Restaurant Take Out Containers: Leveraging Two Birds With One Take Out Container

Line drawing of a take out containerRecently there was an article on Eater. “Why not bring takeout containers to restaurants?” and I thought, wow this is such a great idea (not rocket science obviously) but I should start doing this. What a great way to save the environment and, by the way, save our favorite restaurants a few bucks in the bargain.

 

Which, of course, led to the inevitable 2 AM neurodivergent thought, OH!, how can a restaurant leverage this? There must be restaurants doing this already, and of course, there were and there are. Restaurants give discounts to diners who bring their own dishes (2019) and many more. One thing that I noticed though about the restaurants and other food service operations that offered this is there didn’t seem to be a ton of thought into “targeted” getting people back in the door. Some offered discounts off of a future meal, some off of a current meal, some free refills (for beverages) but not much real upselling.

 

From a customer funnel point of view, if you want to think about getting repeat customers back in the door, what’s the incentive to get them back in PLUS the incentive to spend more money? 

 

I’d love to see a restaurant out there (and maybe there is, let me know!) who would offer the incentive “BYOC (Bring Your Own Container)” and get a voucher/coupon for a free coffee or tea and our signature dessert.

 

Why that? Coffee or tea doesn’t cost most to provide and if you created the incentive wisely a signature dessert could cost a few dollars or less to make. Tiramisu is cheap to make, so is a scoop of homemade (or a good prepared) mousse with some flavored whipped cream to zip it up. Dessert has a much higher profit margin on it typically than an entrée or appetizer.

 

If you just give them a discount or small incentive, it doesn’t do much for repeats, it can help, but what’s the upsell part of it?

 

If you get them to come in and get drinks, maybe an appetizer and a couple of entrees (make the must order an entrée as part of the small print on the coupon), it’s an incentive to get people in the door and spent money first.

 

Even if it’s a couple who come in regularly and they bring two takeout containers, give them two vouchers. If you look at it from the perspective of how is any different from giving them a $10 off coupon their next meal, it is different because your incentive is to give them something for free but they have to spend money first. Even without a couple ordering appetizers, if a couple’s tab is a couple of entrees (mid-priced restaurant average) 17.99 X 2, plus a couple of soft drinks (up the take if it’s beer or wine) 2.50 X 2, and the regular check average is $50.00 and you just “gave away” $3.50 in product, when it boils down to it that’s pretty inexpensive marketing. If your price points for your menu items are higher, the ratios are even better.

 

You actually get three birds with this: promoting eco-friendly practices, saving money on your own to go containers and getting people in the door for repeat dining. Even if you encourage regulars to give them to others, that’s not a bad thing, it increases brand awareness and you get the same result; you get more people in the door and they order the big-ticket items like entrees (and if your waitstaff is good at the in-person upsell, high profitably drinks).

 

If you are going to try any incentives like this, make sure they contribute to your bottom line.

 

I’ve seen too many restaurant coupons that just give a discount with no stipulations on use or no incentive to get people to buy more.

 

So if you create an initiative to bring in customers, track through what you get out of it. Is it a onetime sale, something that will get people to come in many times or something that will make people spend more money because of the incentive itself?

 

There were a couple of good articles I came across in searching for restaurants that did have to go container incentives that I think would be worth a read.

How can restaurants take advantage of sustainable packaging?

What Are Reusable Food Container Programs?

Book Cover: Finding a Location for your restaurant

 

By the way, my first book just got released on Amazon this weekend in Paperback and on Kindle! Check it out! Finding a Location for your Restaurant: How to Scout the Perfect Location for your Dream of Opening a Restaurant or other Hospitality Business.

Interview Questions to Ask a Chef and General Manager

People shaking hands with one person holding a resumeI had a meeting with a client recently, and a big part of our conversation was about hiring for a restaurant. I had to dig out my notes to send them but realized I don’t think I’ve ever put these questions out on the blog that I have used in the past as part of working in restaurants in management and for the last twenty years in consulting, where I’ve helped interview candidates for positions.

 

While none of these questions are rocket science, and there are multiple websites out there offering lists of 10-20 questions, there are some questions on here that I’ve never seen listed by some hiring sites that have “suggested questions.”

 

It seems that many of the sites had people writing these questions more from a HR perspective and not from an actual restaurant management perspective or experience dealing with some of the realities that working in restaurants engenders.

 

So, if you find a few you have yet to come across, I hope it’s helpful.

 

The one additional thing I’ve found in calling references is to call suggested references but also call any past positions not given but listed on the job seeker’s resume (and to Google their name in quotes as well for any positions worked that they may not have listed, so (“John Doe” Chef Kingston, NH) for example.

 

The one question I always ask of references and non-references is, “Would you hire them back?” if the reply is “Probably not, or no,” that can be a red flag. And in a lot of cases, that’s all you need to know.

 

I always recommend checking your state’s labor laws to find out what questions you can also legally ask past employers.

