Pub and Bar Network

WORLD CUP PUBS & WORLD CUP BARS

2010-06-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

Around 200 World Cup Pubs and Bars on the Pub and Bar Network.

Pubs showing England v USA 12th June London and UK
World Cup Pubs showing England v Algeria London and UK
Where to watch Slovenia v England World Cup Bars and Pubs

Broken Window Theory

2010-02-15T06:15:00.000-08:00

A little while ago I suggested a book called Wikiniomics an International Bestseller by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams about how the Internet is revolutionising the way people and businesses operate.

My latest read has been "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell which discusses how little things can make a big difference. "the magic moment when ideas, trends and social behaviours cross a threshold, tip and spread like wildfire and explains the fascinating social dynamics that cause rapid change".

One chapter examines what has become known as "broken windows" a theory born by criminologists James Q Wilson and George Kelling, which I thought I would share. One or two of you may find it interesting and could possibly relate it to bad atmosphere, breakages, fights or drunkenness that goes on in pubs you know of.

Gladwell, in this particular chapter uses crime as an example and argues that "if a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and that no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building into the street on which it faces sending a signal that anything goes... " The chapter goes on with many examples and statistcs claiming to prove that if the building is cared for and things are repaired and put right immediately then eventually the "criminal behaviour" will cease.

Gladwell also radically claims that the "criminal" - far from being someone who acts for fundamental, intrinsic reasons and who lives in his own world - "is actually someone acutely sensitive to his environment, who is alert to all kinds of cues, and who is prompted to commit crimes based on his perception ot the world around him."

I'm not making any claims but simply making an observation that if a "pub or bar" environment is kept clean, the toilets are clean, ALL the lights work, the patio is swept and washed down regularly, the staff are courteous, clean and dressed appropriately in freshly pressed clothes, the carpets and flooring is clean, the walls are clean, the gardens kept cut and pruned, hanging baskets are looked after etc. etc. "what is the perception of the world around the customer?" Debate it if you will.

The Tipping Point can be bought for £5.59 from Amazon.

Two Minute Widget Guide

2010-01-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

Firstly, do I have to do any extra work?
No, actually less work. It saves you time.

Ok, now you've got my attention. What is a Widget?
It's like your own mini portable Which website anybody can pick up and put almost anywhere on the Internet.

What can it do for my venue?
Spread your information across the Internet FREE. Therefore more people get to know who you are and what you do and will spend their money with you.

Is it just another website I have to update?
NO. Actually, it's the opposite. You only have to update your website on the Network - like you always do right? - If the widgets are installed on other websites then those websites will be automatically updated every time you update your site on the Network. This includes Social Network sites such as Facebook too.

How does my venue qualify for a widget?

It's easy to qualify but:

You can't publicise yourself as a sports venue and not have sports listed.
You can't tell people you're a karaoke bar and not have any karaoke events listed.
You have to keep your website fully up to date and add good descriptions to your site.

Descriptions of function room and venue description must be at least 700 characters long otherwise it leaves an unsightly white space in the widget.

Basically, you don't need to do anything you aren't already doing on your websites.

Do I have to know coding?
Nope, you only need to know how to click on the mouse.

What's a mouse?
Go away.

How much does the widget cost?
It's FREE and only available to Network Subscribers.

When you say portable and anywhere, what does that actually mean for me?
It means you or anybody else can copy your website information to let's say their facebook account, their blog, their website or pretty much anywhere else they want to.

What information is on the widget?
Currently, Regular and One-Off Events, Theme Nights and Sports you're showing. Description of your venue, function room information and a couple of images. Cask Ale and Offers information coming soon.

Can I have it on my own website outside of my site on the Network?
This is where it will save you time. If you add it to your own website it will keep your own website up to date with all those events and sports you have going on.
You will need access to add it to your own site or you can get your developers to do it for you. It's a simple copy and paste excercise. Do not let them tell you any different, they shouldn't charge you more than an hour (it will take them 10 mins).

How is the Widget Built?
Initially I have to build each one manually although I can show you how to build your own quite easily. After it's built it can spread like a flu virus.

What do I do now?
This is the second widget we've placed in BETA so it's in the testing phase again. If you want a widget tell me and providing you qualify I will build it for you and put it into your website. Example. You and anybody else can then begin sharing it across the Internet and on different websites.

What's the catch?
There isn't one. I and our site visitors only ask that you keep your website up to date. If you don't I will remove the widget. 10 minutes a week is enough to keep most websites up to date. If you're not prepared to do that, you should not be on the Network anyway.

