May 2010 Archives
The foundation of your marketing
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I read this post about how a gal ended up spending six hours in the car with her parents because a tourist attraction didn't update its web site.
But don't assume I am sharing that with you as a reminder to go update your web site. Really, it is a reminder that some one person should have the job of keeping the web site up to date. And don't assume that making it someone's job can be as easy as just assigning it to the most computer-savvy person. Really, it is a reminder that it should be a part of their job description and performance reviews.
Like Emily, I am a firm believer that web sites shouldn't contain any content that needs updating unless there is someone who is accountable to do it. That's because it is hard, in the rush rush of everyday work, to remember to keep web sites updated, to check in on Yelp! or OpenTable and see if one's hours are listed correctly. It can be hard to remember to update your profile on Facebook and Twitter, too. And don't forget more global tools like Google Places or more local tools like Metromix.
Some people pay a publicist to do this work. It's an expensive solution, but it can work. Of course, someone has to remember to tell the publicist when a change occurs. And my guess is, the restaurant that divorces itself so completely from the value and responsibilities of day-to-day marketing is likely forget to tell the publicist about a change.
I've got another idea.
Make a master sheet with all the places on the web where you can find your hours or other key facts listed. List the login or instructions for changing the data on the web site and hand it to the accountant or bookkeeper for safekeeping. Then, at any meeting where your hours change, you open or close a service period, you'll be closed for a private party or you'll be open to accommodate a convention or holiday, assign someone to make the changes within the next 48 hours. The task can rotate, but someone is always assigned the task and is given a deadline.
Then, as backup, make a calendar. On each day, list one online place to review. If it is Monday, it is Yelp!; if it is Tuesday, it is OpenTable. Check one per day and read it carefully. Think about how clear the copy is, how complete the information. Try to understand how your customers read the copy, what they understand from it. Do this first thing, when you arrive at work, for about 15 minutes a day.
Does anyone else have any tips and tricks for keeping their marketing copy up to date?
But don't assume I am sharing that with you as a reminder to go update your web site. Really, it is a reminder that some one person should have the job of keeping the web site up to date. And don't assume that making it someone's job can be as easy as just assigning it to the most computer-savvy person. Really, it is a reminder that it should be a part of their job description and performance reviews.
Like Emily, I am a firm believer that web sites shouldn't contain any content that needs updating unless there is someone who is accountable to do it. That's because it is hard, in the rush rush of everyday work, to remember to keep web sites updated, to check in on Yelp! or OpenTable and see if one's hours are listed correctly. It can be hard to remember to update your profile on Facebook and Twitter, too. And don't forget more global tools like Google Places or more local tools like Metromix.
Some people pay a publicist to do this work. It's an expensive solution, but it can work. Of course, someone has to remember to tell the publicist when a change occurs. And my guess is, the restaurant that divorces itself so completely from the value and responsibilities of day-to-day marketing is likely forget to tell the publicist about a change.
I've got another idea.
Make a master sheet with all the places on the web where you can find your hours or other key facts listed. List the login or instructions for changing the data on the web site and hand it to the accountant or bookkeeper for safekeeping. Then, at any meeting where your hours change, you open or close a service period, you'll be closed for a private party or you'll be open to accommodate a convention or holiday, assign someone to make the changes within the next 48 hours. The task can rotate, but someone is always assigned the task and is given a deadline.
Then, as backup, make a calendar. On each day, list one online place to review. If it is Monday, it is Yelp!; if it is Tuesday, it is OpenTable. Check one per day and read it carefully. Think about how clear the copy is, how complete the information. Try to understand how your customers read the copy, what they understand from it. Do this first thing, when you arrive at work, for about 15 minutes a day.
Does anyone else have any tips and tricks for keeping their marketing copy up to date?
What you can learn from my neighborhood kabab place
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Stop what you are doing and go dig into the Noon O Kabab restaurant web site. A little kabab place in my ethnic neighborhood, Noon O Kabab is incredibly web savvy.
They've even got a way for you to join their restaurant and write a review. That's right, they invite you to write your own review, on their site, http://noonokabab.com.
What would it take for you to invite your community in?
They've even got a way for you to join their restaurant and write a review. That's right, they invite you to write your own review, on their site, http://noonokabab.com.
What would it take for you to invite your community in?
