Partnership provides growth opportunities for both companies

Rochester, NY February 8, 2012 — AmCon Design and Contract Manufacturing Expo and The Cazbah Total Internet Marketing Solution have formalized a working relationship by signing of a joint marketing agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cazbah will design, develop, update and manage a new dynamic Web presence for the AmCon Expos. Cazbah will also provide extended services related to search engine optimization (SEO). AmCon will provide Cazbah with the opportunity to exhibit at its numerous tradeshow locations including, Orlando, FL, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, Minneapolis, MN and Houston, TX. The companies have agreed to work jointly on their marketing activities in order to present a unified message to the attendees and exhibitors at the AmCon Design and Contract Manufacturing Expos throughout the year.

“We were impressed with the people of Cazbah from the moment that we first met them,” said Kevin Woods, CEO & President of AmCon. “They have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the unique situations that small manufacturers face when trying to use the Internet to generate new business ,” he went on to say. “The fact that we serve the same markets, in a complimentary fashion, made the decision to work together a no-brainer.”

For nearly 25 years The AmCon Expo has catered to small manufacturers and engineering companies that design, prototype and manufacture parts for other larger companies under contract. These regional tradeshows, held numerous times throughout the year, serve as an ideal opportunity for buyers and product engineers to meet personally with high-quality contract manufacturers who provide machining services, electronic components, assemblies, castings, patterns, molds, fabrication as-well-as tool & die, forms and fixtures.

Since 2001, Cazbah has been providing small businesses with everything that they need to succeed on the Internet. The company offers a comprehensive Web marketing solution consisting of technology that is robust, high-functioning and easy to use, work processes that are documented and proven successful and dedicated services and support on the part of Internet Marketing experts at the firm.

“We believe that marketing provides the means to the sales end,” said Charles Broersma, founder and CEO of Cazbah. “Our job is to generate qualified sales leads using the Internet as our primary resource,” he went on to say. “When it comes to sales, there is no substitute for direct, personal relationships.”

“Our tradeshows give exhibitors the opportunity to meet face-to-face with qualified decision makers,” Woods said. “These are buyers who bring blue prints and plans to the show in order to find manufacturers to produce them.”  “Our job is to shorten the selling process and create a networking environment that gives exhibitors the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with engineers at the early stages of product development,” He went on to say.

“We chose to partner with AmCon because of the types of American small businesses that they serve,” Broersma said. “These are manufacturers who service a variety of industries including, aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, food processing and transportation to name just a few,” he explained. “We’ve helped the same types of companies exceed their revenue and income goals for more than 10 years now,” he explained. “Forging a relationship with AmCon to support these markets together made complete sense.”

Charles Broersma, founder and CEO of Cazbah discussing the benefits of working AmCon:

About CAZBAH

CAZBAH is a 10 year old Internet Marketing company supporting hundreds of small to medium sized businesses located throughout the US and Canada, providing a comprehensive solution to the Internet Marketing needs of its customers. For information and interviews contact Charles Broersma at (585) 869-0901 or by email. Go to www.cazbah.net.

About AmCon

AMCON Design and Contract Manufacturing Expo is a working tradeshow that occurs in numerous cities throughout the year, catering to engineering firms and contract manufacturers, providing a location for companies to meet and engage with buyers and specifying engineers from larger manufactures seeking to contract their services. For more information and interviews contact Kevin Woods at (585) 458-2200 or go to www.amconshows.com.

Media Contact:

Charles Broersma
Tel: (585) 869-0901

10 years ago this month, the world seemed to be a very uncertain place.  The tech sector was watching the full-speed deflation of the Internet Bubble wreak havoc on the US Stock market.  Having burnt through their venture capital, small dot-com companies were folding without ever having made a net profit. The job market was glutted and venture capital monies had evaporated.  The 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers cast an icy pall of uncertainty and fear across the already struggling US economy.

It seemed a perfect time to me to start a business.

In September 2001, Cazbah was launched with a handful of people and a mission to make small business successful on the web.  Over these last 10 years we have increased in size seven fold, relocated our offices twice, cleared financial hurdles, migrated our technology platform,  celebrated 5 employee weddings and lots of births, and provided hundreds of small and mid-sized businesses with results-driven Internet marketing strategies and services.