A little bit dicatorial aren't you?
Just trying to set some parameters and a standard so that we can help drive traffic into your venue. We can't do that unless we make it clear that your site needs to always be kept up to date. If your website is not up to date then site visitors will see it as a waste of time coming onto the site and therefore your lack of effort will affect other venues and their lack of effort will affect yours.

Example:
Click on the drop down box in the Barracuda Widget above and see the up to date information. If Helen of Barracuda updated here website now that would change the information in the widget simultaneously.
Now click on the Get Widget link at the bottom. You can copy the code and paste it into your own website or publish it to your social media sites like Facebook or Blogger like I have done.

Now what?
Make sure your website is fully up to date with all upcoming sports and events you are doing and then send me an e-mail asking for the widget. i will check your website and if it is of the standard our visitors expect I'll build your widget for you.

Licensee Success for 2010

2010-01-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

Top Tip:
Pick up a book from Amazon called Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. (see weidget below right). It's a difficult but very good read about a new world of peer production and collaboration. It will enlighten you on what the future could hold for the Internet and how you can harness its power to benefit you, your pub or your company. It's not all relevant to our target market but reading it will give you a feel for the direction the Internet is heading. Here's two pretty influencial guys who agree.

"The knowledge, resources and computing power of billions of people are self-organising into a massive, new collective force. Interconnected and orchestrated via blogs, wikis, chat rooms, peer-to-peer networks and personal broadcasting, the web is being reinvented to provide the world's first global platform for collaboration". Bruce Parry, Management Today.

"Thanks to the Internet, masses of people outside the boundaries of traditional hierarchies can innovate to produce content, goods and services. In order to understand the opportunities this presents for companies, read this book". Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google.

Sustained Success:
If you're a manager who wants sustained success then it's an error in judgement to think that you finish work when the pub closes. You may finish working on the job but now you need to get to work on yourself. Refine your skills, read those books, listen to the CDs, put your plans on paper, practice the disciplines, don't neglect the tasks, go on the training course, look for new ways to drive traffic.. etc. etc. Don't chase the bonuses at the end of this year, hone your skills - in your time not company time - and take care of the disciplines so that the bonuses come looking for you year after year.

Personally I read a lot of books and listen to a lot of CDs looking for answers on how we can build a better business, offer a better service, save you a bit of money, keep abreast of technology etc. In 2010. I will begin sharing this information on my blog and link through to the relevant pages where you can find them on Amazon. If you're interested you can get them for yourself or recommend any for me to add.

Discipline v Neglect
The logo above says it all. Practice the disciplines day by day, not doing so is a gross error in judgement and leads to failure. If you've already made a couple of errors today, forget it, move on and practice a few new disciplines throughout the rest of the day. It's never too late to make the changes. Become an example to your work colleagues not a warning. Get rid of the errors in judgement and practice a few new disciplines every day and you are guaranteed a successful year regardless of the economy, the weather, negative people, poor support or anything else.

Website tidy up:
Here's a good place to start with the disciplines; This week you should be going into your websites and getting rid of old menu's and revisiting your descriptions and images for 2010.

UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE TODAY

PS In an attempt to move things on I was forced into making a difficult decision on Monday to replace our existing developer. It's never easy to do these things either from a professional or personal perspective, however, sometimes we are left with no choice. The new developer has begun familiarising himself with the programming and has had experience with developing apps. for facebook so, maybe we can get this widget put to bed finally. He will begin in ernest next Monday.

PPS I've added a bunch of new sporting events.

World Cup Ideas for Pubs and Bars (1)

2009-12-29T01:40:00.000-08:00

World Cup Ideas 29/12/09

I've been asked a few times to add the World Cup events to the Network so that licensees can begin taking group and corporate bookings. Sounds good but be aware of your pricing model. Taking bookings too early may reduce your your chances of taking more lucrative bookings later.

Personally, I think with minimal promotion all pubs and bars should be packed out for the England games anyway and should concentrate on getting bookings for non-England matches. (only my opinion).

Begin by targeting Australian, American, Brazilian, South African etc. organisations in your area.
Example:
How many people do you expect to get in your venue for the Greece v Argentina match? Probably not that many. Target their Embassies if they're close by, search for Greek and Argentinian companies, shops, offices, friends of staff/customers etc. and offer them traditional dishes and drinks. Fly their flags in the bar give them the best seats in the house in front of the big screen. Make them feel special in your venue and they'll spend and return for more. What did Jim Rohn say? "Give enough people what they want and you'll get what you want."

