How Facebook's Graph Search Could Affect Your Restaurant

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLq5M9xmHQ5sQXerdinG8BLU647IsEs_1zJ1Szx-M8A5JYAFX8fdt3UBPtQIPkqTrMsQ3tdGcgSlw99jpsoaf2QtldeuTWjmooCCAe_avaIfiXGxEkv-E6aIVvwkqz_aJwSJvm-_N1X8/s1600/facebook-graph-search.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLq5M9xmHQ5sQXerdinG8BLU647IsEs_1zJ1Szx-M8A5JYAFX8fdt3UBPtQIPkqTrMsQ3tdGcgSlw99jpsoaf2QtldeuTWjmooCCAe_avaIfiXGxEkv-E6aIVvwkqz_aJwSJvm-_N1X8/s320/facebook-graph-search.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Since Facebook started beta testing in January, using social media marketing has been turned on its ear. Previously, those business owners, particular restaurant, service and hospitality businesses, which had a national presence tended to expend marketing efforts on the corporate pages with little attention paid to local markets. It is useful for business owners and managers to understand how Facebook's Graph search could affect your restaurant.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Graph Search uses photos, likes and check ins to identify local restaurants that have been recommended by "friends" in the area. It is based on the concept that prospective patrons are more likely to try out a new restaurant if it is liked by a friend who has tried the eating establishment. The product is currently in beta testing and is showing good results for those restaurants and other businesses that are shifting marketing resources to emphasize the "Parent-Child" relationship with local bricks-and-mortar establishments, if any.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">The search software is the third leg of the Facebook platform. Previous elements of Facebook marketing are Timeline and News Feed. Timeline is used for posting content to Facebook sites, while Newsfeed is used for the purpose of distributing content. Like the other two elements, Graph Search uses connections between friends, locations and liked brands to return search results to users.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">For restaurants without a brand presence, building the social networking "likes" and "check-ins" is an opportunity to take advantage of Facebook's new focus on the local firms. It appears to be a deliberate action of the part of the social networking agency. Prompt action on the part of restaurant owners could place them in a position to ride the wave of users turning to Facebook as a type of search engine. It is uncertain at present whether Facebook will be able to provide serious competition to the existing search engines in this niche, but it is certainly boosting the rankings of those firms that are making use of the features.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Specifically, owners and managers should take action to update contact information on local pages, categorize the type of bricks-and-mortar establishment, and include the geocode.  Dave Lipson of <a href="http://reservationbooks.com/">ReservationBooks.com</a> suggests that existing customers should be encouraged to like the restaurant and to recommend it to their friends.  Tagging photos is also another way to build presence on the internet. As a restaurants brand owner, you can publish content on local pages to enhance visibility of both.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Learning how Facebook's Graph Search could affect your restaurant increases the likelihood of discovery by referral traffic. In turn this generates new patrons to receive offers. All the local diners need to do is like the page, check in regularly, rank the service and tag photos. This becomes a virtual circle that is highly successful in growing your customer base.</span>

How Facebook's Graph Search Could Affect Your Restaurant

Since Facebook started beta testing in January, using social media marketing has been turned on its ear. Previously, those business owners, ...

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Reservation Books 2013

<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Restaurant Reservation Books</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCY3erOmI-2cHINGeWthBqDSBc37OojTFrmKBT5hRGiFBxSXXDAM2iYwF1cP7wLSVpXf10Uxe-xHo7jsdTCNrRlx0kPgPNEmMBFOIe1k-LSKSOsCL4VyENPQmBEY3MMpNPmTNkM3eeczg/s1600/2011-01-10_1546.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCY3erOmI-2cHINGeWthBqDSBc37OojTFrmKBT5hRGiFBxSXXDAM2iYwF1cP7wLSVpXf10Uxe-xHo7jsdTCNrRlx0kPgPNEmMBFOIe1k-LSKSOsCL4VyENPQmBEY3MMpNPmTNkM3eeczg/s400/2011-01-10_1546.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r4d-Tn_Cv14?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><br />

Reservation Books 2013

Restaurant Reservation Books

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Calculating The Cost Of Labor

