Yes, there is some doom and gloom out there -- but John (as usual) paints an optimistic landscape and leads the cheer for hospitality.

Here's an idea waiting to hit your profit statement.  Michael hits all the right points in laying out a marketing program for the college crowd.

It's not always easy constructing a brand message, but John wants to help get you there with ease by understanding the basic elements and how to position yourself effectively to your customers.

Bob Waggoner of the Charleston Grill in South Carolina is just one of many chefs boosting business with dining room charm.

Mari suggests six simple merchandising secrets to increase your retail sales this season - and beyond!

John argues that savvy newspapers that use the Internet well (which are in the minority) offer a great opportunity for restaurants to integrate their web marketing efforts and tie into a solid local online audience.

Miriam shares some thoughts and ideas on how to cater to the guys for Father's Day.

Restaurants can still stand out from the crowd as the line between casual and fine dining blurs.

RunningRestaurants.com talks with Seth from Entreeboom about their online gift certificates service for restaurants to promote and sell instant gifts.

John gets into the business model of "customer paying what they think the experience is worth." What do you think about your place is worth?

If you prepare properly, Mother's Day can be one of the most successful days of the year for you.  Miriam has some tips and ideas for thinking outside the box to deliver superior results.

Nathan and Robin talk about the what, how and why of joint ventures for restaurants -- specifically how restaurants can increase profits from joint venture relationships.

We talk with Nathan Gilder from Restaurant Revolution about using online restaurant coupons as part of the marketing and promotion strategy.  The conversation also ends up covering a number of other valuable marketing topics.

Inside and out, some of the world’s most recognizable restaurants, lounges and hotels have become showcases for fashionable, functional and versatile design innovations. Wire-mesh fabric, among other textures, has brought restaurant design to a new level.

David talks about how couponing can work against you by running you through the numbers and showing that sales don't always equal profits.

How would you like to wake up each morning, open your medicine cabinet, reach for a bottle, open it and take a “Magic Pill” that will almost guarantee that the safe in your office will fill with cash every day! Who wouldn’t?

Michael shares a list of what you should strive to incorporate in all of your marketing and promotioanl pieces.

Michael encourages you to take ten minutes to write your restaurant's goals down for 2008. Then he talks about "how to blow those goals out of the water". A must read as we head into the new year.

Adopt restaurant trends that fit your mission and excite your target audience.

Marketing is often the red-headed step child of a restaurant. For many, marketing is a reaction, mostly too late, to a slow down in business. Michael talks about having a plan to keep you focused and to help you end up with winning promotions for the next year.

How can restaurant owners best combat a bad review on social networking sites such as yelp.com? Anthony shares some thoughts.

How important are the holidays to your sales mix? For many the combination of groups reserving tables and private party rooms for holiday parties, as well as, drop off and full service catered parties represents a significant source of profits at year-end.  Michael examines some of the key sales areas so your year will end on a highly profitable note.

Kaboom--we realize that the market in which we seek to do business is really a cluttered landscape - noisy, competitive, inattentive, unresponsive, disloyal, hard to please, harder to reach. But, we are steadfast and understand the need for an advertising campaign, which will guide us through that unforgiving terrain, filled with landmines, natural and man made barriers, ooze, dead ends and paths to oblivion.  What means do we consider for our entry into that marketplace?

It's the holiday season again and if you want it to be a happy one for you, you'd better start thinking how you can make it happy for your customers. Miriam has seven ideas for you to consider.

The use of descriptive labels such as Jack Daniel's Chicken, Psychedelic Sorbey, or the Blooming Onion is an emerging trend in the hospitality industry. But does simply changing the menu labels from generic, straightforward names to descriptive names impact sales or make a customer actually believe the food tastes better?

For operations that have been doing business for some time, establishing long-term relationships with regular customers is success defined. Well-honed marketing programs and employee participation produce the best results.