I want to get rid of my phone
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A week or so ago, a couple of interesting posts hit the internet about email. First, Fred Wilson -- a guy who is so embedded in the future of so many companies that matter that he can really be used as a barometer of the future -- wrote a post about his being email bankrupt. Then, a few days later, a guy on Business Insider wrote about his own email woes. This all came about a week or two after I had listed a post from Penelope Trunk about her own prediction of the end of email.
All of this makes me want to get rid of my phone.
Email is inefficient, toxic and a pain in the ass. But the phone can really be a curse. I was reminded of this when I returned a voice mail message someone left me the other day. When I called (not during service, of course), I was told the guy was in a meeting and that I should call back later, when he wasn't busy.
Hum. Possible to leave my number and have him call back when he isn't busy, rather than have me guess? No, I was told, call at 2 o'clock. Is it possible for me to get his email to follow up? No, the phone answerer was not authorized to give out an email address.
So, I called at 2. You guessed it, the guy was busy. The phone answerer suggested I try back in ten minutes, when the guy wasn't busy. No email could be procured from phone answerer #2.
So, I called back again. Third time is a charm, and I got the guy on the phone. Guess why he called. He wanted an email rundown of our product and service.
If email is toxic, the phone is a hydrogen bomb.
All of this makes me want to get rid of my phone.
Email is inefficient, toxic and a pain in the ass. But the phone can really be a curse. I was reminded of this when I returned a voice mail message someone left me the other day. When I called (not during service, of course), I was told the guy was in a meeting and that I should call back later, when he wasn't busy.
Hum. Possible to leave my number and have him call back when he isn't busy, rather than have me guess? No, I was told, call at 2 o'clock. Is it possible for me to get his email to follow up? No, the phone answerer was not authorized to give out an email address.
So, I called at 2. You guessed it, the guy was busy. The phone answerer suggested I try back in ten minutes, when the guy wasn't busy. No email could be procured from phone answerer #2.
So, I called back again. Third time is a charm, and I got the guy on the phone. Guess why he called. He wanted an email rundown of our product and service.
If email is toxic, the phone is a hydrogen bomb.
Head Shaker
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I had a restaurateur email me recently to tell me he was going to reconcept his restaurant, hire a new chef and then use Groupon to get the word out.
The guy is assuming, before he even launches, that his business isn't compelling enough to generate enough traffic.
All I can think is: Dude, I need money to build meaningful, needed software for restaurants. Why don't you just give me that money instead of throwing it away?
But then I think: Well, it would be an interesting experiment for all of us if he is crazy enough to try it.
What do you think?
The guy is assuming, before he even launches, that his business isn't compelling enough to generate enough traffic.
All I can think is: Dude, I need money to build meaningful, needed software for restaurants. Why don't you just give me that money instead of throwing it away?
But then I think: Well, it would be an interesting experiment for all of us if he is crazy enough to try it.
What do you think?
Not having an answer can be a good thing
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The other day, I was chatting on the phone with a young chef looking to open his own restaurant. Let's call him Jud. I seem to end up with a lot of guys in this position on the other end of the line.
Usually, the conversation is more a cautionary tale on why it is never good to invest in a restaurant. That's because the young chef is usually more interested in hearing how his idea is fantastic than hearing how there might be holes he needs to plug before he opens the door and stands around waiting for customers.
But this week, I got to talk to Jud. Jud had an idea for a small plates restaurant, casual yet sophisticated, a place where he could be a part of the neighborhood, energetic and fun, blah, blah, blah -- same thing everyone else says.
So, I started challenging him. What would make customers choose his place over the other places already in the neighborhood? Why did he think people would start spontaneously wanting small plates in a comfortable atmosphere late at night? Where did he think the currently non-existent foot traffic was going to come from, anyway?
And instead of shooting back a defense, he sat back and pondered the questions. He had no answer and he was comfortable with that state of affairs. He realized that rather than being defeated by the questions, he could simply engineer around them. He just needed to figure out how.
I am always fascinated by the people who, when I play the role of devil's advocate, respond to my deviltry with reflection rather than defense. If I were to bet on someone, or more importantly invest in their business, I'd bet on the reflector rather than the defender.
Usually, the conversation is more a cautionary tale on why it is never good to invest in a restaurant. That's because the young chef is usually more interested in hearing how his idea is fantastic than hearing how there might be holes he needs to plug before he opens the door and stands around waiting for customers.
