Restaurants Are More Like Blogs Than You Think

The other day, I was at Houlihan’s eating dinner with my wife and my dad.  We stayed there for several hours chatting, and I started think about how a restaurant is a lot like a blog.

First Impressions Can Make Or Break You

When we walked through the door to look at the menu and eventually eat, it was like someone visiting your blog.  You’ve got the lead, but if you want them to come back, you need to make it worth their time.  If the restaurant looks dirty or trashy, the guest will turn around and walk right out.  The same holds true of blogs and their appearance.  People do just books by their cover.

Fast Service Won’t Get You More Guests, But Slow Service Will Lose Guests

My wife and I arrived before my dad.  We were quickly greeted and taken to our table to wait for my dad.  Nothing is a bigger turn off to a hungry guest than not being greeted quickly and slow service.  No matter how nice the place looks, if service isn’t timely, you might leave right away, and you definitely won’t come back (unless the content is unbeatable).  Your blog will also lose repeat visitors if it takes too long to load no matter how fancy it is.

A Strong Brand Lets Visitors Know They Came To The Right Place

It turns out my dad actually ended up next door.  He said that the place didn’t look like Houlihan’s which is how we figured out he went to the wrong place.  It was all about branding.  He knew what to expect from Houlihan’s.  The same should be true of your blog. Even if you change your logo or theme, people should recognize your blog.

Your Menu Should Be Easy To Follow

After my dad found us, we started checking out the menu.  We were able to quickly find the type of food we wanted.  Appetizers, Salads, and other entrees were categorized in a logical easy to find way.  Being able to find the food you want makes the visit infinitely more enjoyable.  How much would it suck if you had to guess what was on the menu?  How much would it suck if you couldn’t find the content on a blog?  Make sure your articles are easy to locate and categorized in a logical, easy to follow way.

Make The Meat The Star

When the food finally came it was excellent.  Regardless of all the other variable, the main reason anyone goes to a restaurant is for the food.  The content of your blog is the meat of it.  Amazing content can overcome deficiencies in other areas because when it is all said and done, the content is what makes people keep coming back.

Don’t Stop Following Up

The three of us ended up camping out and chatting for about 4 hours (we left a very healthy (additional) tip at the end of the night to make up for taking the table all night).  The funny thing was, after we paid for our food, our server quit refilling our drinks and didn’t bother coming back to see if she could sell us more food, drinks, or desert.

My dad, being the assertive communicator he is, politely pulled our server aside and proceeded to explain to her that we were still paying customers, and she needed to refill out drinks, get us desert, and whatever else we wanted.

“Get her a double shot of Benchmade.”

“You mean Marker’s Mark, dad?”

“Oh yeah, Benchmade is what we use for cutting people… Yeah, get her a double shot of Maker’s Mark.”

The server was frightened.  She should have been.  Her customer service sucked because she dropped the ball and left money on the table.

For the sake of this example, we’ll call leaving a comment your visitor’s form of payment (ideally, your visitor would buy your product or the product you might be marketing, but that doesn’t apply in nearly as many cases).

You’re newsletter is what you use to follow up with people after they “pay out.”  Not everyone will want more food, drinks, and desert, and not everyone will want to subscribe to your newsletter.  Not having the option is dropping the ball.

You never know when someone is going to want a double shot of Marker’s Mark

Related posts:

1. How To Efficiently Use Your Time Reading Blogs