Build your own fan base

Amazing things happen when you have the right friends.  Not only can friends can bring you up when you're down but they can really motivate you to pursue your dreams and encourage you to go further than you ever thought you could.  I was thinking this week that bars and bands also benefit from having loyal friends and customers.  Facebook and other social media sites have proven that if you take a handful of people and entrust them with the power to easily spread good words to their friends, a simply seed can grow into a tree within days instead of years.

Do you have a business that needs help growing?  Have you built an infrastructure that supports a loyal fan base?  In other words... Are you making friends?  I'm not talking about sharing all your personal secrets with people you never met before.  I'm talking about finding out what people like to see and hear so that they will come back to you over and over again.  If you don't do anything that people really like, how are you going to build up a fan base that will make you successful?

If you are in a band and you play songs that you like but nobody gets up to dance and all you get is polite applause, should you keep playing those songs?  I find that many businesses operate like a band that plays songs that they like even though nobody is getting off their butt and onto the dance floor.  You know those businesses that keep running but are usually half empty on a night when similar businesses are booming.  When you do things that make people want to put down their drink and cheer for you as loud as possible, you know you are doing something right.

Some people are in a hurry to get as many fans (ie: customers) as quickly as possible.  They may print flyers, place ads, make the glossiest business cards, but did they take time to find out what people liked and disliked?  Steve Jobs felt that people didn't know what they liked because they had never seen his products before he invented them. That's not really true.  You see, people did like the original Apple computer that he and his friend Steve Wozniak built in their garage.  He just built upon his successes to come up with the Apple Macintosh followed by the Ipods, Iphones and Ipads.  Are you building upon your successes?

Everyone says that you should do something you enjoy to be happy.  I say, make people happy and before you know it, you will enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Rob aka Weekend Concierge

Tip Rounding

I asked my friend if he believes in tip rounding and he said "Yeah, I do it all the time!".  I said, "I'm not talking about rounding the tip off to the nearest dollar by choice - I am talking about the server doing it for you when they only give you dollars back and assume that they should keep the coins portion of the change!"  My friend was appalled and so was I when this happened to me recently at a local restaurant.

Should restaurants assume that consumers don't want the coins portion of their change when they are paying using green backs instead of plastic or should that choice continue to be left up to us, the consumers?  The manager of this particular restaurant explained to me that when the busboy cleans the tables and picks up the folder with the tip inside, very often, the change spills out all over the floor.    He continued to explain that most people these days are not carrying big wallets to hold change so they really don't want it back.  His policy is to round up the change given to customers if the change is more than 50 cents and round down if it's less than 50 cents.  In my opinion, if the server short-changes me, I blame it on the waiter, not the restaurant, and that does not sit well with me - when it's management's policy.  In fact, during my research, I learned that this may even be illegal in some cities throughout the United States.

Surveying my friends, nobody seemed to mind the "round up" part of the restaurant's policy, however, being short-changed purposely lends suspicion to either the server or the restaurant and can leave a "bad taste" behind after what should have been a good meal.

This topic lends itself to other discussions such as "Should we be forced to leave a certain percentage as a tip even if the service sucked?"  Another comment on the topic of tip rounding was "Why not include the service charge, otherwise known as The Tip, in the cost of the meal, as they do in Europe?"  One friend commented that when he used to be a waiter years ago, he would always carry extra change with him so that he could quickly deal with any customer's request to break a large bill to leave him a tip - it's all part of the good service that people expect!

While some people did mind being short-changed to the nearest dollar, would they care so much if it was just to the nearest quarter?  If this restaurant does not want to chance pissing people off in an area where there are so many other places to eat, I would recommend only rounding up and asking the serve staff to carry a buck's worth of change with them in case anyone complains.

And that's MY TWO CENTS for today!

Sincerely,

The Weekend Concierge

www.weekendbroward.com

My Two Cents

During a recent conversation on Facebook regarding restaurants and bars that pay lots of money to hire bands, yet spend very little money to let people know about them, we had the honor of local talent agent, Judy Blem, chiming in to the conversation and sharing her two cents with us!

