stuff4restaurants

O.K. I admit this is a shameless, self serving, piece of promotion for my new blogsite stuff4business.com .

stuff4business.com has been produced to provide the broader community of business owners with the same type of promotional and Advertising ideas this site provides to the restaurant and hospitality industry.

I have produced this site after much encouragement from readers who have contacted me over recent weeks. You know who you are and I thank you all sincerely for pushing and encouraging me in this exciting new direction.

NOW I NEED YOUR HELP…

Please check the site out for yourself here , and if you think my humble effort is worthy, I would greatly appreciate your help in letting your friends know about it, and please don’t forget to add it to your own r.s.s. reader.

CLICK HERE FOR stuff4business.com

My favorite business book of all time is: The E Myth revisited, by Michael Gerber.

Over the years I have used quotes from this book and given hundreds of copies away as gifts to friends and prizes at seminars.

It is an immensely powerful book that has the capacity to change the way you think about your business, unlocking you from the thoughts that cause stagnation and providing you with new ways of thinking that regenerate the way you do business.

I was recently reminded of this book when reading John Cricket’s excellent blog “Business Opportunities and Ideas ” where he explains how: he recently read the book after having put off its reading over the years, and how important he too, thinks it is…

Following his post, many of his readers also admitted they too had “put off” reading it, then, when prompted by him, had read it and were “gob smacked” by the power of it.

So, if you too have not read it, or have put off reading it, leave your computer right now and go get a copy of it, it’s not a hard read. Gerber has the unique ability to convert the tomes of academic stuff into a story telling style that is both easy to read and learn from, whilst being emotionally powerful enough, to make you WANT to change.

Thanks for the reminder John

Let me know what you think…

Brian Clark at Copyblogger.com recently posted one of the best articles I have ever read on how to write persuasive copy: the stuff that makes readers ACT…
Persuasion is generally an exercise in creating win-win situations. Your job as a communicator, is to present your case in a manner that your readers will find beneficial to agree with.
You make them an offer they can’t refuse, but not in the manipulative Godfather sense.
He explains in full detail exactly how the use of:
Repetition, Reasons Why, Consistency, Social Proof, Comparisons, Agitate and Solve, Prognosticate, Go Tribal, Address Objections and Storytelling will put real persuasive “grunt” into your writing.

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Whilst he is mainly talking to the writers of blogs, his advice will work for every business owner that needs words to persuade customers to purchase. i.e. every business owner.
If you do nothing else today READ HIS EXCELLENT ARTICLE here…

This great new way of serving the humble potato chip has the potential to drive your “Take Away” sales clear through the roof…

All this new concept needs to SUPER CHARGE IT is: A branded serviette that will direct the traffic, already attracted by the uniqueness of the product, directly to your sales counter.

The originators call it appropriately, The Tornado, (U.S. readers may wish to reconsider this name)

This exciting product could be developed far further with flavored dips, spreads and salts

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The original idea comes from Korea, I found it HERE on BoingBoing.com where you will find further links and details.

I love the idea and think it has the potential to satisfy the eternal customer search for new and unique products, thus providing you with an opportunity to achieve maximum prices and profit margins.

When was the last time you looked at your bathroom, I mean REALLY looked… What is it saying about your health standards?

Michael Bauer food blogger at sfgate.com wrote about his experience in one restaurant. His article, and the comments from his readers make absolutely essential reading for every restaurant owner.

In his article he observes “When a restaurant minds the bathroom, it makes me believe the staff has been trained to have an equally serious and healthy attitude about food safety. ”

It is so easy in the rush of everyday business to miss things this obvious…

For those of you who may think this is trivial, I would remind you of the research that shows how many patrons choose to stop at McDonald’s, simply because they know the bathrooms are always clean.

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So why all this toilet talk on a site about marketing? It costs an awful lot of money, time and effort to get new customers through your door, then we have to provide great food and service, it seems a pity to lose their repeat business, simply because we don’t make the bathroom someones responsibility to regulary check

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Read the full article and his readers comments here .

I see hundreds of coupon ideas every month, Most are little more than bland, ineffectual, and badly targeted discounts that destroy both your pricing and margins.

