‘Strength Training for Business’ is a collaborative and interactive series of free business educational seminars sponsored by Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, Pinellas County Economic Development and St. Petersburg College. This is the first time that the series has been offered. It came into being in 2008 when Carol Hague was appointed chair-elect of the Clearwater Regional Chamber Board.
“I recognized that small businesses were struggling all around us and that the Chamber was uniquely positioned to facilitate help through education,” says Hague. “I went to St. Petersburg College and they were enthusiastic about participating and providing the venue for the seminars. They are a GREAT community partner.”
The Clearwater Regional Chamber put together a six session series – some of these sessions included:
· Basics of Business Plans, Debt, Credit & Finance
· Property & Business Taxes, State Sales Tax, Federal Tax
· Human Resources and Resources for those Humans
The Pinellas County Economic Development took note of the efforts the Clearwater Chamber was doing to educate businesses on how to succeed through current economic stress. They asked to partner up with the Clearwater Chamber and St. Pete College on the series, and provided a $1000 grant to help with various costs such as printing fliers, mailing, etc. Every session was geared towards delivering information vital to the sustainability of small businesses in the community.
Joy Gendusa had been personally selected by the Clearwater Chamber to be one of the featured speakers because of her strong background and the success of her own multi-million dollar marketing company, PostcardMania. Gendusa’s seminar on ‘Marketing 101’ will be held in the Teaching Auditorium at St. Petersburg College on Tuesday, April 21st from 7:00pm – 9:00pm.
Joy has always had a true passion to educate business professionals on the importance of marketing one’s company in order to succeed and thrive in any economic climate. “The first expense that businesses usually cut when there is a recession is their marketing budget,” says Gendusa. “Those that continue to market their business will be the ones to come out on top when the recession is over, because they will have taken market share from those who didn’t.”
About PostcardMania:
PostcardMania is a full-service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition, mailing services, websites and landing pages with free marketing advice. PostcardMania has seen positive expansion every year since its inception and has won many awards for creativity and marketing farsightedness, best business practices and expansion, including the Inc. 500 & 5000 lists. Joy Gendusa began PostcardMania in 1998 with nothing but a phone and a computer and zero investment capital. By 2008, revenues reached nearly $19 million and the company now employs over 160 people, prints 4 million and mails 2 million postcards representing more than 35,000 customers in over 350 industries each week. Visit www.postcardmania.com