 

Doing a tag team interview (two interviewers) can also help: one person takes notes, and the other asks the questions. People’s body language and facial expressions can be enlightening when answering questions, but if it’s just you asking, you might miss those if your head is bent writing notes.

 

If you are interviewing multiple candidates, ask to record the interview with their permission because then you can go back and review exactly what was said. I’ve interviewed dozens of people for the same position, and sometimes, interviews get blurred together, and it’s challenging to make a final decision based on memory alone.

 

Two questions I ask both potential working chefs and GMs (that might be kitchen managers or GMs that are in charge of the whole restaurant or food service facility) is:

What can you tell me about this business? (if they didn’t do their homework first regardless of the position hiring for) make it a short interview unless they strike you as a really good candidate. (Anyone worth their salt though will at least look at the website, the really good ones will dig around online)

Is there anything that you see that you think could be changed or adjusted? (related to the  first question).

Interview questions for working chefs and general managers:

What can you tell me about this business? (if they didn’t do their homework first regardless of the position hiring for) make it a short interview unless they strike you as a really good candidate. Anyone worth their salt though will at least look at the website, the really good ones will dig around online)

Is there anything that you see that you think could be changed or adjusted? (related to the  first question).

Some of the questions are somewhat duplicated but asked in different ways. I always liked to throw some repeat questions in that are reworded as sometimes people change their answers. If a chef position is also a head chef or executive chef position, many of the questions asked of a General Manager would also apply.

Working Chef Questions:

  • What are your salary expectations and benefits you’re seeking? Do you have any questions about the position or our restaurant?
  • What specific skills and experience do you bring to our restaurant’s concept and clientele, and how do you align with our values and customer base?
  • What inspired you to become a chef? Or cook?
  • Describe your culinary journey, including your experience with specific cuisines, cooking styles, or restaurant types?
  • How do you handle and adapt to changing food trends and dietary preferences, such as plant-based, gluten-free, or keto diets?
  • How do you ensure food quality and consistency in a high-volume environment?
  • Can you provide examples of conflicts or challenges you’ve faced in the kitchen and how you resolved them?
  • Can you provide examples of conflicts or challenges you’ve faced managing menus, special events, and high-pressure situations?
  • What is your approach to sustainability, locally sourced ingredients, and menu creation?
  • What is your approach to balancing creativity with customer preferences and cost-effectiveness?
  • How do you approach training and developing kitchen staff?
  • What are your long-term career goals in the culinary industry?
  • Can you share an example of a dish or menu item you created that was particularly well-received?
  • Have you done food and wine pairings or food and other types of pairings? Please describe?
  • Describe your leadership style and how you foster a positive and collaborative work environment. 
  • What are your expectations for staff in terms of performance and conduct?
  • What are your proudest accomplishments as a chef?
  • What drives your passion for cooking? 
  • What is your vision for the future of your culinary career?
  • Who are your biggest culinary influences or role model?
  • Are there any specific cuisines or dishes that have impacted your cooking style?
  • What challenges have you faced as a chef? 
  • What are your future goals or aspirations?
  • How do you stay up-to-date with industry trends?
  • How do you balance your personal and professional life?
  • What is your experience in managing a kitchen?
  • What is your experience in maintaining food safety standards? 
  • How do you motivate and lead your kitchen staff?
  • How do you handle equipment maintenance and unexpected changes in the kitchen that might impact service and quality?
  • How do you encourage ongoing skill development among your kitchen team?
  • What are your career goals?
  • How do you balance the demands of the job with your personal life?
  • How do you handle conflicts between staff?
  • How do you effectively train new staff on kitchen procedures?
  • What methods do you use to maintain organization in inventory and kitchen operations?
  • What methods do you use to create staff schedules?
  • What methods do you use to  ensure safety and cleanliness in the kitchen and with your staff?
  • What is your culinary philosophy or approach to cooking, and how do you stay on top of current food trends?
  • What experience do you have with menu development and pricing dishes profitably?
  • How do you cost out a menu?
  • How do you cost out a recipe?
  • How do you mentor any staff that doesn’t have as much experience as you do?
  • How do you identify and source high-quality ingredients?
  • How do you balance purchasing high-quality ingredients with cost effective purchasing?
  • Tell me about your experience accommodating special diets, such as vegan and gluten-free ones, 
  • Tell me about your experience keeping your team motivated during both busy and slow shifts.
  • It’s a slow day, what do you and your staff do? 
  • Are you currently ServSafe® certified? Which certification?
  • Are you familiar with food costing software? If so, which one or ones?
  • What Point of Sale software are you experienced with?
  • Have you ever had a customer return a dish, and how did you handle this situation? 
  • How do you balance preparing perfect dishes with sending food out on time?
  • Have you ever done inventories prior? Please describe the method and how often you were involved in doing them.
  • Have you ever purchased from broadline and speciality vendors? Who and what did you purchase?
  • Do you think it makes sense to purchase everything from one vendor? Or to price compare products?
  • How many vendors have you dealt with prior at a time?
  • Have you ever negotiated prices with vendors?
  • Have you ever had to deal with a vendor that tossed product (meaning they would charge for a flat of produce and had taken out some product, turned the flat over gently and then again to make it look full) or a vendor that didn’t properly deduct tare weight from product deliveries?
  • If you dealt with the above, how do you deal with the vendor?
  • Have you ever run into a situation(s) where you couldn’t afford to make the minimum order for a food delivery and you desperately needed goods? What did you do?
  • Have you ever run into a situation(s) where the restaurant couldn’t afford to pay vendor invoices and bills and your vendors cut you off from deliveries until past due invoices were settled? What did you do?
  • How long have you been managing others?
  • How many staff have you been in charge of prior and what positions?
  • How long have you been managing others?
  • What was your favorite place to work prior and why?
  • Are you prepared to be on call if a line cook or dishwasher doesn’t show up for a shift?

Interview Questions for General Managers:

  • What are your salary expectations and benefits you’re seeking? Do you have any questions about the position or our restaurant?
  • As a general manager in charge of the entire restaurant, how do you reduce operational costs?
  • As a general manager in charge of the entire restaurant handle disciplinary actions with staff?
  • Have you ever had to discipline staff members? For what and tell us about a couple of situations.
  • Have you ever had to fire someone? If so, how many people, tell me about the experience?
  • Have you ever had to hire people? If so, for what positions, tell me about how you approach hiring?
  • Can you describe your experience with managing difficult situations, including a specific example, and how you resolved conflicts involving both front and back of house staff?
  • Can you describe your experience with managing difficult situations, including a specific example, and how you resolved conflicts involving a staff member and customer?
  • Can you describe your experience with managing difficult situations, including a specific example, and how you resolved conflicts involving yourself and a customer?
  • Can you describe your experience with managing difficult situations, including a specific example, and how you resolved conflicts involving yourself and a staff member?
  • Can you describe your experience with managing difficult situations, including a specific example, and how you resolved conflicts involving yourself and an owner or manager above you?
  • What Point of Sale software are you experienced with?
  • Are you familiar with food costing? If so, please detail.
  • Are you familiar with food inventories?  If so, please detail.
  • Are you familiar with setting menu pricing?   If so, please detail.
  • Have you taken a ServSafe® course, and are you currently certified? Which certification(s)?
  • Have you ever taken TIPS® training and are you currently certified? (Important if you have a bar or alchol service)
  • Have you ever taken ServSafe Alcohol® and are you currently certified? (Important if you have a bar or alchol service)
  • Are you prepared to be on call and fill in if someone from the back of the house or the front of the house calls in sick or pulls a noshow?
  • How do you give feedback to employees?
  • Do you become “friends” with employees or do you keep a distance personally? 
  • What is your skill level with MS Office? If so, please detail what programs within MS office. .
  • How do you ensure seamless coordination between the front and back of the house to deliver a high-quality dining experience?
  • Give me some strategies for maintaining food quality and presentation?
  • Give me some strategies for adapting to changing food trends?
  • What measures do you take to adhere to health and safety regulations in both the kitchen and dining areas?
  • Can you describe your experience with creating and managing budgets?
  • Can you describe your experience with maximizing profitability for both the front and back of the house?
  • Have you ever had to deal with employee theft?
  • If you have had to deal with employee theft, what did you do?
  • Have you ever had to deal with an issue of sexual harassment in the workplace with your employees?
  • If you have had to deal with of sexual harassment in the workplace, what did you do?
  • Have you done employee scheduling prior? For what daypart (breakfast, lunch, dinner, other) and for how many staff?
  • Describe the most difficult scheduling problem you have faced as a manager? 
  • How do you approach training, developing, and managing staff to maintain high standards of service?
  • How do you approach training, developing, and managing staff to maintain high standards for food preparation? 
  • What steps do you take to address customer complaints involving both food quality and service issues? Give some examples of how you would deal with complaints.
  • How do you manage your time effectively to oversee all aspects of restaurant operations?
  • What are your long-term goals for improving the restaurant’s performance and success?
  • What do you think, in your own words, are your key responsibilities as a GM, including balancing time between overseeing the dining room and the kitchen, and what operational systems would you use to facilitate this?
  • How do you plan on onboarding and training new hires?
  • How do you plan to manage inventory, and use that data for operational decisions?
  • Can you share strategies for effective staff communication, delegation, and handling issues like understaffing or team conflicts?
  • Describe your leadership style and philosophy?
  • How do you cultivate a strong service culture and manage the demands of the job while maintaining work-life balance?
  • Are you familiar with the legal aspects of running a restaurant, such as liquor licenses (if applicable) and labor laws? 
  • Can you share your experience with restaurant marketing, promotions, and responding to online reviews and public feedback?
  • How involved have you been in menu planning and development? 
  • Describe a strategy you’ve implemented for boosting staff morale and reducing turnover. (and after they give an example) ask them to explain how well it worked and what happened.
  • Describe a strategy you’ve implemented to ensure high standards of customer service. (And after they give an example.) Ask them to explain how well it worked and what happened.
  • Can you give an example of how you’ve successfully managed a diverse team and describe your journey in the restaurant industry leading up to a general management role?
  • How do you balance the needs and priorities of both front-of-house and back-of-house staff?
  • What are your strategies for attracting and retaining customers?
  • What do you think is most important when dealing with customers?
  • What motivates you and what do you find most rewarding about running a restaurant? 
  • What are your strengths, weaknesses, and career aspirations in the restaurant industry?
  • Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your experience that might be relevant to this position?
  • What is your strongest qualification for this job?
  • Tell me of at least two reasons this job is a good match for your skills, strengths, experience and background?
  • Give me an example that best describes your organizational skills.
  • If offered the position how long do you plan to stay at the establishment?
  • What new skills have you learned or developed recently?
  • What kind of personality do you work best with and why? And what kind have you had any problems with working with in the past?
  • What irritates you about other people?
  • What do you think you like and dislike about the job we are discussing?
  • Where do you see yourself in five years?
  • What attracted you to this position?

