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Recently we interviewed Marcus Kilvington from food-profits and we placed his amazing content inside our Magazine. Inside the last edition ( which was free by the way ) Marcus shared some inside tips on how to build a tribe. For the un initiated the tribe is that loyal fan or tribesman that actively supports your business. He or she talks about your business they actively promote it to their friends and colleagues. Marcus talks about how you can go about collecting your customers details.. their name and their phone number for example. Now you might think this near impossible, especially in todays security conscious world... however Marcus goes on in the magazine to explain exactly how to do it. Well tonight I popped out to a local pub and had a drink... while i was there i decided to treat myself to a snack and noticed there offer on a chalkboard propped up on the bar.. I wish I had taken a photo... but i do like the Cuckoo in Alwalton and will take a phot later and add it to this post. Anyway i like there off and here it is.

On todays show we interview Marcus Kilvington again from food profits talking about the proliferation of 'Meal Deals" springing up in practically every restaurant, pub, coffee house etc. Marcus recently wrote an article for the Nottingham Post and this caught my interest so I invited Marcus to talk about the article and of course grilled him for some great restaurant marketing tips. The 'Two Meals for a Tenner" ( the working title of this show ) is becoming ubiquitous with many restaurants round the country feeling they have to compete with the big chains to get in with a shout. Its a competitive business and just a short walk into Peterborough town centre last Friday I spotted 4 or 5 meal deals, some as low as £5.99. A local Weatherspoons had a Fish and Chip deal for 2 people for 6.99, or if you found yourself drinking alone you could enjoy fish and chips and a alcoholic drink for a measly £5.99. In fact the more attention I paid to the boards sat outside various venues I realised the level of the competition. Pretty fierce!! Show Notes Two meals for 10 pounds sounds like such a bargain. The reason most caterers are doing this is to get people through the door. That is your primary objective. The second objective is to get the customer to come back through the door. My Question is can you make any money? Is a question of mathematics. How many more people do you need to to come through the door in order to make it financially viable? My Parents came back from a 'meal deal' and they both agreed they would never go for another 'meal deal' experience again. If the quality isn't there people will not come back. Everyone is doing it! and people feel that if they don't do it people won't come in the door. My first point is if you cant make money you cannot afford to do it. Competing with the big chains just isn't possible. They have huge resources, but even they could be facing trouble in the long run. Can the big chains even afford to keep doing these deals... is it sustainable, even for them. Big Hospitality mention that many of the chains are restructuring large amounts of debt. The truth is your not making money, even if your a large pub group, eventually even they can go pop or bust. So restaurant owners need to think about being different, and here is a question, what is going to make people come into your establishment and not somebody else's. The Moral Question:- If we, as consumers, keep lining the pockets of the big chains, what we are really doin