People are fascinated by the daily life of a restaurant, cafe or bar, so why not share a few secrets?
Here are two very easy options to do this for free: choose your own design, title etc and post words, pictures, comments etc. Put a link to the diary (blog) from your website so it's easy to find. Let's get started:
Method #1 (very, very easy): use Posterous - all you have to do is email a photo from your PC. Or snap a picture with your mobile or iPhone and send it to the email they provide. It recognises your email address and drops it into the diary.
Here's how I use it for sharing photos. If you've been wondering about Twitter, it will automatically send each new post to your Twitter a/c. Nothing to do except snap, email and that's it - now you're blogging and twittering. Posterous has a very easy and helpful setup page on their site. Update: here's another one from Nick at Cafe Bido.
Method #2 (very easy): use the free Blogger service. Set-up takes 2 minutes and a photo you want to share. Start here and click through, choosing a name and design. Write your first post with a comment on a photo that shows something about your business (examples below). Check a few bloggers: Pilu Restaurant (great work just using photos), Freestyle (photos and stories) and The Local Taphouse (they like to talk).
Now give it 5 minutes each week: you already use email, and snap photos with your phone, plus you have a ton of photos on the PC. Just share them on your new blog, and invite staff to contribute.
Topics to photograph and post: a new dish, the new wine choices, happy customers, Halloween photos, staff at work, something you like in your street or town. Other information to blog: announce local events, your weekly music list (if that's your thing), menu ideas, seasonal produce update, staff favourites etc.
But how do I find the time? Will this really take time away from your other marketing work - or is that neglected anyway? If your time-management is shot, avoiding this 5 minute project won't fix things! It's a bigger issue (and it's important) but not a reason to ignore something so effective and simple. If you want to make more time, buying another clock won't do it!
Profitable Hospitality offers management and cost-control systems (Manuals & CD-ROMs) for restaurants, cafes, hotels, bars and clubs. The systems are based on the extensive consulting and operating experience of CEO Ken Burgin, and enable busy owners and managers to set up complete operating and cost-control systems in minutes, not months. Profitable Hospitality also runs regular management training workshops in the areas of kitchen profit & efficiency, restaurant marketing and functions management. A free monthly e-newsletter keeps you up to date on the latest industry management issues. www.profitablehospitality.com.