12-Way Video Chat App To Simplify The Way You Do Business

 Have you ever wished that you can have all your meetings at once, instead setting a whole day aside for them. Well fret no more the solutions is here: OoVoo a video chat provider is offering a 12-way app to connect with  Facebook and non Facebook friends or associates. Can this be any better? Well, Yes it can- it's totally Free. Now that's a deal.

Here is what you'll get:

Two social media driven contests and how they can benefit your restaurant

 Scoring financing for you business had never been easy especially when it comes to restaurants. So it's nice to see major corporations stepping up for small businesses through contests which are emerging as low-cost way for big companies to get people to connect with their brand in social media. To find out what these contest can do for your restaurant, take a look at what they offer:
1. Staples' "Give your small business the push it needs"- to enter this contest your restaurant must submit a 15-second video about your business on Staple's Facebook page. To the winning five businesses, the office supply giant is offering up to $50,000 in free television ad in the form of inclusion in a Staple's ad or $40,000 in free advertising and $10,000 in cash each. Winners will also get $500 in Staples merchandise and services.
2. Facebook Small business boost- the social media network is offering $100,000 in prizes or more specifically up to $10,000 in free advertising to the 10 U.S.-based businesses that can drive the most "likes" to their business Facebook page by April 1st. Those businesses that attract 100 likes before the deadline will receive $100 in free Facebook advertising, and fifty likes will get you $50 ad credit.

Grubwithus-what it is and what it can do for your restaurant

 Grubwithus is a "social meal experience" created by two college friends. After working at different corporate jobs, starting their fare share of businesses, and relocating to a new city, the duo discovered that majority of their college friendship base had dwindled. And this is how the idea of Grubwithus was born. Ever since testing their concept of "social meal experience" at a dinner in Chicago, which by the way resulted in a smashing success, the pair has managed more than 7,000 restaurant reservations. Grubwithus, which takes a cut from participating restaurants, is worth watching because it presents a different business model for restaurants. The company drives traffic to eateries by providing people with a new way to socialize and by building sustainable relationships with the restaurants themselves. Grubwithus represents a return to old fashioned conversations over a meal which some people crave, and not to mention that it is great way to get to know people if you are new to town. Usually dinning groups are limit to groups of ten to keep the meal cozy, and people who reserve early pay less. They also have launched an iPhone app, so customers can book meals on the go, browse through profiles of fellow diners, and even chat with them before and after the meal. In addition the partners recently devised "create your own meal" feature, so customers can use Grubwithus to set up their own bookings. This option will enable the company to expand beyond the seven cities that is currently operating where anyone can host a dinner in any neighborhood and in any restaurant. Who knows, if you take advantage of this fairly new company and the opportunity that it presents, next time it may be your own restaurant hosting a social meal experience!

Top 10 Restaurants Heaven Stories of 2011

 With 2011 coming to an end Restaurants Heaven takes a look of its most popular stories of the last 12 months. Below aer our top 10 stories of 2011 from restaurantsheaven.blogspot.com

1. Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake
2. 10 Ways you can use QR codes to promote your restaurant business
3. Apps every restaurant owner should take advantage of
4. 10 Tips on how to WOW your restaurant's customers
5. How restaurants owners or managers can increase customer satisfaction
6. 3 Must have Facebook apps for your restaurant
7. How your restaurant can make a difference this Veterans Day
8. 11 Thanksgiving ideas for every restaurant to show your customers you care
9. 7 Tips on attracting new customers for your restaurant
10. 5 Steps to build successful private party and catering businesses

Happy New Year to all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our Followers, Fans, Users, and Lurkers!
We are thankful for all of you, all your feedback, and support!
Wishing you peace, joy, and goodwill this season!!!

How to cut flank steak the right way

Learn how to cut flank the right way. The Cooking Club of America presents Chef Andrew Zimmern as he shows you his techniques of how to make the perfect cuts every time.

Top 10 Hottest Menu Trends for 2012

 Learn what the National Restaurant Association found out after surveying nearly 1,800 professional chefs - members of the American Culinary Federation - on hot trends on restaurant menus in 2012. Local sourcing and children's nutrition are among the hottest trends.

How to temper chocolate the right way

 Learn how to temper chocolate the right way for dipping any of your favorite fruits, cookies, pretzels, and more, demonstrated by chef instructor Peter Greweling from The Culinary Institute of America.

5 Unconventional tips on how to find a job in the restaurant industry

  Finding a job in the restaurant industry can become a challenging task. That's why this 5 unconventional tips are here to guide and provide you with ideas on how to conquer this issue:
1. Use family and friends- give them your business cards, so they can hand them out to people they know or meet who maybe hiring.
2. Network- keep in mind that every new person you meet may become potential employer, so provide creative information about yourself and the type of employee that you are.
3. Promote yourself through Facebook, Twitter, and/or Linkedin- ask your professional and personal references to record a 2 to 3 min videos of your achievements instead of the traditional letter of recommendations. To make the videos unified you can ask them to answer a few questions such as: "what are your best qualities as an employee", "what are your strengths", "would they recommend you to a future employer", and "would they hire you back if they had the chance". Once you have the videos, you can upload them to your page and urge future employers to take a look what other people think of you as an employee.
4. Offer freebies- you can  offer your future employer, of course if you can afford this, to work for a week for free. In this way you'll have an opportunity to showcase your best qualities as an employee and possibly find out for yourself if this company is a good fit for you as well.
5. Collaborate- consider collaborating with other businesses such as print houses or wine stores to pass your business cards to the appropriate future employers. You can do the same for them and distribute their own business cards where on the back of the cards they can print your name or a discount they are willing to offer to potential customers.

What is UGC and 3 ways how it can benefit your restaurant

 UGC or User Generated Content is a content added to a website exclusively contributed by online users which can be a dream come true for most restaurant owners. Because the work is done by the online users and the content is free, your site has the potential to grow constantly which can be a great way for restaurants to expand on their brand. We also have found that a great way to stimulate UGC content for your restaurant website is by including a "reviews" section or by asking controversial questions. These methods can encourage your restaurant customers to send feedback about anything you are interested in collecting more information about like customer service or menu items. Using UGC is a great way for restaurants to:
1. Generate original and free content for their site which can save them time and money
2. Help them establish customer loyalty
3. Strenghten their restaurant presence on the web
 However whether you decide to implement UGC into your restaurant website or not, keep in mind that as you business continues to grow using creative solutions like UGC can only benefit your restaurant on the long run.

What are QR codes and why you should use them in your restaurant business

 A QR code stands for Quick Response code, and it's a 2D matrix bar code first designed by the automotive industry in the mid 90's in Japan. Created to allow its contents to be decoded at a high speed, this code consists of a black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. As the use of Smart phones is continue to be on the rise, QR codes are becoming more and more popular. They are quite simple to use, in fact if you have a camera-enabled Smart phone you can scan the QR code and gain an immediate access to information such as links, web addresses, emails, phone numbers, or images. Basically QR codes are an amazing bridge between your offline and online world, and you can implement them quite successfully into your restaurant business. You can easily use them for directions to your restaurant, to direct customers to your website, to stimulate the growth of your Facebook fan page, to share videos of your restaurant, etc. Even creating QR codes is easy, and you don't need to hire a specialist. There are services out there like Delivr, QR Stuff, or QRifier which can assist you in the creation process and will allow you to choose the type of content appropriate for your restaurant needs. Remember whichever service you choose don't forget tracking and statistics are necessary tools which will help you measure the success of your QR codes, so you might want to insure that your QR generator provides this service. You can even use a generator that has a color palette and customize your code. It's all up to you, and creativity is the name of the game.

Why Groupon and other similar sites may become old news for restaurants

  Groupon and other similar group-buying sites like LivingSocial or BuyWithMe have enticed restaurant owners for a long time, but horror stories of deals gone wrong had turn many owners to wonder what else is out there that can help them increase their sales and attract new customers. Well look no further, white label and application service provider companies like ChompOn, AtCost, PoweredbyTippr, Group Commerce, and others all have dedicated their work to help restaurants and other businesses alike to take charge of their sales. No more relinquishing 50 percent of gross revenue or terrible customer service. By using white label technology and services, restaurants can now create a direct link between them and their customers, keep more of the deals revenue, take advantage of support and training materials for group buying, adjust product offerings based on top sellers available in real time, and much more. So if you are still using those big group-buying sites, take a closer look at your contract and find a way to save yourself the headaches.

