Having trouble finding something to do Friday night? Saturday night? Any night of the week? Fresno Live can help.

There are more than a dozen Web sites in the Valley providing information about upcoming events and local businesses, but very few of them offer a discount card like fresnolive.com.

Nearly 100 businesses in the Fresno and Clovis area honor the card by offering savings such as special rates or buy-one get-one free promotions.

Fresno Live is a site devoted to promoting services and entertainment in and around the Fresno area.

Fresnolive.com, which was launched on Jan. 1, is the cooperative effort of Scott Johnson, a senior at Fresno State and Adam Lopez, a San Diego State graduate and former student at Fresno State.

While living in San Diego, Lopez was interested in a similar site called signonsandiego.com –– which offered a community card good for discounted rates at particular establishments within the city.

Johnson, a neighbor and coworker of Lopez̢۪s at a restaurant in Fresno, was equally passionate about the chance to promote local businesses and to give consumers some incentive to go to these places.

“We’re trying to use the community card to pump up the site,â€Â said Johnson, who is hoping that they will have over 250 businesses on board by the end of the year.

In order to reach that goal, Johnson and Lopez will continue to do what they have done all along: driving around the city explaining the benefits of the card to local business owners.

“We’re out almost everyday knocking on doors,â€Â Johnson said. Trying to get corporations involved, he said, would require going through “hundreds of chains of communicationâ€Â and a having barcode on the card itself.

The site itself is broken down into user-accessible categories including a listing of upcoming events, locations of businesses with a built-in map feature and a page displaying the current discounts at all of the available establishments.

The discount works for dining out at places like the restaurant Fahrenheit 5104, with 15 percent off of every bill with the presentation of the card. Angelo̢۪s Pizza Kitchen offers half off on a buffet when a second buffet is purchased.

But the discount doesn̢۪t end at food places. By honoring the card, services such as Fresno Plumbing and Heating could also develop a customer base over large chains, such as Roto-Rooter. Fresno Plumbing and Heating, the privately owned company, offers a 10 percent discount on services over $100.

Cardholders may also purchase two Grizzlies tickets at the ball park for the price of one on certain days and they can also save on Fresno Falcons hockey games.

The businesses’ motivation for getting involved is the same –– more business.

According to Lopez, a lot of corporate chains are hesitant or forbidden to allow any outside discounts.

“A lot of locally owned places are getting hit hard by the chains,â€Â Lopez said, mentioning this trend as one of the main reasons for creating the site. “It works really well for restaurants because people go often.â€Â

Johnson emphasized that the discounts not only benefit customers, but serve as good advertising for local businesses –– especially if their only form of publicity is the phone book.

As of yet, there is little more in the budget for profit and publicity, but for Johnson, who is taking three classes in his last semester at Fresno State, helping manage the Web site is more educational than anything.

“I want to own a lot of companies down the road so this is really a learning experience for me,â€Â Johnson said.

Johnson and Lopez are in the process of adding a local music page to the site that will help to promote musical artists in the area. In the more distant future, they would like to expand with similar sites in other cities using Fresno Live as a template site from which others could mold themselves after.

Some individuals have personally recommended their favorite establishments to be included on Fresno Live. Lopez said that it is usually the privately owned businesses that have the greatest regular following.

“It’s kind of exciting to see this happen so quickly,â€Â said Lopez, who is encouraged by all the ideas and support Fresno businesses and residents have been contributing so far.