 

 

 

New Book Release!

Book Cover: Finding a Location for your restaurantI’m pretty excited. I’ve been working on a how-to book series, and my first book will be released at the end of December! 

Future ones will all be restaurant-oriented and will cover: writing a business plan, writing a marketing plan, how to do competition research, dining and kitchen flow, writing an operations plan, menu development, dealing with difficult customers both online and offline, reputation management, the art of the upsell, managing and dealing with employee theft and managing and keeping your employees.

 

My first book, Finding a Location for Your Restaurant will cover:

  • Community Assessments
  • Who Is Your Market?
  • Competition
  • Parking including Limited Parking, Shared Parking, Street Parking, Motorcycle and ADA Parking, Parking Fees, Employee Parking and Delivery and Pickup Parking
  • Lot and Road Conditions
  • Flooding and Flood Zones and Other Natural Disasters
  • Foot Traffic
  • Traffic Counts
  • Vendor Access and Who Delivers?
  • Noise Considerations
  • Crime and Safety
  • Catering In-House or Off-site Considerations
  • Landscaping
  • Zoning
  • Outdoor Dining
  • Signage
  • Taxes and Tax Assessment History
  • Business Turnover
  • Employee Housing
  • In-person Research

 

Most of the how-to books I’ve come across on opening a restaurant don’t go into depth about everything you should be really looking at when you assess a restaurant location.

 

I’m also almost finished with a quiz with scoring that I think will help guide people who want to open a restaurant. Inspired by Steve Strauss’ Entrepreneurship Readiness Quiz, which we use in SCORE (with Steve’s permission), I am working on a “Do you REALLY think you are ready to own your own restaurant?” Instead of 20 questions, it is going on about 100 questions+ so that someone, whether they have had restaurant experience or not, can drill down on not just whether they are ready or not but if they do want to start the business; this is where they will find the holes and knowledge that they either lacking and need to learn about or make sure they hire key people with those skill sets.

Conducting a Restaurant Assessment: Key Areas to enhance dining experiences (a few examples)

Image of chairs in a restaurant to close together

A recent inquiry from an individual interested in gaining insights into my approach during restaurant audits inspired this post. While I can’t disclose specific client information due to confidentiality, I can give some examples of things I typically assess when evaluating a restaurant or other hospitality establishment.

 

It’s important to clarify that this pertains to my private business clients, not those from SCORE mentoring.

 

Whenever my husband and I dine out or when I’m out with friends or business associates, I tend to analyze various elements of the dining experience, including visuals, menu offerings and design, food quality, food presentation and service. It’s hard for me to turn off the evaluation gerbil wheel in my brain. But at least I’m easy to get along with while dining out because the food has to be really, really bad for me to complain.

 

I gave some examples of a recent dining experience my husband and I had, highlighting aspects I would typically take note of during a restaurant audit and thought I’d put them into print.

 

Please note that this covers only the front-of-house visual aspects and doesn’t come close to a comprehensive audit, which includes over 200 touchpoints or the examination of kitchen operations and food quality.

 

I always encourage owners and managers to “be” a customer and evaluate the space as often as possible. Sit at an empty table for a little while during service or at the end of the bar and just observe.

 

If you’re paying attention, you can always find room for improvement.

 

Here are a few things that we noted while dining that could use some TLC to enhance better guest/customer satisfaction, check averages, and tip averages.

 

Enhanced Specials Promotion:

As we entered the restaurant, we noticed a low-standing sandwich board with the day’s specials. Unfortunately, it wasn’t eye-catching for walk-in customers, and while we visually saw it on entering, we didn’t stop to read it, assuming that the specials would be repeated in some way when we sat down.

 

Our server and the server who came to take a neighboring tables order mentioned the specials without us specifically asking. The specials weren’t visibly posted inside or available in printed form. When we inquired, our server directed us to the board outside. In this scenario, the restaurant missed an opportunity to effectively promote its specials, and the server missed a chance to increase her tip by just verbalizing the specials instead of asking us to get up and walk halfway through the restaurant and around the corner to view them.

