Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Busy December

December is a good business month for those in the food service industry. It's that time of the year when everyone seems to get a share in the pie. After all, December is Christmas season. People have every reason to eat out. You have the obligatory Christmas parties, the 13th-month bonuses, and the reunions among friends, families, classmates, etc.

December is also a great time for small restaurants to show people what they can do. Often relegated as choices-of-last-resort for Christmas party venues, small and relatively unknown restaurants have the perfect opportunity to surprise and delight its customers. It's always nice to surprise people who expect little. These are usually the people who were unable to book their Christmas parties in the usual favorites because they inquired too late. For some, Christmas season starts as early as October, restaurants and catering companies alike start to do sales-calls and other promotional gimmicks to book as many customers as possible even before December arrives. They can do it because they have the manpower and the budget.

For the smaller ones, they have to be creative. Aside from the usual promos within their establishments, the internet has been the major avenue to introduce themselves to a wider market. Company websites, blogs, and social networking sites have all been tapped one way or another in the effort of promoting their brands and services. Word of mouth nowadays travel much faster. Thanks to the so-called blogosphere, words reach a wider audience at a shorter amount of time.

The internet has provided so many avenues for smaller business to thrive and compete against the bigger players. One good review from a famous blogger is almost a surefire way to get known. Other bloggers will follow and review your restaurant. They'll give their "expert" opinions and before you know it, everyone has heard of your restaurant. All these can happen in a couple of months. That's how fast it has become for word-of-mouth to spread the good news that a new restaurant is serving the best of whatever dish it may be.

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