A Genius Way to Benefit from Offering Free Wi-Fi

Posted by barblog on Dec 30, 2009 in Bar Management, Bar Marketing, bar owner | 17 comments

As you know, despite it seeming to be a very divisive issue with you, I am in favor of offering free Wi-Fi as a standard part of your business offering; as standard as toilets, seats and electricity.

Having walked the length and breadth of Cork City (Ireland) over the weekend, I can tell you, that not many businesses offer free wi-fi, and those that did weren’t bars, restaurants or cafes where I could actually sit down and use my laptop.

How did I know who did and who didn’t offer free wi-fi? Well, like a growing number of the population, I have an iPhone. In fact I can bet that most people looking for a free wi-fi hotspot have an iPhone too. You see, the iPhone is de rigeur hardware for us mobile office types and it has a great feature – a wi-fi hotspot locater. All I have to do is stand in the middle of the street and I will see something like this:

Those networks with a padlock symbol alongside them will not allow me to connect without a password, yet those without a padlock are either free networks or will be presenting me with a pay screen once I do connect.

I walked the streets of Cork with this screen constantly changing as new networks appeared and others went out of range. What was most surprising was that those bars and restaurants with a visible connection were locked and out of my reach. You might be thinking these establishments simply gave out passwords to customers, but the few that I ventured into told me that the connection was their office connection and not available to the public!

I am not the only one walking around looking for a connection. Trust me. I am one of many mobile office types flitting from meeting to meeting, city to city looking to continue my business as I travel and this is how we find a connection when we need one quickly. We are also guaranteed to spend money with you too once we find a good free open wifi hot spot.

So here’s what you need to do:

1. Unlock your Wi-Fi Connection so that it is available for everyone.
2. Rename your Connection so that it appears on an iPhone or wi-fi finder device like this:
   • John’s Pub – Free WiFi
   • John’s Pub – Free WiFi/Great Coffee (if this fits)
   • John’s Pub – Free 4 All Wi-Fi
3. Be sure you mention your business name so that in a crowded street with many connections, the mobile traveler will know it’s you offering the connection.
4. Advertise on your website/door/menus/receipts that you offer free Wi-Fi.
5. When adding your business to local online guides and directories, always mention the free wi-fi so that if a potential customer googles “Free Wi-Fi Cork City” you will appear in the first few results.

I am writing this post today from a bar that I found by googling this very thing and as of now have spent the equivalent of $15 on snacks and drinks. I’ll be back too and will be sure to tell me fellow mobile workers of this little gem!

Help your customers find your power outlets!

Posted by barblog on Oct 21, 2009 in Bar Management, Bar Service | 4 comments

Every time I walk into a bar or cafe with my laptop, you’ll find me walking around staring at the floor looking for a power outlet (“socket” for my European friends).

I’m not the only one. If you offer Wi-Fi (and any regular reader of this blog will know that I think you should), then five minutes spent observing the to-ing and fro-ing will show you countless other customers doing the same. It’s not a big problem until you start tripping over things you haven’t been watching out for and get accused of staring at people’s legs when all you want to do is get to a power supply before the twenty open windows on your computer that you’ve been meaning to save crash and disappear.

The Cafe I used as my office today have decided to make life that little bit easier for their customers by putting a little sign over each table that has a power supply beneath it. Simple and clever. No more staring at legs for me.

How to Get Repeat Business With Free Wi-Fi

Posted by barblog on Sep 24, 2009 in Bar Management, Bar Marketing | 1 comment

Do you remember a time (not too long ago) when wireless internet access in bars and restaurants was a novelty? We’re not talking about ten years ago, we’re talking about three or four years ago. Next came the common practice of charging exorbitant fees for access to a slow speed connection that was intermittent at best.

Thankfully, most bars and restaurants have realised (maybe forced into realising…) that free public wifi is a decision maker for customers faced with the option of two different locations.

Free public wifi makes my life easier and it can make your life easier by bringing in extra customers at very low cost to you. While higher end hotels are still opting for charging for 24 hour wifi access in light of decreasing room rates, nobody is going to pay $9.95-$29.95 to access their emails while they have a mid morning coffee. Read more..