Photo : AndrewX89 ( iStock )

In some sense, a restaurant without a digital presence earns a bit of cachet these days. Some of my personal favorites—retro hot dog stands, old-school delis, time-tested pizzerias—are popular enough to exist without the help of Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. But for new businesses, some sort social media presence is generally a must.


So a few years ago, when a woman named Danielle Mamagona saw that a new hot dog restaurant opening near her in Bradenton, Florida, she tried to find the business on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. As she tells WTVT in Tampa Bay, she came up dry. She then put her social media job credentials to work, and reached out to Willy-Yums hot dog restaurant to ask if they’d like to hire her. The owner said he couldn’t afford to bring on a new employee, but offered her a deal: He’d pay her in hot dogs. She agreed.

“I mean, I love hot dogs, like a lot,” Danielle told Fox 13.


She’s still helping out Willy-Yums two years later, as evidenced by the Fox 13 interview shouting out the restaurant’s offerings. It now has Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, all dutifully updated by a social media manager with a love of encased meats.

The real question though: Is she really being paid in sandwiches?