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Lesson #2: Make Your Marketing Over Easy

Article Overview: It was not only his eggs that Hines liked done over easy, it was his marketing too. Much like the restaurants with simple home-made recipes that he favoured over the ones that tried too hard to do too much and fell short, Hines preferred to keep his marketing strategy simple, starting small, and working his way up.

Lesson #2: Make Your Marketing Over Easy

It was not only his eggs that Hines liked done over easy, it was his marketing too. Much like the restaurants with simple home-made recipes that he favoured over the ones that tried too hard to do too much and fell short, Hines preferred to keep his marketing strategy simple, starting small, and working his way up.

By 1935, Hines had already traveled across much of the U.S., and had compiled a list 167 of his favourite places to eat out of his several scrawled notebooks. He had toyed with the idea of publishing them for a wide audience, but decided to start close to home.

Instead of sending out Christmas presents that year, Hines decided to send all of his closest friends his list of favourite restaurants inside their Christmas cards. With the list, he wrote the note, "I am passing this information on to you, hoping that it may yield enjoyment and delectation, should you find yourself in the vicinity of one of these 'harbors of refreshment' as you travel hither and yon."

Sending this list to his friends allowed Hines to do several things. Firstly, it allowed him to save money, both on marketing and on Christmas presents. He did not have to buy individual presents for all of his friends. Instead, he could just send them this one compiled list of favoured restaurants. He also did not have to spend any money on fancy marketing ploys or advertising. It was a time of year when mailings from friends were expected, so Hines took advantage of the opportunity.

Secondly, it allowed Hines to test his product on a smaller market. He only sent the list to his nearest and dearest friends. If even they did not like what he had to write, then there was no way complete strangers would ever buy his book. On the other hand, if at least his friends found it useful, he had enough to move forward with.

The next year, Hines kept that same strategy again, sending out his updated list of recommended restaurants at Christmas, but to a larger circle of friends this time. And, this time, his 167 favourite places to eat had grown to 475 places, and the list was called "Adventures in Good Eating." It was an even bigger hit, and soon even complete strangers had heard about the list and were flooding Hines with phone calls and letters requesting a copy as well. It allowed Hines with the momentum he needed to have "Adventures in Good Eating" officially published as a soft-cover book. The book continued to fly off shelves thanks only to word of mouth recommendations from other friends and readers.

Hines' strategy of sending out his list along with his Christmas cards allowed him to both save money, and to encourage word of mouth of his new venture. While he took the strategy seriously, always codifying and printing the list in a professional manner, the simple way in which he approached it was significant.

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Article Tags: audience, christmas, christmas cards, circle of friends, delectation, eggs, marketing ploys, marketing strategy, money, notebooks, recipes, refreshment, restaurants, time of year, vicinity



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