Marketing question

Hey.....seating in EVERY restaurant in the country is now shut down SO....I thought I'd toss out a "food for thought" item.

Waay baack in 1990, when my wife and I bought a house here (in Roseburg, Oregon pop 22,000)....we started up an Antique Shoppe and joined the local Chamber.

Well....at the first Chamber Meeting there was an owner of a "FAX" Sales & Service biz (you DO remember Fax Machines?) and I "just happened" to be sitting at a table with 3 local restaurant owners. So....I got one of my "Marketing Flashes".....when he was finished....I stood up and asked...."Hey! How many biz owners here...have a Fax?

Out of approx 100 people .....almost every biz owner's hand went up. I then asked...."Would you Fax Owners like to have local restaurants....FAX you their "Daily Lunch Special"? Would that be of interest to your Office Workers?"

Again...almost every hand went up. So I turned to the restaurant owners at my table and said...."Hey Guys!" Here's YOUR chance to "be of service" to local Offices!"

The 3 restaurant owners at my table....and at other tables....all yelled..."Hey Don! Why don't YOU set this up?"

So....."FAX BUX" was born. I put together a sheet of paper I called "The Daily Fax".....got 8 restaurant owners to agree to pay me $50 a Week ($10 a day) for 6 weeks ($300 each....$2,400)...to have me place their Daily Special on my "Daily Fax" (After the first 6 wks I raised the price)

I then went around to local biz offices and got 50 local offices to agree to accept my "Daily Fax" and put it up on their Bulletin Boards. I then went to other towns and eventually wound up with 6 Oregon Towns.

Which brings me to TODAY....April 3, 2020. Fax machines are passe.....but most of the restaurants that are still open....offer Take-Out and/or Delivery.

I'm thinking that MAYBE.....there's a way to let local Consumers and/or local offices know about the "Daily Specials"....offered by local restaurants for Take-Out or Delivery.

This is just in the "Thinking Stage" so I haven't done much thinking yet or heard about anyone doing something like this in other areas.....I'm just VERY CONCERNED about finding a way to help local restaurant owners get more business.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Don Alm

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by dalm

Hey.....seating in EVERY restaurant in the country is now shut down SO....I thought I'd toss out a "food for thought" item.

Waay baack in 1990, when my wife and I bought a house here (in Roseburg, Oregon pop 22,000)....we started up an Antique Shoppe and joined the local Chamber.

Well....at the first Chamber Meeting there was an owner of a "FAX" Sales & Service biz (you DO remember Fax Machines?) and I "just happened" to be sitting at a table with 3 local restaurant owners. So....I got one of my "Marketing Flashes".....when he was finished....I stood up and asked...."Hey! How many biz owners here...have a Fax?

Out of approx 100 people .....almost every biz owner's hand went up. I then asked...."Would you Fax Owners like to have local restaurants....FAX you their "Daily Lunch Special"? Would that be of interest to your Office Workers?"

Again...almost every hand went up. So I turned to the restaurant owners at my table and said...."Hey Guys!" Here's YOUR chance to "be of service" to local Offices!"

The 3 restaurant owners at my table....and at other tables....all yelled..."Hey Don! Why don't YOU set this up?"

So....."FAX BUX" was born. I put together a sheet of paper I called "The Daily Fax".....got 8 restaurant owners to agree to pay me $50 a Week ($10 a day) for 6 weeks ($300 each....$2,400)...to have me place their Daily Special on my "Daily Fax" (After the first 6 wks I raised the price)

I then went around to local biz offices and got 50 local offices to agree to accept my "Daily Fax" and put it up on their Bulletin Boards. I then went to other towns and eventually wound up with 6 Oregon Towns.

Which brings me to TODAY....April 3, 2020. Fax machines are passe.....but most of the restaurants that are still open....offer Take-Out and/or Delivery.

I'm thinking that MAYBE.....there's a way to let local Consumers and/or local offices know about the "Daily Specials"....offered by local restaurants for Take-Out or Delivery.

This is just in the "Thinking Stage" so I haven't done much thinking yet or heard about anyone doing something like this in other areas.....I'm just VERY CONCERNED about finding a way to help local restaurant owners get more business.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Don Alm

Hi Don,

Off the top of my head...

Of course, many offices are still working. I'm sure they'd still love to know the daily specials - which could be delivered or picked up - from nearby restaurants...

And it'd be very handy to have it all in one place!

1. Many offices have an internal email system.

Would they permit a compiled list of restaurant special deals to be sent to everyone via the internal email system?

2. Email can be easily sent to everyone individually - which is different from a fax. So maybe get office-workers to sign up individually. The daily specials are sent to them by email.

Maybe they could get a further discount - or a freebie - if they order more than one meal (to encourage them to share it with their co-workers, and put in a "bulk order")...

Once their co-workers know about it, they may want to sign up on the email list too... So perhaps it can "grow" within each office, from one colleague to another...

Just a couple of ideas that came to me...

- Dien

I'm thinkin'.....what about a website that lists the Daily Specials AND.....not just for Restaurants but for other biznissess too. Anyone have any suggestions about what types of biz would be interested in posting "Special Deals" on a website?

I just got a "Flash".....my town is too small for a Groupon Program but.....I could go up to some of the larger towns and see what kind of deals they have on Groupon.

As I understand Groupon....some of the biz in that program have complained about how much Groupon charges BUT.....they DO get consumers to buy their stuff.

Don Alm in Roseburg, Oregon (pop 22,000) in between Eugens (60 mi North) and Grants Pass (60 mi South)