stuff4restaurants

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The next time you are looking for an idea that will get your customers talking about your restaurant why not try this…

Just do yourself and your customers one small favor, practice 3 or four (thousand) times first.

Eagle boys Pizza have decided to use You Tube to have a shot at their rival, Domino Pizzas.

Ken Burgin of the excellent Profitable Hospitality

(a must visit for any serious player in the hospitality game)

Recently sent this link to me. Thanks Ken.

If you have ever been the target of ridicule and satire you will now this sort of stuff has a real “OUCH” effect.

However, if this has stirred your creative juices, and you are now hatching up some wicked plot to have a “GO” at your opposition, BE WARNED, this type of gloves off street fighting has a nasty habit of inciting your opposition into equal lashings of vindictive bile and game playing.

The lawyers also love this stuff, it gives them a chance to shoot off a few morally indignant (form) letters and trot out legal talk like “Frivolous and Vexatious” that sends mere mortals like me scrambling for dictionaries.

Or, is this an honest to goodness magic moment spontaneously caught on camera?

Either way it makes great watching… and offers you a chance to learn what makes a message like this spread.

My cynical nature is aroused a tad (or more) by the amazingly “coincidental”ability of the speaker to hammer home, one very specific, highly detailed and articulate testimonial for Obama’s health policy.

If it’s not a very clever marketing ploy, then it is a great example of an approach that could be used with enormously powerful results.

The simple fact is: Any message is far more powerful if articulated by a third party.

Clips that present the viewer with a drama of adversarial struggle, especially between broadly accepted stereotypes (protagonist street kid, confronted by smart arsed journalist, street kid wins) have the “street” appeal and credibility that drives huge, instant distribution of the message. Seth Godin would call this the ultimate viral sneeze.

P.S. Have a look at the follow up vid on YouTube and make up your own mind, it’s a great lesson on how all this new media stuff does or could work for you and your business.

Yesterday I was reading Carol Bentley’s Blog of Copy Writing Tips and came across a name I knew: Dr. Robert Cialdini…Several years ago Cialdini did extensive research (real tests, with real people, in real business’s) into what influences human behavior.

If you have not read his book, Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion, do yourself and your business a HUGE favor and get a copy, in fact go now, and I’ll wait right here until you get back.

This book earns its place as one of the best and most practical business books ever written. His material and research is not merely the re hashing’s of previous writers.

Cialdini’s book is totally original and based on the stuff that every business owner needs to know about how and why your customers make their decisions and the best way you can communicate with them and it outlines specific strategies everyone can put into practice.

BUT NOW FOR THE REAL GEM…

Carol Bentley has discovered five video’s on YouTube (part one is above) that are the good doctor delivering the best parts of his book live. I downloaded them last night and have spent a fair part of my day listening to and watching them. In short, they are the best business VIDEOS I have ever watched. They are an absolute must see for every serious business person.

To view them go to YouTube and enter Cialdini into their search (I have done it for you in this link) and all five parts will come up.

Now for the cheeky part, If you like me want to watch these VIDEOS again and again, and or show them to your team members, without blowing your bandwidth clean out of the stratosphere you may wish to do the following:

To download a video from YouTube to your own computer

1. Click on the video (in YouTube )
2. Copy it’s URL from your web browsers address bar
3. Go to: http://www.techcrunch.com/get-youtube-movie/
4. Paste the video’s URL into their download tool (it’s all very easy, it tells you what to do)
5. The download box will pop up and all you have to do is tell it where you want the file saved on your computer.
6. You may have to add a .swf to the file to have it recognized by your video player.

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Please let me know what you think of these, and don’t forget to visit Carol Bentley’s site, you will find some of the best business communication advise available on the web there.

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 What is there for me to say about this…

A BBC reporter visits China’s famous penis restaurant where they serve… well penis’s, what else ?

What menu is complete without this delicacy? No jokes about Big whoppers or anything base like that thank you.

Just think of all the FREE publicity, no customers, but heaps of publicity.

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If you want to clear a room of business owners really fast, start talking about business plans. Most business owners would rather crawl across a car-park littered with broken glass than spend their time committing themselves to the hypothetical, mental gymnastics that are required.

Instead they run off to their accountants office and get them to do the grunt work required. In fact, the vast majority of business owners I know, only prepare a business plan when their bank manager demands one, usually when extending their overdraft to cover “temporary” cash flow shortages.

These documents are prepared using word processor templates and are about as interesting to read as the obituary column of a suburban newspaper. And, the bank manager doesn’t read them anyway, they only demand them as part of a banks policy to pretend to be doing their “Due Diligence”, that is to say, they are merely attempting to cover their pretentious backsides from the threat of subsequent litigation.

BUSINESS PLANS ARE ESSENTIAL

Quite simply, a business without a business plan is an accident waiting to happen. A true business plan is not a static document that is prepared in haste then thrown into the bottom of the least used drawer of your desk.

A Business plan should be a live document, it should start off as a whole lot of considered guesses, and over time (say every three months) be revisited, revised and updated.

It’s YOUR road map and YES, you personally have to be involved in its preparation, you can use your accountant to lead the process, but the future figures the real life stuff and marketing objectives, can only be provided by you.

Your business plan is the only PREDICTIVE reporting document you have to keep track of your objectives and your progress.

If the whole business planning thing scares you, or you are reluctant to start, DON’T. Work with someone you respect, turn it into a game, do it in pencil so you know from the start that it’s not some negative game of “GOTCHA that is going to embarrass you later.

It’s the same as using a road map and a watch on a journey in your car, you set off with a whole lot of intentions and assumptions, and you frequently check your progress and refine your objectives to suit the reality of your circumstances, all, so you can arrive at a predefined destination.

The following video will give you a good idea of all the stuff that should be included and why.

Video from VideoJug: Business Plans

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This three and a half minute video will teach you and your team exactly how to avoid being scammed by this age old confidence trick.

Each year business losses billions of dollars to these very cunning tricks and it’s not always easy to teach each member of your team exactly what to look out for, I hope this video (and more to come) will help.

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This is a MUST SEE for every restaurant team.

It shows exactly how scamers go about eating and running without paying.

I have posted it here so you can show your teams what to watch out for.

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Here’s a great way to pack your bar, entertain and attract crowds, plus, dramatically increase your profits.

If you have ever been to a bar with an experienced bar magician you will know exactly how powerful this marketing method can be.

At the Tower Restaurant at Snowmass in Colorado a magician named Doc Eason has been packing the bar with dinner plus bar guests three times per night, for years. You can hear the crowd screaming and laughing with surprise and enjoyment, a full block away.

Don’t mistake this for the boring old uncle who turns up every Christmas and insists on doing his version of the 21 card trick (Yawn)

These guys (and I’m sure there’s some equally entertaining gals) are true entertainers, as you will see from the video clip here of the world famous Bar Magician Scotty York, they will keep your crowd entertained and more importantly, they will attract far more customers and keep them drinking longer.

If you are interested in finding out more send me a message on the CONTACTS PAGE and I will help you hunt down an experienced magician in your area.

The bottom line is: This type of entertainment gives you something that is different and it provides your Advertising with an additional focus.

Many of these bars and restaurants finish up with regular bookings from groups and travel companies, It’s powerful stuff…

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THE LAW OF RECIPROCATION

This excellent video is from Joel Cohen who produces the Restaurant Marketing Blog
(He has some very good articles there you should check out.

The message and method are very simple yet incredibly powerful, it is the sort of marketing activity you can implement today and start getting results immediately.