There is a great little Chinese restaurant here in Racine by the name of Main Moon. Their restaurant is no more than 15 feet wide at it's largest point - it's literally a hole in the wall place. Yet, they truly understand the principles of PR and testimonial marketing.
For example, the walls on both sides of the nook where the cash register sits (and where you stand while ordering and waiting for your order) are covered with testimonial letters. One set features money from countries all over the world, where people have written little notes on the pounds, the pesos and the yen praising the food of Main Moon. There was even a note that was written on some money from England with a talk balloon coming out of the queen's mouth that said, "How long will it take to get a delivery to the castle?" and "When will you be opening a branch in London?"
Another section has pictures of families eating their food, with pictures of each kid and short testimonials from each family member.
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Another has pictures of people winning prizes at Main Moon's thank you for your business bash several years ago. Each time you came into the restaurant you could enter the contest, for some major prizes like 4' tall Chinese porcelain vases. Each winner has their picture shown and a testimonial.
And there's another section of pure testimonials, where it's clear that some of the families were trying to outdo each other in their praise for the restaurant.
Plus there's the dog statue - our town held a Dog Days of Summer activity, modeled after Chicago's cow statue event, where different dog sculptures graced our streets. They were auctioned off at the end, and Main Moon bought one. So that dog stands in the restaurant, beside a clipping from the paper that day, with the first 5 paragraphs of the front page story being about Main Moon.
Why did Main Moon get the lead in the story? After all, this is the home of Sam Johnson, founder of Johnson Wax and one of the richest men in the world, and he and his family bought a number of those dogs.
It's simple - Main Moon made sure that the reporter knew their story. The owner really wanted this dog, because it was her son's birthday, he was born in the Chinese year of the dog, and this was the one that would best fit into their restaurant. Their story gave the human interest twist that gave life to an otherwise boring story about a charity auction.
Plus, their food is great and reasonably priced.
Needless to say, I've never been the only customer in Main Moon, at any time of day or night. There aren't many restaurants that can say that!
Testimonials can be a powerful tool in marketing your business. Are you using them to the fullest extent? You may want to check out our special report
Sell More Products and Services by Getting and Giving Powerful Testimonials
Here's another example.
In New York City, a restaurant owner wanted to increase his revenue by increasing his public relations.
There are thousands of restaurants in New York. How could he possibly stand out among all the rest? Simple...
He came up with the idea of naming the tables after notable celebrities and media personalities. This was a stroke of brilliance! After bestowing the honor of having a table named for them, he would invite the guest of honor to dine at that table, thus bringing tremendous publicity when the celebrity would talk about it. And remember that this is New York, which has a number of famous media personalities, well known for their gregarious natures, so his restaurant was mentioned literally dozens of times by each announcer. This brought a whole lot of people to his restaurant, gave him loads of free advertising, and his goal was achieved. But it did not end there.
Continuing on, he would name a new table and release another press release to achieve just as much publicity as before. His restaurant has become very popular because he thought ahead of everyone else and realized that public relations was the thing to build his business, not just advertising.
So, when people come, they oftentimes will ask for the table of their favorite personality, further cementing the PR tactic.
How can these examples apply to you?
--First please take note that both of these companies have focused on building PR into their company from the ground up. They understand that if you want to get publicity, you've got to think and act differently than companies who don't. Then implement those ideas into your business!
--Take time to brainstorm every day! Thinking originally must occur constantly! After you practice, you will discover that there are literally thousands of applicable ideas that would work wonders for your business.
--It doesn't have to cost money to be extremely effective. How much did it cost to name a table? Perhaps enough to put a small plaque over the table.
--If it has never been done before, then there's two possibilities: One, there's a reason why it has not been done, or two, nobody else has thought of it. Maybe you should do some research when you do finally hit that idea.
Here's a couple of additional resources that you may find helpful:
The Fastest, Cheapest, Easiest Ways To Publicize Your Small Business--Even If You're A Solo Entrepreneur
Brand Your Business And Make Your Profits Explode
Posted June 25, 2004
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