Fountain Inn Chamber of Commerce

How to Harness the Power of Your Reviews to Increase Sales

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:41:39 -0700

A good review is a sales team member you didn’t have to train, pay, or gently remind to update the CRM. It’s also the most brilliant marketer you have.

Hopefully you’re already collecting positive reviews.

But it’s likely you read them, feel good for 12 seconds, and then they sit quietly on Google, Facebook, Yelp, or LinkedIn, where they only do half the work they could be doing for you.

That’s a missed opportunity.

When someone says something specific and positive about your business, they’re giving you language you can use to build trust with future customers. And they’re saying it in a way that sounds more believable than anything you could write about yourself.

This week, take 30 minutes to turn your best reviews into business-building tools.

Start by Finding Three Strong Reviews

You don’t need hundreds of reviews to do this. Start with three.

Look for reviews that include details. “Great service” is nice, but “They helped us solve a scheduling issue in one afternoon” gives you something much stronger to work with. Specific reviews show what problem you solved, what the experience felt like, and why someone would choose you again.

Pull reviews from places where customers already talk about your business, such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, industry directories, survey responses, thank-you emails, or testimonials sent directly to you.

As you read, ask yourself:

Stokes & Company CPAs Named a South Carolina Top Workplace for 2025

Greenville, South Carolina - Stokes & Company CPAs is proud to announce that it has been named a 2025 South Carolina Top Workplace, a prestigious recognition that honors organizations committed to building exceptional workplace cultures and employee experiences.

The South Carolina Top Workplaces award is based entirely on employee feedback collected through a confidential third-party survey that measures important aspects of workplace culture, including leadership, communication, employee engagement, and overall satisfaction.

This recognition highlights Stokes & Company CPAs’ continued commitment to fostering a supportive, collaborative, and growth-oriented environment for its team members. The firm has built a culture centered on professional development, innovation, flexibility, and a strong commitment to both its employees and clients.

Stokes & Company CPAs is known for delivering trusted accounting, tax, and advisory services to individuals and businesses throughout the upstate. The firm’s focus on teamwork, integrity, and client service has helped establish it as a respected leader in the accounting industry.

As the firm continues to grow, Stokes & Company CPAs remains committed to investing in its employees while maintaining the high level of service and expertise clients have come to expect.

For more information about Stokes & Company CPAs, visit Read More

Martha Franks Heritage House to Open June 30 in Laurens

Fri, 29 May 2026 07:49:37 -0700

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Martha Franks Heritage House to Open June 30 in Laurens

Located on the campus of the Martha Franks Retirement Community in Laurens, South Carolina, the Heritage House stands as a tribute to the extraordinary life and ministry of Martha Franks, a devoted servant of God who spent 40 years ministering and teaching in China and Taiwan.

Visitors who walk through the home will experience a moving portrait of Martha’s life, faith, and deep love for the Chinese people. The carefully preserved artifacts and displays offer a glimpse into what life was like for her while serving on the mission field and reflect the dedication and compassion that defined her ministry.

Martha Franks was known as a willing servant, a woman of unwavering faith, and a true “prayer warrior.” If she believed God was calling her to a task, she would not allow obstacles or opposition to stand in the way of accomplishing it. Her determination, humility, and trust in God left a profound impression on all who knew her.

Those who met Martha Franks never forgot her. She possessed a warm sense of humor and a unique ability to connect with people of all ages and backgrounds. Her life touched countless individuals, and her influence continues to inspire others today.

As the title of her autobiography so beautifully states, Martha Franks: One Link in God’s Chain, her life became part of a greater story of faith, service, and love. Through the opening of the Heritage House, her lasting legacy will continue to impact future generations.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched the Patriot Pitch Competition, a national pitch contest designed to spotlight innovative small businesses across the country. The competition includes a $1 million cash prize pool funded by Clover Network, Inc., and eligible small businesses are encouraged to apply by June 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

For small business owners who have used qualifying SBA capital products, this could be more than a chance at prize money.

It’s also an opportunity to:

sharpen your business story
gain national visibility
connect with investors, industry leaders, policymakers, and potential partners

Here’s whatyou need to know.

What Is the Patriot Pitch Competition?

