April 2011 Blog Posts (51)

I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz, Social Media is a hyped thing; but what is it really all about, and why do you need it?

 When I first started using social media a few years ago I wasn’t sure how and where it would fit in as part of my overall…

Never have I heard so many operators, chefs, designers, and advisors, in so many ways, emphasize the importance of spending on -- not cutting from -- operations and menu in order to survive and thrive.  UCLA’s one-day Restaurant Conference was a huge success.

 …

The modern restaurant CEO carries a ton of stress around. Some cause it, other give it, but S T R E S S is part of the job. Whether s/he is responsible for 5 units or in Julia Stewart's case, 3,500 at Dine Equity, they clearly have a full time job. So, how do they stay informed? What do they measure and how frequently? What do they worry about?

I wonder...where is their playbook? Is it a laptop that sends them rich quantitative data? Is it broken down by unit, region or systemwide? Is…

To have a successful integrated marketing plan, you must first do the basics.  Below are  "Ten Things to do Now" which are the first steps in utilizing technology tools as part of your overall marketing program.

1-Embrace New Marketing Opportunities- In a few short years, the Internet has gone from being an obscure new idea to being an essential part of any marketing strategy. Customers are now looking for you,…

So October 22nd was the last time that I blogged here at FohBoh and I know the millions of you that have read this have been dieing with anticipation as to what I have been doing. Actually my wife Kelly is really the only one that reads anything I write but it made me feel good to write that sentence. Those of you that know me know that I am a little bit of a talker (ok a lot of a bit) and not so much a writer. I can write but it takes a long time because I write the way I talk and that is…

Keep it real simple. Do one thing and do it the best you can.

I guess I've known this about myself to some degree ever since I was really little. My personality often reflects it. My thought patterns are often consumed by it. The end result of my labor isn't flawless, but I have always seemed to chase after that same goal: perfection.

A month or so ago I picked up the…

Love, LOVE, love - (or at least strongly like) coming across data like that posted in the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Review from the really smart people at Social Media Examiner. 

In it they cover so many things that online marketers should know.  We've highlighted about 9 of…

Not all companies want their managers to be great leaders—it depends on the

leadership of the company.

Truthfully, many companies would be more agreeable to producing better

followers than better leaders for a myriad of reasons. It could be the small

mindedness of the people in the top-jobs who feel threatened when a

subordinate outshines them and realistically there is a startling lack of rewards for

mentors involved with mentoring relationships.

There is…

New Ways to Facebook "Like", Favorite and Share Content with other social networking sites 

Did you notice the hearts yet?  Have you seen the the now famous Facebook "Like" buttons at the bottom of photos, video, blogs and discussions on FohBoh? They are right next to the share on Twitter and Facebook social tabs.

A couple of years ago we had some pretty advanced features that are slowly returning to FohBoh. Points are still in the queue, so please be…

It seems to be an underpinning of many solutions introduced to the market that in order to leverage the technology, there seems to be some expectation that consumers will somehow alter their usual behavior.  Not a bad thought and yes, I think some marketing activities can alter a consumers usual behavior, but how far do you think we (as an industry) can expect it to…

Restaurants understand the growing importance of Yelp, but effectively managing it can be a challenge. I set out to study what really moves the needle on Yelp so business operators can prioritize their efforts accordingly. I compared online reservation volume over time from Yelp.com for 35 restaurants with different Yelp profile characteristics. The data spans 3 cities and comes from the ever-growing Eat Metrics dataset of 2,100,000 pageviews and almost 50,000 online…

Comic Sans font. You do not want this font anywhere near your menu. It’s reserved specifically for elementary school teacher newsletters. And there’s a documentary against it.

Paryrus font. This font is the stereotype of stereotypes for Greek restaurants. (There’s even a …

By now you have probably read headline after headline announcing the FDA’s release of proposed guidelines for calorie labeling in restaurants and vending machines.  But what does it all mean?  The document itself is 138 pages, but all you want are some answers to some very standard questions, right?  What rules have actually been enacted?  What types of establishments will be included?  When will this all be enforced?

These questions have flooded the FoodCALC office since the FDA’s…

A New Main Dish will be featured in the next few weeks at my restaurant.

I'm working on beefing-up my service with some back-to-the basics training techniques that have somehow fallen from the plate over the last few months.

With Spring in the air, it…

So, I'm on vacation in Ft. Lauderdale Florida this week and had no laptop to write my blog, so, I did a video blog instead. I did have an HP Notebook but I may as well have been on a 1st model of the Bell telephone!

So, my subject was on what?

On customer service standards in Florida of course! Tune in. Tune on. Turn to your video screens!

See my next video that will be a lot faster in speach patterns when I get back to NYC!…

In British Columbia we have been presented with an extremely trying 2 year stretch between 2010 and 2012. Not only have we been presented with the world wide economical challenges that have driven our tourism to an unexpected low but there have been many inter-provincial changes that have caused the economic challenge to be even more difficult to manage.

Last June we saw a new tax law come into play in BC called the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Previously consumers were only…

Pursue your passion. I suppose this is an overused cliche.    If we’ve heard it once we’ve heard it a thousand times.  Come to think of it every cliche is overused.  Isn’t that the very nature of a cliche?  How many times have you heard these cliches - “What goes around comes around” or “Worry about what you can control and let go of what you can’t control” both overused and both cliches.  The reason we’ve heard them a lot is because they are the truth.

So…