How would YOU Answer this Question?!

November 24, 2008

Watch the video below:

The Christmas Season is upon us and NOW is the best time to start Mobile Bartending! To get your hands on the Bartend-4-Profit System before I increase the price, click here!

The Bartend-4-Profit System, only $127

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Tip or Treat: 7 Halloween Bartending Tips

October 15, 2008

7 Halloween Tactics to Make you MORE Money this Holiday Season while Bartending

YES! This is my favorite time of year! As a kid I had Haunted Houses in my garage. Today, I still think of the BEST possible costumes I can come up with!! But as a bartender with a Mobile Bartending Business…Expect a lot of Halloween Parties!

Halloween Bartending

Below is a small list of great tips for all my fellow Mobile Bartenders that you can implement during Halloween!

Halloween Bartending Tips:

1. Dress Up! If you are NOT dressing up for Halloween parties…you’re CRAZY! Not only is it fun (and more casual, but your clients/guests will LOVE it. (Just make sure you ask if you can dress up first) Try something related to bartending or your task behind the bar. This year I am going to be a Mad Scientist mixing up some crazy concoctions! (Yes, you may steal my costume idea!)

2. Add Dry Ice: This is awesome! Every martini I make, I put in a REAL glass and add a small coin-sized piece of Dry Ice. The effect is amazing! Your guests will love it and it will keep your cocktails a bit colder!

3. Charge More: It’s basic Supply & Demand here people! When you have more party requests…up your rates. You can only be at one place at one time, bless only the highest bidder with your presence.

4. Unique Tip Jar: I love to decorate my bar with cobwebs, an ugly rat or snake, and a unique tip jar. Try something like a witch’s cauldron or one of those cheesy candy bowls with the motion-sensor hands. Let people have FUN while they give you money (yay!)

5. Include Halloween Inspired Recipes: I have include a great website that has a huge list of Halloween Drink Recipes. Click Here to check those out now: http://www.drinknation.com/theme/Halloween

6. Include a Menu: Put those fancy drink recipes on a menu of some sort and display proudly on your bar. Find one of Grandma’s ancient/gaudy picture frames, print out your recipes, and add some cob-webs to the frame. BOOM!

7. Bring a Camera: Chances are, your party will be a dress-up Halloween Party. Well, here is the BEST way to capture leads for your business: Take group pictures of guests as they approach the bar. For them to get the pictures, they must e-mail you…so make a list of their names and e-mails…and now you can promote to them! Oh, and you can also add these pictures to your website!

Got any more Tips?

Have any costume ideas, tip jar suggestions, or anything else that could help the other bartenders out there? Post a comment and let me now? Also, did my tips help, or do they suck?! Let me know your thoughts! Other than that, I hope you have all booked a lot of events for this October (and yes Nov. 1st for those Saturday party-planners)

Cheers,

James Wedmore
Mobile Mixologist

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TWITTER HOW-TO TIP #77 What’s best? PHP or Javascript for your Twitter RSS feeds?

September 22, 2008

NOTE: This Twitter How-to Tip is an authorized part of the “Twittin’ Secrets” Series: 100 World’s Greatest Twitter Tips and Twitter Secrets by Internet and Twitter Strategist, Dan Hollings.

TWITTER HOW-TO TIP #77

What’s best? PHP or Javascript for your Twitter RSS feeds? Here’s the deal… there are many services, gadgets and widgets that make displaying Twitter posts on your blog or site very easy:

AddTweets.com (http://addtweets.com)

Or search Widgetbox.com (http://www.widgetbox.com/search?q=twitter)

Or search The Twitter Wiki (http://twitter.pbwiki.com/)

Or search Google Gadgets (http://www.google.com/ig/directory?q=Twitter)

Or build your own at SproutBuilder (http://sproutbuilder.com/)

However, you must be aware that Google and other search engine spiders are blind to Javascript and Javascript feed displays (this includes most gadgets and widgets). So while a visitor can read your Twitter feed at your blog or site, Google can not.

If your goal is to get your Twitter feeds (and the pages they are on) ranked in Google, a javascript solution will do you no good. The answer to this challenge is to use an ASP or PHP server based script to render your Twitter feed as real text and HTML on your blog or site. To find an “ASP Feed Script,” just do a Google search. The PHP solution I recommend is called CaRP. The SEO value of using CaRP and RSS (in general) and a link to download CaRP is at http://go2468.com/carp

WANT MORE TWITTER HELP?

100 Free Twitter Tips are at

http://twittinsecrets.com

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Mobile Bartending Secrets-EXPOSED!

August 25, 2008

Learning from our Mistakes!

One of my subscribers, Kathy, sent me an e-mail detailing the events of her first bartending gig. I get these all the time from clients who are just so excited, and hooked on Mobile Bartending! Unfortunately, this e-mail was a bit different…ok a whole lot different. In my opinion, Kathy’s first event was a bit of a disaster.

