open coffee shop

A lot of people seem to think that the phone book has become obsolete. It hasn't.

People still use them so get a phone book listing for your coffee shop. But that's only part of the problem. See, many people take
the cheap way out and get one of those little 3 line ads. Do you REALLY think anybody is going to see them?
If you want to stand out in the crowd from the rest of the coffee shops in that phone book, you need to get an ad that
people will actually see.

But it's not just about visibility. It's about having something to say that will get people to want to come down to your
shop. There are many ways to do this. Have the ad say, "Mention this ad and get a free donut with your coffee."

Also, you want the ad to point out your USP so people will know WHY they should come to your coffee shop and not
somebody else's.
Make sure your phone book ad has all the right info such as store hours, address and phone number. You don't want to
give anybody any excuse not to be able to find you. And if you deliver, be sure to mention that as well.

A lot of people feel that owning a business in the brick and mortar world, where people have to physically come off the
street to get your product means that you don't need a web presence.

This couldn't be farther from the truth.

Believe it or not, the world is changing. Many people may be looking for a place to get a good cup of coffee and a donut or whatever while they
are at work and may not have no access to a phone book but they DO have access to a computer.

How many people do you think look up local coffee shop in (your town)? More than you can possibly imagine. And if a number of these people happen to be in YOUR area, what do you think is going to happen if you're the only coffee shop in your city that has a web presence?
Bingo! you're going to get these customers because the competition didn't bother to put up a web presence.

And the beauty of the Internet is, you can actually get a site up there, just for this purpose for FREE. That's right, FREE.
You don't have to spend a ton of money on hosting and having somebody put a site together for you. There are free hosting solutions and with the tools available to us today, you can easily get a site up there in very little time at all.

Bottom line is this. Without a web presence, you are losing money.

I'm not so much talking about your actual product. You need to have something about your product or brand that is unique and sets you apart from everybody else so don't copy somebody else's marketing plan.

If Dunkin Donuts tried to copy Starbucks' marketing plan, do you think it would work? No, of course not. Because Dunkin Donuts appeals to a different demographic. Starbucks is a elite coffee place. People who go there don't mind spending a little more money because they're paying for the whole experience. You can't get that same experience at a Dunkin Donuts and to promote your product that way is not only doing yourself a disservice, but it's also being dishonest with your customers when they walk in and find that what you said is going to be there isn't there. Now we're getting into the territory of ethical marketing, which is actually a reason businesses fail - they misrepresent their product to the public. I know you're not going to try to mislead anybody by claiming your coffee comes from Columbia when in fact it's manufactured in Brooklyn, NY.

Point is, you have to find your own way of promoting your own product. You don't want to be another Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. You want to be YOU and to do that, you have to come up with your own advertising model.

If that means hiring a pro to do it for you, do it - it will be well worth the money.