Guest blog post by Jillian Jackson DragonSEARCH "Why A Food Blog Should be in Your Startup or Restaurant Business Plan"

Jillian Jackson

 

BIO
Jillian Jackson is the Social Engagement Officer at DragonSearch in New York. McGraw-Hill recently published the DragonSearch Online Marketing Manual. Connect with Jillian anytime by tweeting @OneJillian or @DragonSearch. She holds a dual Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Public Relations.

 

Food Blogs Increase Visibility and Influence

Many food blogs are by aspiring and well-established chefs, home cooks, restaurant reviewers and caterers. Some of the best food and recipe blogs out there are by award-winning chefs and restaurateurs. When you plan on entering an industry as competitive as the food business, setting yourself apart from the rest is very important. A recipe blog or cooking blog bring relevance and influence that doubles as free online marketing.

Including Online Marketing in Your Business Plan

Whether you plan to start a business as a personal chef or a franchise owner, you need to start with a unique, personalized business plan. That means some elements of a restaurant business plan will be different from those of a personal chef or even a food reviewer. Some will enter the food business to help others eat healthier, and others will want to help bring attention to the farms and co-ops where food is grown.

Planning where your product or service will be focused allows you to move into identifying your target audience – the set of people who will be interested in and/or purchase what you offer. Whatever your focus, you next step is to identify your unique value proposition. Once you’ve pinpointed your unique value proposition – or UVP, what makes your product the best choice for your target audience – you have to communicate your message!

Using restaurants as an example, restaurant marketing will probably be factored into your restaurant business plan. That’s good! Making sure online marketing is part of that mix starting with search engine optimization (SEO) in your website and blog, sets a very strong foundation for your success.

Internet Marketing Needs Ongoing Search Engine Optimization

Did you know online marketing for your startup or small business starts with your website? As a part of your marketing mix, SEO is like a root system sustaining your online marketing efforts. You can think of it that way when you hear references to “organic” traffic. In a very loose analogy, it means the delicious nutrients on your website are feeding the field of individual flowers that is your internet audience, which may convert into customers.

Here is a tip from the DragonSearch Online Marketing Manual: one of the best tools to bring attention to your skills and UVP as a personal chef or restaurant chef is to use maybe a recipe blog with videos of cooking.  If you want to bring attention to your new restaurant or franchise, an SEO optimized food blog will be a constant feedback loop for your audience.

A great thing happens after you kick off internet marketing for your business with a search engine optimized website and cooking blog. In learning to provide what your audience, you actually get to know your audience through the feedback loop your online presence provides.

Although the food industry from personal chefs to caterers, from franchises to startup restaurants, from small farms to community planting co-ops is a competitive landscape, there is a sprawling yet tight-knit community to join. As you become more connected in this online food community, the root system of your own food blog and website enhanced with proper SEO will grow, bringing more relevance to you, your brand, and your product or service.

Blogging as an entrepreneur is just a part of an effective overall online marketing strategy, but once you initiate this, you will have more confidence to take on the other elements that will bring your business idea to success.

BIO

Jillian Jackson is the Social Engagement Officer at DragonSearch in New York. McGraw-Hill recently published the DragonSearch Online Marketing Manual. Connect with Jillian anytime by tweeting @OneJillian or @DragonSearch. She holds a dual Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Public Relations.