The Patriot Pitch Competition is part of the SBA’s Freedom 250 initiative, which celebrates 250 years of American free enterprise, and the role small businesses have played in innovation, job creation, and economic growth.

Selected businesses will move through four stages of judging. The competition will culminate in a live pitch event in Washington, D.C., in September, where five finalists will pitch before judges and a national audience for a share of the $1 million prize pool.

According to the SBA, the final event will also feature prominent speakers from business, government,...Read More

Are You Accidentally Killing Your Business’ Unique Value Proposition?

Fri, 22 May 2026 06:00:01 -0700

Most businesses don’t lose their edge in one dramatic, cinematic moment.

They lose it quietly.

A tweak here. Following a trend there. A consultant recommendation that sounds smart but doesn’t fit. A few AI-generated ideas pasted into the marketing plan with the confidence of someone assembling furniture without looking at the directions.

Before long, something feels off. The business’ personality is flatter. The message sounds like everyone else’s. The thing that made people choose them has been polished, sanded, and lacquered in beige.

That “thing” that makes you who you are is aptly called your unique value proposition (UVP). It’s the combination of what you offer, who you serve, how you serve them, and what you share about the “why” behind what you do. It’s what sets you apart and entices people to buy from you or visit your business over others. A strong UVP breeds loyalty.

And yes, businesses kill it by accident all the time. Here are some of the most common ways it happens so you can watch out for it happening to yours:

Listening to Advice From People Who Don’t Understand Your Market

Marketing experts and business consultants can be incredibly helpful. Fresh perspective works because outside expertise can uncover problems you’ve been too close to see.

But a consultant who doesn’t understand your audience can accidentally steer you away from the very thing that makes your business special in the eyes of your customers.

A trendy, high-end rebrand might...Read More

How to Turn One Happy Customer Into Three New Leads

Tue, 12 May 2026 07:31:45 -0700

Hopefully, your happiest customers are already doing some marketing for you. Maybe they’re mentioning your business to a neighbor or tagging you in a post. Perhaps they’ve told a friend, “You should call them.”

The problem is that most small businesses leave those moments to chance and probably don’t even know about them. That’s why you must make referral marketing part of your marketing goals.

Referrals are powerful because they come with built-in trust. A stranger clicking an ad may be curious. A person recommending your business to a friend is handing you a warm lead. That’s worth building a simple system around.

You don’t need a huge budget or a complicated referral program. You just need a few repeatable habits that make it easy for happy customers to send more people your way.

Ask at the Right Moment

Start by knowing when to ask. Timing matters. The best moment is usually right after a customer has had a positive experience. Maybe they compliment your team. Maybe they leave a great review. Maybe they reorder, renew, rebook, or tell you how much something helped them.

That’s your opening.

Instead of saying, “Let us know if you know anyone,” which puts all the work on them, be specific. Try something like:

“If you know another business owner who could use help with this, I’d be grateful if you’d send them my way.”

Or:

“We love working...Read More

One of the Most Affordable (and effective!) Ways to Advertise Your Business

Mon, 04 May 2026 07:54:21 -0700

Marketing gets expensive fast. Even social media, which used to be one of the cheapest avenues for exposure, requires paid placement these days.

But while social media is still affordable, and targeting is pretty good, if you don’t choose your audience effectively, you’re paying for people to see your content event though they’ll never buy from you or aren’t in your target market. You’re also getting charged for anyone who clicks—could be your competitors or even your friends who unknowingly click on your ad wondering what you’re up to.

And for those of us with a marketing budget, it’s essential to decide where to spend your time and money so your business is seen by the right people, in the right places, without draining resources.

The Chamber Can Help

Most chambers offer marketing and advertising opportunities designed specifically for attracting local buyers. Because the chamber is built around community visibility, trusted relationships, and repeated exposure to people who already care about the local economy. In other words, you’re showing up in front of a connected business audience for pennies on the dollar.

