Monthly Archives: January 2009

Restaurant Twitter Marketing-How One Coffee Shop In Houston, Texas Used Twitter To Attract More Customers And Increase Their Sales.

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| 3 Comments

Yesterday I read an article written by Erica O’Grady which was refreshing to me and thought I would share with you. This is a story about one coffee shop called Coffee Groundz in Houston, Texas who has discovered the magic of using Twitter to their business advantage. This is a real success story that is happening to small coffee shop like Coffee Groundz. It can also happen to your restaurant business if you can understand this incredible new social media tool called Twitter and start exploring the magic it offers to all restaurants- big or small. Best of all it is FREE. Coffee Groundz despite being an independent small coffee shop can now compete head to head with even big coffee house like Starbucks and Caribou Coffee. Social Media Tools like Twitter has leveled the marketing field plain. Never in the history has been this easy and affordable for small businesses like Coffee Groundz coffee shop to market their business effectively and attract more customers. In the past the success of a marketing in business  was determined by the amount of dollars they could spend on old medias like televisions, radio and newspaper. But with the birth of Twitter, the equation has been changed. Now the marketing is won by innovative ideas with the help of  online tools like Twitter and similar social media tools that are readily available for Free.

Please read the post below to get a clear idea how Coffee Groundz has used Twitter to attract more customers and helped streamline their business and marketing effort.
This post by Erica O’Grady originally ran on Pistachio Consulting‘s TouchBase Blog, featuring what business people need to know about Twitter and microsharing for business. You can subscribe to TouchBase here or follow @touchbase on Twitter.

Twitter To Go?

When J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, Texas first heard about Twitter from one of his customers, he was puzzled but intrigued. Today, he credits Twitter with almost doubling his clientele and with opening his eyes to a whole new way to build Community.

If you’re reading this article, then chances are you’re already on Twitter, and you may even have experienced the power of Twitter for building your own personal or corporate brand. Recently, more and more companies have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon to help manage their online identities making it increasingly harder to stand out from the crowd.

But Cohen and CoffeeGroundz have found a way to do just that. Shortly after joining Twitter, Cohen started following members of the local Houston Twitterati and in no time had amassed over 1000 followers. Cohen is a naturally charismatic, giving, and friendly guy – traits that make him a natural on a network like Twitter.

On Becoming The Purple Cow

Nothing can build your brand faster than being or doing something remarkable. Seth Godin, author of the recently released Tribes calls this becoming “The Purple Cow”. Cohen didn’t set out to become a Purple Cow – but with one brief 140 character message – that’s exactly what he’s done.

On October 31st, 2008 Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) was hungry. As a regular customer at CoffeeGroundz he sent the following Twitter to Cohen:

Cohen quickly replied and Sean went through the drive-thru at CoffeeGroundz to pick up his burrito.

This simple exchange got a lot of coverage on Twitter and was hailed as potentially the first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order. Seeing an opportunity, Cohen started taking to-go orders via direct message from any of his Twitter Clientele.

CoffeeGroundz offers free Wi-Fi, plenty of outlets, and they serve beer and wine – making it a cross between a Coffee House and a Lounge. Today, customers can order beverages and tasty bites from the comfort of their seat using Direct Messages to @coffeegroundz. How cool is that? You don’t even have to stop working to walk to the counter and order a coffee.

Building Community While Making a Profit

Recently, CoffeeGroundz was the venue for a Houston Tweetup that Cohen nicknamed “The Great Twitter Party”. Nearly 100 Houston Twitterites spent a lovely Sunday afternoon there at the largest Houston Tweetup to date. And did I mention that they bought lots of food and beverages? So the next time someone tells you that you can’t make money from Twitter, tell them to think again!

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Restaurant Viral Video Campaign- What Can Your Restaurant Learn From Viral Video Campaign Launched By Pizza Hut.

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

It has been a little over a month and the viral video campaign called “Kicked out of Pizza Place” launched by Pizza Hut is going pretty well so far. The total number of view so far at the time of writing this article is 421,510. There has been lot of comments on You Tube by the viewers saying that Pizza Hut was being unfair by doing this to small restaurants. For some people it was just plain funny.

Whatever the argument may be we cannot deny the viral effect the video  had on so many online viewers.Instead of complaining I think small restaurants should start thinking  how they should use this incredible marketing tool to their advantage.The important thing to learn from this viral video marketing is to understand the power of viral video marketing and tap into this incredible and powerful marketing tool that would cost virtually nothing or very less.  There are couple of things that is interesting in this video to carefully watch.