A decade later and I find that we are still facing many of the same challenges and opportunities … the global economic instability, national debt, high unemployment and the nascent hint of a new Internet bubble.  And I am as convinced today as I was ten years ago that the answer to many of our problems lies in the hands of American small businesses.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are America’s biggest job creators, generating an estimated 44% of total U.S. private payroll and creating more than half of the nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).   At Cazbah, our passion is helping these companies succeed in the face of what sometimes seems like insurmountable odds. There is a tremendous need to support these small businesses, which are doubly challenged when it comes to using the Internet to find more, new customers. The significant amounts of money they’ve spent on a host of advertising and marketing options haven’t delivered on their promises and they don’t have the resources to hire qualified in-house talent.

The business model that Cazbah began with is still the model that we operate from to this day. We work with our commercial, industrial and retail small business customers, providing them with everything that they need to succeed on the web from web site design to ecommerce services, from SEO to PPC, from email marketing to social media.  The results of our efforts can be seen and heard in the candid testimonials our customers give us telling us how Cazbah has worked for them.

Looking down the line at the decade behind us and the one before us, I’m encouraged by all the things that we have overcome and am excited by what still waits to be accomplished.   We are committed to continue to be a company of passionate people, achieving radical results by making ordinary small businesses extraordinary.

Thank you!

Charles B. Broersma
Founder & Chief Executive Officer

We’ve heard them all. Excuses that is. We’ve been at this Internet Marketing game for almost 10 years now. In that time we’ve seen a lot of things change with respect to the Internet, our industry, the economy, politics, etc. But, one thing hasn’t seemed to change much. That’s the excuses and objections that we hear from small businesses about why they aren’t using the Internet to market their businesses.

I thought I would catalog 4 of the most common objections that we’ve heard from people over the years. I’ll also share a few comments from those same people after allowing us to help market their small businesses on the internet.

1.) We really don’t get a lot of business from our Website
This is probably the most common objection that we hear from people about doing business on the Web. Generally, this objection comes from a person whose Website has little or no hope of generating any business to begin with because it’s completely static and has been neglected for years.

I’m never surprised, albeit disappointed, when I hear an objection like this. What’s really at the heart of this comment is the disbelief that the Web can actually provide any real monetary value for their business. Like I said, we hear this one a lot. Fortunately, after they become Cazbah customers, we hear this quite a bit too:

“The Internet sales have been tremendous…much better than I had hoped for! During our first busy season, it was the max that I could possibly handle. We are also seeing an increase in our order size of about 40% over our walk-in trade. Our return on investment has been better than we ever anticipated.”
Diane Cappel, Owner – Cappels, Inc.
WATCH VIDEO

2.) Our Website is really like an electronic brochure
Meaning? It’s doing nothing for us. The people who respond with this objection are typically rooted in some pretty basic and traditional marketing practices and haven’t yet embraced the Internet as the most effective marketing tool for their businesses.Once they step over their own objection, this is what we hear:

“Before Cazbah our Website was just an electronic brochure. With Cazbah, it’s an active part of our business that brings (sales) inquiries in that we can filter through.” “I would say on average, we’re talking about five to ten inquiries a day.”
Andy Severson, VP/GM – Armstrong Brands.
WATCH VIDEO

3.) My customer’s aren’t on the Internet, or don’t use the Internet
Generally, we hear this excuse from traditional businesses, manufacturers or distributors, that have been doing business a certain way for a very long time. In most cases, these folks have restricted themselves to a particular territory or region and haven’t considered how the Web could change their business by opening up new markets or opportunities for them. Once we show them how much more efficient and effective (i.e., profitable) it is to do business on the Web we hear:

“We get more than 5 phone calls from the website each day. When somebody calls us from the Website they’re usually very interested in buying something. If we have it (in stock) we’ve got the sale. At least 60% of our sales are attributable to the Website and plenty of the rest of the sales are helped by the Website because we can refer people to it…”
Don Welch, Owner – Cylinder Services.
WATCH VIDEO

4.) We don’t sell our products online
This objection comes from people who don’t yet understand the power of the Internet to reach new customers, regardless of the type of products they are selling. In most cases, they don’t believe that anyone would spend the kind of money that it takes to buy their products on the Internet. There are still quite a few people that we run into who have the incorrect assumption that the Web is only good for consumer products that will easily fit into a shipping box. Fortunately, we know otherwise and so do all of our customers:

“Before Cazbah we had no ability to sell online. Since our relationship with Cazbah (our business) has probably doubled. We ship nationwide every week, almost every day, whether it’s small sales UPS or common carrier tractor trailer. The volume and the ticket sales are just tremendous. We are now getting three to five to 10 thousand dollar sales.”
Joe Jackson, Owner – Bristol Valley Hardwoods.
WATCH VIDEO

What are some of the objections you have to expanding your business online? What are some of the successes you’ve had through your website? Write back we would love know and help if we can.

