It always makes me laugh when restaurant owners get really happy about people losing their challenge, and it’s just as funny when owners get upset or rude when a person wins their challenge. They are simply too small-minded to know that “eaters” can be their restaurant’s best promoters if they treat the eaters well. People are much more likely to accept the opinion of an “eater” because its understood that he or she loves food. If you treat eaters (people that are into doing food challenges) well, they will definitely refer other people to your restaurant both by word of mouth and online. Just like people into fitness who always post about working out and eating healthy, eaters post about food that they make and food that they get at restaurants. Even if your food isn’t that good, the reviews about your restaurant from an eater will still be great because he or she was treated well. Eaters and foodies are known to be very happy and genuine people, whom you want on your side.

The best example of this involves 2 different burger restaurants in Omaha, Nebraska. I was treated excellent by one restaurant and they even provided me and my friends with a few Heineken beers after my challenge. My experience at the other competitor’s restaurant down the street was very different, and definitely nothing to brag about. A year later after winning both challenges, I moved up to the Omaha area for a temporary job, and we ended up living within 3 miles of both restaurants. There were about 35 people on the team, and since everyone knew I was a professional eater they were always asking me where they should go for food. I always recommended the burger restaurant where I was treated well, and I even went there a few times for normal food. Not once did I ever recommend the other burger restaurant which was the closer of the two, and I didn’t go there either. It was great hearing from a different guy almost every day how he had just gotten back from eating there or ate there the day before. I was happy that the restaurant was getting the extra business because restaurants with great customer service should get more business, especially if the food is good and reasonably priced.

There are some times that I drive over an hour just to eat at a restaurant and take their challenge, and I know that I am not the only person that does that. I also know that the number of people that do food challenges and travel like me is going to really start to grow. We aren’t looking for extra special treatment or a red carpet to walk in on, but just know that a simple “thank you” goes a very long way. You may have to give out a free meal if an eater wins your challenge, but don’t think that your relationship with that eater will end there. People will ask him or her where they should go to eat, and he won’t remember which challenge was the most delicious. He will remember how he was treated during and after each challenge. If you treated him well and are in the vicinity, your restaurant will be getting a referral. This is just a simple rule of customer service that applies to all people, but if “eaters” don’t matter to you and your restaurant, then you and your restaurant don’t matter to us competitive eaters either, and there are many other places for us to go that actually deserve our business.

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

Creating a challenge advertisement image is the most important step in your marketing campaign, but creating a video to advertise your challenge is a close second. Even though videos are very important, few restaurants actually consider creating one, and therefore not many restaurants have them. An advertisement video basically needs to answer all of the questions that your advertisement image does, but in video form. If you need to, please go back and read Create An Advertisement To Display to see what answers need to be included on the video. There are 2 main ways to create a video, and there are even a few restaurants that create both types. The first type of video is short (under 2 minutes) which answers all of the basic questions about the challenge. Some restaurants just use a collage of pictures while a voice explains all of the details. Other restaurants actually film someone standing with the challenge and explaining all of the details. Then other restaurants film someone actually putting the challenge together while explaining everything. All 3 ways accomplish the same goal which is to let the viewer listen to the details while also watching visually, so pick which option works best for you.

The other type of video that restaurants make is where the challenge is explained just like in the first type, but then a person or group of people actually attempt the challenge so that everyone can actually watch and see what it’s like to take the challenge. A picture of the challenge is one thing, but it can very hard to actually gauge the real size of it until you see it in person or you see it on a video and are able to compare it to the things and people around it. A burger may look huge in a photo with a person that weighs only 100lbs (45.5kg), but it may look very small in front of a bigger person that weighs 400lbs (182kg). It may then look completely different when watching an actual video of a person attempting the challenge. The most important thing about the video though is that people can watch the person attempt the challenge, see the results and how far the person got, and then decide whether or not they think they can beat the challenge. If you were smart and had a big eater attempt the challenge for your video, he or she either won or got within a few bites, and now more testosterone-filled men will think they can beat the challenge, unlike the “sissy” in the advertisement video.