The most familiar opportunities are often the easiest place to start. Many chambers offer:

• website banner ads

• member directory enhancements

• newsletter advertising

• sponsored email placements

These tools may sound simple, but they put your business in front of members, community partners, residents, event attendees, and regional decision-makers on a regular basis. Best of all, the chamber’s reputation vouges for you. Your business must be reputable because it’s associated with the...Read More

Smart Ways to Use Summer Interns in Any Business

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 05:52:43 -0700

Summer is a great time to consider the advantage of temporary labor. You know that project you’ve been putting off? How about the organization structure you wanted to build? What about that technology trial? Or maybe there's something you’ve been doing that could easily be managed by someone else so you can free up your time for things that require your attention?

As vacations loom and customer buying patterns shift, it’s an ideal time to explore temporary hires or interns. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, businesses expect to hire 3.9% more interns than in the previous year, and 81% say they plan to increase or maintain intern hiring.

But if you think you can just bring in an intern, hand over a pile of small tasks, and call it a program, you’re missing a bigger strategic opportunity.

The smartest businesses do something different. They don’t use interns just to fill a chair or display them to the community to look like a business that’s worried about the future workforce.

They use them to tackle work that matters.

Don’t think your business could use an intern? Think again. Here are a few ingenious ways to get things done with the “summer help”:

Process Detective

One of the best ways to use an intern is as a process detective. Every business has systems that have grown messy over time. Maybe your onboarding is inconsistent. Maybe client files are stored in three places, and no one knows which version is right. Maybe your front desk, inbox, or quoting process depends too much on tribal knowledge.

An intern can document workflows, identify bottlenecks (they provide fresh ideas because they don’t know the history), and help organize procedures in a way that saves your...Read More

7 Ways to Capture Tax Refund Dollars This Month

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:34:06 -0700

Tax refund season creates a short spending window. The IRS writes that most refunds are issued within 21 days, and people can start checking status shortly after e-filing through the IRS refund tracker. In other words, your future customers are getting a little breathing room in their bank account right now, and that changes buying behavior. It may also feel like something that was out of (budget) reach before is now doable.

This is not the moment to sit back and hope people wander in looking for a good deal. Tax refund spending is emotional as much as practical. People use it to catch up, upgrade, treat themselves, solve annoying problems, and finally buy the thing they have been postponing for months.

Your job is to make your offer feel timely, useful, and easy to say yes to.

The Biggest Mistake Businesses Make During Refund Season

The biggest mistake businesses make during refund season is assuming customers will connect the dots on their own. They won’t. Humans love having money and then immediately finding twelve unrelated ways to spend it. You must position your offer so it feels relevant to this moment.

How to Create a Great Refund Offer

Start with the right angle. Refund spending usually falls into a few categories: practical fixes, overdue replacements, personal rewards, family spending, and future planning. If your marketing speaks to one of those motives, you’re far more likely to get attention than if you simply run a generic sale.

A home service business, for example, should not just announce a discount. It should...Read More

7 Things You Should Do Before Hiring for the Summer

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:14:33 -0700

It’s getting to be that time of year again—the summer scramble for capable employees. Colleges are about to go on break. High schools will finish up soon thereafter, and eager summer employees are looking for jobs now.

In the past, you probably posted a job, hired fast as fast as you could, and hoped for the best. But seasonal hiring doesn’t have to feel like a gamble. Done right, it can give you flexibility, protect your margins, and improve your customer experience. Done wrong, it creates more work than it solves.

Here’s how to hire for summer without regretting it by July.

Start With Demand, not Desperation

Most seasonal hiring decisions are based on a vague feeling that “it’s going to get busy.” That’s not a strategy. Before you post a single job, look at last year’s numbers. When did traffic increase? Which days or hours were stretched thin? Where did service break down?

Hiring should solve specific problems, not general anxiety. If Saturdays were your bottleneck, you don’t need more staff across the board. You need targeted coverage. When you hire with precision, you avoid overstaffing and protect your cash flow when business inevitably fluctuates.

Hire for Flexibility, not Perfection

It’s tempting to wait for the “ideal” candidate who can do everything. But in seasonal hiring, that mindset slows you down and limits your options. Instead, look for people who are adaptable, reliable, and willing to learn.

A college student who can work varied shifts and pick up new tasks quickly may be more valuable than someone with years of experience who needs a rigid schedule. Summer business is unpredictable. Your team should be able to move with...Read More