How to Become a Rock Star Chef in the Digital Age

A Step-by-Step Marketing System for Chefs and Restaurateurs to Burn Their Competition and Build Their Brand to Superstar Level

Mark Garcia

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781630471026
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Digital Marketing
• Index: Business

Digital Marketing and Celebrity Chef Branding expert Mark Garcia shares hard-won advice and real life examples on how chefs, restaurateurs and food-service professionals can connect and engage with customers, so that they can dominate their competitive marketplace.In his passionate, streetwise style, Chef Mark Garcia's mission is to strengthen the positioning and messaging of chefs, restaurateurs and food-service professionals by training them on best practices and techniques that lead to profitable digital marketing campaigns and promotions.With the massive proliferation and constant evolvement of digital, social and mobile media platforms in the past few years, the winning recipe of content and engagement is different now. Yes, one must still have tremendous cooking talent, serve their customers flawlessly and provide value to the marketplace, but no entrepreneur, brand manager or corporation can deny the power and intimacy of digital marketing.In the end, it's all about how you engage and serve your customers and potential customers.As a culinary professional, foodie or entrepreneur, your perspective and experiences have greater importance and market value than you probably ever dreamed. You can make a difference in the world. One of the best ways to do that is to learn how to harness the power of the New Digital EconomyIn How To Become A Rock Star Chef, legendary trainer Chef Mark Garcia gives you a peek behind the kitchen door into the New Digital Economy and reveals a simple 11-Step plan on how chefs, restaurateurs and food-service professionals can strategically position themselves, their brands or their services in the digital marketplace and significantly increase their bottom line.

CHAPTER 1

Mind-Set

“A complete lack of caution is perhaps one of the true signs of a real gourmet; he has not need for it, being filled as he is with God-given and intelligently self-cultivated sense of gastronomical freedom.”

—M.F.K. Fisher

Setting Up the Kitchen Stage

As chefs and restaurateurs, it’s in our DNA—we know instinctively that to be successful, we must be extremely organized and detail oriented in our craft. Efficiency and purpose-driven movement are the basics for kitchen success. For if we want any venture to be successful, we must THINK, PLAN, and ACT. Well, the road to becoming a Rock Star Chef is no different from any other work you’ve done in the kitchen.

Just as you have organized your menu and cooking station for the next dinner service, I’m going to lay out a detailed set of steps that will enable you to build your personal brand and lay the groundwork to becoming a Rock Star Chef. Just as in any professional kitchen, the Mise en Place mantra here is going to be “Plan Your Work, and Work Your Plan.”

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

In the introduction to this book, I mentioned how, since the advent of the Internet and the commercial web, things have rapidly and profoundly changed in our world and society. Those changes herald good news and bad news. The good news is that opportunity for chefs and restaurateurs has never been better. The bad news is that human nature is still human nature, and many will simply not take the time to learn about or embrace changing technology and social habits. DON’T be one of those people.

The other bad news is that you are almost certainly late to the party, so to speak, in having a digital presence on the Internet. The good news is, so is just about everyone else! While I will teach you about the exciting gadgets and tools, it’s still going to take a new approach to work planning, content creation, and execution if you want to achieve Rock Star Chef status in the New Digital Economy.

The people who are going to be the winners in this new digital space are those who do the best job of listening to, engaging with, and more importantly SERVING their audience. The losers are going to be the folks who still believe in command and control or who simply view this whole Internet and social media “thingy” as some passing fad, like the hula-hoop and the Pet Rock.

The restaurateurs and chefs who fail in the New Digital Economy are the ones who still believe that the path to success is to keep doing what has always worked in the past—the old “If it ain’t broke, don’t bother messing with it” mentality.

What follows in this chapter is exactly what I did in the beginning of my online career to get the results I was searching for. Do you want to learn how I did it? Would you like to see, step-by-step, how I created the successful businesses that I have? Then do these things! Don’t just read over them and think I’m putting them here for filler material. I’ll say this once: THERE IS NO FILLER IN THIS BOOK. Every word is there because it’s vitally important that you get it.

