A Message from PBA President Diane Thresh

On behalf of the board of directors, I'd like to thank you for helping to make 2009 such a great year for the PBA.

The Penfield Business Association is an all-volunteer effort. And because of your support through attendance, serving on a committee, hosting an event, fundraising efforts and your yearly membership dues, we are able to continue the work of the PBA -- building business vitality.

For 2010...

The board of directors has been brainstorming some new ideas for programs and opportunities. To give you a taste of things to come, watch your email for information on:

If you have a new program idea or suggestion on how we can improve the services we offer members, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 746-6758.

Thank you to several of our members for their quick response to our membership renewal. For those that have not mailed their renewal yet or perhaps misplaced the form that we mailed in November, click here to download a copy you can use. We would love to have 100% of our members renew their membership with the PBA for 2010! And please encourage your business associates to join us as well. We'd love to fill each and every event to capacity.

We wish you a safe, healthy and prosperous new year. See you in 2010!

2010 Tentative Event Calendar Now Available

You can view the 2010 Tentative Event Calendar (PDF) here.

Workshop Series - The series this year will contain five (5) workshops beginning in January. The purpose of this series is to help educate members in running an efficient and succesful business, and to help ensure longevity and prosperity. Topics will include professional tips and techniques on cost cutting, payroll, accounting, insurance, marketing, pr, web technology, social networking, sales, and closing the deal. Each workshop will be tentatively held on the first Thursday of the month at 7:30 am with breakfast available.

Lunch Bunch Series - We are continuing the popular Lunch Bunch Series to promote our member restaurants and to provide a monthly opportunity for member networking. Lunches are held on the 3rd Friday of each month at 11:45 am. Reservations are not required. If you know of a great restaurant to have lunch, convince them to become members of the PBA.

Community Series - The series offers important updates that affect all of us doing business in Penfield and will include the Annual State of the Town Address in February and the Annual Town Updates with Jim Costello in November.

Networking Series - By networking, we build important alliances and increase our customer base. In addition to the Lunch Bunch Series, we will be holding a social networking event in August, an awards dinner in October, and our annual Holiday Party in December.

Independence Day Parade - Once again, we will be particpating in the Penfield Independence Day Parade on July 4th. With Penfield celebating its' 100th anniversary, the parade will be larger than ever. The parade, besides being a lot of fun, offfers the PBA and the floats' participants / sponsors important visibility to thousands of spectators and potential customers. Last year, the PBA won the Most Patriotic Float award. This year, we plan to win again. So now is the time to consider signing up to become a sponsor and/or volunteer.

Join a PBA Event Committee and/or Become an Event Sponsor

The PBA is encouraging all members to take an active role in building an association that offers great benefits to its' members. The Board of Directors needs as much help as they can get in delivering a year packed full of networking and educational opportunities. Please take a look at the tentative event schedule and let us know if you would be interested in helping plan, organize, and/or facilitate a 2010 program or event.

Additionally, we are looking for sponsors for each event. For a small donation, you can help fund an event and get a good deal of recognition. Not only will your company be listed on the PBA website, monthly e-Newsletter, and Facebook, but you will have an opportunity to host a special table at the event to further promote your business. Contact us for more information.

As mentioned above, we also need sponsors and volunteers for the upcoming Independence Day Parade. Sponsors will have large banners displayed on the side of the float. Space is limited, so sign up soon. Volunteers are also needed to help make flowers, build the float, and walk in the parade. Volunteer now.

Bicentennial Banners Give Added Visibility to Your Business EVERY DAY in 2010

The PBA is helping to coordinate the promotion of special bicentennial banners that will hang throughout Penfield for all of 2010. This is a great way for our members to add their support to the bicentennial celebration and to have their business name seen by thousands of people traveling to and through Penfield.

Here is a breakdown of the banners available for purchase. In addition to your two-sided banner hanging at the location you chose, this cost also includes one FREE 16” x 46” two-sided banner for you to display in your place of business. Banners will be sold on a first come, first serve basis so if you are interested, please email Diane Thresh (dthresh@mosaicmktg.com) right away. We think these will go fast!

