Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association Newsletter
(October 5, 2014 - October 11, 2014)
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As I See It...
Social Media

According to Wikipedia...Social media

is the social interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.   

 

Social Media is also a great way to advertise events and promotions that are going on in our facilities.   

 

The most popular social media website to advertise on is Facebook because it seems people of all ages have a Facebook page to help keep track of friends and family.    

 

There have been some changes to Facebook and how it lets you advertise and promote your business.    

 

Posts that you put on your page may only be seen by 15% of your followers because Facebook would rather have you pay for your ads to target your fan base than just let you advertise for free.

 

After watching a few You Tube videos on increasing your Facebook page traffic, here are a few tips to try to get more people to view your posts without having to pay for Facebook advertising:


Schedule your posts in advance. Facebook lets you pick the date and time each time you type a new post. By choosing this option you can schedule your posts days/weeks/months in advance to make sure you don't forget to promote an event or promotion. This also cuts down on managers or staff having to spend a lot of time updating the Facebook page.

 

Post things on your page that your current fans will share on their page. If you post a picture of a new drink or product, a funny quote or picture, etc... that helps engage your current fans and they will more than likely share your post. By fans sharing your posts this helps get other people to visit your business page and hopefully will "Like" it and become a follower.

 

Writing engaging content & be creative in your posts. 50% of your fans are on Facebook each day and they spend about 30-60 minutes scrolling through their newsfeed. If you are not posting engaging content that creates interaction from your followers your posts will not show up in their newsfeed. The more interactions with fans the more people that will see your posts.

 

Facebook users do not like to read. Are you writing a novel when you post to your page??? Try to keep your posts short. Follow the Twitter post rule, 140 characters or less. Many Facebook users just do not want to take the time to read long posts or may just skip over them resulting in you losing interaction with those fans.

 

Time & Days that you post make a difference. Think about the times during the day that you are on Facebook: when you wake up, lunch breaks, after work, while watching TV, at bed time etc... Those are the times that you should be posting on your page in hopes your fans will see it.  

 

However, try not to post on your page during the hours of 5-8pm because you will be competing with other pages & friends your fans follow. Fridays is the day when your fans are more active on social media and will "Like", comment or share your posts. Sundays seem to be the worst day for engaging your fans.  

 

The best advice is to find your Fan Engagement Sweet Spot by determining when the majority of your audience in on Facebook and the least overall posting by other pages they follow is occurring.

 

If all of these tips fail and you have no other option but to pay for advertising on Facebook it is relatively cheap to do so.  

 

Price starts at $5 to reach an estimate of 730-1900 people and then the amount of money and people increases from there.  

 

By paying for advertising on Facebook, you can also target the audience you want your posts to reach by choosing between gender, age, location & interests.  

 

With the increased cost of newspaper advertising and less people reading them today it may be worth a try to pay for Facebook advertising to see what it can do for your business.  

 

Social Media is not going away anytime soon and it the majority of the population is using it in some form.

 

If you are not using it in your facilities, now is the time start advertising your events and promotions through the means of Social Media to increase your customers and boost sales.

 

Cheers!!

 

Karissa Kurth

Buffalo Lake 

Liquor Store Food Drive Starts
in St. James


By Nicholas Cicale, St. James Plaindealer  

For the seventh year, the St. James Municipal Liquor store is holding a food drive throughout the month of October. 

Partnering with the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association (MMBA) and MillerCoors, the liquor store will be collecting donations of non-perishable or canned foods. 

Donations will be then given to the Watonwan County Food Shelf.

"Some people see it as a project and really get into it," said Janice Stoesz, manager of the city's liquor store. "Some of them stop by just to donate."

Stoesz estimated that the store collected 4,000 pounds of food last year.

That's a huge amount compared to the 200 pounds they collected in their first year.

Even though the drive technically started Wednesday, they had received a decent amount of food before hand.

The Watonwan County Food Shelf is always busy this time of year, which is their second-biggest annual push for donations.

"People think of what they're thankful for around the fall, so we start getting things in now," said Debbie Schmillen of the Watonwan County Food Shelf.

Schmillen said the food shelf recently received a donation from the St. James Women of Today, and expects more to start coming in soon. 
Fifty Lakes Patio Near Completion


The patio addition for the Fifty Lakes Municipal Bar and Liquor store is nearing completion and will be celebrated by a grand opening on October 11th. - photo by Paul Boblett, Northland Press

 

Continued Fairmont Position Opening
Jobs

Liquor Store Manager  

Full Time Exempt

Salary Range: $56,180 - $70,225 (DOQ)  

Full Benefits

Position Summary:

Performs a variety of administrative and supervisory work in the management of the municipal off-sale liquor store operation including but not limited to: managing and directing the day to day operations of the store; supervising and scheduling employees; developing retail objectives for the store; preparing marketing and merchandising concepts; establishing policies and procedures guaranteeing compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and maintaining proper store inventories.  

Education and Experience:

Associate's degree in Business or a related field and at least five years of previous retail experience with some background in bookkeeping and administrative work.  

Desirable:  

Bachelor's degree in Business or related field. Previous experience with a retail liquor operation.  

Previous supervisory or management experience.    

All applicants must complete a City of Fairmont application.  

The job application and a complete job description is available online at www.fairmont.org.

Cover letter, resume and application can be sent to City of Fairmont, Attn: Paul Hoye, 100 Downtown Plaza, Fairmont, MN 56031 or to phoye@fairmont.org

Completed applications will be accepted until position is filled. 

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do

Future Dates to Remember

2015 MMBA Boot Camp 

 

February 17 & 18
Breezy Point Resort

2015 MMBA Annual Conference

May 16 -19
Arrowwood Resort
Ask A Director

Gary Buysse
Rogers
763-428-0163

Cathy Pletta
Kasson
507-634-7618
  
Bill Ludwig
Paynesville
320-250-3325
  
Candice Woods
Hutchinson 
320-587-2762
  
John Jacobi
Isanti
763-444-5063

Michael Friesen
Hawley
218-483-4747

Lisa Kamrowski
Nevis 
218-652-3135

Steve Grausam
Edina
952-903-5732

Toni Buchite
50 Lakes
218-763-2035

Brenda Visnovec
Lakeville 
952-985-4901
 
Bridgitte Konrad
North Branch
651-674-8113
  
Shelly Dillon
Callaway
218-375-4691
  
Karissa Kurth
Buffalo Lake
320-833-2321
 
Paul Kaspszak
MMBA
763-572-0222
1-866-938-3925

 
Click Here For Newsletter Archives 
Sunday Sales: Convenience at What Cost?
The MMBA website now contains comprehensive information on Sunday Sales. 

It is a reference for members, legislators, media, city councils and the general public.

Click Here for the Website

 

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Beverage Alcohol Training

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 Contact Bob Leslie at:
 
320-766-3871
 


Contact Gary Buysse at:

763-428-0164

8 Secrets to Success 
Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart?

Or are they just lucky?

Neither.

Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

 

 Click Here 

A Boy Asks His Father... 

A boy asks his father, "Dad, are bugs good to eat?"

 

"That's disgusting - don't talk about things like that over dinner," the dad replies.

 

After dinner the father asks, "Now, son, what did you want to ask me?"

 

"Oh, nothing," the boy says.  

 

"There was a bug in your soup, but now it's gone."


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