Vision: Sit Down and Write Yourself a Letter

Having a serious vision for your life, your career or business, or your relationships gives you the power to anticipate or expect what will come to pass. All success begins with clarity. But never forget, it’s only a thought until you write it down. You are worth it, aren’t you? What is the vision for your life, your business, or your career? Write it down!

Now, you’re probably thinking you’ve heard something like this before. And guess what: you are right! If you’ve done any self-improvement or goal achievement training, you already know that committing thoughts, ideas, and, more importantly, deadlines to paper begins the process of achieving those goals. Besides, we’re going to have many tasks that need to be done daily that will help you become a Rock Star Chef. I will cover the Seven-Step Plan in chapter 10. I promise you, the recipe that I’m going to show you in that plan is something you have never seen anywhere else.

Don’t overcomplicate this task. Create for yourself three to five short-term or long-term goals or projects and write them down on colorful pieces of paper. Display these goals in a place where you will see them every day. On your desk, on your bathroom mirror, wherever—just make sure that you read them and visualize them every day. When you see the momentum and outcomes of those tasks it encourages your progress.

Write down your goals. Commit to those goals—NO squirming or weasel words like “maybe, possibly, hopefully, etc. Claim 100% responsibility for the outcome, regardless of how it goes. Use fear to push you. Fear is a great indicator of what you SHOULD be doing. Your high level of commitment will get you noticed. It separates the very successful from those who are just getting by playing it safe.

Raison D’Etre: Don’t Tell Me What You Do, Tell Me Why You Do It

Most marketers, corporations, brands or celebrities advertise, position or broadcast “what” they do. They flood the marketplace with their messaging of what their product is, what their service is, why it’s the best, cheapest, etc. This is basic 101 level marketing. An advanced marketer positions “how” they do something. Their messaging includes what their distinction or differentiation is. You many have heard this sometimes referred to as their unique selling proposition or USP. This is what a lot of marketers teach in the marketplace, yours truly included. In an upcoming section of this book I cover in detail how you build your unique USP as part of your marketing tool kit. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, it’s just that I believe to truly build an empire and create a tribe of raving fans, there is a whole ‘nother level of communicating to your audience that you should embrace as part of your messaging.

Some of the most successful companies in the world today are masters at telling you “why” they do the things they do instead of “what” they do. Very few businesses or marketers tell you the meaning behind their product, service, objective or mission. Raving fans and customers don’t buy what you do…they buy why you do it. Now when you start to communicate from a position of why, all of a sudden your audience starts to listen to you with a different ear so to speak. They tend to emotionally and intellectually connect with you, your brand or your message on a different level because you have now shared with them a sincere, from the heart message instead of just another marketing pitch.

For example, most traditional marketing messages in the marketplace sound like this: We make chef knives (what)…Ours have triple forged titanium steel all the way through the tang (how)…that’s how our knives are the lightest and sharpest in the market, wanna buy one? Now compare that message with this one starting with why:

“We believe in thinking different. We build beautifully designed, hand-crafted tools that unleash your creative potential to help you change the world, one meal at a time. Wanna buy one? See the difference? More importantly, did you feel the difference in that last message? This type of messaging has helped create some of the most revered companies and brands on the planet. When you share with people your cause, your purpose, the reason you get out of bed in the morning—it’s powerful.

This a Game Changing shift for Rock Star Chefs.

Desire: Ya Gotta Want It!

To achieve any worthwhile goal, vision, or purpose, you must have an overwhelming desire deep in your soul. Napoleon Hill wrote, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

An unquenchable desire is the starting point of all accomplishment. Just as a small flame can’t heat up a large sauté pan, a weak desire can’t produce much in the way of results. Another word to describe an unquenchable desire is “passion.” How badly do you want to fulfill your goals and dreams? Is it something that consumes most of your waking thoughts? Do you find it difficult to fall asleep at night, because your mind is racing a mile a minute with ideas and dreams?