What can you do for the Serbia v Ghana match? Denmark v Japan? Slovakia v New Zealand? These are the kind of matches you should be targeting, the England matches will - to a large extent - look after themselves.

Plan it , risk the unusual and you'll get extraordinary results. Begin the planning now, search for good ideas, be different, don't just try one idea, try many. Ask your staff to write down their best three ideas. Better still run a competition for your customers to come up with good ideas. Ask them what they want. Begin now, they will spread your information through twitter, facebook and other social media channels for you.

You can even do a dry run. The African Nations Cup featuring 6 World Cup Qualifiers begins on 10th January. Are there opportunities here to introduce these fans to your venue? There's at least 18 World Cup matches between these 6 teams. Target their fans now.

If you subscribe to the Network and have any ideas to help your fellow licensees promote their venues for this world cup then share your ideas with them through the Network. (comment below). I will try and find a way to give those that share their ideas an extra bit of promotion on the site for the World Cup.

Printing Sports Page

2009-12-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

I have been asked a few times if we could enable a printing option for the sports page for liceness to leave an A4 sheet of upcoming sports they are showing on the bar, can pin up on the wall and/or for their staff to know what's showing if they are asked or get a phone call.

As pretty and effective the big posters from Sky are, they may not always reflect exactly what you are showing. At least this way the information is tailored to your venue and if you change your mind it's easy to print out half a dozen more sheets.

I've had my developer do this and fit as much as possible to an A4 sheet. My guess is that it will fit around 40 matches which should be plenty.

It's not the prettiest thing in town, I still want to tidy it up a bit but it will be effective, it won't take up a lot of your ink, it's flexible and it's free. Simply click on the Print Sports link in the Sports Page of your CMS. Hopefully a few of you will find it useful. Of course any feedback is welcome along with any other ideas for the site. I will always try and get it done if I can.

Print your sports page.

Optimising for Google

2009-12-16T02:12:00.000-08:00

I have optimised over 50 venues now for Google Maps for those who purchase domain names and point them to their own website within the Network.

One good example is www.barracudabar-chesterfield.co.uk (see here) which is highly optimised in Google for some of the search terms for which they need to be found, the example I have shown is Sports Bar Chesterfield.
I don't charge subscribing licensees to do this as I can never guarantee it will work 100% of the time. However, it's ideal for those licensees who:

are not optimised for google
don't have an existing website
have an out of date wesbite or old domain name
are being charged every time they need an update
not sure what they are doing and need help

It helps google return accurate results but it's only worthwhile if you keep your website up to date. Remember, the terms and conditions of being on the Pub and Bar Network is that you keep your sites up to date.

Call me on 0121 288 5486 to discuss further.

He who casts the first stone, watch out.

2009-12-14T23:14:00.000-08:00

One of our subscribing licensee's has got himself into a bit of bother with a well known pub and bar website that allows unmonitored reviews. At least one person on the site is now making his life a misery and the website will not remove the posting that began the problem. Unfortunately, I can't get hold of the site owners either to try and help.

Review websites have their place but as a licensee, negatively reviewing another venue and putting your name to it should be avoided lest you get stones thrown back at you. We have no intention of allowing unmonitored reviews onto the Network although, monitored reviews are being considered. Any thoughts?

Pub and Bar Network Failures in 2009

2009-12-10T00:56:00.000-08:00

The Network has come a long way in the 12 months since its launch last November as a replacement for Citypublife. It is now more popular in terms of visitors and page views, our search engine positioning is improving all the time and there have been numerous successes that Linda and I are very proud of.

It's an extremely ambitous project with some very serious development plans throughout 2010 which will disrupt the marketing landscape somewhat in the leisure sector. But it hasn't all been a bed of roses. We have had our failures too. I'm highlighting these rather than our successes because I think we can learn as much or even more from failure than we can from success.

Failures of 2009:

In my opinion "World Pay" is expensive, confusing and adds little value. I need to make a decision early in the new year whether we are going to keep it or not.
The original single function widget was semi-scrapped to make way for the new flash multi-widget which is still giving us problems - only because I want it to be perfect - which in itself has caused delays in other developments. (We have spent 4 months and thousands on the widgets). I'm probably going to have to run with it as it is, it still works but doesn't go where I want it to go in facebook.
Automating the removal of websites which are not kept up to date has yet to get started. (still not scheduled).
We still haven't begun working on our much promised webinars and tutorials. (next on the list).
I haven't spent the time to look for contributors to our newsletters, e-mail me if you have something of value to contribute to the blog or newsletter.
It took the death of my mentor Jim Rohn to inspire the blog which I should have been writing a year ago.
I haven't developed enough relationships with other portals to carry the new multi-widget. (maybe not such a bad thing because it isn't finished yet).
Only this week I was quoted £30k - $50k for a project I want to begin in 2010 which is just too far out of our reach at the moment.
Function room booking reports are still not working 100%.
Although we are slowly breaking out of London I can't really call it a resounding success.

