I started working as a waitress at a great little diner that was located a few blocks from the major highway that intersected with our town. This diner had some of the best home-cooked food that I had ever eaten. Everything was made from scratch from the biscuits to the delicious apple pie. Customers raved about our food and how delicious it was.
Our main business was from local residents that had been coming here for years. On the weekends, we were always very busy with locals coming in for some old-fashioned comfort food. There was a steel plant across the street and down a little from the diner and we were constantly waiting on the employees from there. The steel plant had three different shifts and I got used to the regulars that would come in after their shift got out for some coffee and a bite to eat.
The diner had been operating the same way for twenty years, serving up food made with love to the locals. But then there was some bad news, the corporation that owned the steel plant decided that they needed to shut the plant down.
The week after the plant closed business was down by fifty percent. The owners of the diner said that they could only afford to continue to operate for another two months if business didn’t pick up.
We all brainstormed on ways that we could increase business. I suggested some form of advertising. After all, we had some of the best food around. All that we needed to do way to get the customers coming in and we were certain that they would be back. Another waitress came up with the idea that we should rent a billboard advertising our diner somewhere located along the highway. That way all of the motorists passing us right by would know that they were going to miss out on the best home cooked food if they didn’t stop.
The owners were leery about spending that much money on billboard advertising, but after another week of even lower sales they knew that it was their last hope. They spent the last of their money on a billboard placed right before our exit.
And now we have a line out the door of customers. Who would have ever thought that billboard advertising could save our little diner and nearly double our sales? Now we are a regular hang out for truck drivers, travelers, and the locals.