Ideas for the digital world

Marketing, online reviews, Photography, SEO

A 3D view of your business

View Larger Map Google maps for business, now known as “Google My Business” is a tricky one. Not only is verification a pain in that you have to wait for a postcard that sometimes doesn’t arrive (although you can sometimes get someone on a phone to help), but it can also be difficult to get right. The difference between getting your listing right or wrong is the difference between your business showing up in local and map search or not. […]

Content marketing, Facebook, Marketing, Photography, presentations, social media, Twitter, Websites

How to build your digital audience

Recently I was invited in by The Field Institute to talk about building a digital audience. The talk ended with the question: If I was given $5,000 to spend would I put it on: 1. a website 2. a social media strategy 3. photography My surprising answer was photography. The reason being that content is expensive to produce and compelling pictures are the best for engagement across many platforms including blogs, Instagram, Facebook and increasingly Twitter. With $5,000 of photographs […]

online reviews, reputation management, social media, Websites

How to manage your online reputation with Ken Burgin

You’d be amazed the number of people who contact us problems with online reviews. It seems to be the problems are split two ways. Either somebody has got drunk and is randomly posting negative reviews or a venue’s review score falls below their expectations, especially in Melbourne on Urbanspoon. I recently talked to hospitality consultancy Ken Burgin on this issue for his podcast, which you can find here. The first problem of drunken trolls is relatively easy to solve and […]

Marketing, reputation management

Focus your brand and message

“Imagine you’re sitting across from a reporter at lunch. You’re telling them what you do, your story, why they should care about your product. You have to convince this reporter to not only write about you, but that what you’re doing matters. That you’re going to be successful.” The article I’m linking to is about start-ups but equally it applies to what we do in Melbourne for SMEs, particularly restaurants. The smart operators who you see in the press the […]

ethics

The great food blogger witch hunt

I’ve updated this post as more information came in from Sharky. If anyone else wishes me to update anything, please let me know. I am attempting to be as accurate as possible here.You’ll see the updates appear underlined like this. There’s this group of people who are so passionate about food that they spend a fortune and invest hundreds of hours of time engaging with the culture surrounding it. Not only are they eating out, buying ingredients, gadgets, renovating kitchens […]

customers, online reviews, reputation management, rules of engagement, social media

ACCC to tackle online reviews?

One of the biggest gripes among and hospitality or tourism-based business is the anonymous online review. We’ve helped many people over the years with trolls who have defamed venues and individuals just because they were refused entry or kicked out for being drunk – or just because they are competitors. It’s a real pain and emotionally draining for owner operators who care about their businesses. Now Restaurant & Catering Australia is in discussions with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission […]