Mobile devices have become America’s best friend and favorite dinner date.

Like many restaurants, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in Austin recognizes this. It offers complimentary Wi-Fi to keep its regulars happy, as well as to attract new tech-savvy customers.

In addition to its baked potato casserole and jalapeno beans, not much goes better with Dickey’s signature tangy barbecue than socializing with friends on Facebook, viewing news on a smart phone or catching the latest baseball scores on an iPad or other tablet PC.

Noti-Fi Networks has helped Dickey’s Wi-Fi do even more. Today, it not only provides convenience for the restaurant’s tech-driven customers, but also acts as a marketing channel for the business. It’s what Noti-Fi Managing Director Michael Nordstrom calls a Wi-Fi win-win.

“Instead of just giving it away, the business uses its Wi-Fi to advertise itself,” Nordstrom says.

With Noti-Fi’s technology and services, people who log on to the Internet within the Dickey’s Wi-Fi signal area get channeled initially through the Dickey’s website, complete with menu, specials and upcoming events. From there, they are free to roam the Web.

“We do something similar to Groupon, Google Deals or Facebook, but we are hyper-local, which means the ads are created directly by the local businesses,” Nordstrom says. “And with the Wi-Fi signal provided free of charge by the business, there are absolutely no charges to the business customers for downloading data using that signal.

“We simply push that business’ local webpage or ads to mobile devices like laptops, cell phones and tablet PCs within range, creating frontline exposure for them at no cost to their customers.”

While businesses now create their own Internet-wide websites or ads, Noti-Fi is currently developing a platform that local businesses can use to create and shape Web content.

Nordstrom says his company simply puts a new technological spin on an old idea: using what a business already provides customers to further market that business’ own products and services. Shopping bags used to carry purchases from a store are stamped with that store’s name and logo. Company cars are wrapped in company advertising. And now, complimentary Wi-Fi can act as yet another very cost-effective advertising medium.

Five years ago, many of the technology terms Nordstrom easily uses today were foreign to him. As a college theater major who eventually landed in the financial services industry, Nordstrom developed an interest in technology after becoming friends with people in the field.

“Austin is Texas’ version of Silicon Valley,” Nordstrom says. “You can spit and hit a technology person here. Austin is also a great incubator for new ideas.”

With Nordstrom’s ideas and his friends’ expertise, the group developed a product that became the technology behind Noti-Fi and started their own business.

“People evolve just like technology evolves,” Nordstrom says. “I learned as I went along. I asked a lot of questions, and I determined where I fit into the company’s overall needs and objectives. That’s how I ended up in sales and marketing.”

That’s where Nordstrom spends most of his time these days: showing businesses how Noti-Fi can enhance their bottom line.

In fact, Noti-Fi’s technology doesn’t just benefit restaurants. Its marketing and communication services can also benefit retail stores, as well as commercial, residential and mixed-use developments.

With mixed-use buildings, businesses on the ground floor can market to tenants in the apartments or condos above via free Wi-Fi, notifying them about deals or special events.

According to Nordstrom, “The tenants are happy because they can use the Wi-Fi without paying for it. The business is happy because they are already paying for Wi-Fi and using it to reach as many eyeballs as possible to market their goods.”

Real estate companies can market houses during agents’ off hours without the hassle of restocking paper fliers attached to “for sale” signs staked in front of properties. Potential homebuyers don’t have to hassle with navigating the Internet or searching complicated MLS listings to find home specifications.

The home’s listing information will simply pop up on any mobile device within the Wi-Fi’s proximity.

Courtesy of complimentary Wi-Fi often found in airports, regional tourism commissions can immediately flash local celebrations and seasonal events onto visitors’ mobile devices as they disembark at local airports. No need to seek printed visitor guides or search the Internet for often fragmented information about local goings-on.

Nordstrom says the possible uses for his company’s technology and services are far-reaching and evolving.

“Noti-Fi was working with Wi-Fi on top of real estate signs, and now we’re getting into retail by implementing our technology in stores,” Nordstrom says. “It’s really all the same product, and we’re finding new uses every day. We’re simply notifying people about the business they’re sitting in or around so that people will either stop by while they are in the vicinity, buy more while they are there or be intrigued enough to return.”

For more information, contact Michael Nordstrom at 877-667-2444, 512-619-4184 or michael@noti-fi.com. You may also visit Noti-Fi online at www.noti-fi.com.