Membership Benefits
Advertising and Promotions
Ogunquit.org is the #1 resource for information on our area. You get an online listing of your business, address, and phone number. We are mobile-friendly so your information is easily readable. Digital upgrades are available to include expanded company information, photos, videos and more.
Your 200-character listing in this handy Chamber Guidebook includes your business name, phone number, mailing and web address, as well as a short description of your business. You are also included in the Guidebook’s center grids, providing handy “at a glance” information. We print & distribute 63,000 Guidebooks, and a downloadable version is available on Ogunquit.org.
Your brochures, business cards and flyers are on display in the upper level of the public area for your general advertising and for visitors to take-away. Each business has one space, and our staff will call you when inventory runs low. Ample comfortable seating and tables are available, so tourists can browse the inventory and help themselves to brochures.
Ogunquit.org features a calendar where you can list any promotion, special entertainment, wine dinners or tastings, seminars, etc.
During high tourist season we produce this convenient 1-page flyer which lists a variety of entertainment, events and activities in the area. Attached to our member newsletter, you can easily print and post for your staff, customer or guests’ interest. If you wish to inform your fellow members and their patrons about your own event, send us an email with the details or enter it on the calendar at Ogunquit.org.
We maintain an active Facebook page and Instagram handle, as well as a LinkedIn group. Share your own social media activity and increase your communications through the chamber’s social media platforms.
Share your Facebook page and we’ll link to ours through the “Likes” section. We try to post items of interest about our members, so be sure to tag us in your posts. (We do remove posts promoting non-member businesses.) Because we have deemed our Facebook page a “negative-free zone,” only positive posts are permitted.
- On Instagram, we follow any member we know about, and will often re-gram their photos. We also take photos as we go around town and use these to highlight members.
- Our LinkedIn group allows members to connect with each other and encourage our members to join our LinkedIn group.
The Welcome Center maintains an area where your flyers can be posted. Only member businesses and local non-profits can utilize this space to promote their events and promotions.
The Chamber sends an e-newsletter to our 6,000 strong visitor listing. We produce this e-newsletter so visitors and tourists are informed of things to do and of any specials or sales to enjoy while in Ogunquit. Members can include a 40-word special, their entertainment happenings and/or a printable coupon for the newsletter.
We are open to the public at least six days a week, year ‘round. Visitors drop in, pick up brochures and menus, and ask questions of staff members on duty. It is our policy to refer only Ogunquit Chamber member businesses. The Welcome Center staff is trained to “refer” members and does not provide recommendations or ratings. Lodging referrals are generated by Ogunquit.org using an algorithm that gives equal representation to all members.
Networking
This is a great way to bring members and guests directly to your business. Hosts do not pay a fee for this networking opportunity, but they do provide refreshments and raffle prizes for the event. The Chamber promotes the event to advertise your business. If unable to host an event at your place of business, we encourage you to partner with another member to co-host an event.
Have a voice in determining the Chamber’s direction. Board of Director positions open each year, and directors are voted in by the membership at large. Our variety of committees maintains open membership, so you can join at any time.
We offer a new business or new owner of an existing business a traditional ribbon cutting, complete with oversized scissors and red ribbon! We’ll invite board members, town officials and local media to join us in welcoming you to town. Provide a paragraph about your business, and we’ll add it to the ribbon-cutting photo to send to area press.
A copy of our Guidebook is sent to every mailbox in Ogunquit. This community gesture encourages residents to recognize and support our Chamber members.
Membership Programs
All chamber members may accept Gift of Ogunquit gift certificates. Issued in increments of $25, these gift certificates are sold by the Ogunquit Chamber and can be redeemed at any participating business. For the business, the gift certificates are a check from the Chamber and can be added to your normal daily bank deposit with no additional work on your part. If you participate, your company information is included in the merchant list which accompanies every gift certificate sold.
NOTE: as a financial instrument, these checks must be cashed within 6 months’ time.
All members get a chamber window decal to post prominently. Studies have shown that consumers trust and therefore spend more money with businesses that are Chamber members.
Member e-newsletters are emailed to all members weekly. Any staff person can be added to the newsletter list at no charge. Newsletters keep you apprised of member news, upcoming events and advertising opportunities, topical news and legislative issues. We also invite you to share your business news in a brief sentence or two, or we’ll attach your pdf file to share with the membership. These newsletters are your primary information source and reference to chamber affairs.
We have vendor opportunities at several large chamber events such as Patriots Day and OgunquitFest. As a member you receive 50% off the standard vendor fee.
During high season, we track lodging availability as well as what restaurants are open throughout the seasons and on holidays. This mutual benefit pushes referrals to those businesses that are open and with availability while relieving calls to those who are at capacity or closed.
We will reward members who encourage membership to others. For each new member who lists you or your business as recommending them to the Chamber, you will receive a $25 credit on your account.
Business Services
All members have access to our complete list of members at any time. As a Chamber member, you have the option to request that we not include your email address in any lists we distribute. Member lists are not available to non-members, except as public information published in the Guidebook.
We offer use of our permit if you are sending more than 200 pieces of US mail in one mailing. On average, the bulk mail permit saves you 18 to 24 cents per piece. Ogunquit Chamber policy requires that any mailings sent using the permit must first be approved by the Chamber; no political, personal, offensive, or non-Chamber member mail may be sent using our bulk mail permit.
Send or receive information at no cost. We also allow members to make a small number of B&W copies for free, although we do ask that we be reimbursed for supplies if large numbers of copies are made. Color copies are $.10 each. We also have computer and wireless internet.
We offer notary services free to you and your staff. Please call ahead to make sure that a notary is available. Note: wedding ceremonies are not included in our free services.
You may need a larger meeting space than you have on premises, or, a private area to meet. The Welcome Center is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Our conference table seats a dozen people, the general space downstairs can accommodate a seminar with 30-40 participants, and our upstairs area (open to the public) can accommodate smaller groups. Arrangements can be made for the use of the Welcome Center before or after normal business hours.
We offer ServSafe Food Safety online and paper exam proctoring. This allows your employees to study online at their own pace, and to take the exam here in Ogunquit when ready, rather than traveling to Portland. ServSafe Alcohol Exam Proctoring is available only with an online version. The examinee must make an appointment in advance for proctoring.
We house a selection of business-related books, DVD’s and CD’s to borrow. DVD subjects range from inter-office communication to grammar to small business taxes. Books include topics on customer service, self-improvement, basic financial management and business etiquette.
A partnership between the Maine State Chamber and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield enables small businesses (groups of 2-50 and self-employed) to purchase from a suite of Chamber BlueOptions health plans previously available to only larger employers.