Judy – What's even worse are the places that DON'T spend "a lot of money" booking bands yet STILL get upset when a band doesn't "bring a following." Funny how in college business courses they teach you how to order food & beverages, deal with payroll, permits, insurance, etc., but they teach you NOTHING about dealing with live entertainment. One of MY biggest pet peeves are the owners/managers who decide to have a band pack up after two hours 'cuz "it's not busy enough" and offer 1/2 the band's agreed pay. WHAT!!?? Pro-rate at 50%? Umm, how about the fact that a gig is NOT 4 hours long if you count the hours it takes to set up and break down your gear, not including the travel time, and not to mention the fact the same band probably turned down a gig somewhere else on the same night that would have paid in full without a problem. My contracts do not allow for this to happen; there is no "pro-rating" allowed. If the band holds up their end of the deal, so should the venue. Bands who book themselves should just refrain from "promising" a crowd when even the most popular bands in town can't always guarantee their friends and fans will show up as this leaves a gray area for negotiation- and usually ends up not favoring the band.

The fact is that the business has changed from the days when we had 12 killer rock places in town and you didn't need to know WHO was playing. You just showed up and the band was great! With live music in every strip mall in every wing place & sports bar in town, this has driven down the prices bands get paid as well as exhausted and spread out the "following" of music lovers. But it IS a two-way street in the "business of cover gigs" - Bands should play SOME part in show promotion, but the venues DEFINITELY need not only advertise but to offer decent prices, good service and create a fun atmosphere that MAKES people want to come to their establishment.

Rob, your website www.weekendbroward.com and relentless promotion truly does help the bands AND the clubs. But I'm with you... the venues need to ADVERTISE more and NEVER rely SOLELY on any band for customers. For over 20 years as an agent, I have watched those kinds of places open and close in six months. I won't even take on a client whose first sentence is "I need bands with a following." Can you say "red flag?" There are some really well run places and there are some places run by folks who mean well but are often clueless. Maybe we can help them learn. Maybe not. But I'm not going to stop trying.  Alright, that's my two cents for the day.

Who is Mark Pirolli?

Last week, I had the honor of speaking with Mark Pirolli, co-owner of Cagney’s Saloon and asked him a few questions which I would like to share with my readers.

WC: Mark, how long have you been the owner of Cagney's?

MP:  3years

WC: What made you buy the place?

MP: ‘thought I would build something for the future as a sideline.

WC: Is it everything you ever hoped and dreamed about?

MP: (Not entirely) I had to quit my job to keep up with the demands of owning a business

WC: What is the most difficult part about running a bar?

MP: You have to work 7 days and 7 nights a week.

WC: What is the most fun you have working at Cagney's?

MP: Seeing what you are doing is making people happy and come together as a community.

WC: So,what do you do when you are not working ?

MP:  Sleep

WC: Any future plans that you would like to share with my readers?

MP:  I will save that as "Yet to be Seen". I work hard to giving people what they want or need, so I am not willing to divulge plans that take a lot of work developing. It would take away from the “WOW” factor.

WC: Lastly, what advice would you give to anyone looking to manage a bar such as yours?

MP: Be prepared to work day and night, 7 days a week. You better have a stash of cash for the hard times because the bills never stop coming in!

WC: Thank you Mark for taking the time to answer my questions with all your honesty and integrity – that’s one more reason why your place is one of the best around!

HISTORY OF CAGNEY’S SALOON

Cagney's Saloon is a neighborhood bar that caters to the local biker community. Like any good local bar, it is also a place where old friends love to gather and share stories. Many people have come and gone since its inception. Located on the corner of Stirling and University, Cagney’s was originally called Wet Goods Bar and Package Store in the late 1980's. The “store” was later sold to the Dukes until namesake Jimmy and Leigh Cagney took it over.

When the economy started to deteriorate, Cagney’s was sold once again. Unfortunately, the new owners fell on hard times and had to close their doors.

In 2009, Mark Pirolli and Nancy Olesen became the proud new owners. They renovated and upgraded the place to make it a safe, clean and comfortable environment for their friends to gather for drinks, celebrate good occasions and enjoy their favorite bands.

Find out more by visiting: www.cagneysaloon.com 

Keep up with the band schedule via: www.weekendbroward.com