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Five Ways to Grow Your Fanbase

November 24, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments 

Five Ways to Grow Your Fanbase
Interesting post at American Express Open Forum titled “The Secret to Repeat Business:  Grow Your Fanbase.”
After noting that small merchants are “soured by $500 rate cards and the 50 percent cut that flash sales sites take from merchants,” Paul Rosenfeld, CEO of Fanminder’s, lays out two alternative, more successful strategies: 1) Engage your customers through fan lists that inform and provide deals; and 2) Grow your fanbase.
He then outlines five specific steps for growing your fanbase, which I’ve modified slightly for our purposes here.)
• Ask your customers to join in person.  There still is nothing like the personal touch.
• Post signs where people look. Savvy Cellar has posted signs above the bar, on the back of the menu.  We are thinking about adding signs in or outside the restroom (seriously people do text in there) and on our customer receipts.  The latter idea has helped grow Savvy Cellar’s email list.
• Claim your listing. Facebook Places, Google Places, Bing Listing, Yahoo Local, Yelp, Foursquare, Gowalla all provide you a place to reach new customers.  Most have apps that take advantage of geo-location technology on smart phones, so that customers can learn of your business or be reminded of it when they are nearby.
• Understand how customers move from casual to fanatical. Give customers a path to move from casual involvement to experiences that are more meaningful.  For Savvy Cellar that means that a first-time customer should be presented with high-quality wines, food and service (if all goes well).  During the course of that experience, they might be introduced to the idea of taking a wine class or participating in an upcoming tasting.  Give ‘em excuses to come back for something different and new.  The second date shouldn’t be the same as the first date.
• Make ‘em feel special. Let your fans on mobile lists, Facebook, or Twitter feel special by letting them in on inside info.  Savvy Cellar posts about the cricket that inhabits the bar at night, new wines our staff is tasting for next month’s menu and last minute deals or sales.
How have you grown and engaged your fanbase?

fansInteresting post at American Express Open Forum titled “The Secret to Repeat Business:  Grow Your Fanbase.”

After noting that small merchants are “soured by $500 rate cards and the 50 percent cut that flash sales sites take from merchants,” Paul Rosenfeld, CEO of Fanminder, lays out two alternative, more successful strategies:

1) Engage your customers through fan lists that inform and provide deals; and

2) Grow your fanbase.

He then outlines five (5) specific steps for growing your fanbase, (which I’ve modified slightly for our purposes here):

1) Ask your customers to join in person. There still is nothing like the personal touch.

2) Post signs where people look. Savvy Cellar has posted signs above the bar, on the back of the menu.  We are thinking about adding signs in or outside the restroom (seriously people do text in there) and on our customer receipts.  The latter idea has helped grow Savvy Cellar’s email list.

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Game On With Groupon

December 3, 2009 by admin · 26 Comments 

groupon-logoAs co-owner of Savvy Cellar Wine Bar & Wine Shop, I get to experiment with promotional services that are designed to help local businesses.  Over the course of several years we’ve tried (in no particular order):  Google Adwords, Yahoo! Local, MerchantCircle, local newspapers, local magazines, email, Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Peninsula Shops, Movie Theater Advertising, Rumbafish and now Groupon.

An online coupon site, Groupon is organized by major metro markets in the U.S.  Each day, the company features unique offers in the local market (restaurants, spas, entertainment, etc.) at a special “group” price.  There is a minimum level set for each offer – meaning that a certain number of people have to sign up for the daily groupon in order for everyone to get it.  This drives sharing among friends on social networks.  If enough people opt to take the offer, then the offer is “on”.  At the end of the day, everyone who took the offer is charged.  Then Groupon takes its cut of 40-60 percent and pays the merchant the balance.

Savvy Cellar is today’s Groupon in San Jose, CA. Read more

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What I'm Drinking on Thanksgiving.

November 27, 2008 by @smokejumper · 1 Comment 

Here is my guest blog post on The Savvy Sommelier . . . . 

“It’s time for the obligatory blog post about wine to pair with your Thanksgiving feast. But alas it is Thanksgiving eve, the short week has slipped away, you’ve probably bought your wine already and the real Savvy Sommelier has gone out with the girls.

So now that this lowly spouse has grabbed the reigns of this blog, what could I possibly add to the conversation?”  Read on . . . . 

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