So there you go. Everybody fails, we just have to face up to it and learn from it. Make changes in ourselves, build plans, set time-scales and move on. Despite the above we're not giving up. we will build what we set out to do. I just need to sit down and put the plans on paper, set the goals and learn how to properly project manage with Gant charts.

No doubt, we will continue to fail but we can't move forward if we don't push boundaries to find new ways to get up to date information out there, keep our subscribing licensees ahead of their competition and add more value to Alert Subscribers, licensees and our site visitors. After all, Jim Rohn taught us not to be afraid of failure didn't he?

Tribute To My Mentor

2009-12-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

I guess it's only fitting to begin my blog with a personal tribute to a guy whose affect on me and my own life can not truly be described in words. I've never met the man and unfortunately for me, now I never will. On Saturday night, I received an e-mail - as did hundreds of thousands of others - telling me that the man I considered my mentor and foremost business philosopher Jim Rohn had died.

Of course he did not know he was my mentor but to say this man affected and influenced my life and the way the Pub and Bar Network is managed is a gross understatement. His teachings form the very foundations on which sit our small company which began as Citypublife in a one bedroom flat in Earlsfield, London 8 years ago. His words continue to determine the direction and how Linda and I conduct our business on a daily basis.

When I hear testimonials from Licensees who are thankful of the business the Network has put their way, I know it's not just because of Linda and I. It's because of a man who has been in the background and the philosophies he's shared with me for 16 years and which inspires all that we do.

I am not too proud to say that if it was not for this guy I could still be peddling insurance and cold calling in the rain with cardboard in my shoes to keep my socks dry. Being on commission only and not very confident at selling is never a good combination.

Whether knowingly or not, we are all influenced in some way by others, most of us are blissfully unaware that tiny bit of the people we come across in our lives make up a certain amount of who we are, how we think and how we ultimately act. I guess the trick is to conciously become aware of it so you can choose who you let influence you.

Almost like living in a foreign country and without Realizing it you pick up a slight accent - you do not do it on purpose but the subtle changes can be heard by friends and family who have known you for years.
So as my own personal tribute to someone I have regard as a mentor for 16 years. I want to begin my blog by sharing a snippet of my story and Jim's legacy with you.

I do not remember how or exactly what date in 1993 it was - I know it was sometime after my daughter was born in the May - that I picked up a glossy A4 advertisement from a company called Nightingale Conant who were Promoting a set of 6 double sided tapes called the "Power of Ambition"By some American guy called Jim Rohn. Hey! I was at rock bottom, I obviously did not know what I was doing wrong maybe this guy did. I was as ambitious as hell to do something but did not have a clue how to get started or what to get started on. The choices I had made earlier in my life meant that I had no real skills for a "proper job.

It was and still is the best £ 60 I have ever spent - it's a steal at about 25 pounds now - and Although I now have them in CD format I treasure even today those tapes. 6 Those tapes are directly responsible for where I find myself today Which is a million times better than the place I was in 1993.

It was Jim Rohn's words and philosophy that I allowed to influence and inspire me to do better and rise above the mess and surrounding negativity I found myself. He said simple things like, "if you want things to change for you, you have to change." "If you want things to get better, you have to get better."
"search and you will find. I quickly learned that my predicament was my own fault (who would have thought?) And I could find some of the answers in books written by people who had already been there, I could not afford to buy the books so I joined the library and borrowed them.

He showed me that if I was to move forward I had to forgive past "errors in Judgment" and that I would need to "spend more time working on myself than I did working on the job".
He said "Do not wish it was easier, wish you were better. Do not wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Do not wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom." Because of Him So I enrolled in College and studied Business and Finance. A great decision as it turned out because it's there that I discovered the power of computers and the Internet.
He also told me that to be successful I would need to do it "at the service of others and not at the expense of others and that if I could find a way to give enough people what they want, only then would I get what I wanted." At that time I still did not know what I wanted I only knew what I did not want - some of you might know the feeling.

