The Jason Justice Group

Last night I played an event at the Skylark Lounge to celebrate the inaguration of our new President, Barack Obama, and raise funds for House District 2 of the Colorado Democratic Party. Some of you may know that I am a Precinct Committee Person in HD2 and represent my District in the CDP State Platform Committee. Let me tell you, we had a fantastic time.

Let me tell you about the Skylark Lounge. I really dig this venue. The owner, Scott Heron, has a great thing going on at the Skylark. There are two floors at this club. The newest section is the Pair-o-Dice Poolroom on the second floor, and it has a very hip feel with vintage pool tables and pinball machines. Here is a pic:

Like I said, hip. We played downstairs and it has a great retro feel with a large horseshoe bar area with plenty of stools, a large outdoor patio at the front door , and a nice stage area. The staff was cool, The dance floor was full, and Scott was very helpful to the HD2 folks and to us. It was a very comfortable situation considering that we had never played there before.

I don’t want to blow my own horn (so to speak) my brothers and sisters, but we rocked!

I had all my old friends on the gig; the best boogie woogie piano man around and my old friend Moses who also shared the vocal duties with me, T-Bone burned the guitar up, Bruce Crisman played the drums and I am here to tell you that  there is not a style that this man can’t play and play unbelievably well! We had a bass player named Kalin Capra on the gig last night and he was excellent. We all look forward to working with him in the future. I hope this group starts playing out on a more regular basis. Thats it from the field, stay tuned for more about the biz!

Peace!  Jason

With a dismal failure rate of more than 75 percent among restaurants, you must be sure you do everything you possibly can do to promote your restaurant through free publicity. Here are 16 tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed–even if you don’t have a big advertising budget.

1. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It’s a free listing of all the special topics and special sections coming up during the calendar year. It will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a good fit, so you can query the editor weeks and even months ahead.

2. Call the food editor or columnist from your local newspaper and invite her to lunch or coffee—or to your restaurant. Offer yourself as a resource. Ask “how can I help you?” Feed her tips and story ideas. Become such a valuable source that she keeps coming back to you for more information and eventually writes about you.

3. Produce your own television show on your cable TV company’s community access channel. The station will rent you the camera equipment for about $20. You can produce either one show or an entire series of programs, from how to cook with fresh garden produce to a show on how to buy fine wines. Air time is free. Call your cable company for details.

4. Build a network of other restaurant and food industry professionals—even if they are your competitors. Agree informally that you will refer reporters to each other whenever the media calls. Often, reporters want more than one source for a story. It’s a chance for all of you to get additional publicity.

5. Whenever someone asks you to write for their electronic newsletter or online magazine, visit their web site first and see if they have a resource section where you would be a good fit. Ask to be listed for free, in exchange for providing an article.

6. If you publish an interesting print newsletter with information about new trends in your industry, helpful tips for your employees or interesting stories about things that happen in your restaurant, send complimentary issues to local and national food columnists, food reporters, restaurant industry trade publications and other publications whose audiences you want to get in front of. You’ll be amazed at how many reporters start calling you for interviews.

7. Don’t forget newspaper and magazine columnists. They’re always hungry for fresh ideas. Keep in touch with them and feed them ideas regularly. Tell them about trends you are seeing in your industry.

8. Call local radio talk show hosts and invite them to call on you when other guests cancel. They will be thankful you offered. Write articles for industry newsletters. My favorite resource is the Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, which lists more than 18,000 newsletters by topic and includes detailed information on the type of audience and subjects covered. Most larger libraries have this resource directory.

9. Contact your trade association and ask them to refer reporters to you. Many reporters who don’t know where to find sources start by calling trade associations.

10. Always refer to yourself as an “expert” in your marketing materials, at your web site, in your email signature file, and in your media kit. The media always seek out experts and interview them.

11. If you receive a favorable restaurant review, reprint it on placemats, or frame it and post it in your restaurant wall. Quote from it in your paid ads. Post it at your website.

12. If you have found innovative ways to attract and retain employees, let the media know. The labor shortage in the restaurant industry is a hot topic.