16” x 46” Banners = $300 each banner
22 banners are available at the intersection of Rt. 250 and Rt. 441
10 banners are available at Penfield’s Four Corners

30” x 80” Banners = $400 each banner
4 banners are available at the intersection of Rt. 250 and Rt. 441
4 banners are available at the intersection of Bay and Empire
10 banners are available on Empire Boulevard
2 banners are available at the intersection of Blossom, Creek and Browncroft

Business names only (white printing). Company logos cannot be included.

Please Note: The four larger banners at the intersection of Rt 441 and Rt 250 have been sold. Please act now to reserve your banner.

Check out our Community Calendar!
Please visit the PBA website to view a complete list of Penfield events.

The PBA is dedicated to encouraging the support of local business, the construction of PBA member alliances, and the transaction of mutually beneficial business and sponsorship between PBA members. With this in mind, we will be featuring a monthly spotlight on a business segment of which PBA members belong. These spotlighted members will be able to explain in detail exactly what it is that they do, what products/services/solutions they provide, and why it is important for the rest of us to do business with them. This will hopefully educate the membership on some of our more mysterious members and generate a greater amount of internal business for us all.

Cazbah

Cazbah is your Strategic Internet Marketing Business Partner

• We will work with you to develop (and implement) an extremely cost effective marketing strategy that effectively gains attention to your business, leveraging all the various internet technologies that exist. These take the form of all types of approaches that we work to determine will be most effective for your specific business and industry.

• Our relationships are based in shared objectives which MUST be met. We have built our business such that we have a vested interest in successfully marketing your business and remain highly motivated to achieve success through the life of our relationship. Because of that – you will succeed. In fact: Over 95% of all our clients are finding great success and continue with us – year over year.

• Each client is assigned a Marketing Account Manager who is tasked with making sure you are successful on the internet (whether this means added online revenues, gaining market share, increasing distribution channel exposure, or reducing your sales cycle time to end-users). It’s all about us helping to achieve success as you define it.

• We will actively learn about your company, including how your business operates, products offered, and your unique value proposition and the vertical markets you currently serve. We will also consider your present marketing methods and your competition and tie those to the plans we co-develop.

• Further said.. We are simply - a full featured internet marketing resource for Small Businesses that so far have had fleeting success.

Test Cazbah for Yourself:

Using Google, search for….

• “Pallet Foam” – First page results include our client Armstrong Brands – (a manufacturer of custom foam packing) out of over 7, 500,000 other result.

• “Die Cart” – First page results include our client Hansford Parts and Products – (a provider of machine shop equipment) out of over 51, 000,000 other result.

• “Trailer tires” – First page results include our client KMT Trailer Parts – out of over 10 million other results.

• “Magnetic strips” – First page results include our client Rochester Magnet out of 1.2 million results.

A Note from a Client:

“Our two primary product lines are packaging machinery (specializing in bag closers) and marking products (used to label products or cartons). Their broad product line was sold through direct B2B sales and via their small business website.

Although we have serious competitors in Texas and California, people find us because of our strong search engine ranking and comprehensive offerings.

We’ve found that the Internet is our best sales rep. Plus, it’s faster and cheaper than developing direct mail campaigns. In fact, we’ve dropped direct mail altogether.

We wanted to believe that Internet sales would be automatic, but that’s not the case. We’ve since learned that the more we work our site, the better our Internet sales will be.

Before Cazbah, our online sales didn’t cover the costs of having a small business website. Now, Internet sales make up half of our revenues!”

Lori Ross, Co-Owner
Tracey Packaging: www.tracypackaging.com

Your Strategic Internet Marketing Business Partner

As Director of Business Development at Cazbah, I would appreciate a time to talk further and discuss your specific business and your internet marketing needs. Please give me a call to schedule a live demonstration.

David J. Wilson
Director - Business Development
Office (585) 869-0909
www.cazbah.net

"Our online profits have grown exponentially with Cazbah and now represent a major portion of our overall business profits."

Gooey Cat

An Overview of Web Site Development

There are many facets to web site development – from design to functionality; from ease of navigation to complex user features; from static content to database-driven dynamic content; from domain registration to advanced search engine optimization. There is a lot to consider for a web site and similar to constructing a building, where you have architects, engineers, plumbers, roofers, carpenters, etc…, you will rarely find a one-stop shop who can offer all of these web services. In most cases you will end up hiring a number of companies to help you deliver your message over the Internet. Necessary services may include domain registration, web hosting, user interface design, graphic design, photography, front-end development, back-end development, maintenance, administration, search engine optimization, and strategic marketing.

When determining the type of web site that will best meet the needs of your business, consider that web sites are typically categorized into one of four categories.

• Dynamic Flash/Flex Applications
• User-friendly and interactive web applications with rich, dynamic content.
• Intuitive and responsive to the user providing the most effective user experience.
• Includes motion, sound, and video.
• Can communicate with other systems and sites.
• Can be viewed across systems and devices.
• Programming languages include MXML and ActionScript.
• Rich Flash Content
• More user-friendly and interactive with rich, yet static, content.
• Includes motion, sound, and video.
• Can be viewed across systems and devices.
• Programming languages include ActionScript.
• Dynamic HTML Applications
• Browsing-oriented, HTML-based web applications with dynamic content.
• Includes simple interactions and increased interactivity.
• Can communicate with other sites.
• Users must wait for loading and reloading of pages to view content.
• Programming languages include .NET, ASP, PHP, CFML, JavaScript, etc…
• Static HTML Content
• Browsing-oriented, HTML-based pages containing static content and documents.
• Users must wait for loading and reloading of pages to view content.
• Programming languages include HTML.

*The term “dynamic” is used to indicate content that is ever changing and that is collected and/or delivered through an external source (i.e.: database, XML, web services, etc…).

There are definite advantages and disadvantages to each of the above categories. Flash enriched sites provide a much better user experience than HTML sites, but are not ideal for typical search engine optimization. Dynamic sites offer a greater selection of user features, including feedback forms and shopping carts, and allow for data to be easily updated by administrators, but these sites are more complex and more expensive initially to construct. Static sites are quick and easy to build, but cost more in long-term maintenance, as a programmer/developer is required to make often simple content changes.

Introducing Gooey Cat

Established in 2003 in Los Angeles, Gooey Cat is the partnership of Christopher and Temple Herlong (CAT): web and database developers specializing in engaging and intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUI, pronounced "gooey"). We have over 16 years of combined database and web development experience. We focus primarily on the design and development of Flash and Flex web applications, video players, widgets, and games (the top two categories from above). Additional services include database development, graphic design, and consultation.

While we are proud to say that we have been busy with work over the past 3 years, our website has been deprived of attention as a result and does not currently fully represent the work that we have done. Additionally, over the past 2 years, Christopher has been working with a local company called Workinman Interactive which is the source of some of the projects below.

Our recent work includes the following projects:

Introducing Reddoor Walkthrough

The reddoor walkthrough is an interactive, home-touring experience that invites an international audience of potential home buyers to fully explore properties for sale from the comfort of their own homes. The reddoor walkthrough includes unlimited photographs, detailed descriptions of each and every image, comprehensive floor plans, a moving visual point-of-reference, along with the exclusive reddoor decorator space-planning tool that together provides an unequaled, online sense of relational size and space.

Walkthroughs are displayed as SWF (Flash Player) files for easy and consistent online viewing from any website. Walkthroughs may also be burned to CDs for viewing offline by potential home buyers.

The quality of the reddoor walkthrough is proven in how effectively it serves both home buyers, sellers, and their agents. By creating a combination of unique tools that serve the viewer during a single user experience, we provide tremendous value by empowering those looking to make smarter and more informed decisions in real estate.

*Currently seeking contracts with real estate agencies and new home developers.

Contact Gooey Cat

If you are interested in speaking further about your web development needs, please feel free to contact Christopher Herlong by email or by phone at 585-730-2814.

Visit the PBA website
to view all of our
upcoming meetings and events.

More details can be found on the Member to Member Discount Program page located on the PBA website. Please contact us for more information or if you would like to participate in this program. If you are interested in taking advantage of any of these incentives, be prepared to show your membership card at the participating businesses.