O.K. Are you tired of hearing about “Let’s Be Frank”, the gourmet grass fed beef hot dog vendors? Neither am I. In fact, I am in awe of the massive grass roots style FREE advertising that these guys are receiving in the mainstream media as well as foodie blogs all over the internet. But remember this – you can manufacture all the buzz you want, but you must have a GREAT product in order to keep it going. Otherwise your fame (and fortune) will be short lived indeed. And just to make you even more jealous, here’s a spy photo of their menu. Check their prices! You gotta be good to pull that off.
Ladies and jemmelmen, boys and girlz, may I direct your attention to the center ring where you’ll see LBF once again perform their amazing feat of free publicity right before your eyes…
Excerpted from Good Food blog.
Our next stop? Hot dogs. Now these aren’t your ordinary hot dogs. These are Lets Be Frank dogs. 100% grass-fed beef and pork. 100% organic hot dogs. Sounds like an oxymoron huh? But this place has been on my to-try list since the cart opened up last year in Culver City. The proprietor, Sue Moore, is as genuine as can be and gave us that “mother” treatment. She gave us recommendations and offered guidance in our selections. We went with one beef dog and one spicy pork dog. They came out freshly cooked on a soft and chewy bun. For acoutrements, they offered organic sauerkraut, relish, mustard, and ketchup. I went with the classic sauerkraut and deli mustard combo and subsequently, fell in love.
These dogs are heavenly. When I bit in, the casing snapped and the juices from within poured into my mouth; almost like a Din Tai Fung juicy pork dumpling. Paired with the sauerkraut and the spicy mustard, it was amazing. The spicy sausage had just enough kick and the beef dog was simple yet classic. We washed it down with one of these: Boylan’s Birch Beer.
We had previously requested Boylan’s Cream Soda (one of the best cream sodas on the market) but she only had diet. But Sue offered us Birch Beer and according to her, it was a combination of root beer and cream soda. She was on point! It literally tasted like cream soda with that root beer kick. After the good eats, I thought the night was over but to be honest, my stomach was wanting more.
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There you have it folks. A case study for you to use in getting your own free PR. Let’s review:
1. Have a kick ass product.
2. Whenever you do anything, whether it be a new product introduction, hot dog eating contest, or working a grand opening, make sure your local newspaper knows about it.
3. Start your own blog. This is WAY easier to do than you think and it will cost you less than $15 a month. Blogs aren’t just an online journal. With all the new tools available they can function as your company web site also. You can build a customer email list (there are tricks to getting people to happily give you their email) and let everyone know where and when you will be serving your delicious dogs with a click of the mouse. Let me know if you are interested in learning more about this blog strategy by posting a comment below. If I get a big enough response, I might put together a course on it…
– Steve
Excerpt from Good Food blog
I would love to hear what you want to say about blogs and getting noticed on the net.
definitely interested in your input on the blog/website strategy. BTW, bought your course and the cart plans – very well done!
Thanks Mark!
Just getting started and would love to hear more about a dog blog !
want more on blogs and any other marketing,just getting ready to start off my own hot dog biz and will take any help and info I can get.
Goodmorning Steve, How would one go about locating a Commissary? Also, what would be your source for a Bar B Que grill to add to the cart? a sink? (Fl. requires 4 sinks)
I live in MI but winter in FL., I am planning on bringing my cart to FL . next winter.
Thank You for what you do!
Margie,
Any business with a commercial kitchen could be used as a commissary, you just need a signed agreement with them to show the health inspector. The BBQ can be bought at any harware store. You will need to make some simple mounting brackets to attach it to the cart. My E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart Plans show you how to make any number of sinks you need.
hey where can you buy grass feed dog and brats?
i going to buy your build your own cart course
soon. i think they would sell great here
Working my way through your old posts….
Since I’m out here in So Cal and the LBF CC location is not far away, thought I’d go check them out when I heard they have a veggie option.
Well…. Can’t say I’m impressed. It’s upscale and professional looking for sure. But that’s to be expected, given the uber strict Health Dept regs here in Cali.
The guy working the truck was definitely a trained chef. That adds some cachet. And the dog definitely SMELLED delicious.
But the veggie offering is one of those Tofurkey Italian Sausage deals, not a hot dog. Yuck! Hopefully their beef and pork versions are better but since I don’t eat meat…. Honestly, I would have preferred a Tofu Pup.
The grilled onions and the home made Devil Sauce were pretty good, though.
Was it worth all the fuss?
One dog and a bag of Hawaiian chips came to $6.50. No drink. They only serve the fancy (read ridiculously expensive) kind or water.
Think I can take ’em. Ha! 🙂
Hi Lisa,
Be careful or you’ll miss an important lesson – Don’t try to compete on price. That’s a race to bankruptcy. Keep your margins high because you’ll never make it up in volume.
You’re not big enough.
-Steve