#SmallBusinessSpotlight: Donut Drop

 

Located at 835 E Algonquin Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173, The Donut Drop is the go-to place for all your donut and coffee needs. Charlie and Lilian, owners of the year-in-a-half old hole in the wall, had a choice: Do we get married or open a donut shop?

The decision pervaded them and after much deliberating between the couple, a donut shop opened in Schaumburg in January 2015.

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Donuts and Entrepreneurship > School

Charlie and Lilian met in college and have been together ever since. After pursuing careers in their respective degrees, they decided to leave that all behind in pursuit of something bigger: To be your own boss. Such a grueling effort would need to be placed for this to work so Charlie and Lilian worked under his uncle at Gurnee Donuts to learn the secrets of the trade and boast the best donuts in the state. Using similar recipes but grasping newer techniques, The Donut Drop is always willing to try something new with their products.

Self-coined the “hidden secret shop”, the location has its positives and negatives: “It’s good and bad because there are a lot of things that we need to go through and work with just to get ourselves out there,” says Lilian. “Most of our business is word-of-mouth. We depend on quality.” And how that rings true every time you order a fresh donut made the same day you walk in the door.

Guests that come in relay that message right back to the owners every day: “The biggest win is getting all the compliments!” recalls Charlie. “You don’t go into this business for the money. 99% of the people who come in love our donuts and there’s almost no complaints. We tell each other stories because we’re not always selling at the same time and we will hear about someone who just raved about our donuts.”

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Freshness is Important

Only sold fresh daily, there’s no surprise why people have no qualms about the quality. Their business motto, “Donuts that Deliver” proves this truth by explaining how they will not only deliver at least 2 dozen donuts to your door unlike most of their competitors, but the donut’s taste delivers as well. You know that everything you order was made that morning and will leave you coming back for more or at the very least, calling them for more because you not only can ask for delivery, but you can reserve a specific donut for pick-up.

“It’s a first come first serve basis,” says Lilian. “If you call in and ask for a donut, we will keep it saved for you. We have people coming in from Wisconsin who call and make sure we have the donuts that they want since they’re coming from a far distance. Some people drive from afar and we appreciate their business.”

And everyone appreciates their hospitality. With call-in reservations, delivery, and daily-made donuts, it doesn’t seem like it could better, right? Wrong. They even offer air pot rentals for coffee. Charlie shared: “Those little ‘Box o’ Joe’s’ don’t last long. They are very expensive to purchase and get thrown out at the end of the day. You save money and the environment! With our air pot rental, you can either drop it off or we can pick it up for a fee but otherwise, there is really no cost. The businesses have told us that their coffee is still hot at the end of a long day.”

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The Future of the Drop

With so many unique opportunities for its customers and delicious, creative flavors that The Donut Drop continues to aspire to create, the road ahead is looking bright. But the couple does not plan on coasting down that metaphoric road.  With huge ambitions to someday include a drive-thru with a TV monitor that allows the customer to see the live display of what is left, to include a mobile truck or cart that can be in the city, and to eventually expand, there is still plenty to do for the donut hole in the wall.

The Donut Drop clearly cares so deeply about their customers and has had them in mind for ideas already implemented and beyond: “The whole point of the display of our donuts is that it is in front of you instead of behind us so you can see each and every one of them. It’s kind of like a candy store. Each donut is their own shape and size and if someone wants something a little bit larger, absolutely! That’s yours!”

A year and a half later, it seems that the couple definitely made the right decision when they poised that question about marriage or a donut shop several years ago. But that’s not the end of their story. In October 2017, the donut lovers plan on putting on their donut rings and tying the knot.

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Be sure to check out The Donut Drop online HERE

The Unofficial Rulebook of Social Media

Y2K came and left in more or less a drunken murmur. Sixteen years and multiple “end of the world” warnings later, we have found ourselves in the middle of the Social Media Age.

If you’re reading this at all, you probably clicked on it through a link on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Crazily enough, those are the EXACT platforms that I’m going to cover today! What are the chances?

To begin, yes, you probably know plenty about each platform to make it through your day-to-day life happy and carefree. BUT what if you want to promote an event, a show, a business, or a random cat video? Knowing how, when, and where to share content like this is necessary in order to have a successful presence online.  