 

Seating Comfort Assessment:

An uncomfortably cold draft from a floor vent under our chair caught our attention. This is why I recommend that owners and managers sit in every seat within the restaurant in all seasons. They should evaluate whether the air conditioning or heating causes discomfort, whether drafts exist, and whether the music volume is excessive in certain areas. Adequate lighting for reading menus is also a key consideration.

 

Convenience in Restrooms:

Restrooms should have hooks and/or a small table in all-gender bathrooms for patrons to hang their bags or coats. Placing personal items on the floor is often considered unhygienic; in this instance, there was no space on the toilet tank or the narrow sink.

 

During colder months, having a place to hang coats is particularly appreciated. People may be entering the restrooms while waiting for a table and before they sit down (and may still have their coats on) or after paying the check and preparing to leave.

 

Safety Concerns in the Kitchen:

It’s important not to have glass drinking glasses in the kitchen on the line. Several times, we observed servers passing glasses of soda directly to line cooks through the pass-through window, and we could see them placed on the line right above the stove area. This practice can lead to accidents, such as glass breaking and falling into food. Proper safety protocols are essential, i.e., using plastic vs glass.

 

Discreet Refilling:

Refilling ketchup bottles from a #10 can in the dining area can be unappetizing to customers. Although ketchup has a long shelf life, it’s best not to expose the refilling process to patrons. Moreover, maintaining cleanliness and sanitization is crucial for the condiment containers. While many restaurants do this and ketchup has a very long shelf life, A. I don’t want to see it as a customer; I noticed because I notice these things, but most customers do notice and it sticks in their subconscious as an “ewe” factor. B. I’d question when the last time these refilled bottles were cleaned out totally and sanitized. Our bottle was about ½ full, and my husband’s ketchup and my ketchup from the same bottle were two different colors of red.

 

Effective Upselling:

Our server missed opportunities for upselling both drinks and desserts. No ask if we would like coffee or dessert, just an ask if we wanted the check. Encouraging customers to explore the bar menu or offering dessert options at the end of the meal can significantly increase overall sales and enhance the dining experience.

 

Adequate Space Between Tables and Chairs:

While maximizing seating capacity is important for revenue, it’s equally crucial to ensure customer comfort and ease of movement. Waitstaff should have ample space to take orders, serve food and drinks, and clear tables without inconveniencing customers.

 

(If you were wondering about the above photo, this is a perfect example from the restaurant in question; how much room would there be if someone was sitting in the other seat? There is already not enough room to walk between chairs without bumping into the bag).

 

When laying out a dining room and estimating space, chairs should not pushed into the table but should be pulled out enough as if someone was sitting in each seat, plus some extra space for handbags or backpacks and coats to hang in the winter (especially if there is no coat rack as in this case).

 

There is nothing worse for a customer than having to ask people not to just move their “stuff” but to actually have to get up so someone could get out to use the restrooms or to leave.

 

It’s even worse if you have waitstaff juggling hot food or a tray of drinks. If your dining room layout reminds you at all of a full flight in an airplane with tiny seats, cramped space, etc., you really need to rethink your layout. What you may sacrifice in a seat or two, you will make up in spades from happy waitstaff and repeat customers.

 

As an owner or manager of a restaurant, most improvements can be gleaned just by taking the time to observe and to ask your staff for suggestions and improvements.

 

A consult I did a few years ago where we asked the staff for suggestions (and this had never been done before there) resulted in many ideas that saved the owner money and made the working environment easier to use through flow suggestions and more productive for staff because suggestions were implemented, and staff appreciated the fact that they were listened to.

 

These observations are not meant to be critical but rather constructive to pinpoint areas where improvement can enhance the return on investment (ROI) and the return on the total investment (ROTI). ROTI can also be Return on Time Investment, which also applies in this case.

Registering a Domain Name for the First Time? A few tips and things you need to know.

Domain extensions on polesOne of the first steps in starting a new business after you have chosen your business name is registering a domain name (or names).

 

(estimated time 2 hours+ (10 minutes to register the domain, additional time searching for the perfect one (or more) + spend a few minutes on the https://archive.org/ and see whether the domain has been used before and for what* )

 

-Cost-Your time spent plus $15-30 per year, depending on the registrar**)

 

Make sure you (the business owner) “own” it. You have sole access to the domain registrar, and it gets billed to YOUR credit card. *make sure to keep track of login information, what email is used to access it, and that your credit card information is up to date (very important!). If someone else registers it for you, ensure it ends with you as owner and full access.

 

Make sure any domain registrar you use (for example Godaddy and Namecheap) have 24/7 phone and email support. Stay away if it’s only email support and/or a submission form on their website.

 

**Many legitimate domain registrars will offer you an introductory price for the first year of domain registration. Just be aware of this when writing your business and marketing plans in terms of expenses. A first-year registration could be $2 but it will generally go up to $20 or more per year with internet fees and taxes.