But at last I’ve found a coupon system that has a proven track record and most importantly is flexible enough to be tailored to suit the specific sectors of your business that YOU want to grow…

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PLUS… the graphics looks good, and will be exciting for your customers and team…

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PLUS… If used correctly, it will supercharge the “WORD OF MOUTH” growth of your business.

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PLUS… It provides “Instant Gratification” as prizes are discovered instantly at the point of prime decision making.

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This concept is simple, stylish and powerful. It is an ABSOLUTE MUST DO for any owner who wants to quickly, efficiently and (I’m assured) cost effectively, grow their customer base and get existing customers to come back more frequently.

Here’s the link for more information

Where you will find some very powerful proof of what other owners have achieved with this thoroughly comprehensive “instant win” coupon process

And NO, I’m not getting a commission or any form of payment for making this strong recommendation!!!!! I genuinely believe they have got the best coupon process I have seen.

O.K. I admit to loving anything WEIRD… here’s eleven of the weirdest hotels in the world.

Why would I add any more to this…

simply click here and enjoy…

Over recent days I have received record traffic and emails to the post “how to turn every cup of coffee you make, into a powerful promotional device”
So, I sent out flocks of specially trained homing pigeons with digital cameras, I scoured the net, and I employed every nuance of diplomatic persuasion I could muster, to find for you, the best instructional sites and photographs I could.

and here they are:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonx/sets/48921/

This link will take you directly to a gallery of Latte Art photos that should provide you with hours of inspiration.

http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/examples

Coffeegeek.com is a site jam packed with everything you ever wanted to know about coffee and this link will take you directly to comprehensive, illustrated instructions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF_6JvJTQoE

This link will take you to over 200 video tutorial clips which will teach you exactly how to produce some truly great patterns.

http://www.latteart.nl/fotos_gallery.asp

This will link you to a European site with a photograph gallery packed with stunning award winning patterns.

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So, now you have no excuse not to implement this simple, yet powerful, FREE promotional strategy that will drive your “Word of Mouth” referral Advertising, provide your customers with a delightful experience and shift the humble coffee from mere commodity into a highly valued finale to a meal.

I came across this excellent article recently on the “RESTAURANT MARKETING BLOGG … it is well worth a visit…

In an article entitled “Two Kinds Of Restaurants. Which One Is Yours?” the author of the article Joel Cohen states…

There are two kinds of restaurants. “Commodity Restaurants” and “Heart & Soul Restaurants.” “Commodity Restaurants” do knee-jerk marketing, send out discounts all of the time and are convenient to go to. Management is hired just to keep the status quo. There is no growth in “Commodity Restaurants.” There is no growth from discounting. There is no growth from hunting down target groups and seeing the very few which fall for the gimmicks. The “hunting” approach to marketing is dead.

To read the full text of this article click here

Already the rage in Europe, Australia, L.A and New York and Montreal. A restaurant that invites you to experience food, drink and conversation like never before - TOTALLY IN THE DARK!

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“It’s a sensual dining experience like no other!” says O.NOIR General Manager Moe Alameddine. “When you eat without your sight, your remaining senses are heightened to savour the smell and taste of food. Even simple, everyday dishes like potatoes or plain yoghurt take on a culinary flare.”

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But O.NOIR does more than just fire the imagination and stimulate the senses. After a few hours in complete darkness (that’s right, no flashlights, matches, cell phones, cigarette lighters or luminous watches), customers gain a better understanding of what it’s like to be blind - just like the restaurants’ entire wait staff.

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This socially conscious concept sprang from Jorge Spielmann, a blind pastor in Zurich who used to blindfold his dinner guests at his home so they could share his eating experience. In 1999, Spielmann opened Blindekuh (German for Blind Cow), a project aimed at teaching the sighted about the sightless world, and provide jobs for blind people.

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“It’s not the easiest of undertakings” explains Moe, who has elicited the help of Horizon Travail (an organisation affiliated with Emploi Quebec), which helps prepare and train visually impaired people to enter the mainstream job market; a population that experiences roughly a 70% unemployment rate.

http://www.onoir.com

Looking for a totally impersonal dining experience? Head to Nuremberg, Germany, and try Baggers bistro, which is being billed as the world’s first waiter-less sit-down restaurant.

You order by typing on a touch screen, and an elaborate “gravity feed rail system” takes care of the rest, sending your dinner down a complicated metal spiral and right to your table. Not a waiter in sight…
Owner Michael Mack claims: “The principle is so charming because of its simplicity.”

