Seattle food photographer, Harley Lever, recently shot Jimmy’s on Broadway. Silver Cloud Hotels approached WeSprout and Lever to develop a series of images which will capture the the great food and ambiance Jimmy’s has to offer.

Seattle Cheese Photography

When the Homewood Suites by Hilton Seattle Convention Center finished the multi-million dollar renovation they called WeSprout Solutions and Harley’s Eye Photography to show off their new modern look. The hotel is an all suite hotel in downtown Seattle. They offer a weekday Manager’s Mixer, full breakfast buffet, and full kitchen in each suite. Located centrally in downtown within walking distance to shopping, the Paramount and the 5th Avenue Theaters, Pike’s Place Market and award winning Seattle restaurants.

The hotel had recently become a Hilton property and their marketing collateral had to be on par with the other corporate properties. Catering to the long term traveler, they wanted to convey the comfort and convenience the Homewood Suites offered. The richly appointed rooms photographed very well and the views spoke for themselves.

The sophistication of the rooms and common areas helped make the Homewood Suites by Hilton Seattle Convention Center one of the busiest hotels of its class in Seattle over the last year.

Opening a new restaurant is a huge undertaking, no matter how much experience you have under your chef coat. Chef Lisa Nakamura is a seasoned pro, with a resume that includes The French Laundry and The Herbfarm, she is no stranger to perfection. Her newest venture is near and dear to her heart, Allium, her own dream, is on Washington’s Orcas Island in the hamlet of Eastsound.

Lisa knows some things besides mise en place and the freshest ingredients are just as important to her restaurant’s success. Her partnership with WeSprout was paramount in realizing the fruition of her dreams. Our team of experienced restaurant web designers. food photographers, and social media experts knew exactly what needed to be done to get her business off the ground quickly and help drive clients to her restaurant.

Her website is search engine optimized to give her target audience the ability to find her with the touch of just a few buttons. With the built-in content management system, she can change her menu daily to give her diners the most up to date information. This also gives her site an extra boost in searches because the more you update your site the more the search engines love it!

We were the lucky ones when it came to food photography with this shoot. The food is just as delicious as it looks. We probably should have taken pictures of the plates after the shoot was officially over, as well. The pictures speak for themselves.

Lisa managed to open on schedule and has capitalized on her website, social media, and print media to make her restaurant one of the most sought after reservations in the greater Seattle area. Congratulations on a delicious first year!

Allium restaurant’s website integrates social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, and a sharing widget which allows users to easily pass on the pages to over 50 sites. This approach leverages the best of Internet marketing efforts in an easy-to-use and easy-to-implement manner. The traffic results speak for themselves. Lisa had over 4,500 website visitors in the first month and maintained these high levels consistently.

The competition for lodging in Maui is fierce.  When the Maui Aromatherapy Foundation was looking for a way to leverage their beautiful setting and peaceful surroundings they opted to have their facility photographed in a more modern and professional manner. WeSprout’s resort and spa photography service helped capture the images that would leverage their “visual assets”.

The grounds are on the slopes of Haleakala Volcano and covered in lavender, rose geranium, and lemon verbena.  The main house is two stories with a private balcony, sauna, and a private entrance to the Foundation’s treatment rooms.  The back lawn of the Main House has the shared pool and hot tub.  The second home on the property is a one bedroom cottage with a cozy loft bedroom and wall to wall windows, giving you the view you came to Maui to see.  The third residence is called The Octagonal Suite.  It is a fantastic gazebo that is screened on four sides to let the wonderful aromas of the grounds surround the occupants.

The market in Maui is extremely competitive and the Aromatherapy Foundation is a small property, so a strong web presence is imperative.  The ability for the consumer to easily find their site is essential.  The photography on the site has to convey the beauty and peacefulness of the property and with our help, it does.

As our country tries to make it’s way out of the worst economic time in nearly a century,  we tend to get lost in a sea of conflicting information.  We are told creating jobs is complicated, and globalization is great for America.   Yet Americans in every sector of business look around in bewilderment wondering where their jobs are and when they can get paid a wage which will allow them to simply survive and pay their bills.  For these folks, they do not want to hear excuses, they want to hear ideas.

The United States has the largest economy in the world,  at over $14.5 Trillion, yet we send much of our wealth overseas as we buy foreign goods and often times foreign services.  These goods are hard to resist;  they are cheap, they fulfill the purpose, and in tough economic times it is hard to justify spending more on goods produced here in the US… that is if they are even available in the first place!!!  The good news is, you would be surprised by how much American Products we can buy in America… from Americans.

Buy Local Food, Wine, and Even Absinthe!

As the summer nears the end we become aware of just how bountiful the United States is.  Our Farmer’s Markets swell with an abundance of the freshest organically grown food from the surrounding towns.  Supporting local farmers allows them to reinvest in growing more food, hiring more people, and giving the community healthier choices over imported or conventionally grown food which uses pesticides and fertilizers which damage our environment,  and worst of  all, these huge farms employ very few when compared to their organic cousins.

