Chamber of Commerce business members now have a new tool at their disposal: a location-based marketing application.

Chambers of Commerce across the country are rolling out the MyChamberApp, available for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry operating systems, which uses location-based technology to help local businesses attract consumers. Developers are also working on a mobile Web site that will offer the same services and work on 99 percent of handsets.

?Our strategy is to simply help small businesses and Chambers of Commerce as much as possible by applying the power of the mobile Internet,? said Skyler Sutton, cofounder of MyChamberApp, Los Angeles. ?We feel that [mobile] is the area that offers the greatest room for improvement in daily life.?

A.D.A.M. (App Dev and Mktg) developed the technology that powers the application. It is a mobile development company that specializes in directory-based applications.

The MyChamberApp was distributed to Chambers of Commerce by ChamberMasters and Target Marketing/SouthComm Publishing.

Baxter, MN-based ChamberMasters develops management software for Chambers of Commerce around the country, and Target Marketing/SouthComm Publishing, Crescent Springs, KY, fulfills publishing needs of affiliated Chambers of Commerce.

Localized marketing solutions
The application's location-based technology searches for the nearest participating Chamber of Commerce and launches a homepage with category icons that users can click on to narrow down their search for relevant businesses.

Here is a screen grab of the MyChamberApp?s homepage:

By clicking on the icons, users can access lists of businesses across the various categories featured on the application ? such as shopping, dining and professional services.

Business can sign up to be listed on the application through their local Chamber of Commerce or through http://www.mychamberapp.com.

A navigation bar along the bottom of the screen allows users to toggle between the homepage, an events listing page, advanced search, user-specified favorite businesses and location-based search options.

Users can find basic information about the enterprises, such as address and phone number on business-specific pages.

Here is a screen grab of one business's MyChamberApp page:

Users can also access ?Hot Deals? offered by the businesses, which include discounts and customer loyalty programs.

?Member to member discounts is one of the biggest reason people are using our app,? Mr. Sutton said.

These pages also use click-to-call functionality, so potential customers can reach affiliated businesses in one click, and location-based technology that allows users to generate directions from their locations to a business?s doorstep.

Finally, these pages let users add businesses to their Favorites list, accessible from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, so they can find the businesses most relevant to them more quickly.

Businesses that sign up for the application can pay for one of three packages: Standard, Featured or Premium.

The Standard package includes a basic set of features, including contact information, and costs participating businesses $5.

Featured ($695) and Premium ($2,500) each allow for additional functionality, such as photo, video and meshing with social networking sites, as well as higher placement on the application.

?Businesses can pay to enhance their listings with images and videos,? Mr. Sutton said. ?A part of this goes back to support their local chamber.?

Here is a screen grab of the application's map feature, which uses location-based technology:

?[Driving foot traffic using location-based technology] was the original goal,? Mr. Sutton said. ?We know that a great technology is not great if it does not lead to real life transactions.

?MyChamberApp allows businesses to target local consumers that want what that business offers, while they are close to the business, and when they are ready to buy,? he said.

While individual Chamber members created their own mobile applications individually, this is the first concerted effort by Chambers of Commerce to organize their marketing efforts together on an application.

?We have seen some chambers pay a local developer to get a basic iPhone app,? Mr. Sutton said. ?This is the first one that is a complete member guide, events guide and works on the big three platforms ? Apple, Google and RIM.

?We have a network of 1,000 chambers,? he said. ?And we have a great team of advisors that incliude Philip Hageman from SouthComm Publishing and Target Marketing as well as Chuck Ewert, the most respected coach to chambers of commerce.?

The developers are optimistic about growth prospects for the application.

?So far we have had chambers in and out of our network adopting it quickly,? Mr Sutton said. ?In the first two weeks we have had over 20,000 chamber members' businesses added.

?We expect to have over 1,000,000 chamber members/local businesses listed in the next 11 months,? he said. ?[We are focused on] helping local consumers to use this tool so they can work with the most trusted small businesses in America, and save money.

?And also, teach[ing] businesses to use this tool to raise foot traffic.?