Here are the 2 main reasons that you should make an advertisement video:

People prefer watching over reading – It is very valuable for people to be able to watch a 90 second video and have all of their questions answered, and it makes your restaurant look very professional. If the video is even remotely entertaining, then people will remember it even more. Videos get people thinking and excited too. Sometimes I watch a video made of the challenge right before leaving for the restaurant. It gets me thinking about what my strategy is going to be among many other things. People would much rather watch a short video than have to spend a few minutes reading all of the details themselves. Also, people are much more inclined to ‘share’ videos online too. A video will reach more potential customers and get more people interested.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Today’s world is continually shifting more and more online, and you don’t want to be the last person to the party. Search engine optimization refers to the process of affecting the visibility of a website, web page, or video in a search engine’s un-paid (organic) search results. Basically, if a random person is searching for restaurants in your area, you want to be at the top of the list that shows up as possibilities since the restaurants at the top usually have the highest chances of being selected. The better your SEO, the more chances you have of showing up on the search lists. Restaurants and companies are so concerned with getting their website to the top of the Google search lists that they forget about how very important videos are (YouTube is owned by Google). Because quality videos can be tough and time consuming to create, most companies put creating a video as a very low priority, and therefore you need to capitalize on that!! If somebody searches for food challenges in your area (and sometimes even restaurants), then you want your challenge at the top of the list, and you will show up very quickly if you have an advertisement video along with the image.

Just like having a graphic artist design your challenge advertisement image, it may be smart to have a pro videographer or video production specialist create the video for you. No matter how easy advertisements say they can be, creating a high quality video is not easy. Also remember that you get what you pay for, and if you hire a very cheap videographer, you will most likely receive a very cheap looking video. Make sure that the person you choose to create the video is using a high-definition camcorder since the higher definition picture will make your food look even better to your potential customers watching the video. As you can see, a well done video can do wonders for both your challenge and restaurant by reaching A LOT more people. A video will also show that you really do care about your food challenge, and therefore more people will want to attempt it.

Thanks for reading about the importance of making a video advertising your food challenges!!

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

Society is becoming more technology dependent each and every day and people are moving their lives more and more online to the internet as time goes on. Therefore, businesses are now continually shifting their efforts to online marketing rather than using the traditional advertising platforms such as newspapers and radio. People learn about current events via social media way before they can read the story in the newspaper the next day. When was the last time you opened the Yellow Pages rather than just looking the necessary information up on your computer or smart phone? Do you even keep the Yellow Pages when you get one on your doorstep or do you just recycle it? If you want your food challenge and restaurant to be very successful, you need to be taking advantage of the very many marketing opportunities that can be found online via websites and social media.

Here are the main websites and social media platforms that you should be using:

Your own website – Most restaurants today have a website so that customers can get online to check out their menu, find out their specials, and see what events are coming up at the restaurant. The website is also the first place that people will look to find information on your food challenge. If your food challenge can’t be found mentioned on your website, then it obviously is not too important. If you have a website, create a special page specifically for your challenge. This will not only make your challenge more “searchable” online, but it will also allow you to post the challenge advertisement image, advertisement video, house rules, and pictures of past challengers (Wall Of Fame) all in the same spot for your potential customers to clearly see, and they will definitely appreciate that. Some restaurants just post the challenge on their menu, but that is not enough. A “clickable” advertisement for your challenge needs to be available on your homepage, because not everyone spends the time to get to your actual menu. Please keep the challenge info up-to-date on your website too!!

Facebook – Most restaurants that do not have an actual website use Facebook to post their menu, specials, and events. Facebook is also typically the next place that eaters look for food challenge information if you don’t have a website or if they can’t find any information or pictures of your challenge on the site that you do have. A person will only spend so much time scrolling through your “wall” and photo albums, so make sure that your challenge is easy to find. I love getting on a restaurant’s Facebook page and seeing something about their challenge in one of the first 10 posts I see. Most importantly, it shows me that the challenge still exists, and it also shows me that people are attempting it which makes me want to attempt it too. On most photos I see, there is usually a question about one or more of the details such as cost, time limit, and prize. If you post your advertisement image with all of those questions answered multiple times per year, you will see a huge decrease in these questions. You can also just link the image as your comment responding to their post, which makes your life much easier. Facebook can be very funny, and you really never know what will happen when you post a picture. You may post a picture one day and get 3 ‘likes’ and 2 comments, and then post the same picture 3 days later and it may just go ‘viral’ all over the internet, so you just have to keep experimenting and improving.

Twitter & Instagram – Typically, if an eater can’t find challenge information on your website or Facebook page, he or she will just quit looking online and just call your restaurant for details. Most small restaurants don’t use Twitter or Instagram but most larger restaurants do. If you use these platforms, you should definitely post photos of the challengers so that your followers can see that people are attempting your challenge. People respond to photos much more than text, and these 2 platforms are great for posting pictures. Another great thing is that you can link your Twitter account to your Instagram account so that you also post to Twitter whenever you post an Instagram photo. You currently are not able to link your Instagram account to your restaurant’s Facebook fan page. There are many people that have decided not to have Facebook pages due to privacy issues and other personal reasons, so most of these people have Twitter and Instagram accounts. By using these 2 platforms, you are able to reach these people too. Since your website and Facebook are the first places that people go to, don’t create either of these accounts if you are not planning on actually using them and keeping them updated. Not having one at all is better than having one that hasn’t been updated in 5 months, so remember that sometimes “less is more” when it comes to marketing, and this applies to Facebook too.

