RESTAURANT STRATEGY

#42 - Building Your 2020 Marketing Calendar What’s the product? Who’s it for? And how can you reach them?  That’s what all marketing boils down to. The ways in which we reach people will constantly change, but the first two should never change. If you can get clear on those, you’ll have a leg up on your competition. In fact, this is what I spend most of my life doing - helping restaurants and chefs get clear answers to those first two questions. The rest of my time is spent brainstorming ideas, and figuring out the best ways to reach audiences, and the most effective ways to promote our products. The way I do that is by getting organized. Organization requires a long term view… not working a week at a time, not a month, but for the entire year ahead. On this week’s episode I’ll be helping you build your 2020 Marketing Calendar, and sharing a link to download a killer template you can use to do it. CLICK HERE to get your 2020 Marketing Calendar  GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#41 - Marketing Holidays The holiday season means big business for the restaurant industry. People are going out more and celebrating… friends and families get together, there are office parties, plus people are spending more than they normally would… there’s a festive energy in the air and people are more willing to indulge. And still, restaurants can hardly seem to keep up with the demand. For most restaurants it’s an all-out sprint to the end of the year; we hardly have time to look around. This week is a short little episode with a big lesson wrapped up inside. Happy Holidays, everyone! GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#40 - All You Need is 1,000 True Fans Kevin Kelly is an author, editor, public speaker, and technologist who, whether you’re aware of it or not, has been quietly changing the world for the past 40 years. Tech geeks will know him as the founding executive editor of WIRED magazine, but he’s also been a pioneer in the world of virtual reality and AI programming. He got his first shot of real fame in 2010 with the release of a book called “What Technology Wants.” And found further notoriety with the follow-up to that — another brilliant book titled “The Inevitable.” This episode, however, is about a little essay he wrote in 2008 called 1,000 True Fans. The link to the essay is below, along with a workbook I've created specifically for this episode. I hope you get as much out of Kevin Kelly's ideas as I have. Read Kevin Kelly's essay:1,000 True Fans DOWNLOAD THE TRUE FANS WORKBOOK HERE ... or simply visit www.ChipKlose.com/truefans GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#39 - Jon Taffer's Brilliant  Advice for Building Repeat Business There’s a YouTube clip that’s famous at this point in marketing circles. Perhaps you’ve seen it. Gary Vaynerchuk, marketing superstar and head of Vayner Media, hosts a show called Ask Gary Vee. It’s a call-in show, and each episode he has on a different co-host. Back in 2017 on Episode #257, Gary sat with Jon Taffer, the host of a TV show called Bar Rescue on the Paramount Network. Now, a young guy calls in with questions about how to promote his family’s barbecue restaurant, and what followed was four and a half minutes of absolute gold. I’ve linked to it above so if you’ve never watched it, go take the time to watch it now. In this week's episode we’re going to break it down, and talk about what it can mean for your restaurant. Read Kevin Kelly's essay: 1,000 True Fans GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#38 - INTERVIEW: David Stockwell, Owner of Faun Restaurant I met David Stockwell a few years back when I was working on a documentary web series called SMELL TOUCH TASTE. We profiled 4 restaurants in the summer of 2017 and now just two years later, 3 of them are already closed. The only one that’s survived? Faun Restaurant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, owned and operated by today’s guest, David Stockwell. The thing is, though, his resume is not something you would’ve bet on. All of the other chefs and owners I interviewed for that web series were career hospitality folks, professionals with impressive credits and beautiful restaurants. David though, changed course mid-career, leaving a steady job as an architect to bring his restaurant dreams to life. There's something I really love about how David approaches his work, and I think there’s a lot to be learned in this interview. He has come at this new career in restaurants as a true outsider and so he’s always questioning his decisions, never afraid to say he doesn’t know the answer. It’s a quality I’m trying to bring to my own work these days, and so I was glad to be able to reconnect with him. Enjoy! Read Kevin Kelly's essay: 1,000 True Fans Get Danny Meyer's bestselling book, Setting the Table GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#37 - What I Learned Running the NYC Marathon The NYC Marathon happens every year on the first Sunday in November. It is without a doubt, one of the coolest events of the year -- something the entire city comes out for. It has long been a dream of mine to run it, and this past week that dream was realized. After 17 years of wishing, a year of planning, and 6 months of intense training I ran the New York City Marathon. And it may not be immediately obvious, but I think the Marathon has a lot to do with marketing. Or at least there are lessons that can be applied to what we do marketing our restaurants. Don’t believe me? Listen in for my Top Ten Takeaways from this year’s race.  Then CLICK HERE to download the Marathon Workbook!! CONTINUING EDUCATION: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - (LINK) GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#36 - 8 Ways to Pack the Place on Monday Night A restaurant can't survive on Friday and Saturday nights. We pay rent all seven days of the week, and so it behooves us to fill up those other five days. And yet so often businesses limp along all week and then try to grind it out all weekend long. That approach may work for a while, but it's not a long-term strategy. In time you and your staff will burn out or things will simply fade away. In this week's episode I'm sharing my approach for how to fill that downtime business - 8 different ideas for boosting business on those off nights. CONTINUING EDUCATION: Entrepreneur Magazine - "Thinking Outside the Box" - (LINK) GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#35 - Use Content Strategy to Build Trust with your Guests I always like to say that businesses these days need to think of themselves as mini-media companies, putting out consistent, high-quality content on a weekly basis. But what does that mean, content? Stick around because in this week’s episode I’m going to explain what content strategy is… I’m going to show you how it can help your business… and then I’m going to explain the best ways to get started. If you’re struggling to gain traction, or you’ve been wondering what else you can do to move the needle in your business, this is one episode you don’t want to miss. CONTINUING EDUCATION: Content Chemistry GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#34 - Kill 'em with Kindness There’s this thing in our industry… call it tradition or whatever… where the Chef is often portrayed as this tyrant, lording over the kitchen. Slamming pots and pans, screaming at the cooks, and striking fear into the servers that dare to enter that sacred space. But the longer I spend in the industry, the more I’ve been questioning that behavior. This episode is an addendum of sorts to the string of episodes I did a few week back where we talked about leadership, staffing, and management. I'm going to make the case that treating people the right way is the only way to build a successful business. The restaurant industry is always slow to change, but I want to help all of us find a better way forward. And yes… I promise it all comes back to marketing your restaurant.  CONTINUING EDUCATION: The Power of Nice GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#33: INTERVIEW - Alexander LaPratt, Master Sommelier This week I'm thrilled to bring you another interview, and trust me it's a good one. I sat down with Alexander LaPratt, Master Sommelier and owner of two neighborhood restaurants here in Brooklyn: Atrium DUMBO and Beasts & Bottles. His journey in the industry has taken him from Detroit where he got his start to Napa where we worked for Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, before finally making his way to New York City, where he's worked with some giants: Daniel Boulud at Daniel, Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten at his flagship property in Columbus Circle. He talks honestly about the secret sauce for each of those restaurants, and explains how he applied what he'd learned to his own restaurants. In all the interview is nearly two hours long, but well worth your time. If you've ever dreamed of running your own restaurant or if you're struggling to get your place up off the ground, I urge you to listen in! Atrium DUMBO - LINK Beasts & Bottles - LINK Court of Master Sommeliers - LINK Restaurant Daniel - LINK Jean Georges - LINK The French Laundry - LINK Le Bernardin - LINK CONTINUING EDUCATION: GRIT by Angela Duckworth GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com