Over the past year I've heard from a bunch of you and the common thread I always seem to hear is how much you love the freebies and giveaways. So I've tried hard to make more of them - workbooks that correspond with a given episode, or cheatsheets, or spreadsheets. Since the start of the year I've tried to provide more resources for you. Anything to help make your lives easier. So on today's episode I'm recapping ALL of the resources I've shared and including all of the links below. Happy listening

Creativity is a renewable resource. It’s one of the few things in this world where the more you mine, the more that appears. Best of all, it’s not reserved for the chosen few… rather it's something we all have at our disposal. Today, I want to talk all about what creativity is, where it comes from, how we can tap into it to grow our businesses, and the best way to inspire your team to do the same. 

I share a simple 4-step process you can use to start putting these ideas into practice, plus there's a free workbook to help you get going. 

When it comes to water safety, the data is clear: there are two skills children need to master before they get into a pool. The first is how to swim, obviously. And the other is how to tread water. Those are the two things that can substantially increase their chance of surviving in the off chance that they fall in. 

But when it comes to business, too many people focus on the latter at the expense of the former. If you're on a boat and you fall overboard, it makes sense to stay put, tread water, and wait for the boat to loop back around and return for you. But in almost every other instance it makes sense to just swim to shore. 

The metaphor works for restaurants -- especially now as we're in the throes of this global health crisis -- because too many of us are waiting to be saved. Just treading water until some comes to our rescue. On this week's epside we're talking all about changing your mindset... how to go from "treading water" to "swimming to shore."

Back on Episode #15 I shared my original Top Ten List, and it went so well that I'm going to share ten more. Below you'll find links to all 20 titles so you can purchase them for yourself on Amazon... most (if not all) of the titles are available in book form, as well as on Kindle and Audible. Happy Reading!!!

In theory, running a business is a somewhat simple affair. You make a thing and then charge people more for that thing than it cost you to produce it. This is what it means to run a profitable business. And of course, that’s what all of us want, right? To build a business that is inherently profitable… 

And yet, for years now in the restaurant industry, it’s been death by a thousand cuts. As all costs go up, profitability goes down. And still, as an industry, we’ve just held on tight… determined to maintain the status quo. And yet the numbers don’t lie. They never do. In fact, the numbers tell us what is and is not possible. And that's why this is the perfect time to be talking about this.

Best of all, I'm sharing my budget template... the one I built more than a decade ago, and use with all of my clients. It is available now on the Restaurant Strategy website. 

This week, I’m thrilled to be speaking with Richard Jones, CMO of Cheetah Digital. The company describes itself as a cross-channel customer engagement solution provider. They offer everything from acquisition to loyalty and have worked with some of the world’s biggest brands including American Express, Hilton, Walgreens, and Williams-Sonoma.

Over the past two months he’s been working tirelessly to help brands navigate this crisis, and on this week's episode we talk all about what restaurant owners can be doing now to SURVIVE... and what they should be planning to THRIVE. 

Why should I eat at your restaurant instead of the one down the street? 

Because you’re "better"? 

Better in what way? And says who? And when did they decide that? And what criteria did they use to make their decision? Using "better" as an argument to attract customers is a trap that a lot of marketers fall into and I want to show you specific ways to avoid it.

This week's episode is the third and final installment of the Positioning Trilogy... three episodes all about how you can successfully position your product in the minds of your customers.

On last week's episode we began discussing the idea of Positioning... a key concept that marketers use to introduce consumers to a new idea or product. On today's episode we're going to build on that by exploring these 5 words: First, Last, Best, Most, Only.

What do they have in common? They're words used to position a brand at the edges. It's about going to the extremes, and the key to its success is that only one brand can claim a given word. In many ways, it's about exclusivity. There can be only one Harvard, only one Corvette, only one Alinea. It immediately sets a company apart within their particular category.

Think of how marketers use these words either explicitly or implicitly in their communications.

By identifying which of these positions you can adopt (or which ones you already own), you can identify key ways to attract new audiences.

Humans are remarkably bad at remembering new information. It's why eyewitness testimony is so unreliable. Usually repetition is required to make an impression. In an attempt to shortcut the system, marketers have used a concept called "positioning" to embed themselves into the minds of prospective consumers.

And companies use it on you every single day, all day long... 

On this week's episode I share a bunch of examples to help hammer home this idea: Coke, Standford, Chevrolet, Apple, Mast Brother's Chocolate, and more. 

What does the future of our industry look like? This is something I'm been thinking about a lot uring this crisis, and I'm sure I'm not alone. The way I see it, there are three distinct phases: 

Our immediate future -- meaning today, tomorrow, next week -- and the question is how do we continue to get creative during the shutdown?

The near future -- meaning the next 6-9 months. How do we reopen our restaurants, welcome patrons back in, and put them at ease? Especially if the government is still imposing strict social distancing guidelines?

The after -- meaning the years to come. When the restrictions all get lifted, what are we going to do to make our businesses more successful than ever before? What will we have learned from all of this, and how will that knowledge shape our industry?

Join me for a look at what could be... 

Also remember, I'm launching two summer workshops and admission is still half price anytime this month!!!