Whether patrons find the system charming or merely clinical is up for debate. The bistro is apparently getting very mixed reviews.

Mack, however, is confident it will be a hit. He reports that he has already patented his dinner delivery device in Germany and hopes to license it to other countries.

I guess it saves the hassle of deciding on the appropriate tip to leave.

I wonder what attracts so many to people in uniforms? And not just any old uniform, medical uniforms.
I’m sure that Freud would have some sexually imaginative explanation for this strange phenomena, and now it seems to be catching on all over the world.

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At the Heart Attack Grill in Arizona the waitresses are dressed as nurses, and in Taipei at the D.S.Music Restaurant, customers sit around a hospital bed and order “medicine” from a menu and have it drip into their glasses from a vat suspended from the ceiling.
And now, there is a bar in Shenzhen (South China) where the bar staff are dressed as nurses and serve wine and drinks from syringes and test tubes.

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Is it that we have become a very sick society or is it a very clever marketing ploy to generate bucket loads of free publicity through “Word of Mouth”?.

I found this article and photo on spluch.com

O.K. O.K. I know you make the best cup of coffee in the entire universe… right?
The problem is: Every other Barista in the universe also believes (or says) they also make the supreme cup of brown nectar. So, it’s almost impossible to use quality and expertise alone as your point of differentiation, (the reason someone will choose to buy their “frequent fix” from you).

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In marketing jargon coffee is called a “commodity” and commodities quickly become extremely price competitive, because they simply become “stuff” that competes with other “similar stuff”, and consumers don’t place a high value on “similar stuff”.

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So, let’s imagine we could take the humble cup of coffee to a whole new level, imagine if we could shift a cup of coffee from being a mere commodity into the realms of a “Work of Art”…
Imagine if we could do something so special to our humble cup of coffee, that our customers would be delighted, so delighted, they would tell their friends about it, and their friends (and their friends, friends) would then want to see and experience this “marvel” for them selves.

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Suddenly, price would no longer be an issue, suddenly, the humble cup of coffee will have become a UNIQUE EXPERIENCE, and one of the most sought after human pursuits is: NEW, DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCES.

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Latte Art is not particularly new, however, it is often dismissed as the cute, time consuming, self indulgence of an egocentric barista, ITS NOT, it is a VERY POWERFUL promotional opportunity just waiting to be exploited by you.

As shown in the photos above, Latte art has now progressed from simple hearts and patterns into some very exciting and unique designs.

To learn more about this powerful promotional tool visit this article by Katherine Lynch the publisher of Dine Magazine where you will find links to many excellent photos and “How To” articles…

I have just added an update to this posting with some great new links here

My “Take Home” question to you is:
If you can do this to a humble cup of coffee, What other items on your menu can you turn into “Events” that stimulate powerful Word of Mouth Advertising?

Why is this SOOOOO! important?

Because, one of the most powerful points of financial leverage in any business is its ability to increase the average dollar sale of each and every transaction.

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Just think for a moment, if your business makes an average of 1,000 transactions per day, and you can increase each of those transactions by just $1.00, How much more per year will that add to your income?

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With the spread of Starbucks threatening to totally dominate the global urban landscape, the residents of Whitechapel in Britain decided to give yet another intrusion, this time into their patch, a far from friendly welcome to their neighborhood.

They enlisted the help of a local team of pranksters who set up tables directly outside the new store and proceeded to put up posters like the one shown here and give away FREE tea and cakes.

Apparently the management of Starbucks were less than amused to see their opening day promotion thwarted this way.

Full details of this event can be found HERE

Thank you to John at businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk (an excellent site for new business ideas) for sending me links to this.

Here’s a great way to take the pain out of presenting your restaurants bill…

We all know the feeling, we have a great meal… then when we see the bill we wince… and it takes the whole edge off what could have been the perfect experience.

Well, this restaurant owner has come up with a unique way to turn the bill into a game that you will even want to tell your friends about.

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He puts the flyer shown above on each table… then when go to pay the bill, you play, a best of 3 round of rock paper scissors. They change the incentive regularly, sometimes it’s a substantial discount, sometimes a prize… It’s a great way of turning the bill into a promotion.

The informality of the interaction with customers alone is worth it