The Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast brought to you by Custom Business Solutions
The Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast brought to you by Custom Business Solutions
Navigating Restaurant Tech & Branding with Heather Cox Codes
In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast, the hosts welcome Heather Cox Codes, a self-declared tech nerd and social media strategist. Heather shares her journey from working at her mom's boutique to becoming a key figure in the tech and restaurant industry, specializing in WordPress website design and SEO optimization. Heather discusses the complexities of branding, the importance of cohesive and user-friendly websites, and the necessity of consistent social media presence. She also touches on personal experiences, offering insights into overcoming challenges and leveraging digital tools for business growth.
00:00 Welcome to the Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast
00:07 Meet Heather: A Tech Nerd in the Restaurant Industry
01:24 Heather's Journey: From Hospitality to Tech
04:15 The Challenges of the Restaurant Industry
06:29 Heather Cox Codes: Branding and Web Design for Restaurants
10:24 The Importance of Cohesive Branding in Hospitality
15:56 Optimizing Restaurant Websites for Every Generation
18:41 Demystifying SEO for Restaurants
21:03 Revolutionizing Kitchen Operations with Total Oil Management
21:32 The Ever-Changing World of SEO and Its Importance
21:58 Leveraging Social Media for Organic Traffic and Customer Engagement
23:08 The Critical Role of Social Proof in Restaurant Selection
24:48 Active Digital Presence: A Must for Restaurants
26:09 Content Creation Strategies and the Power of Posting Daily
30:09 Overcoming the Fear of Sharing Your Story on Social Media
33:12 The Strategic and Creative Journey of Launching a Podcast
36:25 Leaving a Legacy Through Digital Content
38:05 Engaging with Heather Cox: Insights and Opportunities
This is the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. Helping you run your restaurant better.
Jeremy:Welcome back to the restaurant technology guys podcast. Thank you everyone out there for joining us. As I say, each and every time I know you guys have got lots of choices. So thank you guys for spending time. today we are joined by a self declared tech nerd, I think she said. but I'm gonna let Heather introduce herself and then we can talk, we can start to talk about what Heather gets to do for a living. So Heather, why don't you introduce yourself to our audience? Cause, if they've been living under a rock the last few months and they're not part of the logarithm, maybe they haven't seen all of what you got going on.
Heather Cox:Yeah, thank you so much. I really appreciate being here. And like I said, like I am a huge tech nerd and like restaurant and tech, it's like kind of my favorite thing. my name is Heather Cox codes. I am a social media manager and strategist content creator. I love working within the hospitality at tourism and restaurant industries. I also like to dabble a little bit in real estate. I am. I have a bunch of certifications. I actually just recently finished my certification at Hong Kong Polytechnic University for Managing Marketing in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry, and that was a really cool class. I'm also the, host of a podcast called Into the Black, an audio space called Dark Mode. I'm a mom of three kids, two dogs, a cat, and two birds, just saying. love working in this industry, love having fun. and it's just awesome to be here. So thank you so much.
Jeremy:Yeah, that's, I would say you covered so much there. And so I guess, and it's funny, I'm sure people that listen to that intro go, how the heck does she have time to raise three kids, get all these certifications and do all of this other stuff. And so talk to me a little bit about your passion for hospitality. Where did that come from? tell. Bring me back a little bit about how you got into the industry and what made you choose to focus, on helping restaurants and helping businesses that are in the food service and hospitality industry.
Heather Cox:Yeah, for sure. I'm actually one of three daughters and my mom and all of us own our own businesses. my mom owned a gift boutique called the wallflower gift boutique here in Delaware. I started working there when I was like, what, fifth grade. And so we're really all about service, customer service. And so it was just a, like the next step in, in my, progression of that customer service and wanting to serve the community and what better way to work within the hospitality industry. cause that's all what we're about is service. I started at the age of 15. From my mom's store, I went over to, within the same shopping center, there was a restaurant called Dome Restaurant and Bar. It is now Red Fire Grill. Still has the same manager there from when I started. when I started, he was just having his first baby. Now his first baby is in college. So it's like kind of that small town feel, but it's like really upscale, elevated dining at the steakhouse. And so that's where I started. And I really got the, I just love interacting with people. I love food. I love trying new things. Things I love the vibes, the atmosphere. So I was like, hospitality is my jam. So I worked in all aspects of hospitality in the restaurant industry, starting at the age of 15, from starting as a busser and then, moving up to server, then moving up to expediter and bartender and, just runner and, manager at one point. So it's just, I really love the hospitality industry because I'm able to connect with people, create. Vibes create that community, while also having fun and eating food.
