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Owned by Doug

Restaurant Owners

Public • 34 • Free

We help restaurants get more customers and keep them coming back. Learn how we systematically increased annual sales by 300%!

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Restaurant Agency

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The Skool Games

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8 contributions to Restaurant Owners
Welcome to the Restaurant Owners Skool Group!
My name is Doug Jacobson. I am the owner of Loreley Beer Garden in New York City and the Founder of ION Hospitality. I've created this group to help Restaurant Owners get more customers and keep them coming back. Like most owners, I struggled for years figuring out how to increase sales, decrease costs and create a successful restaurant. I'd like to use this opportunity to share whats worked for me, and help connect restaurant owners to grow, collaborate and network with other owners! I was a Restaurant GM at 21 years old, and I became an Owner at 27. As a young owner, there was a time where I was almost a million dollars in debt and running $100k balance on my personal credit cards to survive. Nobody in my life really knew what I was going through. Not my employees, not my friends, not my family, nobody. It's one thing to understand the financial responsibility. It's another to live it every day. With the fear of bankruptcy haunting me every day, I had no choice but to push forward. I know what it took for you to get here. I have been there. But I promise you, there is a systematic way to increase sales that will work in any city in the world. I can tell you that because I've lived it, and today I am debt free. Since taking over Loreley Beer Garden, I have increased annual sales by over 300% using mostly social media marketing and avertising, and a series of strategies to attract new customers & keep them coming back again and again. Over my 15 year career in hospitality, I have learned what works and more importantly what doesn't work. I've tried it all. I've seen what has worked for other restaurants and I've seen far too many close their doors for the last time. I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 10 years in social media advertising figuring out what works, so you don't have to. I'd love to share what I have learned through my own trials and tribulations, and use my network to help create a series of master classes and fool-proof courses for restaurant owners to grow their own businesses.
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New comment Aug 7
1 like • Aug 7
@Josem Biale Hi Josem, please introduce yourself to the group. Let us know about your restaurant, your type of cuisine, where you're located and your social medias. Thanks!
Greetings
Hello everyone. I own a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere in a smaller community. We are in a tough marketing environment. We are off the beaten path so we don't have visibility and struggle to be top on people's minds when deciding where to go eat.
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New comment Oct 22
0 likes • Aug 7
Hey Scott! Welcome to the group! Please tell us about your restaurant, where you're located, what type of cuisine and your social medias for review. We'll see where we can help!
Hello Happy to Find You
Indeed I will be using this script! Thank you Doug! I need some structure to work from 🤣 Hey Everyone!! I am Gina, the social media team/server of feast, gibsonia, PA and we're a chef driven scratch restaurant, global flavors, local ingredients. We're located outside Pittsburgh, PA (USA). I joined the Restaurant Owners community because I found y'all on reddit searching for social media strategies, especially for a young (1.5 year) spot. I am hoping to learn how to not waste our time on social media and develop a community. I have done social media marketing/management in the past for tech startups and wellness, but I have returned to the food and beverage industry because it's home. I think I can be valuable to the community from my past experience in marketing and hr (hiring/social media presence). I am also a full time server, so I'm having the conversations first hand, telling guest to follow, etc. I am truly looking to get to know everyone! If anyone feels like I can add value to their business, please reach out! Name: Gina You can find us on: Website: feast-pa.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feast.pa Instagram: [Full URL] https://www.instagram.com/feast.pa/ TikTok: [Full URL] owners do not see this as a way to reach the customers we target YouTube: [Full URL] nothing yet. maybe cooking/drink tutorials in the future
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New comment Aug 22
1 like • Jul 23
Hi Gina! Let me clarify. Text is great for SEO. When Google is connecting searchers to your website, text is great. But for enticing new customers to try your place for the first time, engaging photos & videos are what you need. I would not recommend posting pictures of the specials boards. That's not going to engage new or old customers. Text is very overwhelming and takes time/effort to consume. Photos are instant. Instead, I'd focus on planning a content day, where you can make the dishes a month in advance, take photos and videos, which you can then post, create ads, retarget customers and use for organic marketing on socials. It will also allow your staff to improve their craft by testing and tasting recipes in advance, talking to FOH staff about it and so on. It will also let your FOH staff know what they're selling if they haven't yet seen the special items. Allowing them to talk about it to their regulars and new customers they meet in the month leading up to it.
