As the official information says ‘Offers are a great way to drive new people to your business and to engage your customers. They also encourage people to talk about your Page when your offers are shared between friends’. The offer below shows a typical offer, this time for a free coffee. Set up is very simple, and at this stage there is no charge by Facebook. More at the Facebook Offers Page.

The service is in the testing phase and will hopefully be widely available soon. Is this just one more discount service, or will it be of genuine value for your business?

This is not a pretty picture – a scrawny plant battling to survive in front of a busy cafe. It’s also serving as the local ashtray and garbage bin.

BUT what if the cafe added some bags of compost, a few buckets of water and some hardy geraniums or colourful shrubs? Plus some rosemary, parsley, thyme and other herbs? And is there space for a lemon tree? Something to lift the spirits instead of depressing them. Something customers will admire, instead of frown about…

Take advantage of the new Timeline design to boost Facebook activity. There’s now much more emphasis on photos and images – it’s time to share dozens of happy photos, not just one or two.

They don’t just have to be customers and lovely plates of food. People are also interested in what’s happening ‘behind the scenes’ – show off the equipment, chefs at work, renovations, staff training etc. Lots more information on using the new changes in the Online Marketing Department.

If you have customers who park their bikes out the front, you know they can be very loyal, and want the best coffee! Then there are the riders in full lycra kit with special shoes and bikes that cost as much as a car – another breed altogether!

I see plenty of bike riders at local favourite Ruby’s Diner, and here’s a very interesting video that tells us more about this small but valuable demographic. Make friends with them…

If you can make time to visit Fine Food Queensland make sure you also make time to join this year’s exciting FREE seminar program. Valuable information and education sessions for chefs, managers, business owners and F&B staff of cafes, restaurants, caterers, hotels and clubs.

12 Seminars over 3 days – topics include:

• Kitchen Cost Control, Menu Makeover, and How to Attract More Customers in Tough Times
• Cutting Water, Gas and Electricity Costs, plus Business Design Makeover
• Smart Recruitment in 2012, plus Wages, Employment & OH&S Update
• Catering Profit Tactics, and How to Use Gourmet & Regional Produce
• Smart Pub Food, and How to be a Clever Digital Manager

Guest presenters and panellists include some of Queensland’s best operators sharing their success tips…

Check the Program Details online and Register NOW!

The Fine Food Show Seminar Program is presented by Profitable Hospitality… see you there!

Pinterest is a great (free) service for collecting photos and design ideas. As you browse the web, just click a little ‘bookmarklet’ that can be installed on your browser, and the photo is automatically added to your Pinterest collection. Here’s a quick video to show Pinterest in action, in this case collecting photos of Food Trucks.

Swapping ideas about opening a cafe or restaurant can be the most exhilarating. It can also lead to disaster. Thousands of new venues open, only to close the doors within a couple of years defeated by the daily challenges and grind.

A full day Starting a Cafe or Restaurant Workshop on Saturday 3rd March with industry expert Ken Burgin and a panel of successful operators from Café Claremont, The Livingroom Malvern, Red Spice Road Restaurant and The Local Taphouse will reveal many pitfalls to be avoided, and the secrets to their success. No doubt that running a successful restaurant or cafe should be exciting, rewarding and profitable BUT before you get there, avoiding the many traps and hidden cost is critical.

Understand how to have success with staff – your biggest expense and management challenge. Learn what equipment, design and marketing strategies will ensure an efficient and compliant operation. Discover the latest trends and important licensing, legal and purchasing issues and preparation for due diligence if you are buying a business. Finally, understanding cost control and financial management – how can you ensure your investment is viable – is essential.

A one day workshop – Saturday March 3rd at Red Spice Road Restaurant. See Starting a Cafe or Restaurant Workshop Melbourne.

These videos are becoming a bit relentless, but here’s one that definitely strikes a chord. Every waiters dread…

OK, bear with me here as I fit together different parts of a story…

Food writer Dianne Jacob writes an interesting blog about ‘the business of food writing’. She had a great post recently called First Write the Blog, then Write the Cookbook

“People who want to write a cookbook contact me all the time. Friends tell them they should write a cookbook, because their cooking is just that good. Great, I say. But it’s not that simple. Enthusiasm from friends, family and fellow employees is not what excites a publisher. What turns on publishers is a cunning idea, writing chops and a platform. Now if these potential authors would start a blog instead, they might get published…”

Some months before, cool English baker Dan Lepard gave advanced notice on Twitter of his new book Short & Sweet, allowing me to score a great bargain at Amazon (twitter’s good like that). Dan’s already got a few books under his belt – he’s no beginner in the Dianne Jacob sense. But out of his enthusiasm, blogging, tweeting and generosity, he’s built up a following that will follow him anywhere. Social media’s good like that!

Some of the fans have now spontaneously started their own blog called Short and Tweet, where each week they compete to do the best version of a recipe from his latest book. Is this enthusiasm or what?! I thought this was his doing, but when I asked via Twitter, I got this reply:

It’s a lovely example of Dianne’s formula: great product plus lots of regular, high-quality communication with fans, followers and customers. Keep cooking, keep blogging and tweeting, and publishers are sure to come knocking!

I’m not alone in enjoying Gary Vaynerchuk’s forthright and insightful comments on marketing.

Here he takes on the Oprah Winfrey team for doing old-fashioned ‘push marketing’ – trying to ram stories down the throat of the customer, via Twitter. It just doesn’t work any more! Ring any bells for anyone?