But this week, I got to talk to Jud. Jud had an idea for a small plates restaurant, casual yet sophisticated, a place where he could be a part of the neighborhood, energetic and fun, blah, blah, blah -- same thing everyone else says.
So, I started challenging him. What would make customers choose his place over the other places already in the neighborhood? Why did he think people would start spontaneously wanting small plates in a comfortable atmosphere late at night? Where did he think the currently non-existent foot traffic was going to come from, anyway?
And instead of shooting back a defense, he sat back and pondered the questions. He had no answer and he was comfortable with that state of affairs. He realized that rather than being defeated by the questions, he could simply engineer around them. He just needed to figure out how.
I am always fascinated by the people who, when I play the role of devil's advocate, respond to my deviltry with reflection rather than defense. If I were to bet on someone, or more importantly invest in their business, I'd bet on the reflector rather than the defender.
Chasing after my chickens
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Yesterday afternoon, I was in my chicken coop in the backyard, trying to catch one of my chickens. If you've never had to catch a chicken with your bare hands, you just don't realize how hard it can be. They run fast in tight spaces, they take flight in the most unlikely places -- they don't have rational minds and that lack of rationality makes it hard to anticipate where they'll go next.
Which is why I believe in the old adage, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
Customers, it seems, can be as irrational as chickens. And so, it is always better to have a customer in the actual restaurant rather than two in some proverbial bushes somewhere.
Which begs the question: are you spending more time and money marketing to your own audience of customers, the birds in hand? Or are you racing around trying to chase after the two in the bush?
Which is why I believe in the old adage, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
Customers, it seems, can be as irrational as chickens. And so, it is always better to have a customer in the actual restaurant rather than two in some proverbial bushes somewhere.
Which begs the question: are you spending more time and money marketing to your own audience of customers, the birds in hand? Or are you racing around trying to chase after the two in the bush?
Tools for your personal brand
3 CommentsLast week, I posted on the importance of creating a personal brand and how to start thinking about yours. Personal brands are basically you, online.
Personal brands are more important than ever and especially for chefs. They are important because not everyone has a chance to eat your food, but everyone can easily
look you up online. You should know that when they do, they make a decision about your value and talents. Maybe they shouldn't. Maybe unless they eat your food they shouldn't make judgments about whether you can cook. But they do anyway -- they read your profiles, check out what people said about you on Yelp!, and then they judge whether or not you are actually important based on what they've read.
If you are one of these smart and savvy people, the first thing you should do, just like in the kitchen, is get your tools together.
Consider the following to be as important to your career as a well-tended knife kit. Just like you did with your knives, you should try a few things out before you dismiss them. Just like with your knives, you should take care to keep these tools in good shape. And just as a sharp, strong knife can make your job a lot easier, a well-honed digital tool can make your career a lot more successful.
So, start here:
Your Email Address:
I once had to email a chef to the email address "FuzzyBunnySlippers@whatever.com." I had kinda thought he was a tool before I wrote him, and the minute he let me know that was his go-to address, I frankly wrote him off as an unprofessional dufus. Personally, I am not a big fan of KickAssChef@whatever.com or, really, anything other than your name. There are a lot of reasons for this, but most importantly, it is what you want people to remember. Just use your name.
LinkedIn:
I am a bit of a dud on LinkedIn, I admit. And I curse myself every Friday, as my work week comes to a close, that I ignored it yet again. The truth is, LinkedIn isn't really as great a connector platform in the culinary world as it is for, say, the accounting world. But it is a good place to park your resume and officially house your professional life. So, take some time to get one together and keep it updated when major changes happen. That way, you can point people there easily when you get a new job -- or when you are looking for one.
Facebook:
You know that profile of you, from the drunken photos to the ranting about a customer, is all discoverable, regardless of what privacy controls you think you have put in place. It is sad for those who want to share with their close friends online and yet also be in the public eye -- if you want a journalist to write about you and it is also a possibility that they would, you want to be in the public eye. If you wouldn't share it in a meeting with a prospective employer, prospective investor in your business, or a journalist who is writing a big piece about you, then it shouldn't be shared on Facebook. This week, clean up your profile and turn on the privacy controls that disable the ability for people to tag you in pictures and
videos.
