Linking Chambers With Businesses

 

 

 

In 1995, Craig Williams had a successful business focused on placing print media ads and publishing annual reports for hospitals and health care providers. But then a partnership with his local chamber of commerce turned into a niche publishing opportunity that redefined the company and led to significant growth.

 

After Williams' company, CommunityLink Publications, produced a $5,000 brochure for its hometown chamber in Pinckneyville, Illinois, Williams began selling the brochure idea to chambers in cities within a day's drive. "Everyone liked it, but said they couldn't afford it," he says. That's when Williams got the idea to sell ads in the brochure. In his first week as an ads salesman, Williams secured $18,000 in sales. One month later, he had commitments for $45,000. "It was much easier to get small chunks of revenue from advertisers rather than having communities pay the entire amount out of pocket."

 

Today, CommunityLink has more than 1,000 publishing partnerships with communities in 45 states and is one of the nation's largest creators and providers of community marketing materials that include magazines, community resource guides, membership directories, street guides, and maps.

 

With growth has come greater demand for designers, cartographers, photographers, writers and researchers. Pinckneyville, a small, rural town struggling to redefine itself after the 1991 Clean Air Act led to closure of many of the area's coal mines, is hardly a publishing and marketing mecca. To recruit employees, Williams turns to area universities and business schools, including Southern Illinois University. "We bootstrapped this thing."

 

According to Wiliams, there are advantages to doing business in a small town. CommunityLink employees are attracted to the close-knit, laid-back community and work environment that Pinckneyville represents. "We really take advantage of our out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere culture and embrace it," says Williams.

 

Moreover, CommunityLink is the only game in town. "There are not a lot of creative agencies around here, so we can attract a lot of area talent." Williams recently narrowed the field a bit more, buying the Arthur Agency, an advertising and marketing firm in Carbondale, Illinois.

 

To share a Success InSight of your own, e-mail Greg Galdabini at ggaldabi@uschamber.com or call him at 202-463-5563.