im thinking hard about buying kams system, because i know how to make good pizza, but not sure how to market it, kinda just opened the doors and let word of mouth do the rest kind of guy, its working, but i would like it to work better, i have no other pizza shops around me for about 15 miles anyway, and about 10,000 people in those 15 miles so i guess i just need to know if any of you have bought it, and if the info is worth it? we are between $3500-$5000 a week with really no advertising and no signage (yet), just opened, and we are right off of a MAJOR interstate i mean right of the exit, (any ideals on how to take advantage of the 100,000 people that pass me everyday are welcome) also any of you going to the pizza expo in atlantic city in september?
The BB has a lot of information in one place, and that is about it for its worth. The majority of the material covered is available for free here on the internet though. I did break down and purchase the BB a while ago, and the magic letter for an underwealming 0.4% response in 4 tries (I sent out 1,000 letters a time, and did 4 seperate mailers). Many others have had much more success though. I guess my market just wasn’t ready for that yet.
There is one available on Ebay at the moment though that is at least $100 less then the stickert price.
A trick I used to pull in customers was a large balloon. Like a mini blimp with Pizza and the price written on the side. Cars couldn’t see my shop and could barely see my sign from the freeway, but that balloon drew them in like crazy. That together with some signage that people can see and react to before they miss your exit should increase your drive by sampling by a ton.
Although it may be true that a lot of the info in the Black Book is available for free in other places, most people are unaware of the information they needand so they don’t know what to look for. All of us are unaware of what we don’t know. You will also find operators who have tried some of the tactics in the book and had little success…it might be that the offer just wasn’t good enough for the market. There is a wealth of information in this book, and it can pay for itself easily with one good promotion. You have nothing to lose!!! But be prepared!!
While attending any pizza show is always a good idea, I urge you to check out the New York Pizza Show (March 4-6, 2007) as well where you get the most bang for your buck! The 2007 New York Pizza Show will be co-located with the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York which is the second largest foodservice show in the country!! So in addition to the 100-150+ exhibiting pizza specific companies, there will be 600+ foodservice specific companies as well. Registration for either show gets you in to both so you don’t have to pay any extra fees!
Also, keep in mind that PMQ’s Orlando Pizza Show will be taking place September 8-10, 2006 in conjunction with the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show–the third largest foodservice show in the country! For more information on either show, you can email me (nadia@pmq.com) or visit our website: www.thepizzashow.com !