Is your dream to open a restaurant?

   Are you tired of eating out, spending money, or not so stellar customer service when you go to a restaurant. Are you thinking about the great opportunities of owning your own business. Discover why you should work in the restaurant industry before you open the doors of your own restaurant.

1.You can gain experience- there is nothing better than to learn from those who have done it. This is the best way you can get an in-depth knowledge of how are things really done.
2. Make contacts- you need either business or personal contacts because at the end you can't run the restaurant by yourself. You'll need people from the suppliers to the stuff.
3. Gain reputation- the more people love and respect you for what you do, the more they'll be willing to go an extra mile for you. By gaining the right reputation, you'll gain future customers.
4. Free marketing- this is a fantastic way to let customers know of your future venture. The more people know before you open the better. There is nothing worst than opening your restaurant doors and waiting for customers to show up. You have to do the work.
5. Learn how to avoid costly mistakes- this is another great tool you can arm yourself with. By personally experiencing what restaurants you working for are doing wrong, you'll save yourself a lot of money and sleepless nights.
6. Learn management techniques- this is crucial as well. You have to be a leader and guide your stuff to success.You need to learn what to be looking for, even if you plan to hire someone else to fulfil this position.
  Whatever you decide to do, remember, you always need to know what's happening in your own business, so getting the experience or the education is crucial to your success.

What drives customers crazy when it comes to restaurant service

When customers are saying enough, we have to listen. Read, what we found drives them crazy when it comes to restaurant service.

1. When you see we are waiting on you but you continue to ignore us.
2. When you are rude and have an attitude.
3. When you cough all over our food.
4. When you give us dirty plates.
5. When you correct our pronunciation of an item and think it's funny.
6. When you ask us if we need change.
7. When we need things, but you are nowhere to be found.
8. When our food comes out not the way we order it, but you try to persuade us it has came out good.
9. When you try to convince us we didn't order something when in fact we did.
10. When you watch us like a hawk while we eat.
11. When you check on our table every minute.

Unfortunately this happens. However, the most important thing for any successful restaurant business is: if such a complaint exist, it has to be addressed immediately and the problem corrected. At the end without your customer there will be no business.

Three websites that can save you money on dining out

Nowadays more and more  people are dining out. As much as it is fun to experiment with different cuisine every night, it can become quite expensive. Here are three websites that can save you money when dining at a restaurant.

1. Restaurant.com- this website offers discounts on gift certificates on over 18,000 restaurants nationwide. Here you can easily find a $25 gift certificate for only $10.
2. Groupon.com-  this website has become quite the popular destination for many households. It features daily deals with 50% to 70% discounts, and it does require free subscription. In fact their newest feature offers personalized deals especially made for each customer.
3. Livingsocial.com- is another website which works on the same premises as Groupon offering up to 90% off your city best deals. The great thing about livingsocial.com is that they offer different categories for each deal where customers can choose the ones that best appeal to their situation. Moreover, their newest category is Adventure which offers fantastic deals for the hot summer days.

Good luck and happy savings!

What drives servers crazy when it comes to customers?

Did you know that certain customer behavior drives servers crazy? The truth is out. Find out what servers say about things that drive them crazy:

1. "When you come at the last minute before closing time and decide to order a four course meal".
2. "When the first thing you ask is "Can we get some bread""?
3. "When you snap your fingers at us".
4. "When you order something, and then don't remember you did".
5. "When you argue you ordered something, and you never did".
6. "When you wash us with praises, but you don't leave tip".
7. "When you tell us how we should do our job".
8. "When you know that you are the last table, that we have closed an hour ago, but you are still taking your time".
9. "When you eat half of your meal and then tell us you don't like it".
10. "When you receive free dinner and don't even leave tip".
11. "When the first thing you tell us is "We know the owner"".
12. "When you insult us and you think is funny".
13. "When you sexually harass us and you think is O.K".
14. "When you forget we are human too".
15. "When you forget that we don't cook the food, we just serve it".