A game-changing new benefit for our Chamber Members

At the Annual Meeting & Installation of the 2023 Board of Directors, the chamber unveiled a fresh new look that is designed to better represent the brand of this 133-year-old organization. Outgoing President Elizabeth Godwin of Duke Energy said the plan for this rebrand began a year ago at the annual board of directors planning retreat. "We brought in a consultant to help us refine the Chamber’s mission and vision," said Godwin. "Our board worked diligently through a process to better clarify our brand message of who we are and the geographic area we serve," the President stated. The final result was a new logo, a revised name, a new chamber online platform, and new and improved programming and events. Chamber CEO Janet Knauff says the new logo and name represent the strong foundational history of the chamber, now known as the DeLand & Greater West Volusia Chamber of Commerce, as well as the "business forward" innovative approach of this community organization and its leadership. "With the incredible growth West Volusia is experiencing, we found ourselves answering the same questions on a daily basis about our former name of DeLand Area Chamber & Orange City Alliance. Now businesses will be clear that we serve all of West Volusia County," said Knauff. Retaining DeLand in the new name was only natural as the chamber’s roots are woven deep into the economic development history of the Volusia County seat. The organization is known for its legacy as a developer and accelerator of programs that have grown into independent or countywide organizations. The DeLand Area Chamber convened a “Committee of 100” in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s before there were countywide economic development organizations. This group was part of similar economic development organizations that were pulled together into the Volusia County Business Development Corp., a public/private organization. This organization then transitioned into Enterprise Volusia, which became the economic development set up with the public Volusia County Economic Development division and the private Team Volusia Economic Development Corp. The Mainstreet Committee formed by DeLand Area Chamber, later spun off into the MainStreet DeLand Association as the chamber had broadened its scope beyond the downtown corridor to a regional chamber for West Volusia. Still going strong, the chamber and MSDA have tight bonds and partner together to serve downtown DeLand. Part of the chamber’s evolution over the past century has reflected a changing business world and resulted in a more strategic business focus. The chamber moved away from the old role of tourist or welcome center in 2006, with the formation of the separate West Volusia Tourism Advertising Authority, which continues to be a valued partner of the chamber. In 2013, the City of Orange City partnered with the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce to form the Orange City Alliance. This partnership positioned the chamber as the official voice of the Orange City business community through the Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) program. The Chamber began serving Orange City, along with their established BRE partnership with the City of DeLand, by visiting and surveying existing businesses with the goals of addressing issues and collecting informative feedback to strategically strengthen business retention and economic development. Included in the new chamber rebrand, the Orange City Alliance also debuted a fresh modern logo update at the annual meeting to match the DeLand & Greater West Volusia branding. The chamber maintains a separate website as a resource specifically for Orange City businesses at www.orangecityalliance.com , along with an Orange City Alliance Facebook page. "Orange City is our retail-commercial capital of West Volusia and a vital part of our regional economy," states Chamber CEO Janet Knauff, "and our partnership with Orange City is one of our top priorities." "Every business community in the 6 municipalities and surrounding areas that we serve have their own unique needs and we strive to build our programming around their interests," says Knauff. Last year in 2022, the chamber expanded to 4 locations in West Volusia with the DeLand main office and satellite offices in Orange City, DeBary, and Deltona, also adding 2 additional full-time staff members. Business Resource Workshops on a variety of topics are offered at the new locations free of charge to members and nonmembers alike. This year in 2023, incoming President Libby Molesky of Complete Parachute Solutions is expanding the Chamber Board of Directors to include 4 Divisional Vice-Presidents that will each serve as Chair for the newly formed Chamber Councils representing DeLand, Orange City, DeBary and Deltona. The City of Lake Helen and Town of Pierson will also be represented within the councils. The Divisional VPs were sworn in at the Annual Meeting & Installation on January 23 rd , and it was announced that more information will be released soon on the mission and purpose of the councils and how chamber members may apply to serve on a council. At 133 years strong, the chamber continues to build on its legacy of service to the West Volusia region by facilitating connections, growth, opportunities, and resources for small to large businesses, corporate entities, and nonprofit organizations. Now known as the DeLand & Greater West Volusia Chamber of Commerce, this well-respected organization continues traditions with long-standing events such as the West Volusia State of the Region and West Volusia Crystal Apple Awards as well as programs including School of Excellence, School of Government, and Leadership West Volusia now in its 38th year. Today, the chamber remains the largest business network in West Volusia with a membership of almost 600 businesses representing thousands of employees across West Volusia, and over 