Listen Up Down On Your Luck Storefront Owners
In 1994 I bought a bankrupt nightclub in Portland, Maine for $12,000+/-, and turned it into a $600,000 revenue machine, reselling it for 10X what I paid for it less than 9 months later. How? Simple. By injecting excitement and marketing pizzazz into the venture and designing a Unique Selling Proposition that hit my target market square in the jaw (how I turned this nightclub around is a whole other post, that is not the point of my post here). Well, to get business in the door initially I used some of your most basic ideas; from scantily clad college age bartenders (female BTW) to drink promotions and all of it seemed to work to a point. But I really wanted media attention and on the budget I had, couldn't really afford it. So, I devised a plan that would force the media to come to me and make my new nightlcub a story in and of itself. While sitting around the bar drinking one sunny, summer day with some of the patrons (not something I would recommend as a business owner, but hey....I was in my 20's and single so how can you blame me?) one of the patrons mumbled (she had a one to many)......
"Mark, I gotta tell you, your drink prices are amazing! Especially for college kids like me", she stammered. "Their practically TOO LOW! I love it. Keep it up!"
Well, that got me thinking. Yes, my prices were low but not much lower than anyone elses (she was drinking Busch beer which I practically gave away as it was terrible, but a great price magnet to draw people in.... such as good looking college girls like her who in turn brought in MORE people, and who would upgrade to more expensive beverages). So I put together about 1,000 flyers and got her and her friends to distribute them throughout her campus and they read something like this:
BOYCOTT THE PENGUIN NIGHTCLUB
on Fore Street (The Old Port) in Portland, Maine
Their DRINK PRICES Are TOO LOW!!!
This SCREAMS Unfair Competition. Speak Out NOW.
Come Protest This Tuesday Afternoon at 4PM. FREE FOOD!!
That Tuesday I had her and her friends hold picket signs for 2 hours outside my doors and we had MORE people in line then my competition down the street had in their bars combined!!! We were packed and we did 7X the revenue that night then we normally did. This "protest" put my bar on the map and we became the #1 nightclub (by FAR!!!!!!!!) in 1994. Marketing genius idea? I will have to say %$*&^ yeah!!!
So the moral of the story is this: If you own a storefront business, go ahead and organize a "protest" and watch the gawkers come out. It will get you noticed, bring people in off the streets (and cars) in droves and at that point it is up to you and your product or service to keep them coming back for more. Get NOTICED! Think outside the box.
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