 

Having an SSL certificate is very important for Search Engine Optimization. Some domain registrars include a free SSL certificate with the domain name, and some offer it at a low cost. There are also a few who only let you add a free or otherwise purchased SSL to the registration if it’s done through the registrar company, so investigate this prior to settling on a service.

 

Some hosting companies offer free SSLs as part of website hosting services. If you register your name with Godaddy (as an example), who charges for an SSL certificate, you can get your SSL through your hosting company instead.

 

If you want more information on SSL Certificates, Hubspot has an excellent beginners guide to understanding SSL https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-ssl 

 

Always make sure you keep your login information in a safe place where you can retrieve it, and VERY IMPORTANT, make sure your credit card information on file with the registrar is up to date. If you change your email address and no longer will have access to the email address on file, make sure that it is updated. 

 

If your domain name expires, there are companies out there who will buy your domain, and make it either impossible to get back or try to charge you thousands of dollars to retrieve it (many times unsuccessfully).

 

Your domain registrar will NEVER send you a snail mail reminder to renew your domain. Many fraudulent companies and scammers send snail mail to try to trick you into switching your domain name to them using scare tactics. 

 

If you get a letter in the mail from (to name a few common ones), shred it, it’s a phishing/fraud scheme.

  • Domain Listings
  • Domain Info
  • IDNS
  • Domain Registry
  • Domain Registry of America
  • Web Listings Inc
  • Domain Networks
  • United States Domain Authority

 

A good reference article is Domain Name Solicitation Fraud – brand owners beware https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/domain-name-solicitation-fraud-brand-8729877/

 

*A domain may have been previously registered, and the business attached to it may have closed or just not renewed the domain. One: if it was used prior; were there any bad connotations attached to it? Two: There may be websites out there on the internet that may have the old domain listed. You want to track these down and see if this is something that could cause brand confusion or other issues down the road. Not every website and directory will have contact information (or the attention) and allow you to remove outdated information.

 

Example. Your business is in Manchester, NH, and you own an auto repair shop (you do not work on classic cars, and you do not do auto restoration. The domain was previously registered to another business; the old business was in Illinois, it was an antique car restoration shop, and the domain is listed on multiple websites. 

 

You can also have private domain registration, which hides your personal information (i.e., name, address, phone, email, etc.). This option is more expensive, and while some marketers say you “should” do it, I’d like businesses to consider if it’s really worth it. If you own a business and on your business website, you have your name, email, etc., and it’s all over other places on the internet, what’s the point? Anyone (including scammers/spammers) can get that information easily anyway. The only time I would suggest (and this is a personal opinion) that you use private registration is if you have a home office and your billing information is your house address instead of a P.O. Box and you don’t want that info out there.

 

If your only option for registering a domain name is .net and the .com is already taken, what is sitting on the .com? Can it impact your business? How many potential customers/clients/guests might you lose if someone wasn’t paying attention (or didn’t know) and went to the .com version? 

 

Is it worth it to register multiple domain names? It is worth it to grab the .net extension of your name. If your name is easily misspelled, it may also be worth it to register any variations of the name that might commonly be mistyped. While you can have the .net extension and any other domain names forwarded to your main website, be mindful of the cost. Are you really using them for anything or going to use them for anything? Is there a point in registering them? two domains, .com and .net will run you about $40+ per year; the more you buy, the more you will have to pay to keep them registered every year. Instead of saying yes, it is worth it to buy more names, or NO it’s not worth it, here are some articles to review, and you can decide whether it’s worth your time for marketing and expenses.

Keep in mind several of these articles are written by domain registrars.  

 

My personal take on buying additional domain names? Yes, it can be worth it, IF you use them and if you forward them or direct them to specific pages or unique landing pages, but in my experience, most people buy them, and they just sit there (not directed to anything) in the domain registrar for years and people keep paying for them year after year.

 

 

 

 

A.I. Platform FAQs and Best Practices

AI Image, man holding a digital lightbulbThis is my 2 cents based on what I know about AI so far. Since I am still spending several hours per day learning new AI platforms, and new information it’s going to be a moving target info wise, this is my knowledge and my personal take on all of this so far.

 

AI Platforms output is not always correct, ALWAYS fact check especially if you are using it for a research tool. Hopefully that information is out there already for most people, but I’m still running into people just testing the waters for the first time that don’t actually know that.


Keep in mind anything added to AI engines is being used to train the AIs; don’t ever put confidential or private information in. Also, be cognizant of putting any personal information in. Just like you shouldn’t be using your favorite vacation spot as a password, hackers are also using personal information to train AIs to hack into accounts.                 

 

There has been a recent uptick in hacked social media accounts that is being attributed to AIs being trained by hackers to browse for personal information used publicly online, and that can include data being put into AI generators.

Some AIs are allowing you to opt out of data gathering as well as some platforms and programs that also integrate AI into their software.