Whether you share your food pictures on Facebook or on Flickr/Picasa or anywhere else, it only matters that you share them. A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words and hearing a thousand words about a dish is boring so, clearly, a picture is better. Every new dish you create that you are proud of should be photographed and uploaded. Add a few lines about the ingredients and what you were inspired by/what you were trying to accomplish.
No camera? Life is about priorities, remember that. You can likely get one this weekend if you forgo two nights out drinking after work.
Twitter:
Use your name so people can find you. Use a picture of yourself so people can remember you. Post what you are working on, so people can see how hard-working/innovative/seasonal you are. And please, keep the drunken photos of people writing on you with a Sharpie off the stream. It seems fun. It makes you look like a scary drunk.
Business card:
I never seem to have a business card with me, and so I feel a little disingenuous telling you that you should always have one. But you should, and so should I. Add your contact information, your social contact information and, if you can, a personal brand statement.
Resume/Cover Letter/References:
Every time you move the clocks forward or backward for Daylight Savings, open up your resume, cover letter and references and update them. Seriously, even if you spend a lot of time on it, it will take about 30 minutes tops. And the next time someone asks you for a resume and you are ready to go, write me a thanks because seriously, that twice-a-year resume housecleaning will turn out to save your life.
Blog:
If you follow this blog, you know I think you should have a blog already. If you were wondering why, it is because it is integral to your personal brand. You can blog on Facebook, on a blogging platform, in pictures, in words, via video. You don't need writing skills and you don't need to understand SEO, HTML or any other cryptic computer letters. You just need discipline.
Need some convincing? check this out.
Continue reading Tools for your personal brand.
The culinary meritocracy
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The other day, I was talking to a work friend and he told me that what
he likes best about RIA is that it created a culinary meritocracy. That by
removing the notion that one needs a well-connected publicist to get press, and instead delivering a
product that focuses on restaurant news and activities, we've changed
the game, allowing those restaurants who are simply doing great work to float to the top.
From my perspective, restaurant PR has always been a meritocracy. Because back when I was doing PR, I was never able to help the clients who did the least amount of work as much as I was able to help the clients who did the most.
The work restaurants did varied. Some changed their menu every few days, staying ahead of the pack when it came to seasonality and trends. Others, they did the work by thinking about menu changes and holidays and such way ahead of time, always ready when the media needed to research and write a story instead of when local English peas were finally available. Others, they did a lot of interesting promotions and dinners.
It never really mattered what these restaurants did, aside from it being simply "valid." The truth of the matter was, and is, that as long as a restaurant does something interesting -- and I mean something significant, not just a weekly special or two -- they'll get press. Because by doing something, they give the media -- who is in the business of writing about something -- something to write about.
In the olden days, publicists did a lot to cover up this meritocracy. Not for some secret scammy reason, but just because in the course of doing their jobs, they tended to hound and berate clients who didn't do anything newsworthy. So, by virtue of having a hen pecking at their head all day, every day, those clients who paid a publicist a lot of money (or were "marquee clients" that made their business hum) would end up coughing up something.
And this was all driven by a simple formula: The more money, the more marquee, the more was on the line, so the more the hen pecked.
Because the client would eventually cough up something worth promoting, of course, ipso facto, they were, then, doing something. The only difference between them and the restaurant that just did the work was that one was paying someone, and this included me, a lot of money to make sure something was being done; the other was just getting the work done.
Though, now that I think about it, if the people who win are the people who pay the most money to get the most nagging and thus get the most press, that isn't a meritocracy, it is more of a cashopoly. And now I am thinking I should rework this post.
From my perspective, restaurant PR has always been a meritocracy. Because back when I was doing PR, I was never able to help the clients who did the least amount of work as much as I was able to help the clients who did the most.
The work restaurants did varied. Some changed their menu every few days, staying ahead of the pack when it came to seasonality and trends. Others, they did the work by thinking about menu changes and holidays and such way ahead of time, always ready when the media needed to research and write a story instead of when local English peas were finally available. Others, they did a lot of interesting promotions and dinners.
It never really mattered what these restaurants did, aside from it being simply "valid." The truth of the matter was, and is, that as long as a restaurant does something interesting -- and I mean something significant, not just a weekly special or two -- they'll get press. Because by doing something, they give the media -- who is in the business of writing about something -- something to write about.