You do not have to like vegetables to help support your local farmers.  Buying grass-fed beef, goats, and even ostrich from local ranchers will go along way to help putting Americans back to work.  America’s wine regions are fast becoming leaders in the world for quality.  Washington State alone has over 600 wineries.  And believe it or not, they even have an Absinthe distillery… who would have thought???

Support Local Business That Support Local Business!

If you have a choice between a local business that uses foreign goods and services over a local business who purchases local goods and local services, which would you choose?  It is a no-brainer!  However, if the price is 33% higher then you have some decisions to make.  While it may be easier and more economic to support the local business with the foreign goods, the total cost of that purchase is not as apparent.  Purchasing foreign products causes unemployment to rise which reduces the taxes we collect, increases our costs due to unemployment benefits, which come directly out of the taxes we are supposed to use pay down our countries skyrocketing deficits.

Our point is you will be very surprised by what you can actually buy in America.  If all Americans can commit to buying one more American product a week, instead of a foreign product, we can help get our country back on the right path.

American and Local Businesses You Could Support

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We recently completed a an architectural and real estate photography project in Bellevue Washington for BRE properties. Their Pinnacle BellCentre property is a well-designed and equally well-appointed building with impeccable landscaping, furnishings, and great facilities.

BRE’s goal was to show off the newly renovated rooftop patio in the heart of Bellevue’s Business District. Internet travel giant Expedia is literally located across the street and multiple restaurants, malls, and parks are within walking distance.  Their demographic tends to be 20 – 30 somethings working in the  technology sectors of both Bellevue and Redmond, so we created imagery  designed to catch the eye of the person who wants the best of big-city living.

Restaurant customer service training is among the most important employee training subjects.  There exists no greater opportunity to create a long-term customer relationship than when your employees interact with your clients.  Giving your employees the skills they need to build your business through relationship building will pay immeasurable dividends.  WeSprout Solutions offers both proprietary and customized customer relationship training programs.  Our programs cover a wide variety of subject matter your employees are likely to face while working in your restaurant or bar.  We also provide in-house seminars and feedback session in which your employees will receive timely real world feedback about their interaction with your customers.

Restaurant Customer Service Topics:

• Rapport Building & Relationship Development
• Building a Clientele
• Sales Strategies
• Operational Efficiency
• Teamwork
• Growing Your Business Within the Company
• Alcohol Safety Strategies

It is a business owner’s worst nightmare.  They look on Yelp and find their business has been slammed by an anonymous critic for the entire world to see.  Your blood boils and you are determined to have this removed immediately.  Next you begin to go down the list of ex-business associates, angry customers, and/or ex-employees you think would possibly write something like this.  Obviously, the last possible conclusion an owner is likely to come to first is; could this be true?   Regardless of the validity of the review, your response should be the same.

Do not overreact to the bad Yelp review!

As humans, our default setting is that of fight or flight.  However what makes us innately human and different from most species is the second before our natural animal instincts kick in when we have the ability to choose our reaction.  What we choose to do will make the greatest difference in the outcome.  Because many would choose to fight, often their response is to write the critic a nasty email, or post a response defending and/or denying the negative allegations.  While this may initially feel good, you could not choose a worse response.

Allowing your anger and initial thoughts of rage to cause you to pen an overly defensive response which will literally live in plain view for the entire Internet to see… forever… is not the way to go!

Ask Questions and Seek Understanding

One of the best things about negative feedback is it can often pin-point an on-going problem in your organization.  It may be a rude receptionist, slow service complaints, or the wrong product was delivered.   If the same issue keeps on popping up, you may actually have a problem.  Sometimes it is not that easy, and the cause of the negative situation is not clear.  In these cases, ask more questions.

Asking more questions does two things.  It allows you to gather more useful information about the issue at hand.  More importantly, it makes the person who had the problem feel as if they were heard and that you actually care.  Both of which can help you immeasurably!

Offer an Apology and Offer to Rectify the Situation

Right or wrong, offering an apology will often get you further, regardless if you are right.  In fact, insurance companies are now taking advantage of “saying sorry” to greatly reduce their litigation costs and improve their bottom lines.  It turns out that many malpractice lawsuits can be resolved quicker and at less of a cost by having the doctor admit to the mistake and offer a sincere apology.  When people never admit they are sorry or at fault, this tends to enrage the patients and put them in a “going for blood” mode.  The same holds true for Yelp reviews.

Posting a response apologizing for the bad service, product, or oversight can have a very powerful and positive affect on both the reviewer and potential customers.  In some cases offering to buy a dinner, refund money, or other peace offerings may be appropriate.  Remember, offering to pay or refund an unhappy customer’s money does not always mean they will take you up on your offer.  Some people may be very satisfied with a simple apology.  Now instead of a negative and defensive response living forever on the Internet, you have a professional and caring response for all to see.  In the best case scenarios the “negative poster” may actually update their post and give you higher marks for your thoughtfulness and genuine caring.