 

To opt out of ChatGPT

  • Go to your account at far left bottom, click on the three dots
  • Go to settings
  • Go to the Data Controls tab on left
  • Slide “Chat history & training” to off

 

Meta/Facebook

 

Adobe

 

Don’t use text straight from an AI platform for website text, blog text, or any other online published article text (social media posts are an exception as far as I can tell). Always rewrite and reword a bit. Google can tell it’s AI-generated content, and it can affect your Search Engine Optimization (i.e., how a business website gets found in Google search)


Don’t sign into any AI platform with your Google account or social media accounts, ALWAYS use an email and a unique password to login. Giving access to your Google account creates a backdoor which from a business and personal standpoint, can compromise your email account, and any other Google accounts you own: (Google Suite, Google Drive, Google My Business, Youtube, Google Docs, etc.). 

 

If you are not familiar with Data Breaches and the cost of how it can affect a business (The global average cost per data breach was 4.45 million U.S. dollars in 2023.), please read https://www.upguard.com/blog/cost-of-data-breach and https://www.statista.com/statistics/273575/us-average-cost-incurred-by-a-data-breach/

 

This is also how many social media accounts get hacked. Granting access to Facebook through a backdoor can cause an account to get hacked, and just changing the password to the account, does not remove access, you have to remove app access too.)

 

If someone does give access to a Google account, and needs to unlink it/revoke permissions , here is a walkthrough https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/2541991?hl=en#:~:text=Select%20Connected%20accounts.

 

Revoke app access/external Access (social media)

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/help/942196655898243 

Instagram  https://help.instagram.com/588549329146493 

Linkedin   https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a519947 

Pinterest   https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/connect-to-other-apps-with-pinterest 

X (formerly Twitter) https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/connect-or-revoke-access-to-third-party-apps 

Tiktok https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/connect-to-third-party-apps   

 

Please be extremely careful adding browser extensions to your browser to extend AI capabilities, there are A LOT of unsafe, unsecure and malicious browser extensions out there that can compromise people’s computers and contain malware or keyloggers, a good overview of browser security can be found here https://security.berkeley.edu/education-awareness/browser-extensions-how-vet-and-install-safely .

 

Malware can use known software vulnerabilities to infect your PC. A vulnerability is like a hole in your software that can give malware access to your PC. When you go to a website, it can try to use vulnerabilities in your web browser to infect your PC with malware. Apple computers can also be compromised as malware and virus programs designed specifically to attack Macintosh operating systems can be even more malicious and destructive than ones designed to attack PCs.

 

A keylogger is a form of malware or hardware that keeps track of and records your keystrokes as you type. It takes the information and sends it to a hacker.

 

A best practice is to NOT download any AI software. If there is a web-based version, use that instead. Before downloading any kind of software, do your research. Just Googling the name and reviews, or the name and whether it is safe will not give you legitimate search results. Insecure and malicious sites and software have a lot of sites that are either set up by them or paid to have them set up to make software come across as safe and legitimate. If you do download anything, make sure you have a good antivirus AND a good malware program, and it’s up to date; scan the program files before installing. When in doubt (even a little) don’t do it.

*Most antivirus programs say they cover malware, but they only cover a fraction of what’s out there. It’s best practice to have both. On average, over 500K malware and virus programs are created daily. I recommend Malwarebytes (free and paid versions are available). There are other good ones out there as well. 

 

Be cautious when using AI photo editors/generators. This is a big gray area online at the moment, but watermarks and digital watermarks are being pulled into AI-generated works. Remember that AI-generated art aggregates other online media and creates something with it, including copyrighted artwork and photos. 

 

Currently, it’s best practice not to use AI-generated art on anything online “owned” by a business—a website, blog, etc. There is a spate of lawsuits going on currently regarding copyright, and until things are officially ruled on, it’s better not to take a chance. I look at it this way: if a business gets sued for using a copyrighted image that was integrated and generated by an AI platform, the AI platform has Terms of Service that give themselves a waiver (the platforms) from liability but not the business, and even if the suit does get dismissed, there is the time, money and reputation of the business that is risked. 

 

Until the courts have consistently ruled about this and more AI art generators start to accept their own liability for using copyrighted art in generated work, it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

 

If a business gets hit with a claim by Getty images, the beginning claim will start at around $1500, they don’t care if you remove the image online, they WILL send collections to harass a business until they pay up. If you want some background on Getty copyright claims just Google: “Getty images copyright claims small businesses” or email me. I’ve been told horror stories by hundreds of businesses, and had to help several dozen businesses over the years who have been hit with Getty claims.

 

Keep in mind as well that many AI art generators claim copyright to the images produced and many only state that you can use the generated images for non-commercial use.

 

(September 7, 2023) Microsoft announced it will protect users from Copyright claims. (Which is terrific news, hoping additonal platforms will step up to this).