Those are the main places that people will be going to find your food challenge information online. Another main place that people will be looking is YouTube, which is why you should definitely create an advertisement video to post online. YouTube was not included in the main list above because you more than likely will not be posting enough video content to actually build subscribers and followers on YouTube. You will simply be posting the YouTube video link on to your Facebook page and displaying it on your website. You may also use Pinterest and other popular social media applications, but 97% of the people interested in your challenge will be going to the above online platforms first, and therefore you need to take care of those pages first with the most effort.

All of the above information concerns where you need to have your food challenge information posted on your own pages so that people can find it online more easily. Online marketing definitely doesn’t end there. Spend time making sure that your challenge is posted anywhere and everywhere that people may be interested in it. Obviously, you need to make sure your challenge is posted on FoodChallenges.com first. To find out how to best take advantage of the site’s benefits, please click here. You also should make sure your challenge is posted on Eatfeats.com which is another website that people may go to for challenge information. For tips on contacting free local news media outlets so that they might be interested in doing a story that will also be featured online for people to find, click here. Get creative and think of all the other places you can post your challenge advertisement video or image to attract more people. I’m sure you can think of a few websites, forums, and community Facebook pages. Just make sure to keep all of your information current and updated. Once you get everything online set up and looking great, maintaining everything is easy, and all the benefits and new customers that you receive will be worth the initial efforts you made to make everything happen initially.

Thanks for reading why you should use free internet sites and social media to advertise your challenge!!

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

One of the quickest and most efficient ways to make your challenge known around your community is to get it covered by local news media outlets, whether they’re on television or just strictly online. Since more and more people are switching to going online to read news stories and updates, more and more news outlets are shifting their news reporting and marketing efforts online too. While it is outstanding to be covered on television, you can’t actually share the news until that station then uploads the video and story to their online website and social media. Many of the people that still actually watch the news are older and not necessarily in your target group of people that you want to see the story. You will therefore reach most of your target group online rather than on television. News stories have the highest chances of being shared, and all BIG stories that go viral started out as just small stories that grew larger due to people constantly sharing it online via social media.

These are all things to think about regarding contacting media outlets to cover your challenge:

No media outlet is “too small” – Don’t ever avoid contacting a website, blog, or news station because you think it is just too small to really matter. A bigger media outlet might occasionally check that site to see if there are any interesting stories to also cover. If a blogger or small site is wanting some information for a story, give them what they want because you don’t know what that small story might eventually develop into.

Are some stations more prone to covering stories like yours? – If your restaurant is located in a bigger city with multiple news stations, there is probably one or two that are more likely to cover your story than the others. Make sure to contact the stations that focus more on local news rather than national and global stories. Does a particular station have a special segment that fits your story? If so, make sure to contact those stations, and also make sure to contact the right people. Many times, stories just don’t get picked up because they were sent to the wrong people, without being forwarded, and not the ones that would actually cover that type of story.

It has to be newsworthy – News media outlets cover stories that they think their listeners, followers, and viewers will like and want to hear about. They do this because they know people that don’t find their stories interesting will go elsewhere. If your challenge is not outrageous, unique, and interesting, nobody is going to cover your challenge, so remember that when you are creating it. Make it unlike anything else around!!

Sometimes its all about timing – The best time to contact the local media around you is when there are no significant events coming up within the next few days. If you have ever read an online food challenge article and seen “Slow news day?” as one of the comments, YES it probably was a slower news day. News outlets have to report something, and if there is not a ton of options to choose from, your food challenge will be able to make it closer to the top of that list. So before you click the “send” button on that email or post, think about what events are coming up in the community over the next few days. If you can’t think of anything, send it!!

Having a video makes a big difference – You have a much higher chance of getting your food challenge covered if there is a video that can be associated with the story. News stations and blogs like videos because they provide great online content that their readers can view along with reading the story and seeing photos. News outlets also know that videos make the story more “share-able” too. News stations are trying to do the same thing as you and get their stories viewed more often which is why you want to be covered by them. This is another reason you should make an advertisement video for your challenge, particularly a shorter one.

It may require multiple attempts – Just because a news media outlet doesn’t respond the first time, that does not mean that it will never happen. More important things may have been higher up on the list, or maybe the email got caught up in a spam filter. Remember that you are not the only person trying to get your story covered. If your first attempt doesn’t succeed, try again later, but not within the same week. There is a fine line between constant contact and being completely annoying. If the first few attempts don’t work, then your challenge is probably not newsworthy enough yet and you also need to re-evaluate your angle of approach.