These are the philosophies I continue to try to put into practice today. I still have errors in Judgment but not as many and not as severe and I know that I must continue to work on other weaknesses such as discipline.

He taught that "you can not see the results of changes in philosophy overnight, it takes time, patience, faith and discipline Consistently pursued" and to "use the past as a teacher not a stick to beat yourself up with". I learned how to "get from the day and not just get through the day". I mean c'mon. Just put a little of this stuff into practice and things will begin to happen for you.

Over the years my newsletters have been peppered with a number of Jim's unique quotes, the above are just a few I have repeated on many occasions to try to pass on his inspiration to License. The feedback I've had when I've included them has always been quite positive.

Jim said to think about things differently, for example, one of my favorites is:

Pay a bill as soon as you get it. Why? Because when you pay a bill you're Reducing your liabilities and increasing your assets ". (not to mention the goodwill it buys you for free).

Compare this to what one high street bank say in their book for helping business: "Negotiate longer payment terms for yourself so you have longer to pay. In other words keep the liability as long as you can if you go bust Because you will not have to pay it. You can then come to us for a loan, we can charge you lot's of interest and get ourselves a big bonus at the end of the year. "Remember, these guys are just one of a number of banks that put us and the worlds financial markets at risk.

Compare Jim's philosophy with corporates who Voluntarily go into "pre-pack administration" so that they can cream off the profitable pubs and carry on going about their business without paying their debts Whilst leaving in their wake a mass of unemployed and suppliers to pick up the pieces Because the Board of Directors cocked it all up. Leaving a legacy of misery with no accountability and justifing it all because it's "Legal". Admittedly there are some that are legitimate and can be morally justified but many are for pure greed.

Despite all of this "bad stuff" you have no control over, Jim say's "do not blame the company, the economy, the government, taxes, circumstance or other people. These are the same for everybody, it's your philosophy that needs to change".

Jim encourager us to accept and be grateful for paying our taxes Because without a strong and sustainable infrastucture for travel, schooling, energy, commerce, agriculture, law and order and so on. we would probably not have a business to run anyway. (I know some of the infrastructure is corrupt but it's mostly sound).

Another quote that has stuck with me over the years and I practice is "never" nickel and dime "someone out of their profit, they will not want to deal with you again". Jim adds "always pay fair price for good value".
The guy brags in the pub at what a good deal I got at the expense of somebody else. There's nothing wrong with a good deal but always leave the seller to profit. 1. So that you keep getting good deals 2. Because of what it makes of you.

"To receive you first need to give". Jim also put it another way. "You need to plant your seeds before reaping your rewards.I wonder what society would be like if we all looked at what value we were giving and not just what we are getting. Jim said, "It's not what you are getting that's important, it's what you are becoming that's important".

Jim believe we should write our ideas in journals, not on a scrap piece of paper. he said "The reason why I spend so much money for my journals is to press me to find something valuable to put in them". He expands on that further in saying that his CD Although I might spend $ 50 on an empty book the value of that book by the time I had finished writing in it was far greater than what he had paid.

There are hundreds if not thousands of these little gems of Jim Rohn's wisdom that have influenced me and the way Linda and I run our Network for pubs and bars and, over the coming weeks I intend to find the time go over his books, tapes and CD's again and revisit the teachings of this great mentor. Do not be surprised to see one or two of them in future newsletters.

Jim always wanted to leave a legacy and Hoped that people across the world would be touched and influenced by his words. Well, I did not just touch my life, I've grabbed me by the throat, shook me around, slapped me about a bit and set me down pointed in a completely different direction than the one I was heading.

Through me, I've also touched Linda's life and that of a few close friends. One phone me late last night and began by saying "I've got some really bad news ...."I thought he was going to mention a family member or close friend but I went on to tell me that Jim had died - this emotion was for a guy neither of us had ever met. I thank me for introducing him and told me that Jim had touched his life too.
I began this blog by saying that I wanted to pay my own personal tribute to a guy Whose Affect on me and my own life can not truly be described in words. I guess the best tribute I can give is to carry on in the direction he pointed me, put into practice all that I have taught and spread a little of the "good stuff" I have shared.
My life is certainly richer, my mind busy, my conciounce is clear, my journey is easier and my destination is no longer an empty dream Because of knowing him.

I leave you with this final quote from his website:

"I wish for you a life of health wealth and happiness, a life In which you give to yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason, the value of knowledge and the influence of faith in your own ability to dream about and Achieve worthy rewards'.

Thanks for everything Jim.

Gratefully Yours

Perry Mayer

More Jim Rohn Tributes