Jersey City Canvassing Plan
Goal
Walk every event-hosting small business in Jersey City. Validate demand for Guild — membership, loyalty, and events for independent shops running Square POS. Need at least 3 out of ~30 ready to pilot (10% = signal).
Why JC
- Local — can walk in and demo on the spot
- Dense small business scene across multiple verticals (not just bookstores)
- Dungeon Books is the live proof of concept — “we built this for ourselves, now we’re offering it to you”
- Phil at Victory Point is already interested as a strategic partner
- Fast iteration — revisit, follow up, adjust pitch same week
Target profile
Any JC small business that:
- Uses Square (or would switch — but Square-first)
- Currently hosts events OR has expressed interest
- Falls into a “taste-driven” vertical: bookstores, game shops, cafes, bars, record stores, wine/liquor shops, bakeries, specialty food, plant shops, craft shops
Known leads
| Business | Vertical | Notes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victory Point | Game shop | Tried memberships before. Strategic partner for multi-guild network | Warm — in conversation |
| Sarap Shop | Restaurant/cafe | Interested in memberships, subscriptions, events | Warm |
| Pixel Labs | Arcade | Tried memberships before | Not contacted |
| Call Me Mia | Cafe | Community-oriented, event-friendly | Not contacted |
The pitch — Guild as OutsideRPG
The framing has evolved since March. Guild isn’t just “memberships for your shop” — it’s a real-world RPG platform where each shop is a quest hub. See outsiderpg-platform-vision and dungeon-club-game-design-document.
The 60-second version
- “We built a membership and loyalty system for our bookstore that works like an RPG — customers earn XP, level up, unlock perks. It runs on top of Square.”
- Show dungeon.club on a phone — the live kiosk, the member portal, the character sheet.
- “Our members check in with NFC cards, earn points on every purchase, and get tier benefits automatically at the register. We’re offering the same system to other shops.”
- “Each shop becomes its own guild in the network. Your customers and ours can earn rewards across locations.” See guild-quest-hub-network.
- If interested: “Setup takes about 30 minutes. Your shop keeps its own identity — we just give you the infrastructure.”
Why this pitch works now (vs. March)
- Live product, not a demo — dungeon.club is running with real members, real NFC check-ins, real XP
- Phil as social proof — Victory Point is exploring joining the network
- The /r/outside hook — “This bookstore turned itself into an MMORPG guild” is a headline that writes itself. See 2026-04-02 journal entry
- Hardware is tangible — showing someone an NFC card tap → character sheet animation on the kiosk is more compelling than any slide deck
What NOT to do
- Don’t explain the RPG system in detail upfront — show, don’t tell
- Don’t lead with pricing — let them ask
- Don’t oversell the tech — keep it simple: “it sits on top of Square”
- Don’t pitch the network vision first — start with “what it does for YOUR shop”
Handling objections
| Objection | Response |
|---|---|
| ”We tried memberships before" | "Most fail because they’re too hard to run manually. This automates everything through your POS — you don’t have to do anything." |
| "What does it cost?" | "20% of membership revenue. If members bring in 500. If they bring in 0." |
| "We don’t use Square” | Note their POS. Thank them, move on. |
| ”We don’t host events" | "Would you want to? Member events are one of the highest-value perks — even a monthly gathering." |
| "What’s the RPG stuff?" | "It’s a game layer on top of memberships. Customers level up by visiting and buying. It’s fun, it drives repeat visits, and it costs you nothing extra." |
| "Let me think about it” | Leave a card/link. Follow up in 3 days. |
Logistics
- Format: Walk-in canvassing, not cold calls or emails
- When: Weekday mornings (10am-12pm) or slow afternoons
- Bring: Phone with dungeon.club loaded, NFC card for live demo, business cards
- Capture: Log every interaction — business name, vertical, POS, interest level (1-5), objections, follow-up needed
- Route: Group by neighborhood — downtown JC, Grove St, Journal Square
Success criteria
- Signal: 3+ businesses out of 30 want to pilot (10% conversion)
- Strong signal: 5+ businesses, across 2+ verticals
- Bonus signal: Unprompted referrals (“you should talk to my friend who runs X”)
- Failure signal: <2 out of 30, or interest only from one vertical
Follow-up plan
For interested businesses:
- Send dungeon.club link same day
- Schedule onboarding call within the week
- Get them live on Guild within 2 weeks
See also
- guild — project index
- guild-competition — multi-guild loyalty platform vision
- guild-quest-hub-network — partner kiosk network, phone-as-reader
- loyalty-membership-funnel — three-tier model if loyalty questions come up
- square-loyalty-gap-analysis — what Square Loyalty does vs what we do
- phil-victory-point — strategic partner, early adopter