13. Suggest profile stories of employees who have interesting hobbies or participate in outstanding community service projects. The reporter will ask them where they work—and that’s more publicity for you.

14. If your restaurant is a tourist attraction, pitch a story idea to in-flight magazines.

15. If you attend trade shows for the restaurant industry, hook up with reporters who are covering the show and pitch story ideas about trends in your industry, or an idea about your restaurant.

Joan Stewart, a.k.a. The Publicity Hound, shows you how to use the media to establish your credibility, enhance your reputation, sell more products and services, promote a favorite cause or issue, and position yourself as an employer of choice. She publishes “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” a free ezine on how to generate thousands of dollars in free publicity. Subscribe at her website at http://www.PublicityHound.com and receive by email the free checklist “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joan_Stewart

Here is a great article I found talking about social media for restaurants. Check it out and click here for the whole article.

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If I were a restaurant, I’d use Twitter to…

Here is how you replied:

CBWhittemore @pchaney I would tweet my lunch specials at lunch time; tweet whether there’s a wait; tweet my best desert of the day

geoffdaily @pchaney Easy: use it to share the specials of the day, announce special events, share special deals, and garner feedback from customers

nhamilt @pchaney ask customers to submit their best homemade recipes and hold a contest, the winner gets dish on the menu 4 a yr & named after them

diablogue_chat @pchaney: …live tweet customer opinions about the food / specific dish — using their real name – whether or not on Twitter.

katiekonrath @pchaney Updates on wait time. Give out samples and let fans know when they’re available. Tell about what’s just out of oven (for cookies)

trishberg @pchaney ..post my specials of the day to tempt people and make them hungry for my food.

BlogSquad @pchaney If I were a restaurant using twitter I would let my diners know about daily specials

oo00_Mr_K_00oo @pchaney … accept orders via Twitter

Lt_Draper @pchaney post coupon codes available only to twitter users and daily specials only via twitter…

Hi folks!

I recently ran across a great singer from the Pacific Northwest. Her name is Carri Bella, and not only does she have great vocal chops, but she is on the edge of the social networking universe which is the way we as musicians are going to reach both clients and fans. She is working on a CD right now, and judging from what I’ve heard, its good. She has a great version of the Wayne Shorter tune “Speak No Evil” which I particularly dig.

Here is an excerpt from her My Space page:

Carri Bella’s exquisite voice calls to mind the whimsy of Annie Ross in one moment and the sultry styling of Julie London in the next. While much of her repertoire is comprised of standards from the Great American Songbook, she steers clear of tired old stand-bys, instead opting for the quirkier side of Cole Porter or the Mancini tune that is rarely sung. Carri’s passion for story-telling with a twist also leads her to explore instrumental tunes with words added by clever lyricists. In fact, she has even penned a few of those herself. Some of those tunes will appear on her first CD, which will be available in 2008 (see blog for updates). In the meantime, you might catch her performing at a club, restaurant, winery or special event in the Pacific Northwest with any of the area’s top jazz instrumentalists. The Carri Bella Combo typically includes guitar or piano along with bass, drums or more instruments depending upon what the scene calls for.

Web Side: http://www.myspace.com/carribellajazz

Hats off to her and to all of the hard working Jazz Musicians out there keeping America’s music alive. Hopefully we will see her in the Denver area soon!

I wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone and talk about some goals for 2009 for my Denver live music blog. I want to talk about gigs that I am playing but also I want to talk about the music and restaurant business and how we, musicians and clients, can help one another through this next year.

Last night I played with Cathy Burns and my good friend and great piano picker Mark Flory. I love playing with this guy. He is a phenomenal boogie-woogie piano player. We did some real honky tonk, old school, in your face blues and traditional jazz at the Mercury Cafe. Marilyn at the Merc has been a friend to many Denver area musicians and artists over a number of years. She has a phenomenal venue and is a great example of grassroots, word of mouth, niche marketing. This is a must see operation for all live music and art aficionados.

My catch phrase for 2009 is “butts in seats.” Together let’s figure out how to fill seats, increase per person averages, and increase profitability!  Stick with me for upcoming news and ideas about our business. Until then, have a happy, safe, and profitable New Year!

Peace!- Jason