MYSPACE OR YOURS?

There are many aspects to a good bartender. Can they make a good tasting drink, are they efficient, are they friendly, entertaining and approachable, are they knowledgeable, do they radiate a positive and fun vibe that compliments the atmosphere of the venue, Can they bring in business and increase sales…?

That’s the real question to any bar owner. How can they make me and my establishment more money? Truth be told, a decent bartender that can bring in a crowd and ring the register is more valuable to any establishment then a great bartender at an empty bar. Maybe that is the logic behind some of the bar managers that hire model type bartenders that have no idea what is in a “Cuba Libra”? Yeah they look great at first but in the long run unless they learn quick they will end up hurting your business more then helping it.

So we agree a bartender that makes the venue money is valuable to that establishment? This isn’t rocket science… So how can you increase sales for the venue? One answer is marketing and promoting. The more you get out there and promote your venue and market yourself the better the chances of more people coming in to see you and spending more money with you and your venue which will increase sales and your tips as well.

With technology and the proven success of the Internet, you now have a very valuable and very affordable tool to help you do this. Unless you have been under a barstool for the last couple of years I’m sure you have heard of “Myspace”. If not, Myspace is something you can greatly benefit from if you are not one of the thousands utilizing it already.

First you sign up at www.myspace.com and create a free account with a valid email address. Then you can create a basic webpage with their help which you can post pictures, music, video, comments, blogs, advertisements and much more. Once you have content on your page you can invite “friends” to view and share your page. They can post comments, view your content (hopefully promoting your venue or event) and interact with your page creating a sense of ownership which will spill over and help create brand loyalty or in this case venue loyalty to your establishment.

Next is the real marketing genius of Myspace… you can click the “Browse” link and create a detailed search of other Myspace users throughout the world tailored to your needs. For example, if I was to promote Club Safari in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida… I would start by clicking the “Browse” link and then filling in the desired information for my tailored search. I would start by selecting “women” ,between ages: “21 to 35″, who are “single”, located within 20 miles of Club Safari’s zip code. From that search it supplied me with 3,000 people who met my search criteria. “That’s 3,000 more possibilities of new potential guests to frequent my establishment!”How cool is that?

Even if you see a return of 10% of new or current guests using Myspace coming to your venue, the initial investment of a little bit of time and patience greatly pays off! Now your venue is busier with the direct clientele you are marketing towards and then if those people are enjoying themselves, they will tell there friends and now your “word of Mouth” advertising shoots up and more people continue to frequent your establishment spending more money at the bar and tipping more to your bartenders. It’s a win-win situation for everybody!

If you don’t already have a Myspace page for your establishment and your bartenders, get off your ass and create and start using it immediately… I guarantee your competition already is.:-)

For some ideas you can check out www.myspace.com/clubsafari or www.myspace.com/jimmyscafewpb or www.myspace.com/flairbartending or www.myspace.com/hotelandrocklobby and for help creating a dynamic and functional Myspace page check out or friends at www.freedomnightlife.com , tell them Rob from Club Safari sent you!

Once you have a great page and plenty of friends you can send out “invites” or “bulletins” for special events at your venue that is directly advertised to every single one of your Myspace friends… FREE VALUABLE ADVERTISING FOR WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU!

So create a Myspace page, meet Tom , check out www.myspace.com/barwarsllc or www.myspace.com/flairbaronline and add me to your friends and lets help each other grow our success. Remember it only works if you use it!

To Flair and Friends…

ROB HUSTED