Restaurant Marketing and the Cost of Blogging – Daily Tip for Tuesday September 7th.

Posted on 07. Sep, 2010 by Michael Hartzell in Daily Tip, Inside Hospitality

By Guest Blogger Michael Hartzell

Turn on the computer.

Do a search.

There is a good chance you will find a blog. You may not realize it since the blog software platforms have evolved to the point where it is more difficult to differentiate them from a non-blog website.

There is no reason to review how to blog here. Information can be found with a few searches. In fact, the choices for learning how to blog for business are too numerous.

It is important to consider the cost of a blog and how it might impact your restaurant business.

Set up Costs:

Domain name: Attach it to your current domain name Free

• I use 1and1.com

Hosting Attach it to your current domain hosting Free

• I use hostgator.com

Software Generic, open source options Free

• WordPress wins the popularity contest

Computer Use current computer No added cost

• You can have it set up to blog via email.

Training Learn how to blog 20 hours Owner $1,000

Or Learn how to blog 20 hours Staff $ 400

This includes using the software and principles of blogging

Initial Blog Set up Design and set up $ 500

Design and set up with DIY – Do it yourself $2,000 – $10,000

DIY solutions for set up are the most expensive as it can take months to learn the software, test, fail, and re-learn. An owner who is not taking care of the restaurant so he can learn how to set up a blog will lose staff and guests.

Guest Pulse To listen to the pulse of brand for content Free Setup and Trial

Note: Premium versions are very powerful but the initial set up and consultative training can cost up to $2,000. I prefer the premium versions because they are simple, easy to teach and intuitive for the user as a blogger can be guided to maximize SEO.

Monthly Costs:

Blogging for a restaurant is not enough. It is important to add the social media tools to the blog. This can be included in the set up. Social media interaction might take 15 minutes a day or 2 hours a day. It depends on the nature of the business, the community and their goals.

Domain name: Same domain name Free

Hosting: Same hosting as website Free

Software fees: The free versions continue to be free Free

Computer: No new costs added for blogging

Training: New updates 4 Hours by Owner $ 200

Or New updates 4 Hours by Staff $ 80

Sharpen the SAW (Skill And Will) with classes, Boot Camps, Webinars, etc.

Changes to Blog Structure or design changes to blog by pro $ 50

Time to blog 3 blogs per week

30 minutes each to research

30 minutes each to write

30 minutes each to promote, invite, connect

Total time is rounded to 5 hours a week

Cost for owner to blog each month $ 1,000

Or Cost for staff to blog each month $ 400

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Total set up is estimated to be about $1000. (This includes time and expense.)

Total monthly costs estimated to be about $500. (This includes time and expense.)

These estimates do not include: Digital camera, video camera, photos purchased, video software or other fancy gadgets.

Blogging is a bit different, though. Once the blog article is written, it sticks. It can become a reference point and over time can actually gain strength to help you be found. Not like traditional advertising which is tossed into the garbage. If you know how to maximize the blog titles for your restaurant, in one year you could accumulate 150 + pages online about your choice of topic.

By the end of the year you might have invested about $6,000 into blogging for your restaurant. (Again, each blog is a web page and searchable on the Internet.)

For that to turn a buck, you need to either save it elsewhere or improve the business by at least four times that expense. Or you will need to increase business about $24,000 a year.

How can you increase sales $2,000 a month by blogging?

That will come next week. I only promised to share an overview.

Remember though, $2,000 a month in sales is only about $70 a day. If your typical check average is $25, then you only need about 3 transactions a day for blogging to pay.

Next week is the fun part: Making restaurant blogging pay.

Michael Hartzell – Inbound Marketing Certified Professional, entrepreneur, writer, speaker, restaurant marketing coach. Co-Author of “The Reality of ROI & Social Media Marketing”. Member of the American Marketing Association. Read more at www.michaelhartzell.com/restaurant-marketing