Customer testimonials are a great selling tool and have been used in marketing and selling circles for a very long time. Frankly, there’s no better way to communicate the value that you provide to your customers than through a testimonial from an existing satisfied customer. Your prospects are much more likely to take their word for it, than yours.

There are several types of customer testimonials and they include: The official customer endorsement letter, where your customer writes a brief albeit thorough letter on her company letterhead endorsing your product or service; The customer interview, where you interview your  customer and document her responses; The testimonial video, where you conduct an interview with your customer and capture it on video.

All of these forms are useful but, there’s no better way of communicating your unique value to your prospects than through a streaming customer video testimonial on your website. The power of video in this context cannot be overstated.

Gone are the days of Advertising Agencies, expensive video shoots, film crews and hired talent. All you really need is a reasonable and relatively inexpensive digital video camera (or video capture device i.e., a smart phone), the ability to transfer the video file to your computer, some editing software, the talent to use it and a willing customer or two.

There are 5 things that you need to keep in mind when creating customer video testimonials:

First, what is the goal of the video testimonial? Well, as with all of your marketing and selling activities, it should be to get more of the right customers to do business with you. Having customers is mandatory for any business. Having the ‘right’ customers is optional and is something that successful businesses learn to distinguish sooner or later. That being said, this should impact your choice of which customers you want to get a video testimonial from. Pick the ones that you would like to duplicate. Don’t choose the ones who cause you fits and sleepless nights. They probably won’t give you a good testimonial anyway.

Second, the idea is to have the people viewing the video testimonial to identify and associate with the person speaking on the video. Therefore, it’s important to consider where your prospects are in their lives and in their businesses at the time that they are viewing the video. Having the person on the video talk about what their situation was like when they were at that point is very important. Ask your existing customer to talk about the problem that you solved or the pain that you eliminated. Chances are the person viewing the video has a similar problem or pain.

Just about every fall for the past 10 years I’ve made a trip, with a close friend of mine, up to a very special place in the Great White North, otherwise known as Canada. That place is Algonquin Provincial Park. The Park is located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Central Ontario, at roughly the same latitude as Montreal.

It is the oldest and one of the largest provincial parks in Canada comprising almost 8,000 square kilometers of back country wilderness. For comparison purposes, it is about the size of the state of Delaware. There are over 2,400 lakes and 1,200 kilometers of streams and rivers throughout the park.

The natural unspoiled beauty of this part of the world cannot be fully appreciated in pictures or videos. In my humble opinion, it is best experienced in person. And that is precisely what we do every year. We appreciate the great outdoors while we canoe, portage and camp throughout the park for about a week in late September.

It’s a pretty rugged trip which takes preparation and months of (physical) training. We travel between 175 – 200 kilometers during our week in the park. 80% of the time we are on the water and 20% of the time we are (single) carrying our gear and canoes between waterways. We use solo canoes and we each carry about 120 lbs of gear and supplies, including the weight of the canoe, when we portage. Both my friend and I are former military and this is our annual opportunity to see if we’ve still got it. For lack of a better description, this is Extreme Canoeing.

Kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it? I mean, who hasn’t heard how challenging the bank lending picture is for small businesses? We speak daily with small business owners, across the country in a multitude of industries. The story is always the same; banks aren’t lending and they have become extraordinarily conservative with respect to their loan / line approvals.

Worse yet are the numerous stories of banks coming back around to their small business customers to ‘reevaluate or review’ a loan package or line of credit. The banks have been doing this with regularity over the past year and a half primarily because they have economic jitters (and regulators breathing down their necks) and, the unconditional right to do so. Often times, this activity requires extraordinary amounts of work on the part of the business owners (a major distraction) in order to provide the bank with an updated inventory count or some other form of business valuation, to appease them enough to move their company off the hot seat.

Speaking as a small business owner, it’s especially frustrating to see all of this going on, knowing full well the significant contributions that small businesses make to the US Economy in the two leading areas that determine the health of the economy at large; real GDP (gross domestic product) and net new jobs created. According to the SBA, “small businesses create most of the nation’s new jobs, employ about half of the nation’s private sector workforce, and provide half of the nation’s nonfarm, real gross domestic product…”

So here’s the good news, sort of: HR 5297 – Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010. This SBA bill, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, is big news for small businesses. It passed the House but… we’ll get to that it just a moment.