First of all the video is natural which is carried out by two guys and it doesn’t show any sign of fake in their acting. The funny acting comes with a natural flow. Seems like there was no script at all. Though they might have some sort of planning what to do, it looks like they didn’t have any formal script written. Another thing that I discovered was the level of online video viewers participation. There are lots of comments left by the online viewers which indicates that they are talking about the video. Since this is Pizza Hut’s viral video, it is a way of reminding the customers about their brand. I call this branding by entertaining. They entertain the online viewers and at the same time effectively market their restaurant in selling more and more pizzas.Most of the popular viral video in You Tube comes out of no where and doesn’t have to have a brand like Pizza hut. Any small restaurant can create similar or even more powerful viral video campaign provided they put creativity into it. So the biggest thing to take away from this is that any restaurant small or big chain can create viral video campaign. It is not controlled by the amount of money the restaurant can spend. Rather it is by the amount of creativity they can pour into the video. You might have your opinions about this viral video campaign. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this video viral marketing campaign.

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Web 2.0 For Restaurants-What Is A Web 2.0? How Can Technology Be The Most Effective And Affordable Marketing Tool For Small Restaurants.

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

Every day we hear the buzz about Web 2.0 and how it can be helpful in marketing your restaurant virtually for free or very low price. So what is Web 2.0? There are many definitions for Web 2.0 but I will try to explain Web 2.0 with some examples to the best of my ability.

Wikipedia describes The term “Web 2.0” as the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web.

Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-culture communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites like myspace.com, facebook.com, video sharing sites like youtube.com, wikis, and blogs. The interesting thing to note here is that Web 2.0 has changed the way we communicate, interact, work or do anything in this new information age.

I would compare the old version of Web to a walkie talkie. The communication was limited to only only 2 people and the communication channel was one way. There was no way the multiple people could talk at the same time. Web 2.0 changed the equation by allowing multiple channel of communication with unlimited number of people.
Old Web could also be compared to a boring lecture where the communication was one way towards the students without having an option for  the students to voice their opinions about the topics or the lecture. With the introduction of Web 2.0 the lecture becomes two ways interactive learning experience where lecturer could provide valuable lessons to the students and students can discuss their opinion about the topics, collaborate their collective research and come to the right answer or conclusion rather than just the lecturer deciding the answer.

Web 2.0 is a blessing to all the small businesses including restaurants if one can recognize its potential and use it to their advantage. As I have written in my previous post that Web 2.0 is  not a thing. It is a mindset. One has to change their belief or thought process if you want to achieve success that you have dreamed. Lets face it you started the restaurant business to have more freedom, more time with your family. To find out the real answers, I want to ask you couple of serious questions.

Do you get on time at night to give a goodnight kiss to your kids?
Do you have free time to attend your kid’s school programs?
Do you get to spend enough time with your spouse at home?
Do you get time off for vacations any time you want?

If you have answered yes to all the above question then good for you. However you can still keep your ears and eyes open to the possibilities of new emerging Web 2.0 technology. If you answered No to all or some of the questions then you need to ask seriously why you aren’t achieving the success you dreamt of when you started in the first place. This is a big question. Lot of small business owners struggle to succeed or don’t succeed is because of their being ness. They work and work but focus working on wrong things. Until an unless you change the belief or the thought process you will be doing the same thing that you have been doing for many years. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different result. If you keep on doing the same way you have been doing, you are not going to get there. First you have to change the mindset. Then that will guide you to focus on the right thing. Then only you will get the expected right results. Be – Do and Have. We have heard this but we haven’t learnt the lesson.

To put the lesson Be-Do and Have into perspective I would like to illustrate with two fine examples. We have heard the story about Tom Sawyer where he persuaded his friends to paint the fence. Tom Sawer’s being ness was different. His mindset was different. If his belief was that working hard by himself was the way to go then he would have been sitting the whole day painting the fence. Instead he surrounded himself with the friends who helped him and made his work easier.

