Hidden Valley Lake - A few months ago Charlie McFarling, owner of Ting's Thai Kitchen, decided to do something very clever - become a FREE Wi-Fi hot spot. The idea was that customers would come into the restaurant, order their meal and then get online with their mobile device while their meal was being prepared. They could check email, surf the Web and make free VOIP phone calls anywhere in the world to their Skype or Google Talk contacts. To maintain control of the FREE Wi-Fi, McFarling would need to be the one imputting the restaurant's password into each mobile device. That would entitle each user to an hour's worth of free Wi-Fi.
But, there was a problem. Keeping a Wi-Fi signal free of hacking and viruses would require an Internet connection that was attached to a Virtual Private Network. This VPN would need to be monitored 24/7. How could a little Mom and Pop restaurant manage to afford to do that in addition to having access to the Internet? McFarling needed both additional technological assistance and "marketing buzz" help to make that happen. With the help of CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing, The Wi-Fi Company of Denver, CO and Video By KitDee he got the help he needed.
First, The Wi-Fi Company put his Internet signal on its Virtual Private Network and made the inclusion of what is referred to as "splash page advertising" possible at the hot spot. CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing sought local advertisers and assisted in their individual promotions - both at the hot spot and online. Revenue from the splash page advertising was designed to help defer the cost of the secure Wi-Fi hot spot The Wi-Fi Company had created. (Advertisers promote themselves for THREE MONTHS using print, audio and video for just $79. This included promotion at both the restaurant's hot spot and its online Squidoo lens.) Then, Video By KitDee shot videos at the restaurant. These videos helped to stylishly promote the fact that the restaurant had FREE Wi-Fi. Video By KitDee has since gone a step farther and included Ting's Thai Kitchen in the Lake County Chef's Challenge, which airs twice weekly on Mediacom's Channel 8. You can learn more about this challenge by going to www.videobykitdee.com.
Local merchants appears to be paying attention. Recently, a Crave Coffee Shop opened in the Hardesters Shopping Center, across from Ting's Thai Kitchen. Like Ting's, it too is providing FREE Wi-Fi to all of its patrons. While the nearby Greenview Restaurant has no plans currently to offer FREE Wi-Fi, it is looking at an interesting technological innovation for its restaurant. It is considering the possibility of replacing the restaurant's big white board with a 20" digital photo frame. The digital photo frame would enable the restaurant to impressively showcase news of its daily specials, tournaments and other HVLA activities in the form of slides shows and videos. The digital photo frame is portable and could be used for training purposes in the restaurant's dining area on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. But, that is not all. The digital photo frame could be used to showcase products and services of local small businesses. As an advertising tool, the digital photo frame could generate enough revenue not only to pay for itself, but to help provide profit for the restaurant. Two doors down from the Crave Coffee Shop, a Subways Sandwich Shop is currently being built. One has to wonder if Subways will be offering FREE Wi-Fi to the public once their doors are open.
Ting's Thai Kitchen continues to press the technological envelope. You can now find Ting's on Twitter.com. Just sign up for a free Twitter account at http://twitter.com and click Ting's "follow" link at http://twitter.com/tings. All the latest news about Ting's will be sent to your Twitter connection - be it your Twitter web page or your cell phone. Ting's also has a Squidoo lens which showcases a great deal about what both the restaurant and its advertisers have to offer. Check it out at www.squidoo.com/TTK. Believe it or not, McFarling can update his Twitters by simply making a toll-free phone call with his cell phone. McFarling has learned how "to Jott a Twitter." And, so can you. Just go to www.jott.com for more information.
1 comments:
Digital signage is a great way to add a 'salesperson' to a business. This would be a good topic to post on Ryze Lamar.
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