100 networking events per year including a weekly average attendance of 70 at the Monday morning Office Octane meetup. The robust event lineup for 2023 includes 3 new Mega Events focused on supporting businesses in the areas most requested from recently collected feedback. VISION 2023 – a Growth, Sustainability & Economic Vitality Summit is slated for Spring, followed by BRAND 2023 – a Small Business Marketing & Innovation Convention scheduled for Summer, and TALENT 2023 – a Workforce Solutions Conference will round out the year in Fall 2023. Each mega event includes a variety of programming over a consecutive 3-day period. Following the annual meeting, members will receive a new "Member Menu" of benefits along with plaques and decals with the new logo. According to Chamber CEO Janet Knauff, the chamber staff has worked diligently over the past 6 months to transition to a new platform that offers a radical upgrade to chamber membership. "Now equipped with the latest technology in the chamber world, the DeLand & Greater West Volusia Chamber of Commerce is poised to meet the needs of businesses in this digital age," Knauff says. Members will also see a continuation and enhancement of the 2 chamber initiatives this year, Women Empowered and West Volusia Wellness. Founded in 2018 by the chamber and Stetson University, the mission of Women Empowered is to engage and inspire women through leadership development. Building on the successful storytelling series of 2019-2022, this year WE will launch a Ted-style talk event titled EMPOWER WEST VOLUSIA and host "The Chamber Goes Pink" in October 2023 to promote breast cancer awareness and recognize our healthcare industry workforce in West Volusia. The West Volusia Wellness initiative of the chamber and West Volusia Tourism will continue the mission of empowering West Volusia to live a wellness lifestyle, leading business community wellness for employees, and uniting our local wellness professionals for a stronger and more cohesive network of care through referrals. With the new digital platform of the chamber, members and employees will be provided a texting keyword to access the app for a provider list and discounted offers on products and services. All 8 dimensions of wellness are represented in the W.I.N. (Wellness Initiative Network), which also includes Wellness Destination Tourism.  Chamber committees have been revitalized and 2023 Committee Chairs were announced at the chamber annual meeting. The Government Affairs Committee, formerly Legislative Affairs, will host a new Town Hall series in 2023. And the newly launched chamber trustee program has so far brought together a total of 24 businesses and municipalities who have become Legacy Investors in the chamber mission and vision for West Volusia. Together, with their partners and investors, the DeLand & Greater West Volusia Chamber of Commerce is well-prepared to support and advocate on behalf of our business communities for the next 133 years!

Marketing and psychology go hand in hand. You can’t have a strong marketing plan without understanding how your ideal client thinks. What makes one piece of marketing stand out – while another piece flops? Here are a 6 hacks when it comes to using psychology in your marketing: FOMO The human brain is wired to avoid losses and seek equivalent gains. We are always on the lookout for a better deal, and that includes online. Modern studies show we prefer not to lose out when there’s an opportunity of gaining something else instead – just like in practice! One great example would be how Amazon has these “Deal Of The Day” offers where you can get savings by setting up timing so it happens automatically every day at specific times (and they make us buy faster too). The Zeigarnik Effect The Zeigarnik Effect is the tendency for tasks which have been interrupted and uncompleted to be better remembered than tasks which have been completed. We all know that feeling of looking away from your desk and realizing you’ve been sitting there for 30 minutes without doing anything. You don’t want to forget about those unfinished tasks, but it’s hard when you constantly need reminders! E-Commerce platforms use SMS marketing as one way they remind their previous customers about left in cart items soakers get them completed–and this works because we humans treasure our time more than anything else. Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance is a term for the state of discomfort felt when two or more modes of thought contradict each other. The clashing cognitions may include ideas, beliefs, or the knowledge that one has behaved in a certain way. Cognitive dissonance strategies that require a consumer to reconcile two conflicting views by buying a product can be effective in marketing, especially if the reconciliation of opposing views protects or enhances the consumer’s self-image. For instance, you consider yourself a savvy automotive enthusiast. In the course of a visit to a high-end auto dealership, the salesperson emphasizes that “a lot of Americans aren’t sophisticated enough to understand why this car is actually a great buy.” On the one hand, if you resist the sales pitch for this very expensive car, you appear unsophisticated; on the other hand, if you agree, then you’re progressing down the marketing patch toward the purchase of a car you can’t afford. Faced with this kind of cognitive dissonance, many consumers will go along with the sales pitch to avoid being viewed as an unsophisticated person without the real knowledge required to fully appreciate the car. Decoy Effect This Psychology Hack is ruined now as its not just limited to marketers. Viral videos have educated everyone about this but it still works. In Decoy effect, you use a product with 3 Tiers and the price of 2nd and 3rd product tier has a small difference which makes customer go for the 3rd and most expensive tier. A common example is Starbucks Pricing strategy A large coffee is $6.5, Medium is $6 and the Small is $5. This pricing makes you go for the large as the difference is small and you think you are actually saving on choosing the large coffee. Pricing Protocol Does the way you write a price make it seem higher or lower? Of course! We already know that including a currency symbol can have a negative effect – that’s why you see some restaurants pricing a steak at “29” instead of “$29”. But new research shows that punctuation and decimals can make a difference in how people perceive prices. According to a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, prices that have more syllables when spoken actually seem higher to consumers. Commas (e.g., “$1,699”) and cents after the decimal (e.g., “1699.00”) add to the number of syllables and hence make the price seem to be of higher magnitude. This effect occurs even when the price is written and not spoken – our brains, they say, use the auditory representation in storing the magnitude of the price even when the price is only seen visually. The effect is due to the way one would express the number verbally: “One thousand six hundred ninety nine,” for the comma version, vs. “sixteen ninety nine” for the unpunctuated version. Visual length may also be a factor. Social Proof Social proof is a psychological phenomenon, popularized by Dr. Robert Cialdini, that describes our tendency to rely on the opinions or actions of others to inform our own. Also known as informational social influence, it validates a shopper’s choice, saying that it’s worth their time, money, or interest by using other people as proof. Whether you’re familiar with social proof or not, chances are it has influenced decisions, both big and small, throughout your life. Leveraging the appeal of following the “wisdom of the crowd,” social proof captures our attention because we’re naturally curious about what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what the correct behavior or response is. Social proof makes people pause to pay attention to a brand because others are saying that it’s worth paying attention to. Marketing is a very tricky business. You have to be aware of your audience’s behavior, as well as the underlying motivation that would impact their buying decisions in order for your marketing campaign or plan to work effectively- which can sometimes seem almost too difficult! Having that foundation in psychology can greatly improve your marketing strategy. I don’t believe there isn’t a marketer out there who doesn’t appreciate the psychology behind their marketing. To learn more about marketing your business, contact CarbonSilk.digital today.

By: Nancy Benet Published: March 24, 2022 www.fixitaccounting.com When it comes to tax season, many small business owners find themselves in an all out scramble to collect all of the necessary documentation. Receipts of business purchases and a list of miles driven to and from client meetings are often hard to find going back 12 months! Keeping this information organized and up-to-date all year long will save you a great deal of time and energy each spring. Here are some helpful tips for staying organized. Mileage 1. Keep a mileage log book in your car If your work day involves you spending a lot of time in your own car driving around town from meeting to meeting, it can be a hassle to remember each of the stops you made when you sit down a week later to track your mileage. If you find yourself in this situation buy yourself a notebook that you keep in your car at all times. When you get into your car at the beginning of the day write down the number on your odometer, then when you arrive at your destination write down the next number. There’s no need to do the arithmetic on the spot as long as you do this every time you leave for and arrive at your next meeting. Then, when you sit down a few weeks later to track your mileage all you have to do is add up the numbers you’ve been carefully keeping! 2. Track your mileage on Google maps If keeping a log just seems too complicated, trust an online mapping service like Google Maps or MapQuest to tell you the exact mileage you drive from meeting to meeting. This way you can simply page back through your calendar and enter the starting and ending addresses and voila, your mileage is tracked for you. Of course, this method doesn’t account for missed exits or detours, but in most cases it will do the trick. Receipts 1. Create a habit of keeping every receipt Create a space somewhere in your home or office where you can habitually deposit all of your receipts, personal and business. Then schedule time into your week to sort through those receipts, put aside and label the ones you need to keep for your business records and toss the rest. Making it a habit to track your receipts during your weekly routine means you won’t end up with a pile of receipts to sort through at the end of the year. 2. Invest in technology If keeping track of your receipts is too burdensome on your own, considering investing in technologies built to save you time and hassle. Products like Receipt Bank allow you to take a photo of your receipt with your cell phone and track it through their cloud-based software. No more sorting through wrinkled up receipts from the bottom of your briefcase, investing in the right software will make your job a whole lot easier. Staying on top of the minutiae of business ownership is not always fun or exciting, but it’s an important task to make sure that your books are done properly. And tracking your mileage and receipts on an ongoing basis will save you time and frustration at the end of each year. If tracking your mileage and receipts are not already part of your weekly habits consider implementing some new strategies or even investing in new products to make your job easier. As your business continues to grow, hiring a bookkeeping service will help you stay on top of these tasks without having to hire full-time team members. Contact us today for a free consultation.