VS

Had it not been for the poor spigot, on the Pinot Evil, my wife and I would probably have favored the Pinot Evil over the Hardy’s. But alas, the Hardy’s wins because of the container design.
Both wines come in at just under $20 usd, so for about $5 a bottle, you can’t go wrong…that is unless you don’t want red wine drip stains all over your white counter top.

The first box wine review match on Thegrubhound.com, is between Corbett Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon and Hardys Cabernet Sauvignon.

Best Box Wine

The best box wine for this wine match goes to Hardys Cabernet Sauvignon..wins by a mile.

My wife, who blogs at Fatladysingz.com, was put on the Mediterranean Diet, which includes her favorite part of the Mediterranean Diet, Red Wine. Every night we sit down to watch the tube, and have a glass of red wine. However, instead of buying a ton of bottles of wine, we have been buying boxed wine on a regular basis.

We also open an occasional bottle of wine, but the box wines are our regular nightly wine for several reasons. First, each box contains what equals 4 bottles of wine, and it usually means the price of the wine would come out to less than $5 per 750ml bottle. Secondly, it means we are not using all those bottles of wine, so it means fewer bottles  in our recycle bin. Thirdly, the boxed wine stays fresher a lot longer than an opened bottle.  Granted we would usually finish a bottle in two nights on average, but occasionally we wouldn’t and it would mean a wasted bottle of wine. A box of wine rarely goes bad.

But Box Wine Sucks

Yea you are generally right when you say box wines suck. Yea, my idea of  a box of wine was Franzia..not a great wine at all..yuck.
Since Lizzie began the Mediterranean diet, we have had numerous boxes of wine, and have found a few that were not terrible.

WineLibraryTV

I once asked Gary V of Wine Library TV if he had any suggestions for box wines..Gary said no because box wines suck..I would much rather have a great bottle of wine too Gary, but having it every day..a box may not be so bad. Then when I do have a good bottle of wine with my lady, it will be all the more special…if you have not seen Gary V, go check out Wine Library TV right now.

Box Wine Series

My next foodie review series is going to be a Box Wine Review Series.  In each box wine post,  I will compare two box wines, and I will declare a winner between the two. When I finish one box of wine, I will get a different box of wine, and I will then compare the new wine to the previous box wine. For the sake of my wife’s Mediterranean diet, and our pallets, we will only review box red wines.

As promised in the post about Twitter Advertising for Restaurants, here is the next post in the Social Media for restaurants series.

Geo Targeting advertising for restaurants, unless your restaurant is a huge chain, is a must.  First off, I always recommend that your Google Places listing is claimed and optimized. If you have no idea what Google Places is or you do but are not certain how to optimize your restaurant listing, then you probably need my help..click the ugly box to the left for a Free Online Marketing Analysis of your restaurant.

Ok, so your Google Places Listing is optimized, along with your Bing and Yahoo locals business listings.  Whats Next?

Restaurant Social Media Profiles

Next I want to encourage you to get people who visit your restaurant to join your current Social Media profiles, which should include at least YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. To encourage the adding on these sites, you might offer discounts to your followers.

Be sure to respond to anyone who does add or follow you. If someone leaves a comment on your Facebook Fan Page, respond to  their comment. If they follow you on Twitter, thank them. If they post a Tweet with your @restaurant, kindly respond by thanking them.

Most of the people who visit your restaurant have friends that are your potential customers.  Interact and draw them in.

Also to encourage people to join your networks, you need to let them know you have a profile, so put a notice on your menu that you have said profiles or put a memo on your window that tells them about your profiles.

Foursquare Is Growing

Be sure to add your venue to Foursquare if it has not been added already. FourSquare is a geo-targeting social network where users check in at various places.  When they check in, many times they automatically update their Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp accounts.  Be sure your listing is correct. In addition to claiming your listing, if your restaurant is located in a major metro area, I would suggest adding a special on Foursquare. This can be something like, check in and get half price beer, Mayor receives a  free beer 1 time per week.

I myself would suggest having at least two specials, one for the mayor to encourage return trips for Foursquare users to become the mayor of your establishment. The second special would be for first time check ins.  Anyone who checks into a nearby establishment will get a notification that there is a special nearby. I have visited more than one place that had a special, just because I got an alert that there was a special nearby. Be sure to include a notice about your Foursquare specials on your Social Networking Memo.

Facebook Advertising

The next type of geo-targeted online advertising I am going to recommend is using Facebook ads. Facebook ads when used properly have a really high conversion rate. But unlike using Google ads, you can target specific demographics such as age, geo-graphic region,and more. If you have never tried Facebook, ads, give them a try by testing them out on a limited budget. But to keep track of your ROI by including coupons in your ads that can be tracked to your Facebook ad.

Twitter Geo Targeting

Use the advanced  search.twitter.com to find and follow people that live within a certain radius of your restaurant. After you follow them, mention them and invite them to your restaurant..offer them a coupon for a free dessert or drink. Offering free stuff encourages the conversation, and gets them to tell their friends what you did for them. I know when ever a restaurant owner makes the effort with me, I am always more than happy to tell my friends.  WOMA or Word Of Mouth Advertising is the goal.

Any Other Geo-Targeting Ads?

What other Geo-targeting advertising do you do?