Smoke on the Water & Okauchee Below Deck

Before the Turn

Joe and Ellen Hennes already knew what it took to run a restaurant. They'd spent years building Sloppy Joe's Saloon & Spoon in Hubertus, Wisconsin, around food, hospitality, entertainment, and community.

That meant managing people, understanding customers, and giving them reasons to return.

They had a business behind them and experience to bring to another one. When the next opportunity came along, they were interested.

Their Next Chapter

In December 2020, Joe and Ellen bought a restaurant property in Okauchee, Wisconsin, and transformed it into Smoke on the Water, with barbecue, dining, entertainment, and a lake-area setting.

The property also offered space for something distinct. That became Okauchee Below Deck, a venue for private events and gatherings.

One property now had different offerings for different customers. Each needed a clear identity and a way to reach the people it was meant to serve.

How I Helped

Joe, Ellen, and I were already working together on Sloppy Joe's website and email marketing. When they bought the Okauchee property, they asked me to help with Smoke on the Water, too.

I built its Concrete CMS website. We also built an email list of 8,000 subscribers and a text message list of 3,000. The ongoing work includes a weekly weekend preview email and a birthday club email on the first of each month, along with regular text marketing.

More recently, I built a separate Concrete CMS website for Okauchee Below Deck. It gives the venue its own place to speak to people planning private events, rather than relying entirely on the restaurant's marketing.

I also work with specialists who support social media and in-house promotions, with additional SEO expertise for Below Deck.

The work has continued across businesses, properties, and new ideas. That's a part of this business I particularly enjoy: getting to know the owners well enough to be useful as their plans change.