Sometimes a 3rd party works better – Sometimes news media outlets are more inclined to cover a story if they hear about it from a 3rd party rather from the restaurant itself. Have a PR firm or someone else contact the station if your first few attempts don’t work. They might also use a different approach that works better.

Contacting the news and other outlets is not nearly as tough as it may sound. If you are going to contact the news though, be aware that they just might cover it, so be ready to promote the story to all of your fans and followers and do your best to get them to share the story. You can even offer the possibility of free stuff to your fans that ‘like’ and ‘share’ the article. Give away a free entree or gift card to a certain number of people based on how many ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ the post gets. Have some fun with it by offering prizes, and your fans will be more willing to support you and your marketing efforts. Remember that the internet can be funny, and you just never know when an article or post will get a lot of shares, so keep trying and make sure to be ready to capitalize on the situation if it does. You may also want to search for and check out previous stories that have been done on challenges around you. What special qualities made those challenges newsworthy? Figure that out and then use that information to change up your “sales pitch” in the emails you are sending in the future.

Thanks for reading why you should contact free local news media outlets to market your food challenge!!

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

Everyone knows that a relationship is not an official relationship until you are “in a relationship” on Facebook. You and your spouse may be coming up on your 25th wedding anniversary, but it’s not a real marriage if it’s not on Facebook too. The same goes for food challenges being featured on this website. If your food challenge is not featured and posted on FoodChallenges.com, then you don’t have a real food challenge, so you need to Submit Your Challenge if the challenge is not on here already. People all over the world will be able to find your food challenge and also find out everything they need to know about it, all on one easy to find global website.

To maximize the benefits that you will receive by being featured on our site, always keep us up to date regarding your challenge and restaurant. If your challenge changes, if your restaurant changes location, or if you add another challenge, you need to let us know so that we can keep our records up to date for all of the eaters to access via both map and list searches. Also, if you decide to end your challenge, please contact us so that we can delete your challenge so that nobody contacts you about attempting it. There are over 3,000 restaurant challenges all around the world and there is only one FoodChallenges.com, so we are not able to keep tabs on every food challenge all the time at every moment. We depend heavily on our community to keep us up-to-date.

The best thing you can do to get people to try your own challenge is to promote FoodChallenges.com along with all of the challenges around you. People will be more willing to try your challenge if they know HOW and WHERE. As you read in Man v Food’s Effect On The Restaurant World, people were inspired by watching Man v Food to want to try food challenges, but they were never really taught HOW to actually prepare for them, or the strategy required to actually win the challenges. Before this website, there has never been any place to go for people to find out how to train and strategize for winning food challenges. If somebody doesn’t know what they are doing or how to do something, that person is much less likely to want to do it because that person completely lacks confidence. FoodChallenges.com has almost every answer that person could want to know in order to successfully train for and complete any type of food challenge. Many people want to try a challenge, but they are very hesitant because they don’t know how or where to go. Direct the people around you to our site so that they can learn HOW, and also learn WHERE they need to go to find the challenges. Your challenge may not end up being the first one on the list, but it is now on the list of future challenges and that is what you really want!!

Work with other restaurants to get as many people excited about food challenges as possible, and then everyone will learn the HOW and WHERE that they have been waiting to find out which will make them more comfortable and willing to attempt the local food challenges. Even big cities in the United States really don’t have that many food challenges, so the people in your community will only have so many places to choose from no matter where you are located. People all over the city and community will now know about your restaurant because they found it while searching for their HOW and WHERE on FoodChallenges.com. People that follow other restaurants will be able to learn about your restaurant, and people that just follow your restaurant will be able to find out about the other restaurants. People will also tell their friends and then even more people will know about you. That is what #FeedTheMovement is all about, helping the entire “eating” community grow together as one organized and focused group. This will lead to more food challenges, more eaters, more fans, and more opportunities for everyone. Otherwise, our community will continue taking steps back. Feed the movement, or get eaten up!!

Thanks for reading why you should use FoodChallenges.com to promote your challenge!!

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

Two different restaurants may have very similar challenges with a similar clientele in very similar locations, but one restaurant’s food challenge might be getting 2 or 3 times more attempts than the other restaurant’s challenge. Do you know why? If you ever listen to videos or read articles about famous and successful people explaining how they became who they are today and what they did to get there, almost all answers lead to the exact same thing… EFFORT!! As Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says, “Be humble, hungry, and always be the hardest worker in the room.” I guarantee that the one restaurant has 2 or 3 times more challenge attempts because that restaurant puts 2 or 3 times as much effort into hosting and marketing their particular challenge. When it comes to hosting a food challenge, just like anything in life, you get back what you put in, so the more effort you put into making it successful right now, the more successful it will become for you in return later.