In the olden days, publicists did a lot to cover up this meritocracy. Not for some secret scammy reason, but just because in the course of doing their jobs, they tended to hound and berate clients who didn't do anything newsworthy. So, by virtue of having a hen pecking at their head all day, every day, those clients who paid a publicist a lot of money (or were "marquee clients" that made their business hum) would end up coughing up something.
And this was all driven by a simple formula: The more money, the more marquee, the more was on the line, so the more the hen pecked.
Because the client would eventually cough up something worth promoting, of course, ipso facto, they were, then, doing something. The only difference between them and the restaurant that just did the work was that one was paying someone, and this included me, a lot of money to make sure something was being done; the other was just getting the work done.
Though, now that I think about it, if the people who win are the people who pay the most money to get the most nagging and thus get the most press, that isn't a meritocracy, it is more of a cashopoly. And now I am thinking I should rework this post.
Bam! And your personal brand
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If you've ever yelled, "Bam!" then you understand the value of a
personal brand.
Personal brands have always been important to chefs, even though the idea of a personal brand for a non-celebrity is really just now emerging in the general marketplace. Tom Peters was the first guy to float the notion of the personal brand for regular working stiffs and Seth Godin is the guru du jour for most. Even though you, as a chef, are likely rather too familiar with the need to create your personal brand, you would be well-served to follow these guys. You might learn a thing or two.
I thought I'd cover a few posts this week on developing a personal brand, because while it is something that celebrity and semi-celebrity chefs do as a matter of their job, it isn't something you wait to tackle once you become top toque. Personal branding is something just about everyone should do -- the up-and-comers, the sous chefs and the talented line cooks, too.
One reason to start early in your career is that the first step in developing a personal brand is discovering what it is. That, my friend, takes a lot of time and thinking. The other reason is that it is easier to recover from mistakes when you are pretty much unknown.
Step One, Learn from the Masters.
Along with reading Seth Godin, I'd like to recommend five more links.
1) Penelope Trunk: the master of over-sharing in a strangely addicting way
2) Chris Brogan's posts on personal branding: because I will never attack this topic with such gusto
3) Eric Ripert: because he has mastered the personal brand without becoming the kind of gross cliche that many celebrity chefs become
4) Mark Bittman: because he stays on the cutting edge and is using technology to expand his personal brand, and he isn't in technology
5) Fast Company article, This Brand Called You: because even though it was written in 1997, it is the classic
Personal brands have always been important to chefs, even though the idea of a personal brand for a non-celebrity is really just now emerging in the general marketplace. Tom Peters was the first guy to float the notion of the personal brand for regular working stiffs and Seth Godin is the guru du jour for most. Even though you, as a chef, are likely rather too familiar with the need to create your personal brand, you would be well-served to follow these guys. You might learn a thing or two.
I thought I'd cover a few posts this week on developing a personal brand, because while it is something that celebrity and semi-celebrity chefs do as a matter of their job, it isn't something you wait to tackle once you become top toque. Personal branding is something just about everyone should do -- the up-and-comers, the sous chefs and the talented line cooks, too.
One reason to start early in your career is that the first step in developing a personal brand is discovering what it is. That, my friend, takes a lot of time and thinking. The other reason is that it is easier to recover from mistakes when you are pretty much unknown.
Step One, Learn from the Masters.
Along with reading Seth Godin, I'd like to recommend five more links.
1) Penelope Trunk: the master of over-sharing in a strangely addicting way
2) Chris Brogan's posts on personal branding: because I will never attack this topic with such gusto
3) Eric Ripert: because he has mastered the personal brand without becoming the kind of gross cliche that many celebrity chefs become
4) Mark Bittman: because he stays on the cutting edge and is using technology to expand his personal brand, and he isn't in technology
5) Fast Company article, This Brand Called You: because even though it was written in 1997, it is the classic
Shifting Ground
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We're coming up on our three year anniversary of the day RIA was conceived. Back then, July 5, 2007, my little corner of the world (high-end/chef-driven restaurants) seemed a pretty predictable place.
So, when I started building RIA v1, I started by just posting digital versions of paper press kits, updated with press releases to announce client news. It was the basic function of PR, online, delivered as cheaply as we could manage. OK, actually cheaper than we could manage but I felt strongly that the price point needed to be low, even if it meant hurtling myself into the red.
