Let’s take a look at eight reasons why you cannot afford to be quiet and why you should be ramping up your PR and visibility strategy right now:

8. When you duck and cover, customers can’t see you.
The classic knee-jerk response to a recession is to reduce expenses any way possible. But taking yourself off your customers radar by reducing or eliminating PR efforts puts you out of sight – and the subsequent drop in revenues will put you out of your mind. Cutting your visibility during a recession – or anytime for that matter – stops the conversation with  influential media and your customers. It tells people that you are no longer in play and your are putting your business and brand at risk. This is the time when you need to create meaningful stories that change the way people feel about your company. You cannot do that if you are hiding.

7. The agency effect is a multiplier
A good PR agency, though focused primarily on visibility, can also deliver much more – hard hitting copy aimed both internally and externally, business development strategies, a fresh perspective on your restaurant and audiences. Likewise, a solid PR strategy goes deeper than just getting the word out. It can help define and develop and, in tough times, protect your brand, articulate those values and practices central to your operating strategy and most important to your customers, and position you properly for future success.

6. PR helps you hit the bulls-eye
You will not catch me saying this often, but sometimes stories get out there without the help of a concerted PR effort – you know when this happens, and it is not usually the story you want the major local paper to pick up. But these stories are uncontrolled and can take on a life of their own. PR helps you ensure accuracy and make sure your message hits its intended target. Targeted messages, as we all know, are consistently the most effective, but they must be crafted and pitched in precise ways. Good PR pros specialize in finding the right avenues, including online and mobile, which offer the best chance for establishing a dialogue with the right audience.

5. Real bang for your buck
PR, though not without expense, is one of the most cost-efficient tools available for creating brand awareness and ultimately increased sales. In the current environment, that is no small consideration. When PR initiatives incorporate cost-effective methodologies, including new media placements and unconventional tactics, the efficiency is redoubled. With the media hungry for every new success story – strong PR can gain an extra dimension of effectiveness.

4. Metrics that matter
Measuring the efficacy of marketing and advertising is ultimately rather simple; did we sell more due to our efforts, or not? PR success is not so easily pigeonholed, but that does not mean it has less value. Though we recognize that everything is about the bottom line, PR has different aims, and therefore a different set of metrics. But what are they? Is it how many times the same press release was picked up and redistributed when we google ourselves? Is it eyeballs, is it reach? Is it more valuable when a blogger writes about your restaurant, or when you’re in the Local Herald or on CNN? Or is it how people react and change the way they feel about your restaurant. What counts most in terms of PR efforts are the perceptions and reputations created and built. These, though perhaps not as quantifiable as marginal cost or direct sales, are priceless and immensely powerful.

3. It’s not what you know or who you know, it’s how well you know who you know. Know what I mean?
The current economic environment has put a high premium on trust and reputation, which for restaurants and other businesses translates to strength of brand. This is partly what good PR is all about – letting customers know you through objective sources. In contrast to marketing or advertising, which endeavor to push a product on an intended audience, PR builds awareness and invites audiences to come to your restaurant. While the former might seem more important during a recession – push that one widget to make one more sale – the latter is a foundation for future success (create awareness of the widget and the widget  makers, and the scores of people who love the widget.)

2. The power of position
The real counterpoint and compliment to consumer-based brand awareness and reputation is your restaurant’s stature in the business community. In a recession, how well you stack up in relation to your competitors reaches your customer’s ears and eyes at least as well as more over marketing messages. PR helps you emphasize or spin your strengths or shortcomings, which is critical in this challenging time.

1. Carpe crisis
To paraphrase the president’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Now is the time, as your competitors are hunkered down, to seize market share and spread your good word. And do not give up. Over the past 50 years, U.S. recessions lasted an average of 11 months, whereas economic growth endured, on average, six years. Consistent messaging and outreach in time like these will win the race. You will loose far more by dropping out. Opportunity is knocking for those marketers and businesses willing to see these costs as an investment, not an expense, and to invest in themselves and their brand. The odds and statistics are on their side, for a change.

(Source: Kentucky Restaurant Association)

One thing all restaurant operators need to know is what can be done during the slow business times and how it directly relates to the success during busy times. Here are 10 things you can do to improve your restaurant for $100 dollars or less.

1. Start with the front door.
The first impression analogy is true. Make a trip to Home Depot, Lowe’s or whatever hardware store you have close and pick up a $25 gallon of rust proof or exterior paint and spruce up your entrance.

2. How about those welcome mats?
You might need to sit down with your linen supplier; can you customize your mats to include your logo? A splash of color? The price will vary on your linen contact – but that first impression is worth a small investment.

3. How about some planters?
A potted plant in a contemporary metal planter is between $20-$30 dollars. In addition, some green will lighten the spirits of your patrons.

4. Replace the handle on the bathroom toilet.
That little sign that says, “please lift handle” or “hold handle down at least 10 seconds” has to go. You can pick up a new handle and guts from the hardware store for less than $20. Having your bathroom clean and in working order gives your guests confidence in the cleanliness of your entire establishment, not to mention the savings on your water bill.

5. Make a green move.
Spend $100 on energy efficient light bulbs. This one will pay you back as months go by, and you can tell your customers you are embracing the Green Movement.

6. How about the items on the tables?
Are they clean? Does the vessel holding your condiments need to be replaced? For $3-$4 a table you can buy new baskets or buckets. New vases, new candle holders, salt and pepper shakers and numerous other trinkets are inexpensive and refresh your tabletops.

7. Update your menu, take -out menus , and special event brochures.
Office Depot offers paper specials and copies have never been cheaper. Spend some time with the calculator and make sure your prices are correct and then spend $50 to have a copy editor read the menu so that they can identify grammar and spelling errors before you print.

8. Get those carpets cleaned!
A professional cleaning service will rid your carpet of the dull haze covering your floors.

9. If your customers can see the waiter/waitress station, it has to look professional.
Pick up some matching storage containers and make sure they are labeled and your staff is trained on the organization system. If your customer can see clean and  organized in the front of the house, they believe the back is clean and organized.

10. Take one hour and go online.
Make sure your business is part of the free Google Local Business Center, listed on yellowpages.com, Yahoo, and Bing. When you search, is your business name found? Are your phone number, address, and hours of operation correct? Make FREE work for you. Embrace technology and use it to market your business.

(Source: Kentucky Restaurant Association)

Business savvy restaurant operators seeking ways to minimize operational costs and improve customer experience may need to look no further than their dish rooms. While perhaps not top-of-mind for most people, the dish room is one place where small steps taken day-in and day-out can pay big dividends over time.

Simply put, the dish room is a numbers business. On average:

• Every three people your restaurant serves creates one rack of dishes
• 50 cents per run, per rack is considered optimal efficient for most dishwashers
• Nearly half of restaurants are not running at optimal efficiency. In fact, many are running per rack rates of 70 cents or even a dollar. In short, they’re bleeding money in the dish room!

Apply those numbers to your establishment. If you serve an average of 150 people per day, you’re likely washing at least 50 racks per day. Over a month’s time the difference between 50 cent racks vs. one dollar racks is $750 out of your bottom line. Over a year the difference is several thousand.

Operators looking to bridge that efficiency (and monetary) gap can take a number of simple steps.

#1 Replace Racks
Are the racks worn? Pegs missing? Being racked properly? If your equipment is worn and you’re only getting 9 plates on the rack instead of 20 – the ramifications are obvious. Also, make certain employees are racking glass in a glass rack and dishes in a dish rack. This prevents breakage and reduces the number of cycles required. With racks costing as little as $20 to replace, it is easy to see how quickly the cost of replacing broken or worn racks can be recouped.

#2 Have Dishwasher Inspected
It’s wise to have your dishwasher looked at monthly by your chemical supplier to ensure it’s operating at peak efficiency. Are the temperatures right? Are the jets at right angle? Have they worn? Are you getting 20 lbs. of flow pressure during the rinse? Sometimes the jets can wear in as little as six months, increasing utility costs.

#3 Replace Curtains, Arms, and Jets
When times are tight, restaurateurs often try to hold out as long as possible to replace items. The dish room is one place where this strategy can be penny wise and pound foolish. Worn curtains let heat escape which can increase energy costs, worn jets also can allow too much water through. It costs 3 cents per gallon to heat and run water through the cycle – so wasted waster adds up to wasted money.

#4 Presoak Silverware
It is important to properly pre-soak silverware from a cost, as well as sanitation, perspective. Take the full 15 to 30 minutes required to presoak silverware. If this is done, then silverware can be run through wash cycle twice, rather then three or four times – which can be a real savings.

#5 Check Final Rinse Flow Pressure
Final rinse pressure and optimum range is 20 to 25 pounds per square inch optimum. Most machines have a gauge you can use to check yourself. Too little pressure and you get a poor rinse. Too much pressure and water usage goes up and the jets spray everywhere.

These simple steps could help your restaurant save thousands each year on utility and even labor costs- allowing your staff to spend less money in the dish room.