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2023/09/07/copilot-copyright-commitment-ai-legal-concerns/ 

 

Canva (Canva.com) terms of service regarding AI generated content (as of 9/8/2023)

https://www.canva.com/policies/text-to-image-terms-2022-12-06/    *Note: Read the Legal Notice

I’ve talked to Canva about this, and they refer to this (above link) and have stated by email that to date, they will not be liable for any copyright claims. I first found this as a potential issue because certain prompts in their text to AI image generator, particularly using the watercolor feature, return a large portion of the time images that look like they have copyright signatures in them.  From our 17 email exchanges about this topic: “We understand that the appearance of signatures on AI-generated images can be surprising and even concerning. We’re exploring solutions to mitigate their occurrence. However, the signature generated by Text to Image is just that: generated by the AI model. The AI model (Stable Diffusion) has learned from reviewing billions of pieces of data that some forms of images, such as paintings, often have a signature in a bottom corner, so it generated its own variation of one in response to the prompt.” Interesting that the AI platform only seems to be assigning “create a watermark” to the watercolor feature and not concept art, color pencil or ink print, to name a few options, and it doesn’t explain things that pop up like on the image to right where you have a double signature…….  I have noticed (so maybe they paid a little attention) that the number of images has decreased in recent testing, but the one on the right I generated on Friday in Canva, so they still have some work to do. And since Getty Images is in the midst of a lawsuit with Stable Diffusion about this very topic…….

Example:

I love Canva, it’s incredibly useful, don’t get me wrong, but I also have a much greater concern that someone i.e. a small business, will use an image generated by the Canva Image generator and get sued not understanding that Canva isn’t going to protect them. So make sure the TOS is read and more importantly understood!

 

Stability AI  https://stability.ai/terms-of-use   (as of 9/8/2023)

Midjourney  https://docs.midjourney.com/docs/terms-of-service   (as of 9/8/2023)

DeviantArt  https://stability.ai/terms-of-use  (as of 9/8/2023)

 

The better the prompt the better the results, a good resource for learning how to use prompting is https://learnprompting.org/ 

 

I found using several AI platforms at once and putting in the same prompts gives in some cases, very different and varied feedback/results, if you’re using it for marketing, use it to cherry pick the best of the best.

 

Useful AI Platforms (there are many many more)

https://chat.openai.com/  (free and paid versions, the paid version is $20 per month)

https://claude.ai/chats

https://bard.google.com/ 

https://www.bing.com/?scope=web&cc=US 

https://elicit.org/ (for research from papers and publications) 

 

How can it help small businesses? and What can AI be used for?

 

To date this list (and it’s the tip of the iceberg) is what “I” have used AI platforms/generators/sites for and found useful. There are 100’s of additional uses besides these listed, these are just the ones I’ve used so far.  I find I’m using AI on a daily basis as it is so incredibly useful for a wide variety of things.

 

For marketing and business development:

  • Research (always fact check)
  • Business and consumer trends (always fact check)
  • Article rewrites  (see above #3)
  • Social Media Posts
  • Email scripts and scripts for autoresponders
  • Keyword Research (always fact check)
  • Generate video scripts
  • Creating chatbots for customer service
  • Automating emails
  • Writing social media ad copy
  • Writing print ad copy
  • Writing Google Ad words and Bing Ad words copy
  • Create, edit, and modify media and video files (mostly paid AI platforms including ChatGPT plus)
  • Blog titles
  • Blog posts  (see above #3)
  • Email marketing subject lines
  • Email marketing content
  • Website content* (see above #3)

 

For operations:

  • Training Manuals
  • Employee Manuals (always run by an HR pro)
  • Transcribing text
  • Automating tasks
  • Voice assistants
  • Help with grant writing/grant writing
  • Cover letter and resume writing
  • Inexpensive marketing ideas for small businesses
  • Generate customer surveys
  • Proofreading and Editing
  • Create contracts (always run by a business lawyer)
  • Scripts for lectures and talks (or a speech for an event or wedding)
  • Lesson plan outlines
  • Writing and debugging code
  • Creating WordPress plugins
  • Creating WordPress themes
  • Write product descriptions
  • Create tests
  • Explain complex topics in layman’s terms
  • Create content in other languages (please use a human being to double check)
  • Create Interview questions
  • Translate text
  • Create outlines for a book or other content
  • Creating job descriptions
  • Creating job applications
  • Creating job search listing content/text
  • Extract data from text
  • Product/service name ideas (same caveat as business name ideas below/Please check!)
  • Business name ideas** (see below screenshot). Please make sure any business names are checked online before registering, in testing most of the major AI generators/platforms they are ALL making suggestions that when do a search in Google, many of the business names are already being used. This is a screenshot from the paid version of ChatGPT. Highlighted names for example are names already in use (9/8/2023)

AI Generator Business names

Again this is the TIP of the iceberg on what a business can do with AI, with the exception of the video editing, all of the above were done using the free versions and free tools that were out there without adding browser extensions, or giving access to my Google account. So until the wild west of AI platforms has some more security and rules and regulations in place, how safe do you want to keep your business??

 

AI Program/Platform Directories (Many more out there, I found these useful to start)

 

One of the good Newsletters I subscribe to: (there are hundreds +++ out there. This one is an aggregate)

 

Articles of Interest: