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Celebrate the Oscars and Emmys at Your Restaurant

Nov 21
Posted by Daniel in bar tips and advice, fun, restaurant seating, restaurant tips and advice

red carpet

There are a large number of people who absolutely love to watch the Oscars, the Emmys and all of the different award shows. Some people even have parties and invite their friends over so they can watch the shows together. As a restaurant owner, you want to be able to draw people into your venue, and a great way to do that is to capitalize on events such as these.

You will want to start your promotions early. In fact, have an entire week dedicated to the award show, and even rename some of your dishes for movies, shows, directors, etc. For example, last year you could have had a True Grits breakfast dish that comes with grits rather than oatmeal. Coming up with names and specials should be easy enough to do.

If you have a large television, you might want to host a special night for the awards show and let people come to your establishment to watch. Turn it into a red carpet event of your own and charge an entrance fee that includes dinner and a glass of wine. You could even make it a formal or semiformal affair if you want. If you are going to do this, you need to make sure that you have the proper amount of restaurant seating and that it is comfortable enough for people to use throughout the duration of the show.

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Email Lists can Work for Restaurant Promotions

Oct 16
Posted by Daniel in bar tips and advice, Restaurant, restaurant tips and advice

More than likely, you’ve been asked to provide your email address for promotions through various online companies, and even brick and mortar stores that you frequent. These promotions can work for restaurants as well, but you have to make sure that you do it the right way.

Keep in mind that some people don’t like to sign away their email address to strangers. They are afraid of getting spammed and hacked, and you really can’t blame them. As great as technology is, it also comes with a lot of problems. Never tell someone that they have to sign up, as this can get a lot of people angry. Instead, have your employees point out the email signup book and let the customers know that you will be sending coupons and special offers through the address, and that is the only thing that you will be doing. Let them know that you aren’t going to sell the addresses to anyone else.

You can have a book at the front of the restaurant where people can sign up. You should also have a form or an email address on your website that people can use to sign up if they don’t want to sign up while they are at the restaurant.

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Conventions Mean Big Business for Bars and Restaurants

Sep 28
Posted by Daniel in bar tips and advice, Restaurant, restaurant tips and advice

If you are fortunate enough to be running a bar or restaurant in a medium to large sized city, you probably have conventions roll through occasionally. These conventions bring a large number of people into the city that are from out of town, and those people are going to need to eat and find nightly entertainment. Your bar or restaurant could do some great business if you start advertising to the convention goers early.

You will be able to find out when the convention is months in advance, and that is the time to start targeting the conventioneers. Contact the people who are hosting the convention and tell them that you want to offer special discounts and coupons for all of the attendees. See if you can send them the coupons to be placed in packets for the people attending. You can also ask to drop off stacks of coupons when the convention gets underway.

Another great way of letting the attendees know about your restaurant is to contact the hotels in the area and ask if you can place coupons in their rooms or at the front desk. If they have their own restaurant onsite, they might not be agreeable immediately, but it never hurts to ask.

Granted, the convention is only going to boost your business for a few days, while the convention is happening. However, if there are a number of conventions in your city, you will find that by promoting to convention goers, you can make extra money that will keep your eatery going during the slower times.

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Host a Karaoke Night to Boost Business in Your Bar

Sep 05
Posted by Daniel in bar tips and advice, fun, restaurant tips and advice

They thought it was a fad. They thought it would die off. They thought wrong. Karaoke is here to stay, and that means that you might want to look into hosting a karaoke night at your bar. Even if you don’t happen to be a fan, there are plenty of people out there that love karaoke. You want to keep your customers happy, and you want to gain more customers, right? This can be a great way to do it.

You will find many different types of karaoke machines that you can buy for your bar, from simple little machines to large machines with PA systems. The one you choose will depend on the size of your bar and how often you think you might be using it. Make sure that you have a huge song selection for the machine. You want to be able to appeal to as many people as possible and the more songs available the better.

Rather than just buying a machine and placing it in the corner of your bar to gather dust, you need to make sure that you advertise your special karaoke night. Start your ads several weeks in advance. Make sure that you announce it on your website and blog and all of the different social networks. Tell everyone on your bar’s fan page to let their friends know. Perhaps you can coincide the night with an extended happy hour that goes until closing time, just to boost interest. (more…)

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Customers Make the Best Marketers for Your Bar and Restaurant

Sep 01
Posted by Daniel in bar tips and advice, Restaurant, restaurant tips and advice

by Ethan Hein

Even if you have a million ideas for promoting your bar or restaurant, you might find that none of them work. That is just the nature of the game. There are so many variables when it comes to marketing that you can never be sure of what is going to work. However, one of the tried and true methods of boosting business and sales has always been word of mouth. You want to have people talking and saying great things about your restaurant or bar, and you want those people to be genuine. While your employees and you might say great things, when it comes from the mouth of one of your actual customers, it is going to hold more weight.

How can you get your customers to start talking about your establishment? You will find that many of them already do. If you want them to spread the word even further, you might want to consider offering them some benefits for preaching the gospel of your bar or restaurant. Here is a simple way that you can do that.

Print up some business cards with your establishment’s name, number and address on them. You will also want to add a space on the card where your customer can print his or her name. The card is also a coupon that offers a discount of 10 to 15 percent for anyone who brings it into your place. The discount can be for meals, drinks, or anything that you like.

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Pass Out Drink and Food Coupons for Your Restaurant

Aug 21
Posted by Daniel in bar tips and advice, Restaurant, Restaurant Furniture, restaurant tips and advice

After a well deserved holiday we are back with more tips and advice on how to keep your restaurants and bars going and how to keep making profits even in these hard economical times. This time it’s all about coupons and discounts and how to make them work for you without loosing money:

Every bar owner wants to have a nice establishment where people can feel comfortable and have a great time. They put effort into picking out the right tables and seating, knowing that it is very important, and they make sure that the ambiance in the place is just right for the clientele they want to attract. When things don’t immediately go their way, they are sometimes tempted to give up. Now is the time to start promoting harder though! All of the hard work that promotion entails is well worth it. Here is a simple way to get more people to come into your bar in the next couple of weeks.

Coupon is a word that you generally only think of when you are heading to the grocery store or maybe a restaurant. You can use them for your bar as well though, and they can be very effective. When you create your coupons, you want to make sure that you offer some real incentives for people to come into your bar. Buy two get one free coupons are always nice. Offer 50 percent off appetizers if you have finger foods at the bar. You need to make sure that you have an expiration date on your coupon, otherwise people could take advantage.

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