Since that fateful day, social media has transformed the nature of communication and how people obtain news and information. And news distribution ... well, Gourmet has shuttered, Newsweek is for sale and I've got a lot of journalist friends who are looking for work.
What this means to restaurants is that people aren't finding out about restaurants and figuring out where to eat the same way they used to. Food writers, critics, they'll still hopefully be doing their good work for some time. But for restaurants, hoping for press and having a semi-decent email list to whom you can send info about events and holidays just isn't gonna cut it.
The run-down of possibilities of what restaurants can do today to market themselves, just in the technology sector, is enough to melt one's brain: Populate a Facebook page with fun behind-the-scenes peeks, contests and shareable recipes; run a YouTube channel with recipes and conversations with the chef; post every one of your dishes, in every incarnation of being produced, on Flickr; host a podcast; run a FourSquare promotion; spruce up your Yelp! profile; while you are at it, actually learn how to use OpenTable for marketing -- though that might be tough; write and distribute an online cookbook -- better yet a Vook, since so many iPads have been sold; manage a great Twitter feed; create an app; I could go on but even my brain starts to shut down.
So, what are we doing about it?
Well, at RIA we're shifting with the tide. Sure, we still post our clients' news on RIA. We've got nearly 40 clients and a roster of 7,000 or so registered journalists who use the site for their story research. We've also got an exploding list of diners hungry for restaurant and chef news. And a twice-a-week concierge outreach program. But we're also seriously looking down the pike so we can deliver this overwhelming new world of marketing to our chefs in the most digestible way. Because that list of possibilities, really, it ain't digestible.
In my mind, social technologies are going to emerge as the dominant force in restaurant marketing. Not Twitter, specifically, or Facebook, for certain. The tool doesn't matter, it is the idea of the technology that does.
Think about it:
But the reality is, the world is never going back to the way it was. It is just going to get more different, faster. So, chefs, everyone, needs to try and shift with the tide. Learn one thing each day, one, and you'll not be able to keep up, per se, but at least you won't be sitting around in an empty restaurant that the world has passed by because you are still just head down, in a kitchen, waiting to be discovered.
So, when I started building RIA v1, I started by just posting digital versions of paper press kits, updated with press releases to announce client news. It was the basic function of PR, online, delivered as cheaply as we could manage. OK, actually cheaper than we could manage but I felt strongly that the price point needed to be low, even if it meant hurtling myself into the red.
Since that fateful day, social media has transformed the nature of communication and how people obtain news and information. And news distribution ... well, Gourmet has shuttered, Newsweek is for sale and I've got a lot of journalist friends who are looking for work.
What this means to restaurants is that people aren't finding out about restaurants and figuring out where to eat the same way they used to. Food writers, critics, they'll still hopefully be doing their good work for some time. But for restaurants, hoping for press and having a semi-decent email list to whom you can send info about events and holidays just isn't gonna cut it.
The run-down of possibilities of what restaurants can do today to market themselves, just in the technology sector, is enough to melt one's brain: Populate a Facebook page with fun behind-the-scenes peeks, contests and shareable recipes; run a YouTube channel with recipes and conversations with the chef; post every one of your dishes, in every incarnation of being produced, on Flickr; host a podcast; run a FourSquare promotion; spruce up your Yelp! profile; while you are at it, actually learn how to use OpenTable for marketing -- though that might be tough; write and distribute an online cookbook -- better yet a Vook, since so many iPads have been sold; manage a great Twitter feed; create an app; I could go on but even my brain starts to shut down.
So, what are we doing about it?
Well, at RIA we're shifting with the tide. Sure, we still post our clients' news on RIA. We've got nearly 40 clients and a roster of 7,000 or so registered journalists who use the site for their story research. We've also got an exploding list of diners hungry for restaurant and chef news. And a twice-a-week concierge outreach program. But we're also seriously looking down the pike so we can deliver this overwhelming new world of marketing to our chefs in the most digestible way. Because that list of possibilities, really, it ain't digestible.
In my mind, social technologies are going to emerge as the dominant force in restaurant marketing. Not Twitter, specifically, or Facebook, for certain. The tool doesn't matter, it is the idea of the technology that does.
Think about it:
- Journalists are finding more good story ideas from social media than from publicists. And any attempt publicists are making to craft a story with a press release and well-placed stories is overshadowed by the sheer volume of social news out there.
