Talking Circle

According to Share Our Strength, food banks across the country are facing big spikes due to tough economic conditions. Some food banks they fund are reporting a 40- to 50-percent increase in demand.

Donating just $5 will make a big difference.

“With the help of AT&T and the Mobile Giving Foundation, you can now simply text the word “SHARE” to 20222 on your mobile device to make a $5 donation to Share Our Strength. Wireless users can choose to donate once, twice or even up to five times to contribute. By working together, our $5 donations can help feed millions of children.

Looking For Other Ways To Get Involved?

If you can’t donate at this time, then check out Strength.org for information on other ways to get involved, including holding a food drive or helping us get the word out.

Please share this message of giving with others to support our important cause, and encourage fellow volunteers, your colleagues, friends and family — regardless of their wireless carrier — to make the simple act of sending a text message touch the life of someone that needs a little help.”

In the February 2009 issue of Success magazine, CEO of Morton’s The Steakhouse Edie Ames lays it out. Her secret sauce to growing the restaurant is connecting with and listening to their employees. People are our most important asset is not just a platitude thrown into the mission statement.

“Ames admits making changes at such a well-established company wasn’t easy. One of her biggest obstacles since joining Morton’s was getting long-time executives to understand the need to connect with employees, and convincing them of the importance of innovation and constant evolution. She says genuine hospitality comes from giving guests what they need — even if it’s something out of the ordinary.”

So, where do you begin? Edie’s edicts include:

• Get feedback straight from the employees.

• Act on that feedback.

• Invest in your employees.

• Be a little goofy.

• Don’t hang on to underachievers.

• Save the drama for your mama.

Read the entire article

Need tips for growing your restaurant business during a recession? Check out Restaurateurs’ Recession Survival Guide at Forbes.com.

Tips include:

• Rethink your price list; roll out a range of prices
• Offer special promotions (gift cards, punch cards, etc.)
• Do direct-mail campaigns
• Advertise online
  (If your restaurant is in Anthem, AZ, get listed on AnthemAZRestaurants.com!)
• Offer alternative portion sizes
• Emphasize value

“One maneuver: If an entrée typically comes with a side order, offer an extra side for the same overall price. (Variation on that: Sell a larger side order of a less costly item–say, potatoes instead of corn.) Another trick: For every two entrées ordered by a couple, offer one free dessert–’compliments of the chef.’ “

• Team up with your vendors

“Vendors know you’re probably hurting–ask nicely and they might be willing to extend payment terms (to a point). Better yet, strategize with them on different cost-cutting options. Vendors often know which items will be going up and down in price in the coming months, so they can help you design a menu that fits your budget.”

• Keep your spirits up

“The gloomier the news, the more restaurateurs ‘lose hold on their smiles and hospitality,’ says Bender. Beware: Employees and customers can feel those negative vibes, souring the dining experience. Bender suggests loosening up the staff with a quick pep talk before each shift.”

Restaurateurs’ Recession Survival Guide

Additional tip from Talking Feather Communications:

• Use your Web site to support your marketing and promotion activities. If you don’t have a Web site, consider getting one. Here are some benefits:

Provides greater visibility and reach for small investment

Cost-effective way to publish restaurant details, specials and coupons

Patrons can browse your menu online at their convenience

Decreases phone calls about location, hours and menu

Decreases advertising and marketing costs and increases overall profits

Provides an easy way to build an email list of people who want to know about specials, offers, new menu items, etc.

• Don’t forget to build your customer list! Put that fishbowl to work for creating a list that you can use for direct mail and email marketing.

Twitter this, Tweet that. Follow me, follow you. Still confused about Twitter? The John Denver song describes it well:

Follow me where I go what I do and who I know
Make it part of you to be a part of me
Follow me up and down all the way and all around
Take my hand and say you’ll follow me

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you to let people (your Followers) know what you’re doing at the moment.  Each post (Tweet) is limited to 140 characters. Activities reported range from the inane (“Heh. Just belched louder than Barney“) and mundane (“Enjoying a pumpkin muffin and a Tall at Starbucks on 43rd”) to the insanely creative Tweets for cultivating business.

No longer “just for kids” or for “people with nothing better to do,” Twitter as a business development and marketing tool is all the rage.

Say you’re in the marketing business for the food and beverage industry and a bunch of your followers rely on you for keeping up with trends. Your Tweet may sound something like this: “Enjoying a Perfect Oatmeal at Starbucks. Adage.com says it’s their new slam-dunk product for women and Millennials. Wow.” Your Tweet would also include a link to the article. (You can use TinyURL.com to shorten links.)

Still scratching your head? Here’s a neat little video that describes Twitter.

Follow me at http://twitter.com/lanawalker

Top businesses and organizations have certain characteristics that make them strong and able to change and grow. Do you know what they are? Topping the list is a healthy culture.

How healthy is your organisation’s culture? Take this free organisational culture survey, presented by the Australian Future Search Network. You’ll get a score that provides a snapshot of where your organisation is headed, either away from greatness or toward it.

Also, the Australian Future Search Network has great ideas on community development and organisational change including a free paper on 9 principles to effect change. The ideas on organisational change have equal application for small and large organisations and businesses.

Childhood hunger in the U.S. is real and it’s pervasive. Did you know that 12.6 million kids are at risk of hunger? What if you could help end childhood hunger just by eating out?

You can! Dine out at a participating restaurant during the Great American Dineout, September 21 through 28, and a portion from your check will go to support the fight to end childhood hunger in America. Nearly 4,000 restaurants across the nation are participating.

Participating Anthem, Arizona restaurants include Off The Hook, Rosati’s Pizza and Taco Del Mar. Spread the word and help end childhood hunger.

» Find participating restaurants near you

Ah, music to my ears. A sight for sore eyes. And other worn-out metaphors that I might get in trouble for using.

If I could give every single business writer, guru or executive one thing to read every morning before work, it’d be this essay by George Orwell: Politics and the English Language.

Not only is this essay short, brilliant, thought-provoking and memorable, it calls bullshit on most of what passes today as speech and written language in management circles. And if you are too lazy to read the article, all you need to remember is this: never use a fancy word when a simple one will do. If your idea is good, no hype is necessary. Explain it clearly and people will get it, if there truly is something notable to get. If your idea is bad: keep working before you share it with others. And if you don’t have time for that, you might as well be honest. Because when you throw jargon around, most of us know you’re probably lying about something anyway.

In honor of George, whose birthday was last month, here is a handy list of words I hear often in management circles that should be banned. Flat out, these words are never used for good reason.

Words that should be banned:

Continue reading

This inspirational 6-minute video from the National Restaurant Association is a tribute to what restaurants do for our country — their impact on their employees, on careers, on communities and on the nation’s economy.

Check out (no pun intended) Larry Chase’s list of best e-commerce blogs.

http://www.wdfm.com/publish/e-commerce_blogs/

Sign up for the free Web Digest for Marketers while you’re at it. Great stuff!

Do you use WordPress? Do you want to optimize your blog (or Web site built using WordPress) for search engines? See Michael Gray’s killer list of SEO plugins.

Love the Gray Wolf logo!