If you own your own personal chef business, you'll need to know how to promote your business in order to attract clients and make money. There are many ways to promote your services (or those of any freelance or employed chefs who work for you), including joining the personal chef association and knowing how to market both online and locally. Following these steps will help you promote your personal chef business for maximum success.
Step 1: Join the Personal Chef Association
The Personal Chef Association's website may be found at PersonalChef.com. Being a member of this association lends credibility to your business, as well as gives you resources, support and even training. The members forum can be a great way to interact with other personal chefs and learn from them.
Step 2: Join Personal Chef Websites
A number of websites exist where anyone in need of a personal chef can sort through local chefs to find one suitable for their needs. Make sure you appear on the list when people are searching for chefs. Two websites you should consider joining are: PersonalChefSearch.com and HireAChef.com. PersonalChef.com also has a "find a chef" feature.
Step 3: Brand Your Business
Branding is an essential part of any business. Having a recognizable logo to brand your business will not only make it seem more cohesive, but also give clients and potential clients an image and name to remember you by. This is good if you want word of mouth to spread about your business, which is an excellent promotion tool, especially for businesses which operate within and cater to a relatively small local area.
For maximum effectiveness, make heavy use of your logo. Embroider it on your aprons and hats, and make sure it appears on your business cards. The better image people have in their mind of your brand, the more likely you are to be remembered.
Step 4: Start a Website and Blog
A huge part of any business is having a website. Once you have a logo designed, you can hire a web designer to integrate that logo, and its style and colors, into a clean and professional looking website. Try adding some extra content to your website, such as recipes, so that people will be more likely to find it through search engines.
You should also consider starting a blog which is relevant to and contains links to your website. With well planted SEO (search engine optimization) content and backlinks from a blog or other source, you can get your website to the top of the search engine rankings and get a heavy amount of web traffic.
Step 5: Take Pictures
A high quality image of some well prepared, elegantly presented food can make anyone's mouth water, even if it is only a picture. On your website, and any other promotional tool you create, have professionally taken pictures of your most delectable looking offerings. Showing the customer exactly what you can provide for them, will make them that much more likely to hire you.
By following these steps, you can promote your personal chef business both online and within your community. Skilled marketing can get you more clients and ultimately bring success to your business.