Think of it this way, your social media presence is an online portfolio (at this point, the word “online” is redundant) for your friends, family, and potential employers to view who you are, what you stand for, and what poorly landed jokes you think are actually funny. If anything, they know more about you due to this online presence than they know about you in real life, unless you’re constantly physically seeing all 1,038 friends you have on Facebook.

So without further ado, let’s look at each platform in more detail.

Facebook

Ahhh, the epitome and crux of the ever-changing digital media age. Oftentimes ahead of the game, Facebook evolves faster than the consumer wishes, changing preferences and layout seemingly on a whim without care for the angry user.  

Facebook is the foundation for everything else that occurs, linking the other channels together in one cohesive place.  Taking advantage of this opportunity is paramount to its usage and effectiveness, but understanding how to utilize it appropriately is way more difficult.

Many could argue that there is no right or wrong way to use Facebook, but those people are the same people that think the tomato is a fruit.

Facebook is the modern day scrapbook. For those who don’t know what a scrapbook is, it’s what couples in the ’90s sometimes made each other in a relationship to remember all the memories they had with each other breaking up, leaving a book of broken memories gathering dust in a rarely opened cabinet.  

As a scrapbook, it is a place for pictures, text, news, and trends to work together in a synthesized way. So don’t post just text. Don’t post just pictures. In fact, Facebook is much smarter than your scrapbook. It knows the difference between each of these posts and will give some more power than others (yes, not all posts are created equal). Videos have the most pull, as they keep users on the app longer than pictures and words do. Pictures have less of a say while simple text posts have the least power.

“So do I always just post videos on Facebook?” Absolutely not, self-rhetorical question. A variety of posts and interactions allow for a more synergized experience for yourself and your friends as they navigate the never-ending newsfeed and sneakily creep on your personal timeline.

As for businesses or those intrigued by selling their personal artwork on Facebook, think of it in the same way! As a community scrapbook, readers do not want to be seeing those ugly looking hot dog ads that cover half of your favorite magazine up. Annoying ads like that don’t belong in scrapbooks, even of the digital variety. Yes, ads are ever-important in building brands and selling services, but avoid clickbait in these scenarios that involve “Buy now, Click now!” promises. Those promises make people sad and we do not want to make people sad.

What this all means:

  1. Steer away from “Buy now, Click now!” posts.
  2. Use pictures and video as much as you can while keeping simple text posts to a minimum.
  3. Vary the types of posts and interactions.

Twitter

Say something meaningful in 140 characters or less…AND GO. Just the previous sentence was 60 of your maximum 140 characters! So how do you create the perfect tweet that will reach the far ends of the site through constant retweets and the freshly termed “likes”?

Be honest. Honesty is key. Your followers are followers because they already know you to some degree. At the same time, DON’T tell them when you’re making lunch or taking a walk. Instead…

Be funny. Take those monotonous moments and make them silly or add something you thought about that experience. It goes right along with honesty. The simple moments in life are often the funniest.

Be real. This goes right along with the first two, but must be reiterated more directly. Twitter’s voice is rawer than Facebook’s. Take advantage of that openness and interact with people who matter to you. And every once in awhile, take part in a “Twitter-rant”, which allows you to blow past the “140 character rule” and instead, post a string of related tweets about a single subject that holds mighty importance to you. #Realness

And finally…

Be trendy. Hashtags and trends are way more effective here than on Facebook as it currently stands. Follow the current trends and make a statement. You have a voice that can reach farther than it could just 15 years ago so do something about it. Let people know what you think.

What this all means:

  1. Use hashtags.
  2. Speak succinctly and with your own voice.
  3. Be trendy

Twitter

Instagram

Aww, it’s Facebook’s baby brother! Although the photo editing and posting application has been around for quite awhile now, it recently has been placed under the Facebook brand, thus leading to changes to the medium like the classic algorithm that shows the user what the site believes would rather see over pictures most recently posted.

