My Blog Coffee Shop
21. Jan, 2008 
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Darren Rowse from ProBlogger recently wrote about his quest for the perfect cafe (and what it taught him about blogging).
With my recent laptop purchase, I too have been searching for that perfect cafe that I can just sit and blog comfortably without too many annoyances.
The New Coffee Shop in Town
When one of my colleagues told me about an “awesome” new coffee shop, I just had to check it out. My laptop backpack in tow, I entered and was floored by how well decorated the coffee shop was.
Numerous couches lined the walls, and were complimented with glass coffee tables. In the center of the cafe was a fountain. And on the walls were various paintings with complimentary lighting and music.
I was there for coffee. But also, for blogging.
“Do you have wi-fi here?” I asked the guy at the counter.
“Nope.”
It has been my experience that most coffee shops offer some form of wi-fi, free or paid.
“Are you guys going to get wi-fi?” I asked.
“Soon.” the guy responded.
“Well, how long have you been open?” I kept pressing.
“Four months.”
Suddenly this cafe was no longer so grand to me. The place had been open for four months, but had yet to get wi-fi. Obviously this place wasn’t geared towards people like me. And there wasn’t an available electric socket in site. It’s as if they didn’t want me there.
I bought a small coffee and typed until my battery dipped below the fifty-percent mark, but I never felt like I belonged. I left that place, and probably won’t be back, even if they do get wi-fi.
The Local Smoothie Shop
I also heard about a local smoothie shop that had protein smoothies (I’m currently on a high-protein diet) and free-wifi. I decided to give the place a chance.
Although the place offered free wi-fi, there were only a few plugs that I could see for my laptop. I asked the owner if it was okay if I could use one of his plugs, which he gave me permission to use.
I then typed away for an hour while slowly consuming my smoothie.
Although I was the only one there blogging away (there were several others checking out their MySpace profiles), I didn’t feel out of place. I was comfortable, and my laptop had the power to keep going.
My Cafe Requirements
My cafe requirements aren’t extremely strict, at least I don’t think so.
All I ask are five things to make my cafe experience a great one:
- Be friendly. Treat me like a human, and not just another sale.
- Give me a nice, clean place to sit.
- Offer good food and drinks at a reasonable price.
- Offer wireless Internet at a reasonable price (or free).
- Give me a place to plug in my laptop.
I understand that it may be in a business owner’s interest to keep that laptop unplugged, since most batteries won’t last longer than two hours. It almost confines one to a time limit spent at the establishment.
But if I like the place, I will spend money there. I’ll tell my friends about it. And I will come back to spend even more money.
How My Cafe Search Relates to Blogging
Just as Darren compared his search to blogging, I find the analogy fits for me as well.
When I go to a blog, I’m not too picky. There are five easy things that will make my experience a great one:
- Be friendly, humble, and available.
- Give me a friendly place to interact (through comments or e-mail).
- Don’t swarm me with advertisements.
- Give me standard services (subscription options, about page, comments enabled).
- Don’t force me into anything. If I want to do something, I will do it myself.
I appreciate you reading my thoughts on my cafe search and how I believe it relates to blogging. Please add your own thoughts on your ideal cafe or blog in the comment section below.
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The guy at the cafe really did seem to go out of his way to be short with you. A little friendly attitude, especially in a coffee shop is not too much to ask for.
If you’d posed this question just five years ago, I’d say you’re the one that is out of line in expecting the cafe shop owner to cater to your blogging needs. A part of me still wants to say that, but the times, they are a changin’. A cafe is no longer a small place where you pick up some coffee or a danish and go. Bloggers don’t just sit at home in a dark corner typing up their thoughts; they’re mobile folks and they NEED places to relax and to do their blogging where they still feel a part of the world. Maybe the new cafe feels they don’t need to enhance their business by catering to the “blogging” crowd. That could be their loss, in the long run. Most establishments these days realize who their new crowd is and they have no trouble catering to their needs.
It’s too bad the new place doesn’t yet see this as a need for their cafe, but even if they never do, it’s not our place to tell them otherwise. It is the decision of the owner to decide, ultimately, how to run his business.
