Mike,
I’m going to share an idea with you (and whoever else is reading) that will make you a little money. First, let me tell you a little story:
I was actually looking in this website under “Best Pizza Ideas” for, of course, some new inventive ideas of raising my dayshift sales. Actually, that was the reason I actually became a member of this forum: My dayshift sales were lacking and I thought I could find some miracle cure. One thing I ran across was a company based on the east coast that did faxing. I actually called them to hire their services. The guy was really cool and was a fast talker, like me (I really dig that, LOL). However, he told me that his company was probably not right for me because when he faxed, he did it on a daily basis and since all I have is pizza to offer (I don’t do subs), potential customers would probably get tired of what I was faxing and thought it would do more harm than good. I didn’t have a problem with it and was actually happy he was upfront and honest with me. However, I still thought it was a great idea, and still wanted to find a way to used this medium.
Now, for the “make you a little money” part:
I decided to do it myself. I figured, “Hell, I use my computer all the time. Why not put it to work for me”, so I designed my own flyer on microsoft word. On my flyer, I’ve got some pretty cool stuff on there like “top videos of the week, weekly weather, famous birthdays”, etc. Also on my flyer I have an advertisement for my pizza store at the bottom with a weekly special. Then I thought to myself, “J_r0kk, you know you’ve got a little extra room. Why don’t you get other people to advertise on here as well?” So that’s what I did.
Now, I’ve got a flyer with my ad, a video store ad, a travel agent, McDonalds, and an insurance agency. I sell small advertising spots for $25/week, medium for $50/week, and the bottom is mine, but would probably be worth $100/week. This little venture generates $125/week in pure profit and my computer does all the work for me.
How do you get the fax list? Chamber of Commerce. They usually have a phone directory of all the businesses that are members. In this directory, the also have fax numbers. Another good way to get fax numbers is to do some sort of pizza giveaway where customers drop their business cards into a fishbowl. I haven’t been doing it long (only 3 weeks now), but I’ve already got a list stored on my computer of over 230 businesses. I use my computers fax capability and set it to fax once per week at a certain designated time.
This thing is actually starting to go so well, I’m thinking about offering the same services to other businesses in neighboring towns. The hardest part is actually getting the numbers entered into the computer. Once that’s done, it’s gravy.
So there ya go bud. One of my little secrets. The cool part about this whole thing is I won’t even charge you for the idea. It’s free. Just don’t try to get in on my turf and we’re cool. LOL. -J_r0kk
P.S. You put a disclaimer at the bottom of the page: “To be removed from our fax list simply send an e-mail to
[email protected] with fax number to be removed”. That way you won’t alienate potential customers AND you make it look like this is a totally separate company than the one making pizzas. Make it look like your pizza place is just a client.
. That’s what this is all about… business and the pitfalls. There are two very different camps on this. It’s like speeding, everyone admits its illegal and as long as we know the potential consequences if caught, it’s our perogative to take the risk if we so choose. This is absolutely the same. Us naysayers just want to make sure you know what the risks are. Ever since Al Gore invented the internet, them Congressfolk have been learning all about these new-fangled electronics and making up all sorts of neat laws for us.