While Twitter and Facebook are made for multiple posts a day, Instagram must be checked to one, MAYBE two, posts a day. Albums are for Facebook and memes are for Twitter. Keep pictures engaging, interesting, and most importantly, YOU, with a relatable or catchy caption that could only be found in the country’s best magazines.

If you’re a business, show behind the scenes moments here. Pretty those pictures up with filters and additions, but at the same time, don’t oversaturate it. Not only does that specifically deal with the “Saturate” feature on the app, but it deals with all aspects of the pictures. Setting “Shadows” to 0%, “Warmth” to 100%, and “Sharpen” to 100% on a Lo-Fi filter does not automatically make your picture better, but surprisingly gives your face a creepy “Donald Trump Orange” vibe to it (sending color idea for  “Donald Trump Orange” to Crayola currently — patent pending).  

Connect your photos to Facebook sometimes! Your friends on Facebook will learn you have an Instagram and you will suddenly gain followers!

Use hashtags and your location! There’s a nifty little button on your personal page that shows where you have been and how many photos you have posted from each location. It is the best.

What this all means:

  1. Show some behind-the-scenes moments for your followers.
  2. Use hashtags.
  3. Use filters carefully and sparingly.

Instagram

Snapchat

This is going to be big! I mean, it’s already beginning to take over the social media landscape in an aggressive way, but here’s a way to truly tell a story in the most literal sense.

In the same way that Instagram can give you the behind-the-scenes glance, so can Snapchat. With followers on this live video and picture application, you can make something so simple, fun and engaging. And now with geofilters taking over more and more, you can show off an event or a location or a business that you’re currently at! Snapchat is constantly involving from its humble and risque beginnings into a beautiful app of location sharing and puppy filters.

What this all means:

  1. Post interesting content with a variety of video and photos.
  2. Take advantage of filters and especially geofilters.
  3. Jump on this bandwagon NOW! It is only growing in its prominence so learn how to utilize it today.

Conclusion

Social media now, for better or for worse, defines us. You cannot escape it if you try. By ignoring social media’s presence in our lives, you’re ignoring a gigantic portion of what makes us human and how we communicate and interact with others.

No matter which medium you prefer, remember these simple tips and most importantly, don’t add your boss on snapchat. Don’t. Please, for the love of God, do not do it.

You won’t believe what this article says about Clickbait!

Clickbait, for many, is the bane of the internet where traditional journalism goes to die.  It feeds on our inherent need for surprise, excitement, and uncertainty, as we click the link to learn what we already knew about the top five reasons to brush our teeth, but it seemed like a good refresher from such a credible source like Buzzfeed or Upworthy.

For those unaware of what clickbait is, it is defined as: “(on the Internet) content, especially that of a sensational or provocative nature, whose main purpose is to attract attention and draw visitors to a particular web page.”

Yellow journalism

By nature, this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, journalism has been enacting forms of clickbait in its own way since the nineteenth century, but instead went by another name: “yellow journalism”.  That term comes from the wildly successful “Yellow Kid” cartoons that appeared in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, which was the main reason consumers bought the newspaper in the first place.  “Yellow journalism” is an antiquated clickbait that sensationalized articles to sell newspapers.  Interesting that one of the greatest journalistic honors, The Pulitzer Prize, is named after a man who pioneered clickbait.  So before judging it so quickly, look at the system’s history.

Why Clickbait is BAD

But if clickbait finds itself in the annals of journalistic history, then why is it so condemned? There are two reasons for this affront.

  1. We know it’s an advertiser’s devilish scheme for clicks.

Many ads get results (and money) simply by how many times people click on the link.  Those people do not even need to spend more than five seconds on the page without earning a click for the advertiser or blog page.

  1. We know it preys on our mind’s simplest instincts.

Our mind is made to categorize and simplify information into nicely separated compartments to process swiftly and effectively.  With an article like “Here’s why eating chocolate is actually the best thing to happen to you”, our mind knows what to expect, yet it leaves room for surprise even though you already know that the article is just going to tell you that a study done by a start-up research company finds that eating chocolate cures cancer.  Even though we realize that an article is clickbait, we want to know more and our mind and body accept that.

