Ten twitter posts from restaurateurs

In no particular order:

10. From @YuriTruck 600th Yuri Truck follower will get a free Yuri Bowl and 666 follower will get a free Yuri Shirt and a prayer :)

This post works three ways: 1. gets people to follow you, 2. gets two customers and their friends to come try your restaurant, and 3. gives your business a human feel

9. From @COOLHAUS Honeyhock Ice Cream in the Works!!! Does Silver Lake Wine want to sponsor a cabernet sandwich???

It’s clear from this post that the COOLHAUS staff is forming business alliances locally. Are there any stores in your area that might compliment your business by forming a partnership or at least advertising for each other?

8. From @joesonthenoseThis weekend’s secret password is “Twitterdee.” Tell us “The secret password is .. Twitterdee” and get a free small cup of joe at the truck!

What’s a small cup of coffee cost you?

7. From @ hrtschallenger is looking for interns who can help us with graphics and web stuff… anyone interested? pls send a direct message only.

Interns are legalized sweatshop workers. Great talent at a quarter of the price! A fellow SM4Rer told me not to put this in here. I asked him if he knew of a small restaurant’s website that didn’t need a few tweaks, and he went blank.

6. From @Green_Truck Sun- BuFest Continues.. and the watermelon fresca will be flowing all day long.

Watermelon Fresca? I want one! Do you have any interesting or new items on the menu for people to try out? Post them on twitter

5. From @locali RT: @ZagatBuzz Locali Icycle will begin rolling through LA with its frozen treats in June http://tinyurl.com/pzng6w

Did you just get some awesome press from somewhere? Tell everyone!

4. From @ cremebruleecart If you reply to me in the next hour or have replied to me you will recieve a dm about Thursday night’s top secret brulee-ing later tonight.

Giving your customers secret/insider information helps them feel a deeper connection, also, you get mail, which makes you feel important.

3. From @magiccurrykart Congratulations to @cremebruleecart on his upcoming wedding!!! And please take a break and enjoy not making amazing creme brulees for a bit

Compliments to your fellow business owners. Obviously, curry and creme brulee aren’t direct competitors, and the streets of LA are big enough for two, anyway. I know you’re thinking “But I’m not a truck or a cart, I have a brick and mortar establishment.” These early adopters are so prevalent on Twitter because their businesses require them to move around, and one of the most important things for customers to know is where you are. Posting on Twitter allows people to know your status at all times.

2. From @Maggianos @somerandomcustomer Have a great time! Enjoy that Four Cheese Ravioli! We’re actually running a special app right now – Four Cheese Ravioli Fritte.

You don’t need to respond to everyone, but responding to people tells the world that you’re using Twitter the way it was meant to be used; as a two-way street. And hey, they found a way to get a promo in there. You’ll see that, if you click the Maggiano’s Twitter page, they are very active in responses to their customers and they have many @replies on the page saying things like “Thanks for stopping in; come back soon!” and as simple as ‘Enjoy!”

And look . . . brick and mortar !

1. From @chezspencergo GQ Magazine will be taking photos of Spencer on the go and the customers on Friday night….come on down and try the new tasting box.

Got an event coming up or anything cool happening in your life? Tweet it! Maybe if you came by on Friday night you could be an extra in the GQ shoot; then you can tell everyone that you were in GQ. You don’t need to elaborate . . . you don’t want to brag.

I wrote this post in May and it seems like everything still holds true. Could you come up with all of these ideas? Probably. Did you? Well, you might have already had them floating around in your head, but did you implement them strategically

As a food writer and marketer, I am always on top of the latest industry trends. If you’re interested in hiring me to help define and manage your social media presence, please click here for my contact info.