Marketing Ploys: Complimentary Coffee

A long while ago, Dear Reader, (so far so, I can't find the post) I mentioned an idea I had. Actually, to be precise, it was an idea another PI had, but I improved on it and therefore ownership passes to me.

Pretty sure that's how it works.

Anyway, it went something like this.

This unnamed and forgotten PI had an idea that while he was in attendance at his local diner, writing reports and the like, he would pay for the coffees of anyone else present at that time. Maybe the waitress would say something like, "Your coffee is provided by XYZ Investigations" and point a thumb over in his direction or something.

I don't think there was much beyond this.

Several of us suggested at least handing out a card with every coffee, at bare minimum, and that's pretty much where the idea was left. No idea if the PI in question ever tried this out or not, or what the results were.

And over time I thought more and more about this rough idea and decided to implement something very much like this myself. Only different.

So I'm getting a quantity of business-card sized cards printed with a "With compliments from Anonymous PI's Dodgy Investigations"* and a brief "contact us for a free consultation"  message along with my contact details.

As budget allows, I'll prepay a certain number of coffees at certain cafes with instructions that they give out X coffees a day for Y days, along with the card. Perhaps a bit of profiling on their part that the person getting a card at least looks like they can afford to hire an investigator...?  

I figure that this approach allows me to try my luck at different establishments around the city and I can tailor my spend to suit.

I've already canvassed a number of cafes and they are amenable to this, so I'll let you know how I get on or if it's just another waste of time and money - as most marketing efforts seem to be.

* Well, not that name precisely