I Am Gonna Pay People To Stand In Front Of My Business

I Am Gonna Pay People To Stand In Front Of My Business

Whaaat? Why???

LOL

There is this thing about human behavior that we don't always realize is going on...

When we see a lot of other people loitering around a business, we assume that the business must be popular, or this is the favorite corner for drug dealers to hang out to sell a few bags. :p

There is a steak house just down the street from where I live.

Every time we drive by that place in the evening, there is a full parking lot and a line out the door!!

After noticing the long lines several times, my wife and I decided we had to try that place out. People would not be waiting to get a table if the food wasn't good right?

So one day, she and I popped in for lunch.

The decor was nice... It had kind of a rustic flavor with stuffed deer heads and bear heads on the walls. It reminded me of a hunting lodge.

I was excited to sit down for lunch...

Then it all went downhill monster fast, like a bigfoot running away from the camera...

They did not serve out of the kitchen at lunch, but only from the buffet.

The selection of food was sparse, and some of that food looked and tasted like it had been dug out of a hobo's shirt pocket!!

It was a grand disappointment.

These days when I drive by and notice a line of people trying to get into the place, I have to ask myself if the day we were there, the manager was on vacation, and the dishwasher was running the joint...

Had it been for my experience alone, I would never consider returning...

But all of those people always standing in the cold outside, waiting to get into the restaurant to get a table, has a definite impact on my brain...

People would not be standing there if it was not actually good food, right?

A line out the door of a restaurant is a signal to the brain that this place is worth eating at...

If I paid them to stand out there, that could be an expensive proposition, if no one came in to buy food...

So, I only want to pay people to stand in front of my restaurant, acting like they are waiting for a table, if I know that it will result in more sales.

Buying FaceBook Likes and Tweets is much the same thing.

It is worth something if people come in and find that they like the place, they buy stuff when they come in, and they want to come back.

But attracting a crowd to a garbage dump will only work once -- maybe twice...

At some point, you must deliver real value to people, or all of your paid friends will simply be an expense that offers no real return for your investment.

I just get this feeling when I see people who are looking to buy friends that they are also selling lunch out of the hobo's shirt pocket.

What do you think?