RESTAURANT STRATEGY

#67 - The Surprising Truth About Creativity and 4 Steps to Harness It Creativity is a renewable resource. It’s one of the few things in this world where the more you mine, the more that appears. Best of all, it’s not reserved for the chosen few… rather it's something we all have at our disposal. Today, I want to talk all about what creativity is, where it comes from, how we can tap into it to grow...

#66 - Treading Water vs. Swimming to Shore When it comes to water safety, the data is clear: there are two skills children need to master before they get into a pool. The first is how to swim, obviously. And the other is how to tread water. Those are the two things that can substantially increase their chance of surviving in the off chance that they fall in.  But when it comes to business, too man...

#65 - 10  New Marketing Books for Your Nightstand Back on Episode #15 I shared my original Top Ten List, and it went so well that I'm going to share ten more. Below you'll find links to all 20 titles so you can purchase them for yourself on Amazon... most (if not all) of the titles are available in book form, as well as on Kindle and Audible. Happy Reading!!! THE ORIGINAL LIST Purple Cow by Seth G...

#64 - Run the Numbers! In theory, running a business is a somewhat simple affair. You make a thing and then charge people more for that thing than it cost you to produce it. This is what it means to run a profitable business.   And of course, that’s what all of us want, right? To build a business that is inherently profitable…   And yet, for years now in the restaurant industry, it’s been death by...

#63 - INTERVIEW: Richard Jones, CMO of Cheetah Digital This week, I’m thrilled to be speaking with Richard Jones, CMO of Cheetah Digital. The company describes itself as a cross-channel customer engagement solution provider. They offer everything from acquisition to loyalty and have worked with some of the world’s biggest brands including American Express, Hilton, Walgreens, and Williams-Sonoma. O...

#62 - The Problem with "Better" Why should I eat at your restaurant instead of the one down the street?   Because you’re "better"?   Better in what way? And says who? And when did they decide that? And what criteria did they use to make their decision?   Using "better" as an argument to attract customers is a trap that a  lot of marketers fall into and I want to show you specific ways to avoid it....

#61 - First, Last, Best, Most, Only On last week's episode we began discussing the idea of Positioning... a key concept that marketers use to introduce consumers to a new idea or product. On today's episode we're going to build on that by exploring these 5 words:  First, Last, Best, Most, Only. What do they have in common? They're words used to position a brand at the edges. It's about going to th...

#60 - The Power of Positioning Humans are remarkably bad at remembering new information. It's why eyewitness testimony is so unreliable. Usually repetition is required to make an impression. In an attempt to shortcut the system, marketers have used a concept called "positioning" to embed themselves into the minds of prospective consumers. And companies use it on you every single day, all day long....

#59 - The Future of Restaurants in Three Phases What does the future of our industry look like? This is something I'm been thinking about a lot uring this crisis, and I'm sure I'm not alone. The way I see it, there are three distinct phases:  Our immediate future -- meaning today, tomorrow, next week -- and the question is how do we continue to get creative during the shutdown? The near future --...

#58 - The Four P's of Marketing If you go to school to study Marketing, you’ll likely learn about this in your very first lecture on your very first day. The Four P’s of Marketing are the foundation for just about everything we do… and that’s true for every kind of business out there. Often referred to as the Marketing Mix, it’s a crucial tool to help us understand how best to serve our audience....

#57 - How to Find, Hire, and Work With a GREAT Food Photographer On this week's episode we're talking all about ways to up your content game. One key way to do that is by hiring a professional to come in and shoot your food. I've been a food photographer here in NYC for the past 8 years and so I'm using everything I've learned to help you find a great creative to help you promote your restaurant....

#56 - Pivoting Your Business to Ensure Longterm Success Restaurants all over the country are being forced to do one of two things right now... shut down indefinitely, or pivot to a new model. I believe our ability to stay creative and nimble is going to determine who succeeds in the long term. In that vein I'm sharing 10 ideas from things I've seen myself. Take these ideas and use them... bend the...

#55 - Exactly What We Need... Stories to Inspire If you find yourself overwhelmed by the news these days, then this is the podcast episode for you. For the past few weeks we’ve been inundated with scary numbers and stories about how the world is falling apart… but I’ll remind you that I’m still here and you’re still here and thousands of other listeners are out there as well. And while our industr...

