It was another invoice in the pile, asking for $700...and I ignored it. I've been a member for more than 20 years, as a restaurateur and then an Associate Member. Associate membership is meant to give access to restaurant, cafe and catering owners, but one by one the ways to connect with them have disappeared (email contacts), are ineffective (online directories) or come at an additional cost (magazine advertising).
The reason a business joins as Associate Member of a trade organisation is to sell stuff to the regular members: services, membership or products. The high-minded ideals of these associations are important for regular members, but don't hold much interest for Associates if sales leads don't follow. The local organisation is in flux, and while the 'renovations' are underway, the customers have been neglected and are quietly slipping away. Not good.
As busy operators, how many decision makers and opinion leaders can we reach?
The video below shows 4 groups: a wide range of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid, then pro-sumers further up (still numerous), then amateur influencers and finally at the top, the brand journalists. These last are the small handful of reviewers or magazine writers who we've traditionally been desperate to reach, hoping for a 'once in a lifetime' review or mention. Or we ensure their attention with enough money so an 'advertorial' looks our way.
We're always reaching out to consumers, through advertising, promotions, email, and good service to keep them coming back. But now we there are two other groups that influence public opinion and 5 years ago they hardly existed.
Pro-sumers are, in the case of hospitality, the people who eat or drink out a lot, or travel frequently, and like to share their opinions on review sites eg TripAdvisor, Yelp or Eatability. Not just once when they had a bad experience, but regularly: they feel a duty to share or boast about good (and bad) finds. They may also join relevant Facebook Groups or Pages eg one for Best Eats in your city. Coffee fanatics, craft beer and chocolate fans are other examples. As operators we can influence them by joining discussions on websites, posting comments on blogs, responding to reviews and joining Facebook groups.
Higher up the chain (just below, and sometimes resented by journalists) are the amateur influencers who work hard on their specialist blogs or websites, reviewing and gathering information. Some of them leverage their appeal to run banner ads and Google Adwords to make a reasonable income. They reach out through Twitter and newsletters, and are increasing sought by PR groups for product or venue launches.
How many amateur influencers are there? Some months ago we found a list of more than 500 locally in Australia (pop. 21 million) - scale that up or down for where you are: it's a lot! Your influence comes from making friends, posting comments and above all offering a good product! They pride themselves on finding the venues that mainstream media don't cover, and representing the 'voice of the people'. The photo above shows how MuMu Grill posts food blog mentions in their window - a nice compliment and a good read for people passing by.
[hat tip to Harry Joiner]
In the last 2 weeks I've attended my first Tweetups. One was spontaneous at the local Restaurant & Catering Assoc. Awards Dinner - tweeters (about 10 of the 700) agreed on a #hashtag for the event and kept the comments flowing. This added fun to a predictable night - a good reason for table-hopping and meeting new people. One tip: if there's no official #hashtag for an event, take the lead and make one up (most event organisers are still learning about blogs, let alone Twitter). Track the tweeters present by searching Twitter for the event name.
The second Tweetup was at a favourite gelateria: an opportunity to meet local & active social media people. Tony the organiser (@hollingsworth) had set up the tag #gelatotub and used Eventbrite to collect responses (no cost for free events and excellent for managing paid ones).
More good connections: Rebecca who I knew as a chef 15 years ago and has 22,000 twitter followers for her food tweets!! Mei, who manages community relations for the famous Brasserie Bread, retail guru Nancy and a host of others. I added some theatre with a laptop running VisibleTweets up on a shelf - it shows a continuous, colourful display of your chosen tweet word or #hashtag. It didn't take long for iPhones and Flips to record videos and pics - Posterous seems to be the preferred way to share them eg Tony's collection.
If Twitter makes sense to you, track down or create a Tweetup and expand your network of like-minded people. Even searching Eventbrite for your location will reveal some surprises. Oh, and I'm on Twitter at KenBurgin.
Local food bloggers and tweeters reacted with scorn to a statement by Masterchef celeb. George Calombaris:
'Bloggers have no idea about restaurants. They've got no idea how they're run.'
Maybe they don't have a company gold card to pay for review dinners, but don't overlook the passion, knowledge and number of participants in this food army. Here's a list of more than 500 Australian Food Blogs, and this is a country of only 21 million people. Have keyboard and broadband - you're in business.
Instead of black & white newspaper text, most feature gorgeous photography and lengthy analysis - these are no novices, and some make it a full-time job. Professional restaurant reviewers have always guided us from on high, but here is their audience acting like an opinionated, hungry rabble!
If you're visiting a big city like Sydney - do you pay $29.95 for the official guide, or dive into joyful (and free) blogs like GrabYour Fork or Not Quite Nigella or the yummy Lemon Pi?
Restaurateurs (like George above) are just coming to terms with free-flowing online review sites, Google Alerts and email. Now they're besieged by amateur bloggers and the twitterati - people who don't know the meaning of 'Yes Chef!' Stand by for more sweet and bitter episodes as the decline of old media (and rise of the new) is played out in the world of food. My stomach says it's a great idea!
Update: here's Jen's list of the Top 50 Aussie Food Blogs...and Mr Calombaris is still not happy!
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