My e-Book Gets Reviewed….

Recently I was interviewed by Liz Campbell, who is the editor of a quarterly magazine read by nearly 5,000 members of the world's most prestigious food service consultants association.

We talked on the phone for more than an hour. These are excerpts from that interview…

"Roy MacNaughton is well known in the restaurant industry in North America. A graduate of Ryerson University’s Hotel School, in Toronto, he was much impressed by instructors like Keith Little, who gave up their time to come in and teach food facility design and planning to his class. “Keith was amazing. He taught us how to lay out a kitchen,” MacNaughton says. “He gave of his time and energy. So did Ian Monroe, then manager at the Inn on the Park in Toronto. Each week he would show 20 students around a different department so we could learn.”

And MacNaughton learned. His CV reads like a Who’s Who of the industry. A Ryerson classmate and MacNaughton founded Hospitality Marketing, providing marketing research, planning and advertising services to well-known firms including McDonalds, American Express, Four Seasons Hotels, Hilton International, KFC, Wendy’s, H.J. Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, and many others.

Within six years, he was hired away by one of his restaurant clients into the post of executive vice-president of Marketing for a $450 million foodservice company. After two years in this position, he was appointed president and chief operating officer of their fledgling subsidiary which he grew from $3.2 million to $72 million. He was responsible for 140 restaurants.

All of this would indicate that he knows whereof he speaks.

His book is titled Restaurant Marketing For Free.

The “for free” part refers to both the marketing techniques and the cost of the book. It’s available as a free download from his website.

Now why would an entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in the food service industry want to give away some of his best ideas?

The answer is simple for a man who has his MBA and understands smart marketing. “I am interested in taking my 30+ years of knowledge and experience and giving it back to the industry that I love and that has given me so much, in the spirit of Keith Little,” says MacNaughton.

The 88-page book starts with a simple enough premise but one which, says MacNaughton, most restaurateurs don’t follow. He calls his method the Underground Umbrella. The underground part refers to the secret of success. And the umbrella, he explains, has four parts: a handle, a vertical shaft, the ribs and the fabric covering. Without all four in sequence, the umbrella won’t work.

This graphic image provides the framework for four questions which must be answered in sequence:

1) Where are we now?
2) Where do we want to be and by when?
3) How do we get there?
4) How do we know if we’re getting there?

“It sounds like primary school but you’d be surprised how many operators jump straight to number three,” laughs MacNaughton.

The book offers 30 tips to market a food service operation without cost. “The secret of restaurant marketing today is to do two major things extremely well:

1) research, choose/seize, adopt, build and implement your own rand of local “expert-ness” or “specialization” so you positively stand out in the over-crowded ‘restaurant arena; and
2) adopt the new methods (literally dozens of them!) of communicating with, (not selling to) those who would patronize your restaurant – your intended target group.”

There’s a lot of information and good ideas to be gleaned from this book.

And the price is right."

I'm pleased to report that this is just one of many reviews and comments I'm receiving about the book. I am gratified that readers feel it is useful and relevant to the situation all independent food service operators find themselves in these days. Even some suppliers have commented on how the book will be of great assistance to them in their dealings with their own clients….food service owners who need marketing help.

If you'd like your own free copy, simply go to this link and download it instantly.

http://www.RestaurantMarketingforFree.com

Let me know what you think. Send me your two cents' worth!