- Diners aren't limited to getting news from mainstream media, and while media outreach can be part of an overall marketing package, it simply can't be the center of attention any more because there just isn't enough mainstream news out there to cut through the clutter with one restaurant's message (Grant Achatz excepted, naturally).
- Independent restaurants, for the first time, can afford to tell their own story -- and it is in the intimate telling of the story to an interested audience that a restaurant can turn a customer from a fan to a fanatic. For the first time, restaurants begin to share the real reasons why they should be revered and appreciated, rather than just hoping people figure it out.
But the reality is, the world is never going back to the way it was. It is just going to get more different, faster. So, chefs, everyone, needs to try and shift with the tide. Learn one thing each day, one, and you'll not be able to keep up, per se, but at least you won't be sitting around in an empty restaurant that the world has passed by because you are still just head down, in a kitchen, waiting to be discovered.
In the kitchen, out of the kitchen
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It is widely known in a tiny circle that Paul Kahan and I went to blows for years over the strategy for promoting him. Seriously, I believed that all we had to do is get him to meet and feed as many people as humanly possible and the world would embrace him -- despite the fact that he has no book, precious few TV appearances, no research farm hanging
off the back of his restaurants, and no Gucci shirts.
Paul, of course, wants to hang out in the basement of Blackbird, shucking peas and listening to Cubs games with the gang.
I won a lot of those battles over the years and Paul ended up going to a lot of events, meeting a lot of people, and in general being embraced by everyone he met or fed.
These days, Paul is just this side of insanely busy. It isn't just that he is keeping track of four restaurants. One of them is Big Star, and it's been rather nice and sunny out lately. As he rides his bike into the fray most evenings, after a full day of work and meetings, I can't imagine what it is like to get up the energy to deal with that crowd.
And then how he gets up the energy to go to more events. Because, it seems, he does even more events these days. He understands how it helps him, and his business.
But as I move in my own job from doer of PR tasks to overseer of online PR tool, I am beginning to see what I think a lot of chefs really deal with when it comes to media and the idea of "getting out there." Because really, when faced with the choice of getting out there and just putting my head down to work, work wins.
But when the work is done and I look up for even a minute, I realize that without people to buy my product, my work doesn't actually mean anything.
Paul, of course, wants to hang out in the basement of Blackbird, shucking peas and listening to Cubs games with the gang.
I won a lot of those battles over the years and Paul ended up going to a lot of events, meeting a lot of people, and in general being embraced by everyone he met or fed.
These days, Paul is just this side of insanely busy. It isn't just that he is keeping track of four restaurants. One of them is Big Star, and it's been rather nice and sunny out lately. As he rides his bike into the fray most evenings, after a full day of work and meetings, I can't imagine what it is like to get up the energy to deal with that crowd.
And then how he gets up the energy to go to more events. Because, it seems, he does even more events these days. He understands how it helps him, and his business.
But as I move in my own job from doer of PR tasks to overseer of online PR tool, I am beginning to see what I think a lot of chefs really deal with when it comes to media and the idea of "getting out there." Because really, when faced with the choice of getting out there and just putting my head down to work, work wins.
But when the work is done and I look up for even a minute, I realize that without people to buy my product, my work doesn't actually mean anything.
Dear Culinary Student
No CommentsToday
I go to speak to culinary students at Kendall College. The topic I am supposed to cover is what makes chefs successful. I translate that to: what should these kids do now and into the near future if they want to be successful chefs.
There are a lot of potential answers to that question. To the girl for whom I act as an absentee mentor, setting her up on internships throughout the city, I say, "Head down, eyes and ears open, close-toed shoes." To the chef who calls me up, frustrated his PR firm isn't doing the magic, I say, "Engage them, give them clear goals, stop being such a difficult douchebag and help them do their job."
To the students, I'll say: Start writing a daily blog.
Here's my case:
1. Blogging teaches discipline. Staring at a blank screen every morning and learning to fill it with lucid thoughts is really hard. I know, I do it (nearly) every day -- and it is my job to communicate. Cooks, mostly, don't communicate with the written word. So, any cook who determines to sit down and write a blog each day is going to be learning a heck of a lot of discipline. Successful chefs are disciplined.
2. Blogging teaches humility. Each day, you write, you post and you check your traffic. Any chef can delude themselves into thinking what they do matters if their restaurant is semi-full. Every chef blogger is faced with the truth every day. Successful chefs are humble.
3. Blogging teaches focus. The internet has an inverse relationship to what may seem logical. The more singular your blog focus, the more readers you have. That's because people can easily filter through the chaff to get to your wheat. The same is true for restaurants because the clearer and more focused your concept, the more likely you are to become the only place for X. Successful chefs are focused.
Blogging, in fact, no matter how much I hate it, teaches one a lot about how to be successful in life, as well as the kitchen.
But I imagine these young students won't want to hear this. I imagine they'll want to hear about how they can get on "Top Chef" or if they should start writing a cookbook now or where they should stage. Because that's what chefs think about when they think about being successful. They think about the grand gestures, the markers of fame.
But in reality, being a successful chef is more about discipline, humility and focus. Every day.
And I'd argue, from experience, that learning to blog is going to teach those things faster and more effectively than anything else in life (outside of volunteering).
There are a lot of potential answers to that question. To the girl for whom I act as an absentee mentor, setting her up on internships throughout the city, I say, "Head down, eyes and ears open, close-toed shoes." To the chef who calls me up, frustrated his PR firm isn't doing the magic, I say, "Engage them, give them clear goals, stop being such a difficult douchebag and help them do their job."
To the students, I'll say: Start writing a daily blog.
Here's my case:
1. Blogging teaches discipline. Staring at a blank screen every morning and learning to fill it with lucid thoughts is really hard. I know, I do it (nearly) every day -- and it is my job to communicate. Cooks, mostly, don't communicate with the written word. So, any cook who determines to sit down and write a blog each day is going to be learning a heck of a lot of discipline. Successful chefs are disciplined.
2. Blogging teaches humility. Each day, you write, you post and you check your traffic. Any chef can delude themselves into thinking what they do matters if their restaurant is semi-full. Every chef blogger is faced with the truth every day. Successful chefs are humble.
3. Blogging teaches focus. The internet has an inverse relationship to what may seem logical. The more singular your blog focus, the more readers you have. That's because people can easily filter through the chaff to get to your wheat. The same is true for restaurants because the clearer and more focused your concept, the more likely you are to become the only place for X. Successful chefs are focused.
Blogging, in fact, no matter how much I hate it, teaches one a lot about how to be successful in life, as well as the kitchen.
But I imagine these young students won't want to hear this. I imagine they'll want to hear about how they can get on "Top Chef" or if they should start writing a cookbook now or where they should stage. Because that's what chefs think about when they think about being successful. They think about the grand gestures, the markers of fame.
But in reality, being a successful chef is more about discipline, humility and focus. Every day.
And I'd argue, from experience, that learning to blog is going to teach those things faster and more effectively than anything else in life (outside of volunteering).
Marketing Monologue #Fail
1 Comment
We've all seen the stats about social media. Stuff like, if Facebook
were a country, it would have a population bigger than Japan, that social media site activity has overtaken porn, and that Ashton Kutcher is more influential than CNN. Or something.
Most chefs/restaurants have started to wisen up and at least now participate in social media in some form. But it seems we have a lot farther to go before everyone understands that social media isn't just a channel for broadcasting your bullshit. It's about dialogue.
Think about your email newsletter. Can someone email you back? If they do, when would they get a response?
How about all those people who hand over their address -- email or snail? Do you send them a thank you or do you just add them to your database?
Do your servers, on the front line of listening to customers, participate in your restaurant's Twitter Feed or Facebook Page?
Do you follow everyone who follows you or your restaurant? Do you actually talk with them, or are you talking at them?
The thing about marketing today is that online tools have given customers a way to talk back. And they want to be heard.
Most chefs/restaurants have started to wisen up and at least now participate in social media in some form. But it seems we have a lot farther to go before everyone understands that social media isn't just a channel for broadcasting your bullshit. It's about dialogue.
Think about your email newsletter. Can someone email you back? If they do, when would they get a response?
How about all those people who hand over their address -- email or snail? Do you send them a thank you or do you just add them to your database?
Do your servers, on the front line of listening to customers, participate in your restaurant's Twitter Feed or Facebook Page?
Do you follow everyone who follows you or your restaurant? Do you actually talk with them, or are you talking at them?
The thing about marketing today is that online tools have given customers a way to talk back. And they want to be heard.
