A couple months ago during American Craft Beer Week I mentioned that Craft Beer Guy had released a free mobile app. Unfortunately, at the time it was only available for Android devices as the process is significantly easier than for iPhone; on the downside it seemed that almost everyone I mentioned it to was the owner of an iPhone. I am happy to announce that the Craft Beer Guy mobile app is now available at the Google Store for Android devices and on iTunes for your iPhone. To be honest, the iPhone version has been available for about a month but I only announced it on my Facebook page as I wanted to do a little testing before announcing it to the world. You can download this free mobile app by searching for ‘craftbeerguy’ at your favorite mobile app store.

On Friday evening I conducted my first real test by sending out a notice via the app that I would be heading to Strand Brewing Company in Torrance and that the first person that presented me with the notice on their mobile device would get a free beer, courtesy of The Craft Beer Guy. Admittedly, it was a slightly risky test as I was not at Strand when I put out the notice so I really had no clue how busy they were or how many of their customers would have the app installed. We were there about 30-45 minutes when Barbara, our winner came strolling in to claim her free beer. It was a successful test for a couple of reasons; first off, I was able to confirm that people have not only downloaded the application but they do respond to it, which is even more important. The second thing that made this test a success is the fact that this was Barbara’s first visit to Strand Brewing Company. As Barbara is an unapologetic hop head she was pleasantly surprised to discover the hoppiness she enjoys so much is pretty prevalent in many of Strand’s brews. Her first Strand Brewing beer was their Expression Session, an experimental sessionable pale ale with a huge hop presence.

So, why should you download this mobile app? Well, besides presenting the opportunity to win free craft beers this mobile app also serves a few functions that anyone searching for fresh craft beer should find invaluable. When you open the mobile app you will notice several tabs going across the top; the RSS feed provides links to all the articles on this site, Maps which shows the craft breweries in the South Bay and More Maps which links to the self-guided tours I have mapped out. Additionally, there are tabs for the Craft Beer Guy Facebook, Twitter and Untappd feeds. More importantly though would be the Events tab which will alert you to the events I am going to. As someone once told me; “I know I am in the right place if I see you there.” Well, I am not sure I hold myself in quite so high regard, but it is a safe bet that if I am there, it is going to be a fun place to be at.

I will continue to give free beers once in a while just to keep you on your toes but also, every time I get another 100 downloads I will give a free beer to the first person that responds to my notice in person. As of this writing, we are nine (9) downloads away from my giving away another free beer, so tell your friends; the more downloads, the better your odds. There is something about free that makes beer taste just a little better.

If you are a small business owner, why should you have a mobile app? I am sure many of you have mailing lists to reach your customers; that is great and it is a good start. The thing is, how many of your emails are actually read? How many emails do you delete without really reading? If you are anything like me, there is so much spam coming in that many emails are never seen and go straight to the virtual trash can. When I get a text message on my phone I always look at it and I suspect most of you do as well. With a mobile app custom made for your business you can send out notifications on the fly. Have a special of the day? Send out a notice to the people that have downloaded your app and see how many of them come in to take advantage of your special. Having a slow day at your tasting room? Send out a notification that for the next hour anyone with the app will get $1.00 off their next beer and watch your tasting room fill up. The possibilities are endless with your imagination being the only limitation.

Our parent company, Synergy DTI, Inc. developed this mobile app and we can custom make one for you too. With this app you can provide coupons, take reservations, promote your business and share your content easily. Your customers will be able to easily reach out to you as easily as you can reach out to them. Synergy DTI currently has a special for a limited time; $100.00 is all it costs for us to custom make your mobile app specifically for your business; and $100 a month to host it. This price is limited to the next nine (9) orders; the setup cost is normally thousands of dollars. I had someone tell me that “$100 a month is a lot for us.” My response is that if you cannot make an additional $100 in a weekend with this app, you are doing something wrong. If you want to see my mobile app in action and see if it is as valuable as I am suggesting, reach out to me; I will come give you a personal demonstration. Cheers!