Jeremy:Yeah. and everybody
Heather Cox:is like the biggest thing.
Jeremy:I love that. I love that. And, it's funny that you, you obviously, you got to learn the, the ropes of business, from mom, I am also a second generation business, business owner. So it's always fun to figure out what that looks like and working for a family business. There's lots of things. Ironically, I was just on a show earlier in the week and we were talking about how much you learn, even by osmosis when you're sitting at the dinner table and they're talking about, whatever that might be. And so love that story. Talk to me a little bit about why you chose not to just go straight into restaurants and started on the tech side. Cause I, I often get the question, Hey, you've been in restaurants for 25 years, you've done every position similar to you. I started riding my bike to Denny's and my first job serving was at Denny's. I rode my bike prior to that. I was at a sandwich shop. and so for me, I grew up in there, but I also, I love being in and around the restaurants, but I don't necessarily love the hours and all of that. So I'd love to hear your story on why you chose not to just. Dig deep into that versus, some of the other stuff you did.
Heather Cox:I love the restaurant industry. Don't get me wrong. I really do. The people are so down to earth and genuine, but there are also a lot of problems within the restaurant industry. A lot of substance abuse, a lot of alcohol, like a lot of, binge drinking on the weekends, even just drinking after your shift with your coworkers. it didn't really. I didn't really mesh and vibe with, at, towards the end of my stint in the restaurant industry as a server, I was working doubles. I was, getting up in the morning, I would go work, at the Chili's and work like opening shift. And then I would go take my like 30 minute break because that's all I got. And I would take a 20 minute nap, pound two Red Bulls, And then go to my second closing shift because I would work all day and I would be pulling doubles like all the time and It's just the money wasn't there and the labor was hard and then it wears down your body The restaurant industry is probably one of the most labor intensive, Industries in my opinion that you can stay in for long term because like it's I mean I was a certified nursing assistant. I was moving people at one point So I equate the both where it's you know You're working doubles sometimes pulling doubles two three four days a week and like it could get strenuous So I was like this is not very healthy for me So I think I need to find a different Avenue, even though I love it I needed to find something a little different that was more healthy for me,
Jeremy:Yeah, and I teased some people that are long time restaurant people that we should have a therapy group for those that were in operations at one point. And, cause we can commiserate on those doubles. We can commiserate on how bad it, how bad our feet hurt when we would get done and how many hours we would put in. although I still think it should be mandatory for, for teenagers to work in a restaurant at some point in their life because it just, from the hospitality side, It, teaches you so much having to deal with guests and guests that are ornery and guests that want more than they deserve. and all of those kinds of things. like I said, I started at Denny's when it was dollar 99 grand slams and you'd have to work the overnight shift, which was even better because, 20 percent or even a 15 percent on a dollar 99 grand slam. They're like, I gave you 50 cents. I gave you more than I'm like, really? This is what you gave me for this meal. Okay.
Heather Cox:there on that one.
Jeremy:so talk to me a little bit about, you threw out, just all that you've done and, Heather Cox codes, is the business you run, but, talk to me really, where does that go? Cause I, there's a lot that you guys are doing. There's a lot that you're doing to help restaurants and the hospitality industry. Talk to me a little bit about the business that you get to run today, Heather.
Heather Cox:running this business for almost 15 years. It has gone through a couple of iterations. I had a, as I call my sophomore brand, right? I started this when I was 21. and when, Actually, when I was around 21, 22, I was stalked online, by two different individuals. so I created this brand where I was a social media superhero. So I did not have to show my face and also give me a little bit of like strength, Cause like I'm a superhero, you can't F with me. that was my brand for a very long time. And then I think it was like four, four years ago, five, four years ago. I rebranded to Heather Cox codes because I was like, you know what? Like I'm, I want to step out as myself. I want to take back that. And that power of I am allowed to be online and nobody can really dictate what I'm allowed to do. So when Heather Cox codes came about, everybody already knew me as Heather Cox. when I would go into business meetings, they're like, Oh, this is BGWD, the owner, Heather Cox. And I'm like, Oh, okay, you guys know me as Heather Cox, not really like my brand. So I was like, let me just, Kind of rebrand myself as such as myself. I've been, I started in a WordPress website design 15 years ago. That's where it's like the codes comes from. I'm really black and white binary type person. so I love, that's why the branding is such as black and white. my love of food and real estate, like that's what I love to do. I love to eat and I look at. to look at pretty houses and real estate. So that's what, those are the niches that I really like to work within. So with over the past 15 years, I've worked with a lot of different industries, but I really like to work within the hospitality, tourism, and real estate industries for my WordPress website design and social media management. And, going forward, There are a lot of, especially with AI, you can spin up a website within five, 10 minutes now with the use of AI with a lot of AI tools. really, I've always leaned into the search engine optimization functions of coding and WordPress website design because a lot of these AI websites don't really, Create that don't really, have that available. It creates the front end, it creates your website and clicks and whatnot, but it does not optimize your website to be found. So that has been my touch point, my, my sticking point where it's okay, if you work with me, you get, A full SEO website, not just something that looks pretty, but also something functional. And I believe the real estate or excuse me, the restaurant industry, both industries, but the restaurant industry really does need to lean into that optimized website so that they can be found locally. and easier for, to bring in traffic and to bring in clients.
Jeremy:I Love that and for those that are watching on video you may have seen Heather lift her arm she has a tattoo of brackets from code So I thought that was funny didn't mention a pre show But I noticed it because I'm I am also a tech nerd and while I don't have any tattoos It was funny that I was like, I gotta call it out for those that are on video and
Heather Cox:closed bracket. Yeah, that's the closed bracket HTML. I even have this on the front of my car because my car is completely black. I have that on the front of my car and then I have my hashtag on the back of the car. So yeah, it's, I'm all about the branding.
Jeremy:and that was really where I wanted to take the thread for just a few minutes. Others, you talk about your own personal brand and, you've got a very strong brand and it's very clear who you are. When I look at a lot of restaurant brands, they struggle because they don't understand who their brand is and. HTML and building the website and really building SEO optimization is great if you know who you are and who you're going after. So talk to me a little bit about how you help restaurants and real estate, define those brands. Because I think it's much easier to hit a target once you know what you're trying to hit, but if you don't know what you're trying to hit, you're going to miss a lot more shots than you, than you should.
Heather Cox:For sure. and I always say, and there's different, there's steps, there's, you have to take the clear path forward for your brand. So if you're coming to me and you're like, I want a website, but then I look at your branding and I'm like, you don't even have a cohesive logo. Like you're, everything's all over the place. You have six different fonts. Like I'm, I don't, I can't do that. Like I can't start that process because you're putting the horse. Before the cart. Is that what that we're loving our sayings today apparently. it's, you're too early. You need to get that branding. You need to think about who your target audience is. You need to think about who you're trying to attract. You need to figure out, What your vibe is, some people will make a logo just to get a logo out there. And it's it has nothing to do with what your brand really stands for. So you really need to think about who you are, what your business entity is, what your services are. Who you're trying to speak with and then create that logo around it. So right now I'm helping a brewery create a beer logo or a beer can essentially for a collaboration between them and a well known, What is it like a well known band? I think it's a ska reggae, think three 11. we're doing a collaborative beer can and I saw, the previous design they had and they weren't happy with it. And I'm like, okay, like, how can we take what the name of this band is and visualize it conceptually. And then they don't even have a logo themselves, the band. So it's okay, like, how do we. Take their vibe, their tone of voice, their. Their services, what they offer, what type of music they sing and how do we get that into a visual one visual element that will be used across all of your marketing and branding. So you really need to think about who you are, what entity you are, what services you are and like how you are. It's your business. You know what I mean? I'm not going to be here, to have my, having my website, hot pink. It's not happening. So if you want a modern vibe to your website and your restaurant, you need to have a modern logo and not have like papyrus font. It's just, yeah,
Jeremy:but I think I find, and I'm sure you do when you start with some of your clients is they don't completely understand even who they are, who they serve. they've been in business for a long time and they don't really know who they are and their clientele or they've never been able to articulate it. Visually or in words. And so I, oftentimes when I find, when I talk with people that are in kind of the branding web design messaging type world, they're like, we can serve anybody. It's yes, you can serve anybody. But at the end of the day, that fine dining restaurant that you went to, probably you wouldn't take a baby into, and it's not the place that you're going to go after the kids go to a soccer game, you're going to go there on a date night with your spouse. to that brand. And so how do we message something that, that helps because your brand is not just your logo. Your brand is not just your fonts. Your brand is not just your website. Your brand is all of what you bring to that client interaction. and some of it's the front door, some of it's the logo, some of it's the service, some of it's what other people are even saying about you. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, Heather.
Heather Cox:even the food is part of the brand. You know what I mean? So like I, there was this one, restaurant that, I lived in Baltimore and it was like, and I'm making this up. It was like ABC Chinese, but then right next door, ABC pizza and it's the same company. So it's okay, now you've just separated your brand out. So like even the food, if you're an Italian restaurant and you're serving General Sal's chicken, why like that? So just think about like how. You're all the whole vibe. You know what I mean? You have to make sure it is all cohesive because rising tide lifts all ships. And that is true in branding, in visuals, in the vibe. When you walk through the front door, what type of flooring you have, what type of bar top you have, what type of China you have. Like it's all encompassing in branding. So you really do need to think about okay, do my visuals match? What people are seeing as they even walk through the door. So that's like really do need to think about it. It's okay. And this is where I think of okay, take a step back. Don't be so bug eye focused, like back up and do a bird's eye on like your whole entire entity. And that's why I think it's okay, like you really should get like yourself, I don't even know, like a. Thought bubble chart where it's okay, this is my entity. And then here's all the little lines and everything that comes off of it is everything optimized around that business. And that's what you really need to think about is that bird's eye view when it comes to branding and the vibe and cohesion. Of everything for your entity. And that's for any business, to be honest with you, past restaurants.
Jeremy:and to your comment earlier, if it's not, if it's not cohesive and they walk into an Italian restaurant and see General Sal's, chicken on the menu, they're confused. And so people look at that and decide what they want to engage with as well as decide when they might want to come back. Based on that content. And so this is, we talked a little bit about branding. Heather talked to me a little bit about kind of web design. how does this fit in once we've defined who we are, how do you walk clients through understanding? Because Oh, I just need a new website. It's yes, that's fine. But if you don't know who you are and who your clients are that you're serving, it's really hard for you to do the work that you need to do to help them in that regard.
Heather Cox:For sure. if a restaurant does not even have their branding set up and it's okay, now we need to start from the beginning and a lot of that time, it's that stalls the web design process. But if you are a website or excuse me, a restaurant that does have their cohesive branding, their, their vibe, their tone, everything is, Organize all the T's are crossed eyes are dotted and you're ready for a website. You really want to think about user ability, like user friendliness, people all the time will create websites and they, it's not even optimized for mobile, but yet mobile is one of the, it's 80 percent views like through the mobile device. So who wants to go to a restaurant where I have to pinch and squeeze and then look at a menu on a PDF on my phone? that is just. Now, yes, that is catering to and having those things caters to the older demographics. We do not want to discount the older demographics who are still viewing those websites on desktops and are downloading those pdfs and even printing those pdfs. that's cool, man. Like we're attracting that, that demographic, but we also need to remember that. and I learned, and I love this. I learned this in my recent certification class at Hong Kong polytechnic. And basically the there's the silver hair tourists. They're becoming, they're living longer, they have more money, they are spending that money on fine dining experiences, more experiential things, traveling, and that's why we have to cater to them on the websites. But we also need to remember, that silver haired tourist is also giving money to the next generation of tourists, which are, Gen A and Gen Z. So we need to also make sure that our website is optimized for their experiences, which is the mobile view, social media at the top. Don't put QR codes on your social media because they're going to laugh at you. They're going to be like, that is old school. Like you can't even take a picture of that QR code on your social media. what are you doing? Like you really need to think about. The younger demographics and the older demographics, and then creating that website that caters to both, because that is so important because yes, you may have an older demographic and that may be your target audience, but then they may be bringing in their Gen Z, Gen A grandkids with them. And now that is another customer that you can capture through the use of your website. just. Old school meets new school. I think that's my biggest takeaway when it comes to creating your website. You got to hit the old school, you got to hit the new school all while optimizing it with SEO.
Jeremy:Yeah. And so I'd love to dig in a little bit for those that don't know what SEO is. can you, I know what it is and I know that it constantly changes, but if you could share that with our audience that may not understand, what does that even mean? Because I think it's critical for them to understand that if they want to be known as the best burger restaurant in Baltimore, they have to optimize for being known as the best burger restaurant in Baltimore.
Heather Cox:For sure. So search engine optimization is SEO. That is basically what you are doing to the back end, front end of your website when you are optimizing for search engines, right? I can put a website up in a second, but if I go to Google it and look up ABC diner, it's probably not going to come up and search because oops, I forgot to optimize my website. And it also takes about four to six weeks to be searchable
Jeremy:Crawled. Yeah.
Heather Cox:engines. But there is a new Google change to the Google sandbox, which basically is like removing cookies. So you really want to make sure that you are optimizing organically. You don't want to keyword stuff. So do not put like keywords, like the same keyword. Let's take that burger, keyword, for example. So like burgers near me, Applebee's, Chili's, all of the big, McDonald's, like they pay. So To have that keyword burger near me, that's what you're going to see when you search, even if you're trying to look for local, you're still going to get McDonald's, Applebee's, Chili's at burger near me. But if you think about a different way to optimize that so you can get around it, a different keyword, think about it. So let's say bacon burger or bacon cheeseburger near me. then
Jeremy:melt near me. If I've got a great patty melt, you niche it out, as you said, to get them to understand that. And I, and that goes back to, that even really goes back to branding of understanding who you are and what you're known for. Because if you just go super generic, you're, it's almost impossible to compete with those big
Heather Cox:be talking to your audience. Like you're supposed to be reaching your target audience. And if you have a smash burger near me, then, you're going to reach somebody who's looking for that smash burger that day. So optimize and also optimize your social media as well. And that's SMO, which is a completely different conversation, but optimize all the digital things.
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Heather Cox:again, I'm going to go back to that bird's eye view. We're going to pull back and we're going to see our whole entire digital landscape, right? So you have your newsletter over here, your social media over here, your website over here, your SMS over here, like whatever your digital assets are, they all need to be cohesive. So when you have your website over here and your social media, They need to be talking to one another so website needs to have those social media buttons and the correct social media buttons If you have a wix. com website and you just make that website spin it up you put it up Please go look at your social media buttons because I don't know how many times I have gone to a restaurant website and it's on wix or squarespace you go to the bottom You click that little social media button You think you're going to go to their instagram and you are taken directly to wix. com instagram make sure you optimize that You and it's really important because search engines really look at social media as a, an indicator for organic traffic because it's a social indicator. It is, it creates that social proof for your entity. So perfect example, I was going down to the beach, there's this restaurant called La Fable, French cuisine out of this world. I was going to go to this other restaurant first. They were closed. I was then like, okay, where am I going to go? I looked up, I don't know, I think it was like fine dining Rehoboth and it came up with this Italian, or excuse me, this French cuisine restaurant. And I was like, Oh man, this is the off season. I don't know if they're open. So I went to their website. It didn't say anything about them being closed or open. I was like, okay. All right I really want to still try this restaurant. Oh, they have social media. I clicked on their instagram. They hadn't posted in a year I was like, oh no, are they closed like this is not no so in my mind I'm, like, okay That social proof is not there because it's there they have not posted in a year And it has nothing says nothing on their website about if they're open on the off season. No nothing I was like, okay, how could I figure this out? Ah, google maps. So I went over to google maps to see their google reviews. I typed in their website. Excuse me They're the name of the restaurant and then within an hour prior to me looking There was a five star google review and I was like word they're open And so I was able to call them book it. and it's like my favorite restaurant ever right now but you know just having that social proof like you posting not posting for a whole year can You Create, put that seat of doubt within your customer saying, are they even open? Are they relevant? Are they even who they say they are? And then they may not even step foot into your door because that customer journey from your website to social media or social media to website is broken. So the customer journey for your digital landscape for your digital real estate online is super important to get those customers through the door.
Jeremy:and I think that goes back to what I alluded to earlier, Heather, which is updates,
Heather Cox:Yes.
Jeremy:SEO, SEM, social you've got, it's got to be an active thing. So talk to me, talk me through how you coach your restaurant clients, because you know what, maybe that brain doesn't care because they're busy enough, maybe that French restaurant doesn't care, which is some people I actually, we actually just talked with a customer in Southern California this week, who, Literally said, we cannot produce enough food to serve the amount of guests that we have. Most restaurants aren't in that aren't in that
Heather Cox:Good for that restaurant, though,
Jeremy:great for them. They're like, you know what? I don't want optimization of my point of sale. I want to slow it down because I cannot get enough food for people. Great problem to have. Most don't have that problem. So you get the opposite. you get that, the people that said it and forget it, they, Had some intern that worked last summer. They posted all of their stuff on social media every other week. They had a new, every week they had a post or every day they had a post. Then they go went back to school and everything went away. and now there's nothing on social. There's nothing, I set my SEO, three years ago and I'm good. I don't need to do that. So talk me through how you coach your restaurant people to understand that they have to be active on this. It's not something that is a passive deal. You wouldn't. Go start your restaurant, open it up and leave for three years. So why would you do that on your social media? Why would you do that on your website? So talk to me a little bit about how you think about that and how you coach your restaurant clients.
Heather Cox:in regards to the restaurants, I tell that you have to post every day. I don't really care what anybody else is saying about that because it's literally social proof. And we have something to say. Restaurants have something to say. There are so many different stories living within that restaurant from the cooks to the owner to the servers to the bussers. To the customers, to the liquor distributors, to the person who created the bar. there's so many different stories and to not capitalize on that, I think is really silly. and you got to think about the, cost of inaction, right? Like you may not want to post on social media, but what are you missing? What are you losing out on? And you're losing out on that social proof and traction marketing, right? people may not, people are anxious. I know I'm an anxious person. Shit, I love knowing all the information that I can know about a restaurant or a place before I get there. So if you're posting about where I can park on your street and how I can get parking, then like I'm going to be like, yes, oh my God, I love this restaurant because I know exactly where to park and now I could just. That is like one roadblock that is now like off my plate. So just think about like for social media, posting every day, showing your vibe, the food, the, it's all about social proof. That story, I think just outlined why you should, because If it wasn't me, I am, I need to get my information. I'm going to know if that restaurant is closed or not. Not everybody is going to be like me. They're going to stop that customer journey. They may have stopped that customer journey right at that website. They might've stopped their whole entire trip when they found out that the first restaurant they wanted to go to was closed. closed for the off season. So you got to think about like, how can I be omnipresent? How can I be hitting multiple channels on my social media? How can I stay relevant? And I know one of the biggest hurdles is posting every day on social media. Cause people wake up and they're like, Oh shit, I got to post something. What do I post? And then they like sit there for an hour spinning their wheels and what do I post? And then they just land on a photo. That's it. That's behind the line. You see the fryer baskets, there's no hashtags, there's no emojis. It's just come get our food. And it's not even thought out. And everybody's I don't even want to eat here because that doesn't not look good. So just think about like how you can create that social proof and really just that, and you have to do it every day. You do. So like schedulers are your best friend. That's why I love using schedulers. So like Facebook and Instagram, there's meta business suite. You can. batch, create all your content and schedule it out for two weeks and see how that goes. there's also an internal scheduler on Twitter slash X. There's an internal scheduler on LinkedIn. the only one that does not have an internal scheduler is, Google My Business. Which is huge for restaurants. So all the people who are listening, use loomly, L O M L Y dot com to schedule out your Google, my business posts, because again, that creates that it's that social proof it's that omnipresence and we should be talking to our audience across all channels. And so again, keeping it up to date on social media, but also making sure you optimize your website for the SEO portion. And yeah, I don't like to mess around too much with the keywords on SEO, especially if it's a good keyword, because if you change that keyword from page, you've lost that ranking for that. And then you have to regrow that and rebuild it again. So if you have a really good keyword for a specific page, let's say like your brunch menu, unique brunch near me, then, keep it. You don't need to go crazy, but you do need to. Constantly add content to your website so that these signals know, Hey, they've updated the website. Yeah. They added a blog post. Yeah. They updated a picture. Yeah. They updated some copy. Okay. They're active on their website. Okay. We're going to rank them higher. So yeah, like updates and posting and SEO on a consistent basis. It's not a, it's not a sprint. It's a marathon. SEO and social media is always and will be a marathon. So buckle up because you're in for the long ride.
Jeremy:and what would you say to people that are scared to tell their story on social? I think I get that often from people is they want to hire heather cox codes to go do everything for them And they're scared to get that messaging out there They're not necessarily scared to go speak to a guest in the dining room But at the end of the day, I get this a lot where there's this fear of posting this fear of what everybody's going to think this fear of what's going to happen out there. And I guess I would ask you to offer our listeners some encouragement. It's critical that you do it because if you're not doing it, your competitor next door is, and they're likely going to get that next guest.
Heather Cox:Yeah. Yeah. And I, speaking from personal experience, like I mentioned earlier, like I, I was stalked. Like I literally had to create a brand that like shielded me. And then when, I was like, you know what? I'm not going to let people stop me. It doesn't matter about who I, you should not care about what anybody thinks of you. Everybody is more involved with themselves. To even think about what they think of you so put your story out there not everybody's gonna like you but the thing is if you're trying to make everybody like you Then you're not talking to those who really vibe with you and you're not talking to Anybody at that point, if you're going so broad, then, you're not talking to anybody. You really want to be yourself. That's, I think one of the biggest things that I've learned through my journey of 15 years in business is not everybody's going to like you. Okay. And that's cool. But the people who do like you are going to be the biggest. Fans you want to create that community you want to create those that fan club and so posting on social media You're gonna attract those That want you don't choose. I think my husband said this the other day. You don't choose your fans They choose you know what I mean? So just put your story out there have fun Get in front of the camera if you're a business owner if you're a chef like have some freaking fun like I You don't have to be worried about what people are going to perceive of you because everybody Is judging everybody anyway who's posting online? So what's another person? You know what I mean? What's another
Jeremy:And they'd rather the authenticity. we have a mutual connection. Sean Walsh chef has built an entire media company based on doing, post in his barbecue restaurant. And I've known, I've watched Sean's journey. He's been on the show before, and I've watched his journey. It's been fun to watch, but people appreciate the authenticity. They appreciate him taking videos of their pit master, seasoning the ribs. that is part of what, most people that haven't worked in restaurants, they want to see the behind the scenes. They want to see what it takes to bring that food to table. They want to see what it looks like to receive cases of wine in the back. And what does it look like walking through your wine cellar? What does it look like? even as something as silly that you might think of is how do you prep your bar? People want to know it. they don't get it. And the behind the scenes is, part of what makes your restaurant unique. Heather, I'm going to pivot for just a second. why the podcast for our listeners, what can they expect? And you're telling everybody to be authentic and put themselves out there. I love that you've done this and I know it's a, it's, in, in its first season. So why did you choose to go do that? Because. It, I think it's a message to our listeners that the autistic authenticity and putting yourself out there is critical for people to know who you are and understand it. So tell me a little bit about that journey and where did that come from? I
Heather Cox:i'm very theatrical. I'm And i'm also learning that I do have a voice, you know for a very long time. I Thought that I did not have a voice So but now I do and i'm like going gung ho on it you know into the black we go into the space between the ones and zeros on everything and nothing it's like in between the ones and zeros the binary code going really in depth reading between the lines and we talk about everything, from marketing to Politics. my first guest was my, my local representative who's my friend. So I'm like, you need to be the first official guest. So it was really cool. And it's been great. I had miss Delaware USA on the other day as well. I'm really getting into the local cause I love my local community. I really do. And this is just something like a passion project that I have. And it also, I wanted to hit, I'm very strategic. I wanted to hit all of the digital asset. Buckets. So the long form, the short form, the audio, the visual. and that long form content that now you lives on YouTube, cause it is also a very visual, podcast as well. I don't like to call it a podcast. I'd like to call it a show, to be honest with you, because like we just have freaking fun and we laugh and we tell jokes and I ask ridiculous questions. But, I wanted to hit that long form content that, that evergreen, that long form, but also, the spotifies and the apple podcasts, that's another Avenue of digital media. that's just adding to my digital real estate at this point. So it was really strategic, but also more of a creative outlet for me because I just like to talk to my friends and have fun. So you'll, my mom is going to be on, I think one of my, like my husband on, like just. talking this shit and just having a good time. So into the black, that's the podcast. So thanks for asking.
Jeremy:yeah. and it's funny, you've, you, you said early on, you've got three kids and so I heard somebody say when, cause I'm, this will be episode on, on two 30, two 40, something like that. I had, I was listening to a YouTube video the other day or watching a YouTube video and they'd said something about, if you could get, an hour of video from your great grandfather, what would that be worth to you? and it made me think, you know what I've now, I passed on a lot to my children. I've got four kids for those that are long time listeners, but I passed on a lot to my kids, but there's things that they're not going to get. And someday I'm going to be gone. And what am I going to leave behind? I hope that there's going to be something. of whether it's the show or other shows that I'm going to have left behind to have them remember, photographs, have them remember videos, have them remember life lessons that I've taught, that I put out into the world. and the other thing I would say to you is while you say you have a lot of fun, it's amazing the impact that you can have, even when you don't know it, when you get beyond the discomfort of putting your thoughts and your ideas out there.
Heather Cox:Yeah, for sure. And and that's what I think of too, like the whole legacy piece that you were just talking about. Like I would die if I had an hour or two of video of my grandmother. She was like a huge inspiration to me. So it's I would love to just have that. And I, now I'm going to go talk to my mom and be like, can pull out the old videos, But that's what I thought I think of with my podcast, but also the TEDx that I did. I really want to leave a legacy where it's okay. I want to be known for fighting for women in business, and I want my daughter to see that, and I want that legacy to be left behind. So yeah, legacy, I think is also another big one too, especially now we're getting up there in age.
Jeremy:and I think it's just getting past that discomfort of getting in front of the camera, recording it, getting it posted so that people can see it. It's amazing. funny enough, I found a YouTube video from probably 30 years ago. from, my grandparents at a party that they were having, it was an old camcorder that somebody had digitized and put on YouTube. I found it, my very first car. I was born in Jersey, my, my grandfather got me a car in New Jersey and it's them walking through my very first car when I was 16, I'm 46 right now. So it's 30 years ago and it's my grandfather, my great grandfather, my two uncles walking through this journey of how the car came to be, it was a 66 Mustang, And I go back and watch that video and listen to them talk, because they're all past since, they've all since passed away. But now I think back about that and go, you know what, how can I leave that legacy back to you back to your comment? and I just found it super randomly. It was, somebody in the family digitized it, put it on YouTube and somehow it got shared with me. And I'm like, this is so cool. that it's out there. So, Heather, how do people, other than searching for other Cox codes, because you're damn good on social media and you're, you're, everybody knows that if you just search those things, what can they expect if they engage with you? Is there a restaurant brand out there? If there are tech brand out there, if they want to just shoot the crap with you and figure out what it is that, that you guys may be able to collaborate on, how can they get in touch and what can they expect once they, they chat with you?
Heather Cox:Yeah, for sure. You can find me on LinkedIn and Heather Cox codes, Instagram, Heather Cox codes, Facebook, Heather Cox codes everywhere. Just look up Heather Cox codes in any search bar on any platform. And I know you'll find me. you can also search my hashtag Heather Cox codes. and my social media is a little different, than a lot of others. I use it as like a business diary, documenting my life. I did just break the grid over on Instagram. I was doing, I think for six years, I was doing back and forth, black tile image. so it gives that grid effect. And I like broke it after five years, I was like, that's it. It's like stifling my creativity. So you know, you're going to get a lot of behind the scenes right now. A lot of photos of like me, my cat, cause it's hard to get behind the scenes when it's just me. In this room, it wants to see the same pictures over and over again. like I really like to create graphic art. I'm not really, I do talk a little bit about social media. You will see some, like if there's new social media updates, I'm all on that. You'll see on that on my, just message me. I love shooting the shit, talking about restaurants and social media and AI and digital marketing and all that stuff. So you can definitely reach out. I'm, Weirdly available, as Sean Wolcheff would say.
Jeremy:Yeah, as Sean Walsh would say, yeah, no, he's, he's been fun. Heather, thank you. I know we just got introduced, on, on the web, very recently, but it's been fun to even get caught up on all that you do. I love, I love your passion to help restaurants continue to grow and continue to optimize what it is that they're already doing. to our listeners, guys, I know you guys got lots of choices. So thank you guys for spending time with us and make it a great day.
Speaker 3:Thanks for listening to the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. Visit www. RestaurantTechnologyGuys. com for tips, industry insights, and more to help you run your restaurant better.