HR 5297 stands to benefit small business in some big ways. First, it provides a 90% loan guarantee via the SBA, giving the banks the security that they need to make a loan. Compared to the normal 75% guarantee, it can mean the difference between getting the loan or not. Second, there are no fees associated with this loan package. This alone can save a small business tens of thousands of dollars! Third, the loan limit has been increase to $5 Million. The bill also allows businesses with up to $15 Million in net worth to qualify. The previous limit was $8.5 Million. In addition, small businesses with existing SBA loans that have balloon payments coming due can refinance their commercial loans through this program.

Now for the bad news: Politics…need I say more? HR 5297 passed the House of Representatives on June 17^th with 241 in favor, 182 opposed and 9 abstaining. A small margin for sure but, it passed. It has since stalled in the Senate due primarily to a Republican filibuster.

This post is not intended to be a political commentary. It’s my hope that our representatives in the Federal Government will have the good sense and the higher calling to put aside their differences and truly act in the best interest of the people by passing this bill.

Monday, September 13^th is the day Senators head back to Washington after their summer recess. Waiting for them, front and center, will be HR 5297. As you can imagine, there is a lot of energy and anticipation surrounding this particular bill. With all of its attributes and the fact that it could be very profitable for the banks, it stands to be a win-win-win. Small businesses win, they get funded. Banks win, they make profitable loans. Government wins, they serve their constituency, create real GDP and jobs.

The SBA lending community (approved banks) has started to come alive recently and, according to several business owners that I have talked to across the country, banks are now reaching out to their small business customers in order to reopen funding discussions. Presumably, this is in anticipation of the passage of HR 5297.

If you have not heard from your banker recently and you are interested in seeking funding through the SBA, you owe it to yourself to put a call in to him or her and find out what they are doing to prepare for the potential passage of HR 5297. More importantly, you should find out what they can do for your small business specifically.

The entire 122 pages of  HR 5297 is available.

In keeping with their goal to meet their customers where they are, Cazbah will be participating in the PTXi and International Powder & Bulk Solids tradeshow and Conference. “Most of the smaller manufacturing companies exhibiting at the show have significant untapped potential, just waiting to be realized on the web,” said David Wilson, director of business development for Cazbah. We’re hopeful to meet these companies at the show and begin a discussion that will lead to their success.

Cazbah Total Internet Marketing Solution announced today its intention to attend and actively participate in the PTXi and International Powder & Bulk Solids tradeshow and Conference, to be held May 4 – 6, 2010 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, in Rosemont (Chicago), IL, adjacent to O’Hare International Airport.

The PTXi tradeshow and conference is the world’s leading event for engineers and managers who process, handle, package, transport, test and store dry particulates and bulk solids across many industries. Manufacturers and suppliers will be in attendance from industries including material handling, transportation and storage, automation, instrumentation and controls, mixers and blenders, packaging and bagging, weighing systems and scales and many more.

Cazbah has been providing its total Internet Marketing Solution to manufacturing companies for more than nine years. Their customer base, consisting of hundreds of specialty American commercial and industrial small businesses, has realized remarkable results from the Internet in the face of seemingly insurmountable economic odds. Cazbah has helped its small business customers generate tens of millions of dollars in new revenue, directly and indirectly from the web.

Ellen Kominars of Magnetic Products Inc., a PTXi tradeshow exhibitor and Cazbah customer said, “The hassle, heartache and mystery of website development and management are gone. Cazbah has great expertise! What a great team! ”

“We get 5 – 10 quote requests per day with a much higher close rate,” said Len Holtgreven, president of Holtgreven Scale. “Since Cazbah has taken over our Web site development and Internet marketing, our sales leads have been much more qualified,” he said. “Our Customers now have in-depth knowledge of our products due to the site contents and organization.”

“We work extraordinarily hard for our specialty small business customers because we depend on their continued patronage for our own success,” said Michael Seppala, president of Cazbah. “We literally take a stake in their game. If they’re not successful, we’re not successful.”

Cazbah’s goal is to meet their customers where they are. The company assigns a dedicated account manager to every customer that they have. “The investments that we make in the relationships that we forge are the key to our mutual success,” Seppala went on to say.

In keeping with their goal to meet their customers where they are, Cazbah will be participating in the PTXi and International Powder & Bulk Solids tradeshow and Conference. “Most of the smaller manufacturing companies exhibiting at the show have significant untapped potential, just waiting to be realized on the web,” said David Wilson, director of business development for Cazbah. We’re hopeful to meet these companies at the show and begin a discussion that will lead to their success.

Lately I have been spending a considerable amount of time visiting with our customers located all over the U.S. The purpose in my recent “road warrior” lifestyle is twofold: First, I’ve made a commitment to personally meet with our customers in 2010, and second, I’m presenting many of them with our additional value added services.

