#72 - INTERVIEW with Jake Grim, Founder of the QR Menu System Table Rock Industries has been a supporter of the Restaurant Strategy Podcast, and over the past few months I've gotten to know the companies founder - a guy by the name of Jake Grim. At just 21 years old, he's bringing a fresh perspective and a whole lot of energy to his cause of helping restaurant owners navigate this challenging time. He grew up on the family farm in Gettysburg, PA and has been involved in his mother's restaurant s...
Jul 27, 2020•48 min•Ep. 72
#71 - How to Spot Shifting Foods Trends in a Post-Covid World Covid-19 has upended our world, and reordered the daily routines for billions of people. In order to make predictions about the future, Economists and Social Scientists often look at changing Macro Trends. To be sure this global pandemic has reordered life for many of us. On this week's episode we're going to look at five different areas to better understand how Covid-19 has reordered daily life: Technological Trends Economic Trends R...
Jul 20, 2020•21 min•Ep. 71
#70 - Reinventing the Wheel On this week’s episode we’re going to talk all about reinvention. Why to do it, what it might look like, and how to take those tentative first steps toward redesigning a profitable business. I share a bunch of different suggestions to help spark ideas, which all go back to this idea of diversifying your revenue streams. Think about all the different ways you can make money in your business. THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR: The Table Rock QR Menu System (CLICK HERE) The ONLY Resta...
Jul 13, 2020•21 min•Ep. 70
#69 - How Marketers Use Storytelling to Sell When I say, “Tell me a little bit about yourself,” how do you respond? Do you say, "Well I’m 5’10”, about 180 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair?" Of course not! In fact if someone did that in an interview, you’d be like… who is this psychopath. When someone says, “Tell me a little bit about yourself” you respond with a brief bio. If it’s an interview you might talk about where you went to school or the last company you worked for. If you’re meetin...
Jul 06, 2020•30 min•Ep. 69
#68 - All About the Freebies and Spreadsheets Over the past year I've heard from a bunch of you and the common thread I always seem to hear is how much you love the freebies and giveaways. So I've tried hard to make more of them - workbooks that correspond with a given episode, or cheatsheets, or spreadsheets. Since the start of the year I've tried to provide more resources for you. Anything to help make your lives easier. So on today's episode I'm recapping ALL of the resources I've shared and ...
Jun 29, 2020•23 min•Ep. 68
#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 our businesses, and the best way to inspire your team to do the same. I share a simple 4-step proce...
Jun 22, 2020•30 min•Ep. 67
#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 many people focus on the latter at the expense of the former. If you're on a boat and you fall overboard...
Jun 15, 2020•19 min•Ep. 66
#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 Godin All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin Permission Marketing by Seth Godin Setting the Table by Da...
Jun 08, 2020•29 min•Ep. 65
#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 a thousand cuts. As all costs go up, profitability goes down. And still, as an industry, we’ve just hel...
Jun 01, 2020•21 min•Ep. 64
#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. Over the past two months he’s been working tirelessly to help brands navigate this crisis, and on thi...
May 25, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 63
#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. This week's episode is the third and final installment of the Positioning Trilogy... three episodes all ab...
May 18, 2020•16 min•Ep. 62
#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 the extremes, and the key to its success is that only one brand can claim a given word. In many ways, i...
May 11, 2020•21 min•Ep. 61
#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... On this week's episode I share a bunch of examples to help hammer home this idea: Coke, Standford...
May 04, 2020•25 min•Ep. 60
#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 -- meaning the next 6-9 months. How do we reopen our restaurants, welcome patrons back in, and put them ...
Apr 27, 2020•27 min•Ep. 59
#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. In reality we’ve talked AROUND this subject before, but have never tackled it HEAD ON. What are the ...
Apr 20, 2020•18 min•Ep. 58
#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. Topics covered: #1 - How do you go about finding a good food photographer? #2 - How to negotiate wit...
Apr 13, 2020•33 min•Ep. 57
#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 them to fit your business. I've included all of them in a cheatsheet. ** DOWNLOAD THE CHEATSHEET HERE *...
Apr 06, 2020•34 min•Ep. 56
#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 industry has been upended, there are hundreds of restaurants out there with stories to tell… stories to ins...
Mar 30, 2020•13 min•Ep. 55
#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-19 — and it is wreaking havoc on the economy… most of all our industry. If you’re a small business ow...
Mar 23, 2020•25 min•Ep. 54
#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 exactly do we use stories to sell? I think they fall into one of 5 categories. Stories that communicate a b...
Mar 16, 2020•31 min•Ep. 53
#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 know, was the original iPad POS software. In just 10 years they've captured huge market share and have...
Mar 09, 2020•43 min•Ep. 52
#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. E-Mail Marketing is perhaps the best, most efficient way to keep in touch with your fans and it's ...
Mar 02, 2020•20 min•Ep. 51
#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 as we move forward. Topics covered: Defining "marketing"... what is it? Just three questions? Why i...
Feb 24, 2020•43 min•Ep. 50
#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. All of this from a couple of people who, until they opened Sunny Side, had no experience in hospital...
Feb 17, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 49
#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 attract new customers is to SHOW them what it is you're offering. Photoshop & Lightroom : These are tw...
Feb 10, 2020•22 min•Ep. 48
#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 pitch for your business. You'll use these for press releases and whenever you find yourself talking to...
Feb 02, 2020•23 min•Ep. 47
#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 also wrong. As we've discussed in past episodes, as restaurant operates we're doing so much more than ...
Jan 27, 2020•22 min•Ep. 46
#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 will not only help the kitchen keep up with the additional covers, but it’ll also ensure swift turn tim...
Jan 20, 2020•29 min•Ep. 45
#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. But still I was blown away by the experience. And so on this week's episode I'm sharing eight Insig...
Jan 13, 2020•28 min•Ep. 44
#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 with all kinds of great insights. Do not skip!!! American Catch by Paul Greenberg - CLICK HERE Marketin...
Jan 06, 2020•37 min•Ep. 43
