key to Employee Engagement is You
Would you trust the care of your most beloved loved one to someone who didn’t like you very much? If you have disengaged employees you might be doing just that. It is impossible for a disengaged employee to provide excellent customer service. It doesn’t matter how skilled the employee is, if they think of your business as the mere source…
Read MorePresident’s Message 12/21
This week is one of the biggest shopping weeks of the season. Sure, there are individual days that rank higher for sales, but as a whole, this week is the big one. It’s the home stretch for holiday shopping and it’s also the perfect time to support our small businesses in Alameda. Tired from a…
Read MoreRamp Up Your Email Subject Lines for Small Business Season
There’s one more week left before Christmas, and it’s one of the busiest shopping weeks all year. Sure Black Friday and the Saturday before Christmas are the busiest days (spots 1 and 2 according to Sensormatic) but many of the other top 10 busiest shopping days in the U.S., are still on the horizon such as: #3…
Read MoreSpeaking 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…
Read MorePresident’s Message December 14th
As I write this and gaze at the calendar–yes, I still use a paper calendar and an e-calendar–I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown. It certainly was not the cure all we anticipated but it also helped pave the way to recovery, which is an ongoing activity. At the end of last year,…
Read More4 Things You Must Be Watching During Small Business Season
We’re down to the last two weeks before Christmas with some of the biggest shopping days of the season still ahead of us. Since every sale can help your future marketing, it’s essential that over the next few weeks you think not only of the money, but the data you can garner from each sale…
Read More16 Reasons to Shop Local Instead of Online
There is nothing more convenient than whipping out your phone, typing in a URL (or opening an app), perusing offerings, and hitting a few buttons to buy something…anything…everything. We even get our groceries that way these days. But as convenient as online shopping seems, there are several reasons to shop local. In person is the…
Read MorePresident’s Message December 6th, 2021
At the Chamber we are always reevaluating our offerings and services to meet the needs of our members and the entire business community. You can see this in how we switched to Zoom webinars during COVID when in-person meetings were not possible. We also understood that businesses needed more low-cost (or free!) resources and did…
Read MoreCross Promotion Opportunities for a Stronger Small Business Season
This holiday season, we are supporting shop small. We want to celebrate the uniqueness of small business as well as the treasures and exquisite services that can be found in Alameda. But small businesses have challenges as they take on larger, national competitors. The perception that the giants have better deals, more attractive hours, and…
Read MoreIs Your Business a Carmaker or a Carriage Maker?
Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile. He didn’t invent the assembly line either, but he found a way to use the technology to place cars in the hands of a large percentage of the population who couldn’t previously afford them. His less than egalitarian views of the customer are the kinds of things legends are made of. He’s believed to have said, “If I…
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