What If the Negative Yelp Review is From a Disgruntled Employee or Competitor?

It happens!  You fire a guy for being chronically late and the next day, there is a negative rant about how you have rats in your kitchen, a drug-abusing bartender, and a manager who is a sexual harasser.  First step, see Step 1. “Do not overreact to a bad Yelp review”… sound familiar!  Step two, flag the review!  There is a little red flag in the bottom-right corner of every review.  Use this feature sparingly.  Flagging every negative review, will get you flagged.  In an ideal world this type of negative employee reaction would never happen, but we know how that goes!

Conclusion

Yelp is a great tool for both marketing and attracting potential customers and improving your business.  Even the best businesses fall on their faces sometimes resulting  in sub-standard services or products.  However, the major difference is in your reaction to the Yelp review.  Trying to verbally annihilate the offending reviewer may annihilate your ability to grow our company at its fullest potential.  Taking the high road will always pay better returns on through the strengthening of your customer relationships and revenues!

Back in business school at Arizona State University, my entrepreneurship professors continually lectured us about the strategies new business owners must use to attract their first clients.  Among the top strategies were to go to friends, family, and colleagues.   After all, these individuals will tend to be strongest advocates… note, I did say “tend”.  In all seriousness, there is  no stronger form of word-of-mouth advertising than a parent bragging about how great  and brave their child is for starting a new business.  Assuming your friends and colleagues are feel the same, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the fact Facebook may be the perfect place to launch your business!!!

Announce Your Grand Opening on Facebook

Whether this is your first business or fiftieth, announcing your grand opening on Facebook is simply a “Must do”!  After all the price is right… basically your time needed to crank out 250 words or less!  Most importantly, Facebook is viral in nature.  Meaning you may have 250 friends, that could in an ideal world pass it on to 250 of there friends and so on!  Don’t get me wrong, you will never have a 100% pass along rate and 100% conversion, but even 1 referral about your Grand Opening announcement is a pretty good return on investment for 5 minutes of work!

Test Your Ideas on Facebook

Many companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars conducting marketing analysis to determine how people feel about their product or service.  While you may not get the most unbiased opinions on Facebook, you do have an audience willing to give you some feedback.  It is up to you to determine how skewed it will be… and be honest with yourself, when your grandmother tells you it is “the best idea ever”.  Better yet, some people may be willing to give you ideas on how to improve your product or service.  There are some caveats however.  It is probably not a good idea to release trade secrets, proprietary knowledge, or other competitive advantages you may have for the world to see!  In the end, using Facebook to test your ideas has far too many advantages to discount.

Openly Ask for Referrals on Facebook!

“Ask and you shall receive” is a surprisingly powerful mindset to have.  All too often new entrepreneurs feel shy or are not comfortable with the idea of blatantly asking for referrals.  The good news is Facebook is a great way to develop your are of asking for a referral.  To sweeten the deal you may offer a discount to friends who refer you to others by giving them a 10 – 25% should they want to buy your product or service.  Again, Facebook will help you leverage the positive word-of-mouth advertising that will come through friends and family.

Showcase Your Products and Services on Facebook

Facebook gives you the ability to set up albums and display photographs.  Well why not display photos of your products, services,  or events your new start-up participated in?  We have dozens of clients and friends who do just that!  Janna Wemmer, from Secret Stash Sea Salt posts pictures of people who use their salts in recipes as well as pictures of her booths in farmers markets, food shows, and more.  In the end, your friends and family will love to see you in the process of growing your business and giving them and extra reminder of what you do or sell will only serve to grow your business.

Conclusion

Facebook will not put your company on the  Fortune 500, however it will put it in front of some of your most ardent supporters.  However you will find most Fortune 500 companies now have a Facebook page.  The power of this website is undeniable.  In addition, the viral nature of Facebook could put your company in front of exponentially more potential clients.  Lastly, every business start up professor, business consultant, and business strategist will tell you to contact and promote your product to your friends, family, and colleagues… basically everyone you have already likely included in your Facebook account.

Restaurant marketing has changed drastically in the last 5 years.  In the past, buying print advertising, radio spots, and passing out flyers was a costly venture that only few operators could afford regularly.  Today everything has changed.  Social media marketing, search engine optimization, and email marketing have proven to be extremely powerful and cost effective.  Best of all, these marketing efforts are all measurable, allowing owners to see exactly how many customers have viewed their marketing collateral.

WeSprout has been a leader in restaurant marketing.  Our results speak for themselves.  We consistently drive thousands of website visitors a month to our clients websites.  We provide marketing collateral development, consulting, and complete marketing management services.

Our Restaurant Marketing Services Include:

• Restaurant Marketing Plan Development
• Restaurant Marketing Consulting
• Restaurant Website Design
• Restaurant Search Engine Optimization
• Restaurant Search Engine Marketing
• Restaurant Social Media Marketing
• Restaurant Email Marketing
• Restaurant Graphic Design
• Restaurant Photography
• Food Photography
• Restaurant Videography