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1d63D2Jwzhxi2kSbRedF2jeY96tgfKzk0_Zmd5LD5ubW64V7N8q8O6f_P6Vk4DkqDJUCzwP-1r0CrSN2vKhOR_sVN_5Lcm1GI73BCr6CRr3xsM1OSOcADOxU8Z6eVrjIhV1-uN0kojU/s1600/busy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1d63D2Jwzhxi2kSbRedF2jeY96tgfKzk0_Zmd5LD5ubW64V7N8q8O6f_P6Vk4DkqDJUCzwP-1r0CrSN2vKhOR_sVN_5Lcm1GI73BCr6CRr3xsM1OSOcADOxU8Z6eVrjIhV1-uN0kojU/s320/busy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />There are a number of obvious components that enter into the cost of operating a restaurant successfully. The space, equipment, food and supplies, marketing costs and one other significant factor, that of labor. If you are the owner or manager of a restaurant, paying employee costs is often one of the largest expenses to continue operation. Here are a few tips that will help you determine how to operate with reduced labor costs.<br /><br />You must consider all the costs related to labor. This includes management costs as well as those related to waitpersons and dishwashers. Labor costs typically are made up of salary or wages, benefits and taxes, and training costs. There are extra expenses for items like employee recognition.<br /><br />Looking at each of these elements separately may help you to see some places where savings are possible. However, you may also find that combining the separate elements will actually enable you to pay less. For example, if you pay a little more than the going wage of the area, you may find that your employee turnover rate is lower. If you think about it, the cost of recruiting, training and outfitting new employees can be significant. It may be significantly less costly to retain the existing top quality trained and experienced people by paying a little more.<br /><br />Employee benefits can be a significant expense, but there are ways to reduce those costs without reducing quality. Health insurance may be another way to attract and retain quality people to work for you. The type of benefits that you provide can vary according to the pool of potential employees that you are drawing from. For example, family medical benefits may be more important if most of your waitpersons are single parents. Tailor your benefit package to match the needs of people in your employee pool.<br /><br />If your employee pool is mainly from college students, flexibility in hours may be more important than health care. Offering work for students in culinary arts may be another way to reduce costs. On-the-job training opportunities are a great way for getting subsidized or partially subsidized workers who are anxious to offer good service.<br /><br />It's important to consider your own labor when calculating the cost of staffing your restaurant. It may be tempting to spend your time doing a lot of tasks that could be done by employees, thinking that this will save money. In fact, calculate the actual cost of your time and determine, if you would be more profitably employed by concentrating on management and marketing, rather than filling in for a dishwasher or waitperson.<br />

Calculating The Cost Of Labor

There are a number of obvious components that enter into the cost of operating a restaurant successfully. The space, equipment, food and sup...

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Meanwhile at the North Pole

<br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"><h2><span style="color: red;">Happy Holidays!</span></h2></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 10px;">From myself and our Team here at ReservationBooks.com, we sincerely wish you<br />a festive holiday season, and all the best for 2013!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 10px;">Sincerely,<br /><br />Dave Lipson<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="560" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nAUE6XdPovM?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="315"></iframe></div><br /></div>

Meanwhile at the North Pole

Happy Holidays! From myself and our Team here at ReservationBooks.com, we sincerely wish you a festive holiday season, and all the best for ...

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The Need For A Flexible Business Plan

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2UpgtouMWPlj3PRlJqUyr5mEP43E-8u2OHUgsUIkQIR_v1uPzoIAt_HYxaLSb_GwKLPda_9_Y7-jzGjnBYkn9RENz7f61WutB9yYVB_P-Zqjg2vVzzMXyIkbD0uE7AUTMWgoKvqAfB8/s1600/startup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2UpgtouMWPlj3PRlJqUyr5mEP43E-8u2OHUgsUIkQIR_v1uPzoIAt_HYxaLSb_GwKLPda_9_Y7-jzGjnBYkn9RENz7f61WutB9yYVB_P-Zqjg2vVzzMXyIkbD0uE7AUTMWgoKvqAfB8/s200/startup.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">While many entrepreneurs take the step of preparing a <a href="http://www.reservationbooks.com/">restaurant business plan</a> before opening a restaurant business, they may not realize the importance of tweaking that plan on a regular basis. Very few people going into an enterprise are able to forecast the exact pathway the business will take in the future. Keeping the business goals current allows the personnel in the management or ownership part of the business to maintain a close watch on what was planned and how closely the actual results match the plan.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">You may wonder why the variance occurs. It can result in fewer sales or higher expenses. Either of those factors could be from inadequate knowledge of the marketplace, the products or the costs. Sometimes expenses increase in ways that could not have been foreseen.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">There are many resources that can offer directions on how to develop a good plan. Other resources are devoted to tracking the elements that will tell you whether or not the plan needs to be revised. You should be sure that each element that you used in designing the plan is measurable. Identify the factors that will allow you to know whether or not you are meeting your goals. These can be financial or development goals.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">There are benefits in being up-to-date for the business plan features. If you are falling short in meeting revenue goals, you may need to adjust your spending. Unless you review the plan regularly, you won't be able to make revisions in a timely manner. Another benefit you get when you maintain your business plan regularly is fast response if you need to apply for commercial credit or acquire new facilities.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">A business plan should be detailed for the next fiscal quarter. You can be more general when looking at expectations for a year in the future. The plan should always be in place for three years. You are able to build in emergency funds or long-range capital acquisition because you have a plan and have allocated funds for the future.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Taking time each month to review your business plan and compare it to the transactions that have transpired during the period can help with your future planning. Record keeping in a responsible manner is part of being successful as a business owner. Creating the initial plan is confusing and time consuming to most people, but help can be obtained through internet classes or local low-cost classes.</span>

The Need For A Flexible Business Plan

While many entrepreneurs take the step of preparing a restaurant business plan before opening a restaurant business, they may not realize t...

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