“There is a difference between wanting to make money

and wanting to get money!!”

Going back to the example above, both restaurants have similar challenges, so they must do pretty similar things in regards to hosting the challenge. Right? That is true, but the extra effort does not really apply to the big important steps that the restaurant is required to do. The difference is that the restaurant staff members with the very successful challenge all go out of their way to do the little things right and they focus on the less obvious details. The team all works together and gets excited when customers come in to do their giant food challenge. The cooks do a great job of preparing the food just how the customer asked for it, and they even go out of the kitchen every now and then to check and see how the challenger is doing. The servers all make sure that the challenger is doing okay and has everything that he or she needs, even if it’s not their table. One of the servers is even taking photos before, during, and after the challenge so that they can be used online and on the Wall Of Fame. The manager even comes out a few times to make sure everything is going well for the people watching. All of these little things add up and make a big difference in the restaurant’s atmosphere which makes the eating challenge a lot more fun for everyone involved, and therefore more people attempt it.

The reason that effort is always the #1 difference maker is because effort is genuine and cannot be faked. Giving effort shows that you truly care and that you want to do it, and you are not just “going through the motions.” People that give a lot of effort usually have a smile on their face and smiles are contagious. The restaurant staff members with the challenge that isn’t getting many attempts are probably just going through the motions and don’t really care whether the customer wins or loses, or that he or she is even there. Nobody wants to be part of an atmosphere like that, and therefore nobody is attempting the challenge. If you want your challenge to be successful, you and your staff need to care about the challenge and give as much effort as possible. Challenges are meant to be fun, so giving effort shouldn’t even be tough at all anyway. If your restaurant doesn’t care about your challenge, people will know that and they will feel it too while they are there, and nobody will attempt it. If the entire staff knows the details of the challenge and actually cares what is going on, the customers will know that too, and they will also feel it. Because the restaurant staff cares, your customers will care, and they will be more likely to cheer the challenger on. Then they will share the experience with friends and family, and try to provoke other people into doing your food challenge. This won’t happen if you just sit back and hope it does.

Genuine effort is contagious, and your restaurant will reap the benefits that come from having a challenge if you put a lot of effort into everything. On the other hand, if you don’t put much effort into it, then you won’t get many attempts at all which basically makes the challenge non-existent, and therefore you won’t get anything out of having it. The best challenge and the best marketing plans in the world won’t work if the people serving the challenge and taking care of the marketing just don’t care. As the owner, you need to be giving the most effort, because that positive energy will then transfer down to your staff and they will care a lot more because you do. Attitude reflects leadership, and if you show maximum effort, so will they, and everyone will benefit.

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

The “million dollar question” that all restaurants with food challenges had back when the show Man v Food was around, was how to get chosen to be featured on the show. If you actually go back and look at all of the challenges that were featured on the show during the the 3 seasons of Man v Food and 1 season of Man v Food Nation, how many of them were the same? There were a few pretty similar spicy wing challenges, but other than that almost all of the challenges were completely different. The midwest United States is loaded with burger challenges but the only burger challenge selected was in Memphis, Tennessee at Kooky Canuck. A milkshake challenge was chosen in St Louis, Missouri, a massive barbecue sandwich was chosen in Kansas City, Kansas, a catfish challenge was chosen in Oklahoma, a burrito challenge was selected in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a spicy BBQ sandwich was chosen in Arkansas. Viewers of the show did not want to watch the same challenges over and over, so producers had to keep switching things up to make each episode different. The lesson that you should take from this is that the key to getting known around your community is to create a very UNIQUE challenge!!

For a more up-to-date example of this theory in action, check out a few recent news articles about different food challenges that have been floating around the internet. I guarantee you that each challenge is just completely outrageous and something that you have never seen or heard of before. Things that are different spark an interest and people love to share interesting things. You never really see anything involving a 72oz steak challenge because there are almost 100 massive steak challenges around the world, and there are only so many ways to set up a steak challenge. Also, each steak challenge is simply viewed as a copy off The Big Texan’s 72oz Steak Challenge down in Amarillo, Texas which made steak challenges popular along with the Old 96’er steak featured in the movie “The Great Outdoors” starring John Candy. You don’t really see anything about 6lb burrito challenges either because there are over 100 big burrito challenges and there are only so many ways to set up a burrito challenge too. You do still see burger challenges being posted, but there really are over 100 different ways to create a burger challenge. So if you are going to set up a burger challenge at your restaurant, or a different type of food challenge, figure out how to make it extra different from everybody else around you!!

