Integrated Restaurant Marketing is a lot like farming. You focus on the three to five mile radius around your restaurant. Your focus is for you to become the dominant restaurant in your market area. This is your farming area, the three to five mile radius around your restaurant.

Now you plant the seeds. Your seeds include email, fax, U.S. Mail, telephones and personal contact. These are the seeds of Integrated Marketing. Now, you need to nurture and fertilize the crop through community and neighborhood involvement, and by sending birthday and anniversary cards to current customers. Welcome cards to New Move-Ins, Promotions, Special Events, First-Time Customer Recognition and follow-up, Increasing Customer Frequency Programs, Family and Kids Marketing, Being the "Party Place" Hiring Neighborhood Marketing Representatives, Selecting SuperStar Employees, Having Employee Incentive and Recognition Programs and continually having Outstanding Food and Service.

There is a lot of "manual labor" involved in farming and/or Integrated Restaurant Marketing. There is a lot of thought and planning. If you are to get "Big" it is going to require delegation on your part. You need to involve your employees; they are your greatest asset. Finally, you need to understand marketing and become effective and efficient in your marketing efforts.

I want to tell you that this concept of "Integrated Restaurant Marketing" which allows you to become the dominant restaurant in your market area is the smartest, savviest marketing approach to increasing sales that there is. There are many, many areas that are involved in your "farming" project:

• Your own current and former employees
• Your own past and present customers
• Your key community and business contacts list
• All your business neighbors
• All residential areas in your market area
• New residents in your area
• A selected occupational group or groups, where you have special expertise or satisfied customers - all the firefighters in town, or all the policemen, insurance agents, bankers, merchants, etc. Any area that is of interest to you.
• Groups and organizations i.e. Service clubs, chamber of commerce, sports groups, fund raising organizations. Groups and organizations that can help your restaurant grow in sales and profit.