I have attached her e-mail along with my response in this blog. Why? So we can learn from other’s Mobile Bartending Mistakes so we can all become better bartenders and make more money (yay!).

From Kathy:

“Hey James:

Thought I would drop you a note and tell you I now understand why you have your own bar! Did my first gig last night and did not go all that well….the guy had me set up in his backyard…it was dark; he had these hanging LUAU lights so it was great for his Luau. It set the stage for his company, candles on the table, etc., however I had a hard time seeing.

He gave me a Tropical Book that he wanted me to make the drinks from; he went so far as to have them marked on a chalkboard for his guest to chose what ones they wanted! Then he gave me the book.

Want to hear the best part ? I worked off of a cardtable! It was hard to bend over this table as it was so low, then for his supply of bottles he set them up on a child’s picnic table that was for 4 year olds that was even shorter then the table! My back was broke by the time I got home.

The table was the main problem …….no where to work; he had a blender on it at the right hand corner, the other corner he had a large pot that he made a batch of drinks in and in the other corner he had a display of straws, umbrellas. I was slow in making the drinks, he only had so much pineapple juice, I ran out……….then trying to find him, he’s in the house!

One of his guest went to get him to tell him I was out of supplies….got that juice and then of course (I was making Planter’s Punch) I ran out of orange juice; in the middle of all of this one of the guest wanted a different drink. It was hard for me to read his Tropical Drink book, I had to keep looking at each thing to go in the drink; I used a shot glass, guess the Guest thought I was slow and maybe they expected me to FREEPOUR. One of my friends said to put on the Speedpours so I did.

But when it came time ot leave I had a problem putting the right caps on the right bottle!! I also had to stand all night, so I have a backache!! The little bar stool I couldn’t even sit on as it was wobbly so I just tried to lean on it……..and not very well either I might add….plus with no water everything was sticky…I struggled and I think the guest felt it, at least some of them did; one guy said he kind of felt sorry for me working in the dark, at any rate…I just thought if anyone would understand you would.

I am just wondering if I had a bar like yours and I had an appropriate bar stool to sit on in between ….down time it might of helped…wound up with $100/ not bad $15/hr he gave me a $25 tip, at least I made a few bucks, 2 people picked up my card. Let me know your thoughts….

Kathy”

Here was my response, hopefully this advice I give her will also help you avoid these common pitfalls!

From James to Kathy:

Hey Kathy!!

What a nightmare! But I guess we can chalk it up to a great learning experience here!!

So, here is EVERYTHING you can do as a mobile bartender to make sure that NEVER happens again!

Get a Mobile Bar or Have an Alternative:

If you don’t have YOUR own bar, you need to get one ASAP.
Until then, try finding a suitable substitute. (A portable table, etc.)
Or, Rent one and charge your clients (plus interest)Most Importantly: Have the bar arrangement settled BEFORE you arrive at the event. Don’t try and solve the problem when you arrive.

Know The Drink Menu:

If the host is going to throw a “curve ball” at you, with unique recipes and a menu that no one has ever heard of, make sure you get the names and recipes BEFORE the event.
While booking, ask “What types of drinks would you like me to serve?” This way, you can look everything over and get an idea for how to make the drinks
If necessary, make a 1 page cheat sheet and keep behind the bar

Let There Be Light!

ALWAYS check BEFORE the party starts and make sure you have enough light. My host always asks, “Do you have everything, James?” BEFORE the guests arrive, make sure you have an adequate light source. Don’t wait until it’s dark.
At the worst case scenario, a BUNCH of candles at the bar will do.

Bring Your Own Back Bar:

Take more control of your bar area, provide your own mobile back bar table.
Bring a small portable table of your own for the back bar!
And yes, bring a stool if you must.

Charge More $$$!

I know you are just starting out in Mobile Bartending, but I would be offended if that is all I made in an evening. Change your pricing strategy.

Charge $147 as your BASE rate
DONT CHARGE HOURLY
If your host is tipping you, it should be a MINIMUM of $2 per guest. I think $250 sounds a lot better to you than $100, right?
Wait until I show you how you can make $500-600 a night.

Kathy, I hope this info helps you on your path to Mobile Bartending Success. But let me tell you…you are making all of the mistakes I made when I first started, I am actually getting “angry” and “fired up” for YOU. I feel like the host totally screwed you big time, and your biggest problem is that you are not taking control and showing him the confidence and knowledge that you have. If you want to continue learning from every bad situation, it is going to be a long and painfully bumpy road.

***************

Well, I hope everyone else can learn something from this situation. I have dealt with problems like Kathy’s before, but not anymore! The Bartend-4-Profit System is your roadmap to success as a Mobile Bartender, check it out at www.Bartend4Profit.com.