If you want to guarantee that your challenge doesn’t ever reach it’s full potential, just find a challenge around you and copy off that. If you want to give your challenge a chance to really put your little restaurant on the map, spend some time searching around and checking out all of the other food challenges around you. Once you have a pretty good idea of what your competition has, create something different that is totally unique. As you learned in Use FoodChallenges.com To Promote Your Challenge, you want to work together with the other restaurants around you so that you all can grow together as one rather than “barely staying above water” by yourselves working twice as hard. You are not working together if you are copying off another restaurant because you are just hurting both restaurants in the end and mostly yourself, so don’t step on anybody else’s toes. Remember that in the marketing world, uniqueness makes all the difference, and your life will be so much easier if your challenge is different than everything else. Man v Food may not be coming to feature your challenge anymore, but because “the movement” is going to continue to grow larger, food challenges will continually grow more and more popular as more people jump on the bandwagon and learn how to do them and where to find them. Set yourself up for future opportunities by making your challenge unique and different.

To go back and view other Marketing A Challenge articles, click here.

In today’s world filled with so many people just struggling to make ends meet along with so many people getting sick and terminally ill, it is becoming increasingly popular for restaurants to involve a particular charity organization with their food challenge. Typically, restaurants set the rules up so that the purchase price of the challenge goes to the charity organization along with any other proceeds that stem from having the challenge. As you learned in Reasons To Have A Food Challenge, an eating challenge can be an event opportunity for your customers, and therefore involving a charity with your challenge allows people to have a fun event while helping a charity out at the same time. A guy may not want to try to eat a 2kg burger on a normal night, but that man may be more inclined to try if he is also helping a particular charity by attempting the challenge. Involving a charity organization can be a great marketing technique to help your challenge grow, but it will definitely backfire if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Here are five very important things to consider before making the decision to involve a particular charity organization around you with your restaurant’s new food challenge:

There should be a reason that “hits close to home” – One characteristic of successful challenges linked with a charity organization is that the particular charity has special meaning to the owners of the restaurant or to a significant member of the restaurant staff. If the owners have kids with special needs, they may link the food challenge to the particular charity that helps people with special needs. If a server that has been there for years finds out that she has breast cancer, then the restaurant may set up a challenge linked to helping to find a cure for breast cancer in her honor. If the charity “hits close to home” then the community will be much more likely to want to get involved. Many people want to help those in need around them, and they will want to help the meaningful people in their lives such as the owners of the restaurant or bar nearby that they frequently visit.

The reasons need to be genuine – Your charity challenge will completely backfire if the reasons for it are not because you genuinely want to help that organization. You can’t fake it either, so make sure you are 110% committed before you announce that you are doing it, which is why I recommend you choose an organization that is meaningful to you. If people feel that you are just doing it as a publicity stunt, you will be called out very quickly by your customers and your restaurant’s reputation will take a very unnecessarily damaging blow.

Don’t choose a large organization – If your plan is to involve a large organization such as Red Cross where the CEO of the “charity” makes more money than you and all of your customers, you should stop before you even start because it won’t work. People don’t want to donate money and help “charities” that use a majority of the money donated to them for advertising and salaries. Use smaller charities where everyone volunteers.

Don’t let your customers pick anything at all – Nothing screams that your charity challenge is a marketing and publicity stunt more than asking your customers which charity you should use or letting them choose which charity to give the proceeds from their challenge to. Your customers will see right through this poor and inconsiderate effort and you won’t get much positive feedback. People will only get involved if they really feel that they are helping the charity through doing your challenge. They definitely won’t get involved if they feel that you are using a charity to gain more from the situation than the charity that you are supposedly helping.

Your goal should not be to make money – Almost all charity challenges are set up so that when people fail the challenge, their money gets donated to the particular charity, so the actual money donated comes from the customers while the food is donated by the restaurant. At the very most, a few restaurants keep a little bit of the money to cover some of their food costs. If your goal is to still make money even after “donating” a portion of the proceeds to the charity, then your challenge will not work, because you are doing it for the completely wrong reasons and customers will see right through that, and they will probably call you out on it. Please note that this only involves the actual challenge, and this does not include the restaurant making money off all the people that came with the actual customer taking the challenge to eat regular meals, which is encouraged.