Another recent example is the success story of our own president Barack Obama. When he didn’t have any money or resources at all, who he had to be in order to win the presidential election. He stood up and rose high with great leadership to say that they required change in Washington to make America a more economically stable country and well respected around the world. He ran with the unique selling proposition campaign “Change We Can Believe In”  and ultimately he won. But he had to change his belief that despite the odds he could do it.”Yes We Can”. He had to come up with new mindset leaving back the old outdated dogma of political leadership. He had to adopt the new emerging Web 2.0 technology to communicate with his supporters. Watch the interesting thing that happened as compared to Tom Sawyers story. It is just old time and fresh modern day story but the fundamentals remain the same. The only difference is that president got a chance to use Web 2.0 technology to influence more people than Tom Sawyers. He not only was able to influence the supporters to be an army of volunteers but also provide small amounts of donation which compounded to millions of dollars in campaign contribution which was record breaking in the history of American Politics.

Such is the power of Web 2.0 if you can recognize it and take advantage of it. But as I said earlier first thing first. Before you do anything with Web 2.0 you have to change your being ness. You have to change your mindset. Once have mental make up, then you need to act. This action will then result into having success in your restaurant business. It all starts with the change in your mindset. Web 2.0 is not a thing. But it is a mindset.

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Restaurant Mobile Ordering-Subway Has Re-enforced The Importance Of Mobile Ordering For Quick Service Restaurants.

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| 2 Comments

Another quick service restaurant chain to watch is Subway which is the leader in Restaurant Industry. It is one of the fastest growing sandwich restaurant chain even ahead of McDonald’s for so many years in a row. They are not just quick at delivering your made to order sandwiches but quick at adopting to new technologies which would enable them to expedite the service even more faster. This time Subway is doing it with their mobile ordering system which is in pilot test phase at some of the stores in New York. It is powered by GoMobo and their main goal is to stream line the mobile ordering process by text message and deliver the sandwiches without having the customers to wait in line for too long when all the New Yorkers order the lunch at the same time.

Hungry customers can order in two ways. One by online and the other by mobile phone. How does it work? Well first the customer goes online at http://www.subwaynow.com and start of by choosing the location and placing the order and then picking up at the store without waiting in the line.

In the online ordering process customer can create their favourites. When they are on the go then the customer can order by mobile phones too. All they have to do is just text ‘menu’ to 466626 for a list of the favourites. Then the customer reply with the number of the favorite they want to order. Customer will receive a text confirmation and pick up time. Customer comes straight to the cash register without waiting at the line, picks up the sandwich and off he goes. It can not be simpler and faster than that.

The results so far is remarkable. Some of the stores have seen their average order increase by as high as 30-50%. It is normal that when people are paying online they tend to spend little more than the regular customer who pays by hard cash.

There is no doubt that once mobile ordering system seems to work out in New York, Subway will be expanding the mobile ordering system to nationwide Subway restaurants. Well this gives us a picture where the restaurant industry is headed in terms of mobile marketing. I believe that every restaurant should be at least educating themselves about restaurant mobile marketing and start getting ready for it. Believe it or not, the total number of mobile phones in the world has surpassed over 3 billion more than the computers. That is lots of traffic which any restaurant should not neglect if you want to survive in the new age of mobile world filled with iPhones, Google Phones and many smart internet enable phones that are emerging every day.

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3 Effective Ways You Can Use Web 2.0 Technology To Your Restaurant Marketing Advantage During An Economic Downturn.

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

It has always fascinated me how President Barack Obama has used the web 2.0 technology to influence the voters and win the hearts and minds of millions. Never in the history has any politician been able to use the emerging web 2.0 technology this effectively. His presidency has proven for the politicians to rethink about campaign marketing effort in reaching their supporters during the time of election. I believe the marketing in the politic arena has changed for ever and will never be the same again if at least the smart, emarketer at heart politician wants to win.

Timing could not have been as right as 2009 Presidential Election for president Barack Obama to seize the opportunity to change that was taking place not just only in web 2.0 technology with several social media tools that were emerging but also the sentiment of the frustrated people who were seeking for change in Washington. The social media tools like myspace.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, youtube.com and many more were emerging with pools of people building huge community in the cyber world. With virtually no money and resources available to him, the only option he had was a  web 2.0 technology which was virtually free readily available to him. Without those technologies, it can not be denied that it would have been harder if not impossible for Barack Obama to win the election and be the president of the United States.

Now after winning the election, it is apparent that the president Obama is using web 2.0 technology to make his government more effective, efficient and transparent. I can not think of other great marketer than our own president Barack Obama if we want to learn and incorporate some of his ideas into your restaurant marketing effort. Below are some of the ideas that can be incorporated into your restaurant online marketing should you want to win the 21st century restaurant race in a new digital age of web 2.0 and social media.