#54 - What's on the Other Side of This Crisis? It's March, 2020. If you’re listening in real time your anxiety level is probably at an 11. All major sports have suspended play, Broadway shows have gone dark, schools across the country are closing, and now restaurants and bars have been ordered to close except for takeout and delivery service. Of course we’re talking about the Coronavirus — Covid-1...

#53 - How We Use Stories to Sell Humans are storytellers. For thousands of years we've used stories to communicate things to each other. It's ingrained in us, and woven through just about every aspect of what we do… most especially in how we conduct commerce. By that I mean, how we TRANSACT… how merchants sell things, and how consumers make decisions about what products to buy.   So then how exact...

#52 - INTERVIEW: Saleem Khatri, CEO of Lavu Inc. I'm fascinated with how technology and hospitality are intersecting, and baffled at how slow our industry is to adopt new ways of doing things. I put out a call to listeners, asking for anyone who wanted to discuss the subject on the show. Well, I'm thrilled to say that Saleem Khatri answered that call. He is the CEO of Lavu, which as many of you kn...

#51 - Eleven Ways to Capture E-Mail Addresses As many of you know, I'm offering a pre-sale special for 2 summer workshops. The first is called KILLER CONTENT, all about capturing great food photography. But the second is E-MAIL STRATEGY FOR RESTAURANTS. Think of this week's episode as an "on ramp" of sorts, where I'm teasing out the kind of information you'll get by enrolling in one of the courses...

#50 - The REALLY BIG Recap Episode Fifty episodes feels like a milestone worth celebrating and so that's what we're doing this week. A bunch of listeners have been with us since the very beginning, but the majority of the Restaurant Strategy audience has found us just recently over the past few months... and so I want to recap everything we've discussed so far to provide a strong base of knowledge...

#49 - INTERVIEW: Bob and Kate Carpenter, Sunny Side Kitchen On this week's episode I had the pleasure of chatting with two Restaurant Stragey listeners, Bob and Kate Carpenter, who run a charming little cafe in Escondido, CA called Sunny Side Kitchen. The restuaurant is listed on Yelp's Top 100 in the United States (yes, the entire country) and is gearing up for their 5th Anniversary Celebration. ...

#48 - Marketing Resources and Tools I LOVE Valentine's Day is here and since love is in the air, I'm sharing the tools, courses, websites, and resources that I LOVE... the things that help me market restaurants! My camera, the Nikon D750:  As I say over and over... it's crucial these days to be able to show off what it is you do best. We are a visual culture these days and so the best way to attra...

#47 - Crafting Your Elevator Pitch CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE ELEVATOR PITCH CHEATSHEET There are two things that are absolutly crucial to creating a profitable business... understanding WHAT your product is, and identifying WHO it's for. The tricky part, however is articulating those things successfully.  In this week's episode we're talking all about building a short, medium, and long elevator p...

#46 - But What Are We Really Selling? CLICK HERE to Download the Marketing Pillars Workbook! And as a refresher go back and listen to Episodes #2-6, where we talk all about the 5 Pillars Marketing. CLICK HERE to list to the first of those 5 episodes. ***** When pondering the question "What do we sell," it's all too easy to respond with the "food and beverage." It's easy, and it's lazy. And it's al...

#45 - 8 Ways to Maximize Revenue on Valentine's Day Valentine's Day is the first big holiday of 2020 and offers a great opportunity to #1 boost Q1 sales figures, and #2 to make an impression on a bunch of first time diners. In this week's episode I'm walking you through eight different ways to help maximize profits on this, the most romantic day of the year OFFER A PRIX FIXE - The limited menu wil...

#44 - Insights from my First Visit to Paris!!! At the end of 2018 my wife and I sat down and said that travel was going to be a priority moving forward. We did very little of it growing up, and we wanted it to be a big part of our son's life. So we looked at the calendar, picked some dates, and booked our trip. Obviously food is a big part of my life, and so dining would be a big part of the trip....

#43 - The 10 Biggest Dining Trends of the Last Decade The best way to predict where we’re going is to take a look at where we’ve been. So I think it’s worth taking this opportunity to look back at the decade that just passed. This week we're going to talk about the 10 biggest trends in dining from the past decade, and use that to make some predictions about the decade ahead. This one is filled wit...