If you follow these guidelines when deciding whether or not you should involve a charity with your challenge, you will definitely choose the correct answer. If a particular charity fits your restaurant and food challenge, working with the charity will definitely be beneficial to both of you because you will be able to help the charity financially while establishing a great name and reputation for your restaurant around the community. The charity that you are helping will more than likely want to help you too, and they will steer people towards your restaurant because you are helping them, and then both parties definitely benefit and will grow together. If after reading these guidelines, you don’t think that involving a charity will work for you, then don’t do it. A charity food challenge for the wrong reasons will backfire and damage your restaurant more than help, and so therefore you are better off just setting up a regular food challenge for your restaurant. Charity challenges can be very beneficial for your restaurant’s marketing if set up correctly for the right reasons, and hopefully this article helped you decide whether or not a charity food challenge is right for you and your restaurant / cafe.

Thanks for reading about involving charity with your food challenge and using FoodChallenges.com!!

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If there is one particular challenge detail that can be used to really sell your challenge to people, its definitely the prize that people get for winning the food challenge. If you tell a person about a 5lb burger challenge, the first thing that person will ask is what the prize is. If you tell a guy he can win $300 for beating a challenge, he will already be planning what he will do with the winnings before you even explain what the challenge is. If a challenge has a large prize associated with it, people will want to try the challenge if they think they at lease have a chance of coming close to finishing it. If a person knows he or she can’t win, then the prize really doesn’t matter anyway, which is why you shouldn’t create an unbeatable challenge. To make your marketing easier, be sure to factor in a worthy prize to people that beat the challenge. If the risk isn’t worth the possible reward, then why will people want to try it? Here are ways to use prizes to sell your food challenge and restaurant:

Start off with an initial prize – If your challenge isn’t really big enough to have a bigger prize associated with it, but you really want your initial marketing efforts to be successful, offer an initial prize to the first winner, in addition to what the challenge will normally award. This is becoming more of a common practice and it works very well to spark the initial interest that makes everyone aware of your challenge. Just make sure you clarify that the prize will only go to the first winner, and then more people will want to try the challenge sooner so that they can become that first winner that gets the prize. You never know what will happen. Somebody might win the challenge the very first week, or maybe the challenge was a little more tough than you thought, and it might take a few months of people attempting the challenge before the first champion is crowned. If that is the case, the financial and marketing benefits you received during those first months from the increased number of attempts due to having that initial prize were well worth the costs!! “Cheap” people never become rich!!

Award gift cards to get customers to come back – If your challenge is not tough enough to award the challenge for free, charge the customers for the meal but award them with gift cards equal to or greater than the cost of the challenge. This basically is giving winners a “two for one” deal which is great for them, but it’s even better for you because you are getting the customer to come back and financially you are saving money. That $20 gift certificate that you awarded that winner is not really costing you $20, and you will basically just be covering the cost of the food that the person orders if and when he or she does come back. You can also do this if your challenge is tough enough to award the meal free along with extra incentives. As you learned in Eaters Can Be Your Best Promoters, if you take care of the eaters that beat your challenge, they will take care of you by referring friends and family to your restaurant. Keep these people happy by awarding them with a gift card or certificate. They may come back alone, or they may even bring a group of people that has never been there before. If they like your menu, they will come back on their own, all because you awarded a simple gift card.

Use “bar tab” as a prize to attract challengers – I have done food challenges simply because I knew I was going to win a free “bar tab” for the night if I beat the challenge. The value typically depends on the toughness of the challenge, but advertise that customers will get the meal free along with a $25 or $50 “bar tab” after beating the challenge. Many bars and restaurants with extra spicy wing challenges use this tactic. If a group of guys knows that they all can get a few free beers if they beat a “simple” 6 wing challenge, they will be more likely to try or at least provoke one or three people in the group to try the challenge so that they can win the free drinks. Spicy challenges work best because they can be done spur-of-the-moment and there really isn’t much training involved for winning small spicy challenges. Also, people will still be able to stay and drink afterwards since they don’t actually get full like in a massive quantity food challenge. Think about the possible benefits before worrying about the few dollars that you will be spending when people win. For that same group of guys, the money you make off the rounds of overpriced shots will compensate for the free drinks won if someone beats the challenge. Sometimes to get benefits, you must be willing to give a few out. Spend money to make money!!

Encourage winners to wear the shirts you give out – One of the reasons that you give out shirts as prizes is so that the winners can wear their shirt proudly to show off their victory, while advertising your restaurant at the same time. You want them to wear the shirt, and not let it sit in their closet. You also don’t want them to donate the shirt or throw it away. Give them a reason to wear the shirt proudly by giving them some extra incentives in the prize package. Some restaurants give winners significant discounts on their bill on future visits if they wear their shirt or other form of apparel awarded while in the restaurant. If a person knows that he or she will get 25% off their total bill just by wearing their victory shirt, that person will definitely keep the shirt and come back to your restaurant, if he or she is local and did not beat your challenge while traveling. Whether out in public or in the restaurant, people will see the shirt and want to learn how to earn one too, and you will see them soon.

