The dollar signs may not exactly dance before your eyes when a single diner walks into your pizzeria. You’d much rather seat the party of four who will order a bottle of wine and an appetizer. That might be your first mistake: not welcoming the...

There are so many ways to advertise! How do I know which advertising opportunities are the best ones for my Pizzeria? It can be mind-boggling and frustrating to figure out which ones will suit you well. First, you need to create an advertising budget...

Have you ever participated in local festivals by setting up a food booth? Is it worth the trouble and expense? Do you actually make a profit, or is it just more to get your name out there in the community? I participate in those as often as I can. Th...

There he sat, as expressionless as an iguana as I explained how an ad I would create for him would sink like a dropped anchor, even with a great headline, plenty of benefits and a no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee. He would be pouring money aw...

Just over half of my gross sales came from home and business deliveries. Over the years we stumbled on a few ideas that made us stand out from the competition. We were the first company in our area to use car-top signs. It was so long ago I had to ma...

Should I set aside a specific amount for marketing each month, or should marketing costs be a percentage of my overall sales? When I was in the building stage of my business, I would dedicate 1 to 2 percent of my sales to advertising. Once I was well...

Marketing Building Public Image Look beyond paid advertising by marketing yourself wisely By  Gary Midge Newspaper ads –– expensive. Broadcast ads –– astronomical. Public image –– priceless. Sure, donations an...

Corporate accounts can be very lucrative, as long as you keep their business by serving excellent food — on time! You’ve got to go after them in as many ways as you can. One great way to drum up new corporate business is to do a hospitali...

I have opened seven restaurants for myself and at least 30 more for clients in my career. The last one to open was last August in Ohio. I’ve designed floor plans for stores smaller than my garage (900) square feet all the way up to a couple of ...

What is the best material to use as a pizza peel release agent? I’ve watched a lot of people make hand-tossed pizzas, and I see that some people use plain flour and others use corn meal on their peels to help slide their pizzas into the oven. W...

There’s nothing sexy about food safety. But running a professional kitchen with proper food-safety protocols in place is the most important aspect of an operation. Not only can a poor health inspection be costly through fines, it can also devas...

Dough Handling Sizing Dough for 18- and 36-inch Pizza By Tom Lehmann When it comes to sizing, do you need to change your dough recipe depending upon how big the crust or pizza is going to be? What if we wanted to offer an 18- or 36-inch pizza? Becaus...