JetSet Sounds is the product of a unique collaboration between a collection of Boston’s pre-eminent Club DJs. Combined they have thrilled crowds at virtually every elite Boston nightclub, a span which has seen JetSets founders in the booth at legendary Boston nightspots from Club Nicole in the early 90s, to Avalon, Embassy, Sound Factory, straight through to a current residency at The Estate Boston.

With a collective repertoire that envelops the current music scene and caters to an international following, these are truly the music trendsetters for Boston right now. Playing for ethnically diverse crowds that prominently features Middle Eastern, European, Latin, and Asian music lovers, their ability to consistently bring new sound that thrills the throngs is why they are on the top of the club world in Boston today. To thrive in a scene with such demands, these DJs are able to read crowds, almost magically tailoring their performance in a way that ignites the party creating a unity in the pursuit of an amazing evening. That is why outside of the clubs where they play, you have to know someone to hear them perform.

JetSet Sounds was founded on a belief that your celebration can and should have music coordinated by experienced DJs that are plugged into the music scene, DJs who are currently defining the cutting edge Boston club sound, and that it should be possible for you to privately hire these very DJs who practice it as a full time profession. That Belief means that their events are NEVER sub-contracted out to other DJs, a common practice that JetSet frowns upon.

JetSet Sounds is an exclusive DJ service that focuses on those who know the difference between electronic music and the electric slide, their goal is to deliver a one of a kind evening tailored to music lovers. With event availability limited due to their current residencies and their insistence not to sub-contract, contact JetSet Sounds early to lock up your date.

There is a reason that guests feel good when a bartender remembers their name, or like to say they ‘know the owner’, or are thrilled if the chef visits their table. Restaurants offer three things: 1) delicious food+drink, 2) the service of not having to shop/cook/serve/or clean, and 3) human interaction. Don’t forget the third one, especially when your guests are online and they are getting: No Food and No Service, why take away the human interaction too? That is what they are looking for, and you already know that your guests like to know you.

So some quick advice, DO these things:

1) Be you by using your name, face, and of course that means speaking as yourself.

2) Highlight people that work for you just as much as the products you sell.

3) Encourage your employees to post/share/tweet the things that they are doing at your restaurant.

Your restaurant is your stage, and you and your staff are the stars of that stage, stop and sign a few autographs don’t just hand out the menu. They can get a faceless, all business, interaction anywhere.

What do you think? I love working with restaurant managers and owners to create positive change in their marketing efforts, so if you are interested in what I would do for your place do not hesitate to contact me.

So lets get beneath the buzzwords and the noise that is associated with them for a moment. Social media is both of the following for your restaurant: a fantastic tool for communicating your messages and a way of listening that connects the top of an organization to the customers pulse, immediately and without filters.

Your presence should be consistent, creative, and committed. Do not ever feel anonymous or that you are unseen, you have an audience however big or small, and they are watching. Speak to them, interact with them, share ideas with them, share ideas from individuals with the rest of your audience. Its a mental leap for some, but try to imagine an auditorium filled with each of your twitter followers or facebook friends, all neatly sitting in their seats listening to you. When you finish they don’t get up and leave, they stay speaking amongst themselves and to you. Are you listening to what they are saying to you or are you only concerned with them listening to you? A man in the front raises his hand to ask you a question, wouldn’t you acknowledge him promptly and respond if you were on stage in front of him? In social media, your business via its online presence, is on stage 24-7 and without proper care it can appear neglected, indifferent, or downright selfish.

It can also be an invaluable chance to grow customer relationships and allows future customers a chance to become comfortable with your concept, help them identify with your values, and move toward the decision to come in and try it out. Show them what you are about via pictures, video, blog posts, status updates, and newsletter style emails. Consistently, creatively, and committed to your values all along the way. You will see that as your community/audience grows, more and more of them will join in your following in real life too. Just remember even though you can’t see that guys face in the front row, he is there, and if you ignore him he may just get up and leave.

That type of social media content creation, management, and delivery is what my company GuestFeed does for our stellar restaurant clients, allowing them to focus on the operation of their business while benefiting from a social presence that their competitors envy. I am always here to answer questions, give suggestions, and take advice from you; so do not hesitate to contact me. I am on twitter sharing all the time too: @spirocks

Why Enrique Matos Deserves Your Vote November 2nd

Candidate for Massachusetts State Representative from Essex County’s 16th District, Enrique Matos believes change has to begin with sound fiscal policies intended to bring Lawrence economic strength and stability. Enrique’s agenda is explained specifically below, clear and direct, unlike any of his competitors. Each of the following ideas is intended to achieve the most important goal for Lawrence, the ability to control its own budgets, and with that it’s future. One thing is for sure; we all know drastic change is needed. Enrique Matos is ready to work with any individual or group that has constructive ideas for Lawrence, and he has a vision to grow Lawrence and return pride and respect to a city rich in tradition and built by industry.

