Today I had little time to reflect on my back porch, as the Codgers™ wanted to meet early this morning at the coffee shop to discuss our recent efforts in field-testing our “Blog Marketing Plan.”*
The usual suspects, Carl, Harold, Fred & Medford, were all seated at their usual places by the front plate-glass window, and already had their china, not stoneware mugs of organically & shade grown, fair trade, coffee, as I walked in out of the +36ºF heat into the café.
“So,” began Medford, stirring his usual cream & sugar pollutants into his coffee, “how did yesterday’s efforts turn out?”
It was not lost on me that he had his laptop on the table—dialed in to AR—as I replied: “You know darn good and well how it’s going!”
“Seems they want us to start a business,” Fred, looking up from his ever-present morning Pioneer Press.
“Yeah,” added Carl, “Selling mugs, with our mugs on them.”
“And they want to add stuff to our already huge coffee menu,” Molly added, just a trifle testily, “as if we haven’t got enough stuff here already—have you been in the back room lately?”
“They’re just trying to help,” I responded, sipping my first coffee of this day—to get what remaining brain synapses I have firing.
“Let me get this straight,” Harold said, “Our market here totals maybe 13,000 people, and of that number we have maybe 20 who regularly comment on your posts, do you honestly believe this is a good idea?”
“I’m still looking into it,” I replied, “Realtor® Teresa is helping us—she is looking at some on-line companies that will provide the mug with logo as ordered, not in bulk.”
“OK,” Medford said, “moving on, how much longer are you going to blatantly promote this blog?”
“Blatant promotion*?” I replied, “if by that you mean pointedly asking for comments*, hoping for 5 ratings and the even rarer “golden star?” That ends with this post. We’re returning to discussing and posting on what’s important to us—the regular patrons of the coffee shop—and having fun doing it.”
Jay, Medford, Carl, Harold, Fred, and of course, Molly
