Video: Restaurateurs, Reboot Your Brain For 2008
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In the previous post I mentioned having goals for the sake of clarity.
But becoming clear goes beyond our restaurant businesses. It goes outside the day-to-day, week-to-week grind. As business owners, we tend to feel there’s never enough time to accomplish everything that we want. We constantly are thinking and acting… always in motion.
When I first got involved in this industry, I sat down with a local restaurant supplier and listened for over an hour. I remember asking how the typical restaurant owner acts while they’re browsing the store. You know what he said?
He told me that when restaurateurs walk through his doors they are the definition of impatient, nearly displaying signs of severe ADD.
Does this sound familiar?
Buzzing. Being here and there and everywhere. Someone once said, “Time is the thing that keeps everything from happening all at once.” Time parcels moments out into separate bits so that we can do one thing at a time. In [business], this does not happen. In [business], time collapses. Time becomes a black hole. To the person with [a business] it feels as if everything is happening all at once. This creates a sense of inner turmoil or even panic. The individual loses perspective and the ability to prioritize. He or she is always on the go, trying to keep the world from caving in on top.
The paragraph above was taken from here, and all I did was replace ADD with business.
Of course it doesn’t have to be that way… and it may not be if you’ve structured the business to where you’re able to remove yourself from it occasionally (please share your secrets with the rest of us). But if you’re feeling rushed, or that things are out of control… or even just slightly difficult to control… much of that has to do with clarity, goal-setting and…
REMOVING ALL THE THINGS FLOATING AROUND IN YOUR HEAD.
Here’s the point I’m trying to get at: you probably have too much going on in your brain… and you can do something about it.
It’s called “Rebooting Your Brain”, and it’s a method devised by a marketing genius named John Reese. It’s not something that’s earth-shattering: it’s simple and effective. To explain his method, John was kind enough to create an hour-long video that goes step-by-step on how he clears his mind.
Click here to watch the Reboot Your Brain video
The video WILL take a few minutes to start, especially if you’re on a slower connection. It’s worth the wait.
The exercise requires the following:
- Three notepads, each with several sheets of paper
- A pen or pencil
Like any other exercise, this will require some time and thought. I recommend you watch the video and take notes on what to do. Next, schedule some time in the evening (or morning, perhaps) during the Christmas season these next couple weeks and actually do the assignment.
You will feel better afterwards. I know because I force myself to do this, and will be doing it again in the next couple of weeks. (And I wouldn’t waste my effort writing this if I didn’t think it was worth it!)
Restaurant Owner, What Are Your Sales and Marketing Goals?
After reading seven periodicals a month, frequenting blogs, attending restaurant group meetings and tradeshows, reading books, listening to audio tapes and frequenting seminars etc etc… I’m surprised at how many times are the BASICS are not reinforced.
Seriously. Did our businesses meet the goals set for 2007?
Do we have EXACT figures for restaurant business sales and marketing that we hope to meet in 2008?
For all the “strategies” and “tactics” that Restaurant Revolution and others will bring to you, please don’t lose sight of basic goals. And remember: Goals are SPECIFIC. They can be MEASURED.
When we have a plan, complete with goals that can be measured and tracked, we have CLARITY. The more CLEAR we are on what we want to accomplish, the easier it is to filter out the noise that’s encountered on a daily basis… including the phone calls, walk-in salespeople and everyone else that wants a piece of us.
So, with all the great information that is (and will continue to be) available… please remind yourself at the sub-conscious level to write down your restaurant business goals and stick them in a place you will see them every single day.
I’m warning you now that 2008 is only going to deliver another truckload of new information. It will be interesting, some of it will be amazing… and most of it will do absolutely NOTHING for you… but the only way to really know is if you have a plan to judge it by.
Check the next post on How to Reboot Your Brain for more in-depth information on exercises I recommend and personally use.
Get Creative Restaurant Advertising… Completely “Free”?
In the latest issue of Nation’s Restaurant News, Gregg Cebrzynski mentioned Chipotle’s video contest. The short story is the restaurant chain hosted a contest that had students (and others) produce Chipotle commercials in exchange for prizes.
Terrasynth LLC was closely involved with a similar video contest earlier this year for T-Mobile’s Sidekick phone, hosted on Myspace. You will see here that not only did the video contest go extremely well, but the popularity of Myspace alone was able to drive interest in the new product.
What does all this mean to you?
People will do creative work for you absolutely free. Period. It’s simply a matter of you being creative about it in the first place… and making sure that you have high standards (otherwise your contest is likely to bust).
So, what are steps to consider when asking your customers to make advertising images for your restaurant?
- Remember that contests don’t have to be Video. You can have a contest for people to create newspaper advertising, radio spots, logos, billboards… just about anything you want.
- Giving recognition and value is the key. Artists want recognition, praise… and free food. Giving a combination of these will drive benefits to your restaurant and the designers fighting for the prize(s).
- Make your contest a newsworthy event to double the miles. When was the last time a local restaurant had a contest worth noting? Make the contest interesting and when you start to promote it on-site, tell your local news station about it.
After you have entries coming in, prepare your customers to get involved!
People get weirdly excited at the opportunity to make a difference. Get the public involved and have votes taken as a way to decide the “winner” for your contest. Quickly design little voting slips, and request the name, email and any other information you’d like ON THE VOTING SLIP.
DO YOU SEE THE POWER OF THIS IDEA?
By running a contest for advertising ideas, having the public vote on the winner, and getting each voter’s contact information… I have no doubt that you could easily revolutionize your restaurant for an entire year or more!
Video: Restaurant Owner, Do You KNOW What Your Customers Want?
Seth Godin will tell you how it is. This 19-minute video is fabulous… and hilarious. From sliced bread to the Arby’s Oven mitt character, the marketing insights that can be gleaned may change your business forever.
Bottom-line: do you know… I mean REALLY KNOW… what your customers want?
If not, when was the last time you asked them?
After you know WHO your customers are… and seek to find out WHAT they want… your restaurant marketing funnel will operate like a greased chute.
Video: How Are You Naming Your Restaurant Menu Items?
When it comes to naming any product or service, it’s very important to consider how it sounds — not just how it looks in print. If you want people to remember the name of an entree… especially if you’re advertising on television or the radio… what can you do to help them?
Watch Eben Pagan’s video above to find out (How To Name Things starts at 1:20).
Eben runs a fairly new, but highly recommended marketing program called Get Altitude (currently sold out, but you can watch some videos for free). He deals with info-products and Internet marketing, but if you’re creative… there are some real nuggets of information that will make restaurateurs $$$ by implementing them.
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