Communicate Effectively

Through your restaurant website or blog you should be able to communicate what exactly your restaurant specializes in. Lot of restaurant websites are generic with no one unique selling proposition. As soon as a customer checks out your restaurant website one should be able to know all the details about your restaurant from menu to contact information like phone number, address, maps and directions. I would recommend a dynamic blog over a static website because it tends to get indexed by Google, Yahoo and Msn in their search engine which would enable your restaurant to be found on the web when customers make searches for local restaurant online.Another advantage of the blog is that you can have two way communications in the form of comments when they post their feedbacks to your informative articles or new menu dishes. Alternatively you can also provide a separate link as a suggestion box for customers’ feedbacks and suggestions. So that you can make improvements whether it is the quality of food, service or any thing that needs change.

Provide Service Efficiently

One of the things that Web 2.0 technology allows to all the small restaurants is to provide leverage against the big chain restaurant by leveling the marketing field plain. It means that you also have the same online marketing tools as big chains and that you can compete at the same level. Money is not the prime factor here to decide who wins or loose. But it is the innovative online marketing ideas that wins at the end regardless of the size of the company. We see Pizza hut, Dominos and Papa Johns using online marketing effectively. So can the small restaurants if they strive to learn about it and pursue to implement the online seamless ordering system. The restaurant would be so efficient especially during the busy lunch and dinner time. Think about it, it is dinner time. People are calling on phone non stop to order pizza from your restaurant. You have one staff for telephone order taking. Since phone is analog and can handle only one customer at a time, you can only take one order at a time and not more than that. When you do it with online seamless ordering system, you can take orders for as many people as you want at one time without you having to take the orders which ultimately saves your time. Time is money after all. So integrating online ordering web based system can help your restaurant provide the service faster and accurate.

Engage your customers to participate

One of the mistakes with restaurant website design that I often see is that it is not made with the mind set of customer online interactions. Due to the lack of time or proper knowledge restaurant owners don’t seem to engage their customers on the internet. When you have a restaurant blog, then people have a chance to comment on the latest signature dishes you recently introduced. It becomes two way interactive communications between you and your customers. You will be better equipped to understand what your customers like and dislike. This way you can plan accordingly for your new seasonal menu that you might update next summer.

There are other ways you can engage them to your blog. You can have a video talent contest like Chipotle and Dunkin Donuts. Once your restaurant videos are ready you can upload it in You Tube free video sharing site. It would provide a chance for the customers to comment on the videos that you would upload in You Tube at http://youtube.com. That way it will create excitement to your customers and itself become a marketing vehicle for your restaurant. You don’t have to work as hard. Your customers are going to proactively do the marketing for you. We like to call this marketing by entertaining.

Have them submit their pictures of best moments in your restaurant. Create a flickr profile at http://flickr.com/ and make an archive of all the photos. Send them the links and they would be interested looking at not only their pictures but also other peoples pictures. It is just human’s nature to be curious.This in itself is a viral email marketing. If some of your customers like some of the videos then they would definitely email them to share with their friends and family. This would create another viral video marketing.

If you use the web 2.0 technology to your advantage and adopt just some of the online marketing techniques then your restaurant would be far ahead than those average restaurants who one day will wake up to realize that their customers have moved away to their competitor’s restaurant at a click of a mouse and push of a mobile phone button.

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Restaurant Viral Video Marketing-How Can You Create Restaurant Video On A Budget.

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

When we talk about producing a video for your restaurant it is natural to think that it is going to cost a lot of money, require expensive video recording equipments and professional actors & actresses. But that is not true. All you need is your time, a little creativity, and a cheap Flip video camera under $130.

Restaurants have happy hours, private parties held in their own party hall. People are there in your restaurant enjoying good food, drinking and having a good time. Most of the time, after a month, or some time after years, the only thing that they will remember is not the food or drinks but the good time they experienced in your restaurant. The warm, homely atmosphere and the joyful moments of laughter and fun will always be cherished in their heart for ever. But have you captured the moments of joy and happiness that your customers experienced in your restaurant in the form of  videos. These are the most valuable gifts that you can archive in You Tube video sharing site and share with your customers for years to come.

When you record the video of your customers and share, two things happen.