Are you willing to do whatever it takes for the chance to live life entirely on your own terms? If so, then every morning, you must wake up jazzed because you are taking action on the thing that means the most to you. Your goal will be to design your life so that you live to work, not work to live. We spend so much time at work, why waste that time doing anything other than what we love most? Time is precious, and life is too short to waste a minute of it doing something you don’t love, with people you may not even like being around. You owe it to yourself and your family to make massive changes for the better in your life!

In the New Economy and Digital Age, Skills Are Cheap, but Passion Is Priceless!

Unfortunately most people don’t have passion and desire in their lives. So they live each day in a sad, numb existence. They are just barely earning a living, eagerly anticipating the week or two of vacation they are “allowed” to take each year. You, on the other hand, will design a life around YOUR schedule. Think about a life in which you take vacations when, where, and for as long as YOU choose.

Don’t be one of the herd, just settling for what life has turned into. There is simply no excuse for anyone alive today in the Internet age to suffer through their adult life working at a job they don’t love, all in pursuit of a paycheck.

Choose to Achieve More than Ever Before

Purpose, Passion, and Execution (Crawl, Then Walk, Then Run)

In order to achieve any measurable degree of success in your life, you must first define a purpose for your achievement: your smokin’-hot reason why. You need to know the reasons for why you are doing what you are doing. You need to be very clear on the outcomes that you desire. For example; maybe your “why” is that you currently earn $75,000 per year and in 18 months you want to be earning $150,000 per year so that your spouse can stay home with the kids. That’s quite a jump in income, so what will you have to be doing differently in your life to earn that kind of money? What skills or knowledge will you have to gain to earn that kind of money? When you have clearly defined your reasons like this, it kicks your emotions in gear and that helps motivate you.

There is no right or wrong “why.” This will be a thought provoking and personal discussion that you must have with yourself so that you get absolute clarity on the outcomes that you desire. Do you want to start a new business because you want to set your own hours, so that you can spend more time with your family and loved ones? Do you want to own and build your own business or product line, so that you can achieve financial security? Or perhaps you want to move into a different neighborhood or bigger house. Unfortunately, most people are not clear on what they want out of life and why they are doing what they are doing day to day. It’s one of the reasons that the quote “most men lead lives of quiet desperation” rings true for a large part of our population. Each of us will have our own personal reasons for working hard to achieve the goals that matter to us. So when you develop your statement, keep in mind that we human beings make decisions based on either of two choices: avoiding pain or gaining pleasure.

Why is this important? Because we tend to make decisions primarily to avoid pain. So when you are writing out and phrasing your goal, put it into words that associate pain with not staying on task and progressing toward your goals. Think of it as a gift to yourself and your family. Associate more pain with quitting, giving up, and not achieving your goal than you do with completing it. If you don’t have the strong purpose, you will quit when things get tough.

Pride of Performance—Pride in Your Work

As you are building your brand for yourself or your business, one way to stand out in the crowd is through excellence. Excellence comes from taking pride in what you are doing, and doing it to your absolute best. And not just on the big things, either. Since most people in our industry are happy with the usual standard of acceptability, whenever someone goes that ex...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• What Is a Rock Star Chef?
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Mind-Set
• Chapter 2: Integrity
• Chapter 3: Salesmanship: Your USP
• Chapter 4: Exercise and Physiology
• Chapter 5: Efficiency
• Chapter 6: Networking Off-line
• Chapter 7: Promote, Promote, Promote (and Promote)
• Chapter 8: Like-Minded Individuals
• Chapter 9: Always Give Back
• Chapter 10: Choices: Make Intelligent Ones
• Chapter 11: Everything in Its Place
• Acknowledgments
• Author’s Note: E-Mail Me
• About the Author