Marketing Restaurant Online

Yesterday I read an article written by Erica O’Grady which was refreshing to me and thought I would share with you. This is a story about one coffee shop called Coffee Groundz in Houston, Texas who has discovered the magic of using Twitter to their business advantage. This is a real success story that is happening to small coffee shop like Coffee Groundz. It can also happen to your restaurant business if you can understand this incredible new social media tool called Twitter and start exploring the magic it offers to all restaurants- big or small. Best of all it is FREE. Coffee Groundz despite being an independent small coffee shop can now compete head to head with even big coffee house like Starbucks and Caribou Coffee. Social Media Tools like Twitter has leveled the marketing field plain. Never in the history has been this easy and affordable for small businesses like Coffee Groundz coffee shop to market their business effectively and attract more customers. In the past the success of a marketing in business  was determined by the amount of dollars they could spend on old medias like televisions, radio and newspaper. But with the birth of Twitter, the equation has been changed. Now the marketing is won by innovative ideas with the help of  online tools like Twitter and similar social media tools that are readily available for Free.

Please read the post below to get a clear idea how Coffee Groundz has used Twitter to attract more customers and helped streamline their business and marketing effort.
This post by Erica O’Grady originally ran on Pistachio Consulting’s TouchBase Blog, featuring what business people need to know about Twitter and microsharing for business. You can subscribe to TouchBase here or follow @touchbase on Twitter.

Twitter To Go?

When J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, Texas first heard about Twitter from one of his customers, he was puzzled but intrigued. Today, he credits Twitter with almost doubling his clientele and with opening his eyes to a whole new way to build Community.

If you’re reading this article, then chances are you’re already on Twitter, and you may even have experienced the power of Twitter for building your own personal or corporate brand. Recently, more and more companies have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon to help manage their online identities making it increasingly harder to stand out from the crowd.

But Cohen and CoffeeGroundz have found a way to do just that. Shortly after joining Twitter, Cohen started following members of the local Houston Twitterati and in no time had amassed over 1000 followers. Cohen is a naturally charismatic, giving, and friendly guy - traits that make him a natural on a network like Twitter.

On Becoming The Purple Cow

Nothing can build your brand faster than being or doing something remarkable. Seth Godin, author of the recently released Tribes calls this becoming “The Purple Cow”. Cohen didn’t set out to become a Purple Cow - but with one brief 140 character message - that’s exactly what he’s done.

On October 31st, 2008 Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) was hungry. As a regular customer at CoffeeGroundz he sent the following Twitter to Cohen:

Cohen quickly replied and Sean went through the drive-thru at CoffeeGroundz to pick up his burrito.

This simple exchange got a lot of coverage on Twitter and was hailed as potentially the first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order. Seeing an opportunity, Cohen started taking to-go orders via direct message from any of his Twitter Clientele.

CoffeeGroundz offers free Wi-Fi, plenty of outlets, and they serve beer and wine - making it a cross between a Coffee House and a Lounge. Today, customers can order beverages and tasty bites from the comfort of their seat using Direct Messages to @coffeegroundz. How cool is that? You don’t even have to stop working to walk to the counter and order a coffee.

Building Community While Making a Profit

Recently, CoffeeGroundz was the venue for a Houston Tweetup that Cohen nicknamed “The Great Twitter Party”. Nearly 100 Houston Twitterites spent a lovely Sunday afternoon there at the largest Houston Tweetup to date. And did I mention that they bought lots of food and beverages? So the next time someone tells you that you can’t make money from Twitter, tell them to think again!