It can be hard sometimes doing your own internet marketing and social media, particularly if you’re doing it from scratch. There will be a few points in particular when you’ll feel ready to give up.
1) When you start. Looking at the calendar in front of you, it can be hard to even get started. You might spend a long time writing an early blog, or you could just work really hard one day to put up a blog, list a special, post it on social media, and see NO result from it. It’s easy to say “I should just quit now and not waste more time.” There’s no real trick to getting past this point, but believing in what you’re doing. If you do nothing you’ll get nothing. That much is for certain. If you’re willing to listen to the experts who tell you that if you consistently DO something, you’ll get something out of it, then you can push on.
2) After a few months. This is at some point when you’ve gotten in a groove, and you’re starting to be comfortable in the schedule of your editorial calendar, and other online marketing efforts, but you just aren’t necessarily seeing explicit results yet. Maybe you’ve gained some facebook fans and twitter followers, but it’s not exploded. Maybe you’re still not seeing a specific increase in people visiting your restaurant for a Foursquare special. It’s easy after a couple months to say “Look I’m doing it all, and it’s just not worked.”. Relax. Calm down. Remember it’s a long process, not a short one. Remember that you don’t get results after a day. The steady flow of water is stronger than any rock. Keep going, keep flowing, results will come.
3) After a year or more. Frustrations at this point, tend to be more of scale. Your numbers have grown, but just not to your expectations. Maybe you look at another restaurant in town that has 10,000 followers, and you only have 2,000. Remember that it’s a long process, but it’s also one that learns and adapts. If you’re not happy with where you’re at, then reevaluate, don’t give up. If they can get 10,000 likes on Facebook, you can too. Look at what they do, learn from it, adapt your own online marketing, change, improve, and keep going. If you have 2,000 likes, and want 10,000 likes, quitting certainly won’t solve your problem.
—
In the end it comes down to accepting a few things.
1) Know that your effort will pay off in the end.
2) It’s a slow and steady process, not something with quick results.
3) You must always be adapting and changing.
Your restaurant website, internet marketing, and social media are like a river. Flow with the river, and eventually it will reach the ocean.
—
If your restaurant needs help with a better restaurant website, or their internet marketing, then don’t hesitate to contact oRestaurantDesign. We also offer a free 14 day trial of a website with a design customized for your restaurant so you can take one for a spin.