Enrique’s Agenda:

Make Lawrence a Sales-Tax-Free Zone. It is time those running this state far from the New Hampshire border hear from someone who has seen his community decay while Salem NH thrives, much like similar border cities: Lowell/Nashua and Havehill/Plaistow. A Sales Tax Free Zone would encourage businesses big and small to open and hire people from Lawrence. It would do this by attracting consumers to purchase goods in Lawrence. Enrique Matos will work with the State government, business associations and the U. S. Department of Commerce to develop the most effective plans. Most importantly he will be a voice from the community, for the community, one he has lived in and run a business in.

In addition:
Enrique plans to advocate for the establishment a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) at the Lawrence Airport. A Foreign Trade Zone, developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, would bring foreign investment to Lawrence and produce “spin-off” industries running the gamut from Warehousing to Hospitality. The hundreds, potentially thousands, of new jobs will enable citizens of Lawrence to build prosperous lives here, give them the confidence to start new businesses, and produce new sources of revenues for the City of Lawrence.

Also:
An Enrique Matos victory this November would at last take advantage of the many groups working to bring economic development to Lawrence. Enrique’s Business Alliance with these groups would focus squarely on: Coordinating with the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, listening to the Workforce Investment Board and the Chambers of Commerce, and supporting groups like Groundworks Lawrence. There are many organizations that work daily to bring development to Lawrence and the Valley. It is time for them to be rewarded by a representative that wants the best for Lawrence. There are plenty of amazing people with good ideas and plans just waiting for support and implementation – and for the hard work of a dedicated State Rep that can make Lawrence an economic powerhouse once more.

Today’s advice is to take the kind of tone and approach I just used in the preceding paragraph to reach out to your audience in a human and humble way. One of the most powerful ‘arguments’ you can make to your audience is one that they identify with. So what the hell does that mean? Well, for example, Mothers identify with stories about childbirth, its easy to see what I mean right?

So how does this work for restaurants trying to have people identify with them? There are a few was to go about it, but in all of them you need to make it simple, come across in a human caring way, and have your audience feel comfortable with your message. More specifically, a restaurant that has a private room for events could create content about bridal showers as spring approached and holiday parties as the end of the year came into view. People who are planning such events will identify with those messages almost certainly. It can also be as simple as posting a picture of a ridiculously delicious burger and the caption ‘mmmmm’ that someone can identify with.

It is quite easy for restaurants in that regard, imagine trying to get people to identify with corporate networking gear or something equally as inane. Just remember, keep it simple, human, and comfortable. That is what I do with great success for my clients at GuestFeed, so I know it works.

True breakthrough success is not about the latest distribution software, the best analytics provider, or any other technological gadgetry. Though I love using such things.

It is about creating unique and compelling content that speaks to the individuals in your circle. Content that allows them to identify in a human way with what you are doing, and allows them to decide that under your roof is where the best stuff happens.

For restaurants, it’s a mixture of professional and amateur photos, ‘reality’ videos shot during business, reminder posts about specials and events, participating in interaction with guests and employees, writing quick blog posts about dishes/philosophy/ingredients/cocktails, and sharing it all in email newsletters, its about a multi-faceted broadcast of your restaurant ecosystem.

You are amazing at what you do, Be Real, Be Open, Be Yourself.

That is the foundation for what I do to promote my businesses, and the Mantra for how we promote the amazing businesses we represent at GuestFeed. Our clients are small businesses that are very good at what they do, who want their online presence to be as good as their brick and mortar one is. They are consistently pursuing the top of their market and recognize that a lackluster presence in social media is unacceptable to that goal. For less than a quarter page magazine print ad, GuestFeed delivers just that, every month.

Social Media for Hospitality, it’s what I do.

It started with a guestfeed photo post of a dessert from our client Evenfall Restaurant:

So as you can see a photo of the dessert was posted, and Evenfall had a chance to connect with a potential customer in front of thousands of other facebook users.

Next a subsequent facebook post about a menu item, posted via GuestFeed’s own facebook application ‘the social market’ highlights a new menu item and invites more interaction with this particular guest.

GuestFeed seized the opportunity to let the customer know they would be happy to host him for his bday, and that interaction is again a running dialogue in front of countless others.

It worked:

Using his iphone, the customer checked in at Evenfall after seeing the GuestFeed supplied checkin reminder sign in the men’s room, and lets his whole social circle know where he is spending his birthday dinner.

GuestFeed notified the manager on duty who personally delivered his birthday plate, and introduced himself and said thank you for being a part of their social network.

After Dinner happened:

There is no substitute for organically derived ‘word of mouth’ recommendations. GuestFeed generates them by facilitating the interactions, before-during-after, the guest’s visit and it allows management a window into their guests expectations for the evening.