One they would appreciate the fact that you had taken an initiative to capture the precious moments of fun, laughter and happiness while at your restaurant. Your customers will become the most loyal fans of your restaurant.

Second you have created  a video for your restaurant virtually for free which would it self become a great marketing tool without you having to promote. This time your customers are going to proactively promote your restaurant. I call this marketing by entertaining. You entertain them and they market for you. The video would be emailed to their friends, cousins and to everyone they feel like sharing. Imagine for your self, if  you received a video clip of you and bunch of your friend,cousins having a good time at a restaurant. You would definitely want to share with all the friends and family that would be interested. Same applies to your customers.

If you are lucky you might be able to record a funny video of your customer dancing to everyone’s amusement creating hysteria among the audience. Watch the video on the top and see how simple and yet funny it is. The video has been viewed 111,849,568 times already at the time of this writing. The video can have such a viral effect. Once people like the video it gets emailed and viewed by so many, it blows your mind that a simple, cheap video can be powerful than the cheesy advertisement in the television.

Think of this now. You have captured a video that didn’t cost a dime. You didn’t have to hire a professional actors or actress. You didn’t have to take so many retakes. It all happened in one shot and no cuts. It was so natural and not cheesy. More importantly it was so hilarious that every one liked it. Who knows that video could have a viral effect.It could be viewed and downloaded millions of times. Can you imagine how powerful that viral video marketing would be for your restaurant? The potential are unlimited.

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Restaurant Video Marketing-What Can Your Restaurant Learn About Video Marketing From Dunkin Donuts.

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

Dunkin Donuts is one of my favourite coffee place where I often visit to enjoy my  coffee may be more than Starbucks. Having  interest in marketing I gravitate towards Dunkin Donuts because it embraces the new emerging technology and use it early on to stay ahead of the competition. One of the cool previous marketing video that I liked was the one with  Rachel Ray as their main PR on their website.  That was powerful.

Now this time they are taking full advantage of Free video sharing site-You Tube. As news released last year in 2008 by Quick Service Restaurant Magazine,Dunkin Donuts had launched a Dunkin Donuts brand channel on You Tube, that allows people to upload, watch and share the videos created by their own loyal customers.

Dunkin Donuts invited it’s customers from all around the United States to create and share the videos on You Tube. The theme was “How Do You Keep America Running” The Video Talent Contest went on up to  March 1st of 2008. A pannel of judges evaluated the submitted videos and chose 50 winners who received a year’s supply of Dunkin Donuts cofee. The other top 10 videos are featured in their You Tube channel as you can see it at www.youtube.com/dunkindonuts

Watch the video that was the winner of the Dunkin Donuts video talent contest. The video looks very professional and also reflects the true representation of a loyal fan who loves Dunkin Donuts. All the top 10 videos have been archived  in their You Tube Dunkin Donuts brand  channel.

I would highly recommend  you to use the same strategy to get user generated restaurant video.How cool it is to have your restaurant video created by your own customer. User generated video can be fun and true to what your customer think about your restaurant brand than an ad agency trying to fake the restaurant video ad. Also I would recommend to create your own restaurant brand channel in You Tube.

If you would like to get more idea on how Dunkin Donuts has used You Tube to create brand awareness please visit at www.youtube.com/dunkindonuts

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2 Platforms That Chefs Can Use To Create Their Own Tv Live Show Like Chef Emeril.

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

There is no doubt that Youtube has been a blessing to all of us who as an average user can upload their own videos on Youtube and broad cast virtually to the whole world. Last year in 2008 Youtube also released Youtube Live which they have wanted to release it sooner but couldn;t do it because of the technology issue and not enough resources available to do it properly at the time. However with the backing of Google, Youtube Live have been a reality.

What does Youtube Live means to the restaurant owners and the chefs around the world ?

Well, it means that any chefs can have their own tv show like Chef Emeril Live or may be even better. They can create their own lets say Italian cooking session live in their kitchen assuming you are Itlaian Restaurant which can be viewed live by  interested fans all around the world. It means that consumers have options  to watch either Chef Emeril Live show or any other Local Chef Live show that they can see on internet streaming video like Youtube or Ustream. They can choose to watch his or her local town chef Live show which resonates to his or her taste.

Another good thing is that your live show can be mobile too. It doesn’t have to be confined to the traditional tv set or the desktop in the room. The Chef Live show can move with you. Lets say I was on a road trip back to Atlanta. The Live show is at 6pm. There is no way that I can reach home to Atlanta to catch the Chef Live Show on time. No problem. iPhone is at rescue. iPhone has Youtube integrated into it. Since 3G high speed internet can handle the big video file downloads the streaming of video is smooth and the quality is great. I have seen the video on my own iPhone and the quality seems to be as good as on the computer or even TV.Verizon also has integrated the Youtube on their platform. So all the Verizonwireless subscribers with the data plans can stream these Youtube videos and Live if you choose to do so. Verizon Wireless and At&T combined has more than over 100 million subscribers. Tmobile and Google have teamed up and released GPhone with their own software anroid. I am sure they also have incorporated Youtube. So you have a great mobile audience too if you can tap into this market.

Walmart and Apple has also made a deal to offer an iPhone at a very low price of $99. Apple has strategically chosen Walmart for mass distribution. Can you imagine how many people would be persuaded to buy iPhone. Any body would buy it. Why not ? if you are getting phone, ipod and internet connection almost at the same price you would get the regular phone with no bells and whistles. What this indicates to us is that more and more people will be carrying the internet enabled mobile devices like iPhone. So it would not be at your best interest to neglect this mobile youth generation who holds the power of consumer at a touch of mobile buttons.

When I saw the ad about ustream.tv that would enable  watch the President Inauguration Live with the ustream iPhone mobile application, I was excited and wanted to try as soon it was available. It was not available on the 20th Jan 08, the day when I checked out on the internet. However I applied for the mobile application for ustream via email. On the 21st I got the email that they were approved by Apple to release the ustream.tv mobile application. I downloaded the ustream application on iPhone on the same day to check if it does work. Also I was excited to watch the President Inauguration on Ustream tv on iPhone. It gave me a connection error which was understandable considering it was their first release and that they have lots of bugs to findout as in every first release application. Well these things might not be important for us as the technicians at ustream and apple will figure out how to stream live videos flawlessly. The thing that is important to us is that once all the technological aspects are perfected how as a restaurant owners or chefs can take advantage of this technology to get your restaurant brand exposure to your loyal fan customers and may be new potential customers.

If you have iPhone I would recommend you to download ustream application from itunes.com and test for your self if does work for your restaurant chef live show. If it does you have created your own private tv network where you can create several shows about your restaurant and this time you don’t have to pay a dime to those local tv networks. If you try this experiment we would love to hear from you. Please do share your findings to us by commenting on the blog.

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Restaurants Can Have Their Own Tv Show Like Chef Emeril Live Without Paying A Dime To The Tv Network.

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment

Any body interested in Food Tv network, especially chefs, culinary professional, restaurant owners the food tv network popular show Chef Emeril Live is not a new thing for them. It has been admired by so many people who loves not only the food but the process of preparing too.

I am sure there are so many talented chefs like him around United States and around the world. They have all the skills to present a show like Chef Emeril Live. But the problem was that the television media was out of reach to the small restaurants and the chefs no matter how talented they were.  Due to the high cost there was a entry barrier problem. But with the birth of social video sharing site like Youtube the equation has been changed.

This is a good news for all the small independent restaurants with talented chefs. YouTube is now available on Sony Bravia TVs via the Bravia Internet Video Link service. Christine Tsai, product marketing manager for YouTube syndication had announced this good news mid of last year in 2008 and displayed YouTube interactive online video experience on Sony Bravia Tv. Recently YouTube have announced that it is on the beta test. Virtually this will give you a chance to create your own  food tv network channel where you can host your own version of Chef Emeril Live show. The difference is that since this is your own own tv network, you will have only your restaurant chef’s show and will never have to pay a single dime to the television network.

How can you do this with out having to pay a single dime to the television network?

I am sure every one has a handy camera nowadays. If not I would recommend Flip Video Camera which you can buy at $129. All you have to do is create your own tv show like Emeril Live. Try to be creative and show how to make some of your signature item dishes or any thing you think is appropriate. Upload it to Youtube where you can host the videos for free. If you don’t have an account, you can create an Youtube account by visiting at http://www.youtube.com/signup?next=/index

Shoot series of videos and create your own channel in Youtube or even at your website and start promoting to your loyal customers and spread the words out to every one you think would be interested. You can also be creative and create a Kitchen Talent contest inviting some of the local chefs or interested restaurant customers. This has two purposes. One it will create excitement on the show itself. Two it will encourage people to log into your website or Youtube channel you created and watch it on the Sony Bravia Tv because they want to see themselves on the tv. Chances are that they are going to email that video links to their friends and relatives, cousins and you name it just to show that they are on tv. Well any body would like to show off when they are on tv.There you go you have your own Tv show may be even better than Emeril Live. Who knows. Go for it and let me know how it went.