As to your final question, well, I’m still sitting in that dark corner at home typing out my thoughts. The world is a bit too big for me, but if I had the nerve and a nice little laptop, I’d go to a place that would welcome me with a smile, perfect danish, and exceptional beverages.
Jayne,
I can see why cafe owners wouldn’t want bloggers. I’ll go in there, buy a coffee and something to eat, and maybe spent about six or so dollars. I’ll then occupy a seat and a power slot for one – two hours. The more space bloggers like me take up, the less space for the types that just come and go while spending the exact same amount.
But I personally would be willing to pay a premium for a good blogging joint. The Barnes & Noble is a nice spot, but it charges a high amount for wi-fi, and doesn’t guarantee you a plug or a seat. If a blogging joint could provide all three at a reasonable price, I would be game for that.
I think perhaps my solution would be to just get one of those mobile cards that Sprint and Verizon offer. Then I can find a cozy place, and not have to worry too much about the establishment providing the Internet access.
Ronald, I’m curious, are there any cafe’ type places specifically geared toward catering to a “sit down” blogging sort of customer? As evidenced by my original response, I don’t get out much. However, I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of a business that targeted the blogging/computing audience. If there isn’t, I think there would be quite a market there.
Jayne,
If I had enough time and capital (and the guts), that might make for a worthy business venture.
I would set it up as a cafe with a “rent a table” business model. The tables would be elegant, with a place for power, and a place to connect an ethernet cable (in case the laptop isn’t wireless or the person wants a more secure connection).
I would also run it 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays so that people could bring in their PCs and have LAN parties.
Renting the table would be hourly, so I think a reasonable price of $5-$10 an hour would be reasonable. I would also have a soundproof game room with a big screen TV and a BYOC (bring your own console) policy that can also be rented out by the hour.
Anyways, enough brainstorming for me
Darren & Jayne have a point: such an attitude is not a common place yet, and it would be very nice to see such an attitude, in its real honesty however, at a growing number of place.
Regarding finding such a place: That is one of my daily adventures here in Northern California, to find a place to sit down and write, research, study, blog/fun, check e-mails, without being nagged, etc. So far, a few places offer that environment but they usually lack a wall outlet to plug a laptop in. So far, my pda phone does everything I need, though seeing the laptop not being used much from time to time makes me research more into wifi-enabled and non-”get-out-soon-after-eating-drinking” places almost every other day at least.
The quest still continues. I think the famous Verizon wifi/”satellite” card and its subscription is a good investment for those who can’t wait to find a good place in order to start using their laptops there; it will work in all the places where Verizon has coverage, and in many places where Verizon doesn’t. It’s 59.99 a month: if I remember correctly, weren’t you also looking into this very option once, Ronald?
Looks like we’re all set on the quest of finding a perfect coffee shop for where we can blog/work in peace. There are many coffee shops in Vancouver that offer free wifi. I often go for lunch to a cafe next to my work: the people are nice there, free wifi, but not many plugs to use. I also don’t like very crowded cafes, and I like the ones where they play nice music.
Yeah finding the perfect coffee shop isn’t easy. No wi-fi, too crowded, nowhere to plug, being treated like “another customer”, closing too early.. or even bad coffee!
Many of us have a hard time writing from home and i really start to think that the search for a nice coffee shop is an important part of successful blogging! Great post btw, if you ever open your own coffee shop, my pink laptop and i will be there every day
@Kitty,
I did finally find one that suits me. It’s called Panera here in the U.S. Free wi-fi, great food, and great coffee.
Great book about setting up a coffee shop business that will make you money from the start – Don Clarke’s practical and illustrated book “How to set up a coffee shop”.
I find you can get a general feel for a coffee shop by the amount of laptop backpacks you see. If there are many, it is a working center, if there aren’t then it is more a social environment.
Thanks for the useful information. I love to read your topic and it is very interesting.
Hi, I’ve been thinking of setting up notably world-wide-web. However, not high-quality with techie stuff. Is it stressful to setup a place? Would I ought to expend time learning programming and coding?