If you're a business owner affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) and would benefit from my book, please contact me and I will provide you with a digital copy.
Whether you’re starting a new restaurant or managing one that’s looking to attract new customers, this book is filled with over 100 pages of actionable tips and guidelines gleaned from over a decade of experience in the marketing and hospitality worlds. In addition to the topics below, you’ll also gain access to exclusive in-depth interviews and case studies featuring successful restaurant/bar owners and learn how they broke through the local business scene.
Your Business Online
Follow these guidelines for managing your digital presence, including keeping your information up-to-date, what customers expect from your website, photography tips, and other bells & whistles.
Marketing Yourself
Stay aware of the best marketing channels to advertise your business, including search engine marketing (SEM), local SEO, social media & Instagram, newsletters, in-person events, and partnerships.
Customer Retention
Keep customers coming back with loyalty programs, targeted mailing lists, and online reputation management tools and best practices.
Latest content
If you’re simply looking for some quick insights and tips, this site is full of free information that you can start putting into practice today!
Advisory
How to help restaurants and bars during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
Advisory
A collection of resources for business owners, employees, and customers to help get everyone through the Coronavirus pandemic.
Restaurants are #TooSmallToFail. If we don't help them now, most of them won't make it through this crisis. Government assistance is lacking, but other relief programs are available, and there's plenty that everyone can do to help out.
Advisory
A collection of the best advice I’ve seen on how businesses can adapt to and weather COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Government responses to COVID-19 have been inconsistent, leading to business owners to improvise their own policies, which isn't ideal (to say the least). Some advice is better than others, and I've listed out the most useful guidelines in this article.
Advice for restaurant/bar owners regarding COVID-19/Coronavirus
Interview
Interview with Paulie G
Interview
Owner, Paulie Gee’s and Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop
I sat down with Paulie to discuss how the social media landscape has changed since he opened his first restaurant in Brooklyn over 9 years ago, and how he continues to infuse his real-life personality into his online persona and interactions with customers and fans.
Interview
Best practices and advice from Yelp Community Assistant Emily Houser
Emily and I discussed general recommendations for business owners, including hosting events, the benefits of maintaining your Yelp listing, how to respond to customers reviews, and more!
Marketing tips from Yelp
Interview
Interview with Dan Delaney
Interview
Founder, BrisketLab, Brisket Town, and Delaney Chicken
I spoke with Dan to learn more about how he came up with the idea of BrisketLab (a multi-session BBQ pop-up in New York City) and how he leveraged email lists and his journalist network to garner hype for his concept in preparation for the first event.
Tutorial
What is it, and how should you manage it? Some evergreen best practices and tactics for local and small businesses.
Search engine optimization can be a daunting topic full of technical nuances and convoluted steps - but it doesn't have to be! Learn about general best practices, and determine whether or not you should pay an external vendor to manage your online listings (spoiler: you probably don't!).
Local search engine optimization tips
Tutorial
Food photography lighting guide
Tutorial
A comparison of the different lighting situations you might find yourself in and how to make the most of it.
Lighting makes all the difference in food photography. It can be the difference between a dish looking mushy and bland, and one that looks vibrant and mouth-watering.
Tutorial
A step-by-step guide to take your dishes stand out
Your food is what sets you apart from everyone else. But you don't need to be a professional photographer to create mouthwatering images of your food. Here are some simple tried-and-true tips covering the basics - lighting, composition, and more!
Food photography tips
Opinion
13 Restaurants I Miss
Opinion
It’s inevitable that some restaurants close down, despite the quality of their product. Here are some of the losses that still sting.
One of the reasons I thought to create this website (and write a book) was after I realized how many of my favorite local businesses had closed over the years. While some of them did everything right, many of them could’ve been helped along the way.
Opinion
Neon signs provide your restaurant/bar with a unique personality and will get customers sharing photos.
Neon signs are experiencing a resurgence lately. What was once deemed an expensive business expense meant to attract users from the street or the highway are now increasingly being used indoors as an interior design choice.
For the past year, I’ve run an Instagram dedicated to my favorite neon signs found in restaurants and bars, located at @neonistubular. Here are some of my favorites of 2019, and why I think they work well.
Restaurant and bar neon signs
Contact me
Have a quick question, or interested in a private consultation or interview? Drop me a line!
About The Author
Hi, I'm Kenny Chung.
I'm a native New Yorker with an educational background in mass communication and advertising. I have worked in digital marketing for over a decade, working with top brands as well as local businesses to improve their online presences.
In that same time, I've been supporting local businesses and writing reviews on Yelp; to date, I have reviewed over 3,600 businesses and uploaded 14,000+ photos/videos.
I have been quoted in Eater, Food & Wine, AdWeek, and Buzzfeed. My photos have been featured in Time Out Magazine, ABC News, The Weather Channel, CBS News, The Daily Meal, MSN, Yahoo News, and the Daily Mail.
My goal is to help small and struggling businesses grow, so that we can all have a more vibrant and successful local community!