It has Mr. Arbo pleased, acknowledged, and looking forward to his girlfriends bday dinner next month. (He booked as he left)

What do you think?

1. Tell us why you are special, and what beliefs you have that led you to do what you do.
2. Earn expert status in your field by doing #1 with an equal mix of sharing what other experts are writing, thinking, and doing. You can’t just talk about yourself.
3. Do this daily while understanding that you are talking to a lot of real people all at once and one at a time.

Yes that is simple, and by doing just that you will reap much of the value social media has to offer.

Each of these things can be elaborated to the 100th degree, you can ‘Tell Us’ in #1 by writing consistent blog entries, and by creating HD video of your kitchen creating food, and by taking photos that inspire customers to come eat, by distributing them on a set schedule via twitter/facebook/foursquare, and by delivering it all together with rich email marketing to your proven customers.

It takes time and a genuine commitment to always keep up the flow of content creation/distribution, to keep the story going. That is why I created GuestFeed a service that does all this for restaurants. Not because you can’t do all the things I wrote about above, but because I have run restaurants for my entire adult life and I know if you can get something done very very well for a very fair price, you do it. In this business you have the daily operation to keep your eye on, employees to monitor, new ideas to construct. So if you want a service that delivers everything I listed above for less than the price of a small print ad every month, check us out. If you are going to go it alone, I will be here writing for you, with my ideas and experience so be sure to check back and contact me if you like.

]]> http://www.spiropappadopoulos.com/blog/2010/10/simple-social-media-success-for-restaurants/feed/ 0 http://www.spiropappadopoulos.com/blog/2010/09/social-media-intimacy-restaurant-marketing/ http://www.spiropappadopoulos.com/blog/2010/09/social-media-intimacy-restaurant-marketing/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:51:03 +0000 admin http://www.spiropappadopoulos.com/blog/?p=21 Ok I grant you this: Intimacy is a personal feeling, Social Media Intimacy in marketing, is a slightly foreign concept. Some have even told me they think it is almost an oxymoron, that people run from intimacy online. Here is why they are wrong, especially in restaurant marketing.

First why intimacy in social media is crucial to effectiveness: When you write a blog post, manage your twitter or facebook, create content with photos and video, send out an email newsletter, etc… remember one thing: You are writing to one person. Although you may have 950 followers, 1500 facebook friends, an email list of 3200 names… each and every one is viewing as an individual. You can and should speak to them as such, do not dumb down the intimacy because you reach so many. Pick a name out of your list, Sandra Octavio for instance, she is reading the email newsletter alone… in that moment it is just you and her. Take advantage of that intimacy by treating it with care and a genuine desire to connect and communicate with her.

This is doubly important for restaurants as they use social media to market themselves, intimacy is a basic foundation of the business itself. When you open a restaurant, you are asking members of the public to purchase and eat your food and drink, what is more intimate than that on a business level? There is a fundamental level of trust and intimacy involved in the act of eating. On that foundation the social aspect of visiting a restaurant is clear cut and undeniable, people love to get out of the house and interact with the bartender, the server, other patrons, the owner/manager… spend and evening in a successful restaurant and watch it happen all around you. By joining your email list, following you on twitter or facebook, or visiting your blog they are actively continuing that interaction outside the walls of your establishment. It is an amazing and fortunate position to be in, it is also a new responsibility in hospitality. That is; if your restaurant has a presence in social media you must continue the interaction or seem indifferent to their value to your business, and to wholly tap the value of the interaction, you must maintain the intimacy throughout.

You are not communicating with your followers ‘en masse’ you are doing so individually one at a time. Remember that and it will make all the difference. That is what I do when I help restaurants market themselves via social media with my company GuestFeed so I know it works. Try it and let me know.

But think of the way this comes across to your audience, followers, or customers. You are mailing it in, you are doing what you have to do, there is no interaction, there is no flavor. There is no personal touch.

The personal touch is what makes so many experiences special, it means thoughtfulness, presence, and a genuine care for the customers needs are taken into account. People love that feeling, and it isn’t that common. So to truly get the best results from your social media marketing you need to bring that personal touch into the mix.

Let your uniqueness out. Share the mistakes your restaurant has made, what you have done to fix them, share funny stories that happen there, interact with your customers, comment on their photos etc… be human. The response will be that much greater.

Include photos and videos of your staff, your food, and your customers… show the world what you are doing and there are bound to be plenty of people that want to check it out.

Write blog posts about things going on currently in people’s lives, it is graduation season, what does your restaurant have to offer? Blog it.

Your email marketing should come across as if it is from an individual at the restaurant, someone who is sharing new menu items, new specials, upcoming events, pictures and videos, and deals.

All of these things and more are what I do to promote restaurants, via social media, through GuestFeed, so I know it works. If you make it human and connect with your customers, social media takes on a hugely more important place in your overall business generation effort.