The acceptance rate of our community management offering has been unprecedented. As I mentioned in a previous post, this service has to do with our customers’ adoption of social media. Cazbah provides them with the technology, work processes, and dedicated service and support to increase their inbound marketing opportunities. It also establishes them as the center-of-influence within their communities, hence the name.

On a recent visit with one of our clients while presenting a community management proposal, we got into a discussion about the viability of social media within their particular industry. Our client admitted he wasn’t too familiar with social media networks and expressed his concerns about how social media was going to help him sell his products (a very reasonable and accurate concern). While I did take the opportunity to highlight some of the benefits of social media for his business, it became clear to me that we need to  educate all of our clients regarding new media techniques that can improve their businesses.

With a wry smile, the client  asked, “I wonder what Warren Buffet is doing in social media?” He stopped me in my tracks. I thought, “what a great question.” Even though he was half joking, he struck on something profound. Clearly, if you are considering a change, you look to the leaders to gain insight into your decision making process. Who better than Warren Buffet, one of the savviest business men in the world.

Social media plays a vital role in viral marketing and enables further brand awareness. This is accomplished by establishing word-of-mouth communication between community members regarding relevant information which induces purchasing by driving traffic to a company’s Web site. Additionally, social media removes the barriers that may normally exist between a company and its customers, giving them the opportunity to communicate openly and virtually instantaneously.

Warren Buffet’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway now owns a diverse range of businesses including railroads, candy production, retail, home furnishings, encyclopedias, vacuum cleaners, jewelry sales, newspaper publishing, manufacture and distribution of uniforms, manufacture, import and distribution of footwear; as well as several regional electric and gas utilities.

Account Manager

Cazbah, an Internet marketing services firm, provides small to mid-sized businesses with everything they need to succeed on the Internet. Our highly effective solution includes a dynamic database driven Web site with simplified content management, search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, e-commerce shopping cart, and dedicated service and ongoing support. Cazbah customers gain a greater level of control and generate measurable results!

Responsibilities
Key responsibilities for the Account Manager position include identifying and defining our clients’ requirements and needs, managing all aspects of a clients’ online sales and marketing strategy, and understanding and applying the Cazbah capabilities to our clients’ situational needs. Responsibilities include:

• Training our clients on the Cazbah tool set
• Monthly contact with clients
• Development and implementation of Internet marketing plans
• Working with the Cazbah production team to implement Internet marketing plans
• Analyze Web site performance and make appropriate adjustments to Internet marketing plan.

Required Skills
Candidate must have Internet marketing experience and have knowledge of how Web sites are built and maintained. A BS/BA degree or equivalent work experience in customer support, marketing or technology industry is also required. Experience working with small businesses/start ups preferred. In support of this, the candidate will have the following:

• Excellent communication skills and feel comfortable dealing with their assigned clients on a daily basis
• Basic Web site editing skills
• Strong knowledge of MS Word and Excel, and basic photo editing knowledge

Preferred Sills
The ideal candidate will have a passion for small businesses along with a strong knowledge of Web development. Preferred candidates will be skilled in the following areas:

• Google AdWords knowledge / certification
• Google Analytics knowledge / certification
• E-mail marketing knowledge
• Social media marketing knowledge
• Sales and distribution knowledge for retail and manufacturing industries

Benefits
The Cazbah Account Manager position is a salaried position with a healthcare plan, and matching simple IRA.

Please send cover letter and resume via e-mail to careers@cazbah.net
No phone calls please. We are an EEO Employer.

I had a discouraging experience a moment ago… I was checking my LinkedIn profile where I have a feed from our company blog – Cazmunity. My discouragement came from the number of days since I last posted. Ouch! It has been way, way too long!

This past year has been a very busy year for us at Cazbah. We actually finished the year ahead of the previous year by about 20% which, in the most severe recession that anyone can remember, is a pretty good thing. We also had our best new customer sales year in our history. It’s clear that more and more specialty small businesses are realizing how important the Internet is to the success of their businesses.

Our customers have continued to reward us with their loyalty as well. The Cazbah business model is predicated on our client’s ultimate success and their willingness to make a voluntary renewal of their business relationship with Cazbah year after year. The exceptional renewal rate and feedback we receive is indicative of our clients’ trust.

The true value of the Cazbah experience is in the personal relationships that our dedicated account managers establish with their clients. As is always the case in a trust-based relationship, our clients confide in us and share their fears, concerns, hopes and dreams for their businesses.