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The Power Of Social Media In Marketing Is Proven By Barack Obama’s Presidency? Why Your Restaurant Marketing Needs Social Media Tools Available Online For Free?

Posted on January 20, 2009 by Nash Sherchan| Leave a comment


With the 44th President Inauguration ceremony approaching so close not even few hours away, so many people are still in disbelief that this could happen in their life time. At CNN there was an argument made that had there not the internet and social media tools then probably it  would  have been impossible for Barack Obama to become the president of the United States and that dream of Martin Luther King would not have come to fruition.

I do believe that internet and innovative use of the social media tools have definitely helped him  leverage the idea diffusion and spread out his vision, capturing hearts and mind of the people all over the States and around the world. Never in the history that a political candidate was able to connect to the people on one and one personal level and have interaction two ways in this magnitude.

In the industrial age of television mass media, politicians were used to sending message only one way through television, newspaper or radio. There was no personal connection at all. It was one way communication. It was almost like a lecturer giving boring one-way lecture to smart students with no way of students’ interactions. Internet and social media tools have changed that equation and have allowed smart politician slash emarketer like  Barack Obama to bypass those traditional media and connect directly to the people sharing his vision for better America and calling upon volunteer to help him on the cause greater than themselves. Sure enough people were touched by his authenticity and lots of people provided their time to be grass root army of volunteers. Not only did they provide their valuable time to organize the campaigns but more importantly donated a small amount. The compound effect of the donation collected was so astounding, it was record breaking campaign donation collected in the history ever.

One of the fascinating things to watch as the campaign unfolded was two contrast campaign strategies. As opposed to McCain’s campaign Barack Obama started with clear vision embracing the new internet technology and social media tools. If I have to say in more of a restaurant business marketing language, Barack Obama’s campaign had a great Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The USP “Change We Can Believe In” was so simple yet effective and powerful. He had a clear idea of the change that was coming to the internet technology and new social media tools that were emerging. More importantly he understood the power of the social media tools and used them to his advantage against his much powerful, experienced and well known opponents.

Three of the social media tools that he used effectively that I can think of on top of my head right now are

  1. Face book
  2. Twitter
  3. You tube.

If you look at face book you will find how many face book users have created their own Barack Obama Fan club so to say, in their own town, city or region. This helped them to communicate, collaborate in a group. Everything they did had a compound effect because now it was a collective effort in much faster speed as they were able to communicate on a personal level two ways which they could do online or offline.

One of the thing that I remember vividly is when Barack Obama announced his vice president via mobile phones by text messages and twitter feed. That was a new thing to see from a politician. It sent me a message as a technology user. It not only did send a message about his vice president selection Joe Biden but send indirect message to young generation that he was in touch with them too. He was calling upon the new generation frustrated with the politics that goes on in Washington, to get involved in the process to make a difference in their own community and bring a change to America. No wonder there has been the highest young people participation in the voting process ever in the history.

Another social media that he used it to its full potential is You tube. He was broadcasting his message through You tube. He used the traditional media like TV too that allowed him to spread his vision. But he didn’t stop there. He made sure that he used every readily available tools to communicate not just only to Americans here in United States but virtually to the entire world via internet video connection. His grandmother in Kenya was able to watch via You tube even if Fox channel or CNN was not available there or the students at his school in Indonesia could watch on You tube on real time in the classroom.

Watch the video above presented by Your Business Channel which analyzes contrasting online marketing strategies by Barack Obama and John McCain. Learn what the emarketing experts are saying about the importance of the social media and its influence over the voters and more importantly the compound effect that it can have on the final results.  The revolution of social media has changed the landscape of politics for ever. Politicians from now on will have to make a change to their marketing strategies as internet changes and new social media emerges.

Witnessing how Barack Obama succeeded gradually step by step from no body few years ago to climb the highest post of the world as a president of United States with the effective use of all the social media tools, there is no doubt in my mind that how powerful a social media can be for any business including small restaurant if you embrace the power of social media and use it to your advantage.

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