Serving Diversity: From Mauler To Social Media

While this analogy of social media to the restaurant industry is not the first step to develop a social media mix as an extension of your business strategy, it does illustrate something that public relations professionals, marketing experts, and so-called celebrity A-list bloggers sometimes forget. As a whole, the blogosphere isn’t all that different from the restaurant industry. There are different strokes for different folks. The model of success for one might not work for another.

Yesterday, I shared some wisdom from two Mobile five-star restaurants. You might have noticed that neither of them said anything silly like you have to have duck on the menu. So today, I thought it would be fun to share some insights from another favorite celebrity chef of mine; someone who knows something about diversity and shares something in common with me.

Gustav Mauler has owned successful several restaurants (I’ve reviewed a few over the years). Currently, he operates Spiedini, Sazio, and Gustav’s Cigar Bar, each of them a little different. When he received a Las Vegas Chamber Community Achievement Award in 2002 (an honor we share), I asked him for five quick keys for success.

Gustav Mauler’s Five Keys For Success

1. Love your profession.
2. Cater to your guests — continually improve systems to consistently exceed the customer’s expectations.
3. Run your business with integrity.
4. Share your talents through education.
5. Give back to the community.

He didn’t say open a cigar bar or why gorgonzola works with spinach salad a little better than parmesan. Some of the fine bloggers at BlogCatalog seem to get it. I asked them what kind of restaurant is your blog and their answers are as diverse as you might expect. You can see them all in the discussion string (highly recommend), but here are a few highlights with their descriptors up front:

• A tea room (Thrift Shop Romantic.)
• A basement coffee shop (Tetsujin’s Blog.)
• A pet-friendly eatery (Pet Friendly Travel.)
• A roadside diner (Agents Don’t Do Housework.)
• A Norwegian “special bite” (Chiamimi.)
• A Willy Wonka chocolate factory (Eavesdrop Writer.)
• A local café (Apathetic Lemming of the North.)
• An ice cream parlor (Daisy The Curly Cat.)

There are many more choices for sure. But what about the public? Are people only interested in celebrity chefs or quick service twits? Let’s find out. Vote for the broadest social media dining styles that represent where you’re likely to go most often. You can pick multiple choices, but only vote once.

Feel free to add your own dining “descriptor” and (include the html text only as results vary) in the comments. I’ll revisit this issue sometime next week (after the poll closes). Sure, this is hardly scientific, but I have a few theories in the works.