1 like • Jul 25
I would recommend to start focusing on your content database! This means taking photos of every single item, landscape and portrait, to be used for your website, social media, and delivery platforms. Restaurants are always worried about food cost and food waste, but I can assure you this will be worth it! You could plan a 2-day, 2-hour training with FOH staff and tell them to come hungry to eat the food after photos are being done. Another Manager could focus on leading the FOH meeting and talk about steps of service, cocktail training, and other topics that might be helpful after going over each dish. I try to take photos of every item by itself, and then I try to group items by categories like sandwiches, entrees, etc and try to get some photos of 2-3 items together. I also take photos with paired wines or cocktails. I also think about upcoming and potential promotions and group items by promotion, so when I need those photos I have them ready. Once you've got all of your full-time menu items in your database, then I'd start focusing on doing a monthly photoshoot of seasonal and upcoming new items. For these I try to plan them an hour before opening, so when staff arrives I can give them some food and go over the dishes.
Hello!
Hey everyone, just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a 3rd generation restaurant owner. I took over my family's sub shop a few years back and looking to continuously improve it. Currently, I'm looking to improve the technical quality of my social media output. Any feedback somebody could provide would be appreciated. I'm looking for any tips and tricks to take our social media to the next level! Links below: https://riccottis.com/ https://www.instagram.com/riccottis_sandwich_shop/
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New comment Jul 23
0 likes • Jul 21
@Ben Howarth Hey Ben, their content looks good. But I think their food fits that “foodie” concept. Watch the “How We Did It” series we posted yesterday. We talk about our Photo First Philosophy. I do think majority of their content is shot on a phone, though. Don’t underestimate how much can be done with a phone. Even the one or two that look like DSLRs could be filters. We will be showing you how to make basic reels and we do have an in depth private reels course with @Mario Prawira If you’re interested let me know. You can see Mario’s Instagram account and it’s all made with phones. Engagement of videos made with phones is higher because it feels more real and less like stock photos/videos.
0 likes • Jul 23
Glad to hear it! I sent you a DM with the details
Introductions Script!!
Lurkers!! Read this! Before you go any further, I want to remind you that the most valuable aspect of Skool is the community. I myself have lurked YouTube and Reddit for years, watching and reading all the restaurant content I could possibly soak in. Never interacting and never joining the community. Never going to networking events and never meeting other owners. I consider myself an introvert and even creating this course is really putting myself out there. Here I am 10 years later, knowing that if I had worked on my network and met other owners sooner, we could have learned so much faster and grown even bigger. So, I insist that to you don't make that same mistake. Introduce yourself to the community, tell us about your restaurant, link your socials so we can learn more about you and think about how we can help each other. For now, this will be the only place & time for you to self promote within this community. How To: Head over to the Community Tab on the top left Click Write Something Imporant: Select Category: Introductions!!! Copy, Paste and Edit the below script Start growing your network and meeting other Owners, Operators, Managers & Chefs TODAY!! Example Script: Hey Everyone!! I am [Full Name], the [My Title] of [Restaurant Name] and we're a [Restaurant Type]. We're located in [City/State/Country]. I joined the Restaurant Owners community because [Reason why you're here]. I am hoping to learn [What you want to learn from this course]. I think I can be valuable to the community because [Something you feel knowledgable and can add to the community]! I am looking to get to know everyone! If anyone feels like I can add value to their business, please reach out! Full Name: [Full Name] My Title: [My Title] Restaurant: [Restaurant Name] Restaurant Type: [Restaurant Type] Location: [City/State/Country] You can find us on: Website: [Full URL] Facebook: [Full URL] Instagram: [Full URL] TikTok: [Full URL] YouTube: [Full URL]
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New comment Aug 5
1-8 of 8
Doug Jacobson
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41points to level up
@doug-jacobson-1721
Owner, Loreley Beer Garden Founder, ION Hospitality I help Restaurants Get More Customers & Keep them Coming Back

Active 2d ago
Joined Jun 12, 2024
New York City
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