Two years ago, Buzzfeed’s editor-in-chief Ben Smith wrote an article to explain why Buzzfeed doesn’t do clickbait. He argues the origins of clickbait begin on a later date: “Clickbait actually has its origins in old media, not the web, and specifically in the don’t-touch-that-dial antics of television and radio.” This matches his more specific definition of clickbait which explains that it’s a headline that under delivers on its article’s intent.

How silly, Buzzfeed, how silly. Instead of lying about Buzzfeed’s ENTIRE internet purpose, he could have instead spun clickbait in a positive light.

Why Clickbait is GOOD

  1. It reaches an audience and does not live on a headline alone.

Ben Smith briefly points this out within his piece from 2014, but should have focused on it more directly.  As he points out, “You can trick someone to click, but you can’t trick someone to share.” The article’s headline may earn views and clicks, but Buzzfeed’s success is much more predicated on its ability to earn shares and likes across social media platforms.  Accept the clickbait nature of Buzzfeed and continue to utilize it effectively.

  1. Journalistic history stands on entertainment and eye-catching titles and now we stand with a different term to explain the natural evolution of the industry.

Just like fancy movie trailers or pretty book covers, the average reader does judge an article by its headline.  If content is non-existent, that headline and article will die a slow death in the slums of the internet.  Readers might miss a piece that could actually have relevance to their needs or wants.

In both cases, clickbait finds itself negatively connoting headlines that have nothing to offer.  For advertisers, writers, bloggers, and the starving artists, finding balance with what clickbait actually is and how to use it or not to use it is the game that must be played.

Interestingly enough, the ironic clickbait nature of this article’s title will probably spawn less clicks than one that is not about clickbait, but if you don’t believe me, check out the research done on the issue here.

Instagram is adding an algorithm and IT’S OKAY!

Instagram has not only added 60 second videos to their feeds and view counts to promote a more aggressive approach to the mobile video movement that Facebook started, but now has also gone the ways of their Facebook overlords to implement a *gasp* algorithm! On top of all that, you might have seen a lot of “Turn me on for Instagram notifications” posts in the last 48 hours, and that is the same sort of people who went to beg people to turn on notifications for their business’s pages on Facebook about a year or so ago.

But what is really going on here?

Instagram is avoiding the same problem that Facebook almost hit, and the same problem Twitter is now trying to fix (which might be too late, but we will see). We as social media users are pumping out more and more content each and every day, and there is so much content being pushed out that we as consumers don’t even pay attention as much anymore. We just keep on scrolling.

Twitter currently is toying with possible algorithms and other new features like events and user specific notifications, and honestly people are being too skeptical. While the popularity and importance of Twitter as a platform can be discussed in a whole different blog post, the fact of the matter is that information saturation is a real problem we face, and it is time to streamline what we want.

How Facebook does it… (In simple terms)

Facebook saw the writing on the wall early, and uses an algorithm that places what it believes is most important to you at the top of your feed. They take in information such as your searches, who you talk to the most, what sorts of posts you like/comment/share, and what pages you like. All this information is used to provide you with the most valuable posts possible.

Think about it, if you were to see every post from every friend and page you like on Facebook you would never use the site. You’d be bombarded with Uncle Fred’s political rants, Aunt Sue’s knitting fetish, and tons of crappy “BUY NOW! 10% off ads” from pages who don’t know how to make a proper ad… And at the end of the day Facebook is in business to make money off of ad sales. If you as a user were to leave because you didn’t see any value in returning to the website, they are out of business, and no more Facebook.

So Instagram is doing this for you!

Don’t freak out here. All you will see is more things that you actually want to see at the top of your feeds, and the rest of it near the bottom. No need to freak out and set notifications for all your friends when they post their next Starbucks selfie.

If anything this promotes people to put more thought and effort into their photos and videos. Maybe we will start to see more natural beauty and less sushi pics, more street art and less duck faces, more real people and less latte art. Instagram knows that if they didn’t do something soon, they would be in the same position Twitter is in trying to fight for users to stay, and I can promise you this is for the greater good for all of us.

TL;DR: Watch this video from a good friend of mine Erik Zachary

For those who don’t have the time to deal with my lackluster writing, or would rather watch a video check this out: