Monday, June 4, 2012

And I go in search of pizza

I went in search of pizza, but I did not want to leave the area that I live in. So, I decided to try Two Brothers in Troy.



Here is the problem...

They are not open on Sunday or Monday. I would have known this if I decided to check their website. Wait, I did try to check their website. Yeah, they do not have a website. There is a Facebook page but it is not maintained by anyone, therefore, just the address was there. So, I went down to check out if their pizza was any good. (Sidebar: I was looking for that special type of greasy tavern pizza, because it just sounded good and...I did not want to leave my neighborhood, which left Two Brothers as my only option.)

Oh, yeah, they were closed.

I was irked. Yes, I could have called, but what is the point of having to call someplace to check their availability anymore...

Facebook is free and there is a very low barrier in terms of technological know-how in order to set up a page (maintaining it is a different story, and communicating your message is even more difficult...i have two places in Albany that I love. One of them does social media really well. The other one has good wings.) so why hasn't Two Brothers done this? A better question is why haven't all small business done this, especially when they are a bar or restaurant? Venues like that lend themselves to social media for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they are social places that you want to share with your friends...for good or bad. You know what I mean by this. "Oh, this place has the best cheesecake*" or "Don't order the calamari**". You want the people you care about to know these things. This is one of the very definitions of social.

So, I went for Mexican instead, at Pancho's (which has a very good social media presence), which had good food, great service, and wifi. It made me very happy.




So, people, especially if you want my business, take the time to create a social media presence so I can do things like easily look at Facebook, Foursquare or a variety of other platforms and at least know that you are open when I need something to eat.

7 comments:

  1. "...but I did not want to leave the area that I live in."

    Forgiven because #MexicanFood

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did not realize that I required forgiveness... :-)

      Delete
    2. Well, not really. I'm just as reticent to come up the hill as you are to come down it.

      Delete
    3. Well, not really. I'm just as reticent to come up the hill as you are to come down it.

      Delete
  2. "...but I did not want to leave the area that I live in."

    Forgiven because #MexicanFood

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, why don't all small business owners, especially ones who may be 50 or even 60+, not see the wisdom of all new technologies and take time away from the likely 12 hours that they work a day to curate content just in the unlikely event that one guy, who happens to want pizza on a Sunday (one of the only days said business owner takes off a week) can avoid clicking a link on his handheld computer/phone that would automatically dial a phone number (a number that is easily available through Googling, BTW) so that he can find out if said small business is closed.

    Side notes:
    - I'll bet this business does not have an answering machine, why because EVERYONE who goes there already knows its closed on Sunday.
    - The Facebook page that you found is not a page, its a location for check-ins.
    - As someone who volunteers to help a small business maintain social media channels I will tell you its very time consuming AND not high on the list of whys our customers get information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a Monday and business that do not change are dying...

      Delete

Be nice. Sign your name.