You need to have a Wall Of Fame – A well put-together Wall Of Fame is the most simple way to sell your food challenge to the people in your restaurant. Since you placed it in an area that receives plenty of traffic, people stop and check it out whenever they walk by. People will want to be on your board too if they see many pictures of other people that are smiling and happy. Having a Wall Of Shame for losers is up to you, but you need to have a Wall Of Fame for winners. If you do not have one, I’d be willing to bet that you have an artistic person on your staff that would enjoy creating one. Have that person create the board during a quiet period while waiting for customers to come in. Your customers and the challengers will be very happy that you did. A winner getting his or her photo posted on Facebook is one thing, but getting a photo up in the restaurant is definitely a lot more special, so make sure you have a professional looking Wall Of Fame in the restaurant hanging for all to see.

The major thing to remember is that the better the prize is, the better the challenge will be received by your customers. Many restaurants now, especially in Europe, are trying to sell larger menu items by adding Man v Food into the name and telling customers to try the challenge, but they have no prize other than a quick congratulations and expensive bill for people that finish. These items are not real food challenges and they are not mentioned on FoodChallenges.com. If you want people to try your food challenge, and if you want your marketing to be a lot easier when promoting the challenge, then you need to have a pretty good prize that will attract attention and make people want to try the challenge. You would not want to eat until you are feeling sick just for a free beer and dessert would you? You would not even be able to enjoy either of them. If you would not, why would other people? If the challenge is not appealing to you or your restaurant staff, then it’s probably not going to appeal to your customers either, so change things up and award a prize you are proud to advertise.

Thanks for reading all about how you can use prizes to sell your challenge and restaurant!!

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Some restaurants are using special deals and discounts to sell and promote their food challenge(s), which can be a very smart idea to help you get more people to attempt your own challenge(s). If you really want to get people excited about your challenge and even more willing to try it, here are a few ideas that you can use to discount your challenge while increasing the benefits that you receive from having the food challenge:

50% off on birthdays – There are many people in your community that want to do your challenge, but they are too nervous to try it and they are just waiting for a reason that pushes them over the edge and provokes them to finally sign up to take the challenge. It is a psychological fact that people typically act much looser and more free-spirited while on vacation and when celebrating certain events and accomplishments, and this definitely applies to birthdays. People want to feel special on their birthday, and what better way to feel special is there than to get a group of family and friends together to celebrate the person’s birthday while he or she attempts a food challenge? He or she becomes the main event, and everyone is able to celebrate together if the person wins, or all laugh together if the person fails. To get more people to celebrate their birthday at your restaurant, offer your food challenge 50% off on birthdays or at least within a few days of it. Not many people are going to come in alone to celebrate their birthday, and almost everyone will have a group with them. By taking the 50% hit on the price of the challenge, you will be getting a table full of people eating, drinking, and having fun spending money while watching their friend take your food challenge. You are on the better end of the deal!!

Have a special discounted challenge night – Some restaurants have special challenge nights where they offer their challenge meal at a cheaper rate than all other nights of the week, typically on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays when the restaurant is not as busy. People wanting to take the challenge usually all come up on these nights just because it is cheaper if they do end up failing the challenge. The restaurant is usually prepared for multiple challenges to occur so there are less actual costs associated with hosting the food challenges, making it easier to offer the discounted challenge. Also, people that have been wanting to watch a challenge know to come up and eat on these particular nights. Often times, people will assemble a small group of friends to all go up and take the challenge together too. These discounted challenge nights can sometimes end up creating a very fun and competitive atmosphere in the restaurant for everyone involved. If you have a particular night at your restaurant each week that just is not as busy as the others, try discounting your challenge on these nights and see what happens. You might just fill the restaurant, all because you discounted a few food challenges. Doing this also allows you to promote that particular night via social media which will help too.

Offer the menu item cheaper as a challenge than for groups – Some restaurants use this method to encourage more people to try their challenge. The menu price for a challenge item may be $40 American dollars. They charge $40 for groups wanting to share the massive item, but then they may offer it for $30 to individuals wanting to try the meal as a challenge. This works at some restaurants and it does not work at others. It is up to you to decide whether this option might work for your challenge item or not. You may be better off charging the same price for your challenge whether it’s ordered individually or by groups. You just need to experiment.

These are the 3 main deals and discounts that restaurants typically use to better market their food challenge and get more people to try it. If your challenge is not getting as many attempts as you would like, try using one or more of these sales methods, and see what happens. You may even have other ideas. You just have to keep experimenting with your marketing / promotions to see what works for your restaurant and what does not.

Thanks for reading how to use deals and discounts to sell your challenge and using FoodChallenges.com!!

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