How I Work
From where you are to where you want to be.
Every engagement starts with your goals. I learn where your restaurant is today, where you want it to go, and build the marketing strategy and infrastructure to close that gap.
The approach
Six revenue pillars. One connected system.
Most restaurants get sold individual tactics — an SEO package here, social management there, an email blast once a month. None of it connects. These pillars work because they're built to reinforce each other.
Search (SEO)
Get found when people are looking for what you offer.
Learn more 02Paid Acquisition
Targeted spend that drives measurable return.
Learn more 03Email & Automation
Owned channels that compound without ad spend.
Learn more 04Reputation & Reviews
The social proof layer that influences every other channel.
Learn more 05Analytics & Measurement
Know what's working, what isn't, and where to invest next.
Learn more 06Advertising & Promotion
Reach new audiences and fill specific revenue gaps.
Learn moreNot every restaurant needs all six on day one. The strategy tells us which ones matter most for your goals and in what order.
Closing the gap
How we get from here to there
Discovery
I do a brief scan beforehand — your website, Google Business Profile, reviews, search presence, competition. You share your business, your tech stack, your challenges, and where you want to go. We both come away with a clear picture of the gap and whether there's alignment.
This isn't a pitch. It's a two-way conversation to see if we're the right fit.
Strategy
If we're aligned, I do the real work. A comprehensive audit of where you stand today mapped against where you want to be: technical SEO, keyword landscape, competitive positioning, review presence, content gaps, revenue infrastructure. The output is a prioritized roadmap — the fastest path from current state to future state using the tools at my disposal.
Targeted — specific problems, focused scope, lower investment.
Comprehensive — gaps across multiple revenue streams, deeper investment.
The strategy is yours to keep. Use it yourself, hand it to someone else, or move forward with me. Fee credited toward the build if you proceed.
Build
Execution against the roadmap. What gets built and in what order comes from the strategy, not a template. The priority sequence targets the biggest gaps between where you are and where you want to be — the fastest path to measurable progress toward your goals.
Optimize
The gap keeps closing. Monitor performance against your goals, adjust based on real data, find new opportunities as they surface. The systems get smarter over time because the data accumulates — and as the foundation strengthens, new possibilities open up.
Expectation setting: Paid search can produce within weeks. Infrastructure fixes (site speed, conversion paths) show impact in the first month. SEO and content compounding starts at 60-90 days. I set specific benchmarks — not "results in 30 days" promises.
The ownership principle
Everything I build belongs to you.
Website, content, analytics, ad accounts, documentation, automations. Nothing held hostage. Built to run independently if the engagement ends.
This isn't a philosophical statement. It's a reaction to the agency model where they own your ad accounts, your domain sits on their hosting, and your "content strategy" lives in their project management tool. When you leave, you start over.
One person, full stack
The person who diagnoses the problem builds the solution.
No account manager interpreting your needs to a junior. No telephone game. Senior judgment applied to every decision — from which keywords to target to how the review response template should read.
AI-assisted execution means one person can cover ground that used to require a team. But the judgment about which of 200 audit findings actually matter for your business — that's experience, not a prompt.
Good fit
- Restaurants and hospitality businesses that have been through the cheap-solutions cycle and want to invest in something that compounds
- Operators who want a partner accountable for outcomes, not a vendor billing hours
- Businesses ready to make decisions based on data instead of gut feeling
- Owners who understand that marketing infrastructure takes time to build and doesn't produce overnight
Not a fit
- "Just run some ads and see what happens"
- Looking for the cheapest option available
- Not willing to invest in the assessment before jumping to execution
- Expecting results in 30 days from a system that needs 90 to compound
Jason Leinart. Performance marketing for a private equity portfolio: 5 companies, 50+ locations, $2.4M in annual media budgets with full attribution and reporting. Before that, Marketing Director for Detroit Optimist Society — 7 restaurants and bars across Detroit.
Hospitality experience combined with performance marketing discipline, applied to independent operators. The person who would be your VP of Marketing if you could afford one. Same judgment, same accountability, fractional commitment.
FAQs
Questions about working together
The most common questions I hear on discovery calls — answered upfront.
A prioritized roadmap built around your goals. It maps where you are today against where you want to be across the pillars that matter for your business — SEO, competitive positioning, review presence, content gaps, revenue infrastructure. You'll see what to build, in what order, and why. The deliverable is yours to keep whether you move forward with me or not.
The discovery call is free — 30 minutes, both sides come prepared. The paid strategy is tiered by scope, starting in the low four figures. Ongoing engagements start around $2K/month. I'll scope it on the discovery call so there are no surprises.
Yes. Not every restaurant needs all six pillars on day one. If your situation calls for focused SEO work or just reputation management, I can scope an engagement around that. But I'll be honest about what else I see — if your site loads in 20 seconds, an email campaign isn't going to fix that. The assessment tells us where to start.
Agencies assign your account to a junior after the pitch. Here, the person who diagnoses the problem builds the solution. One senior person, full ownership, no handoff. And everything I build belongs to you — accounts, content, documentation, code. Nothing held hostage.
Infrastructure improvements — site speed, conversion paths, schema markup — can show impact within weeks. Paid search produces within the first month. SEO and content compounding typically starts showing measurable movement in 60-90 days. I set specific benchmarks so you can see progress before the big gains arrive.
Yes. The practice serves the full hospitality spectrum — restaurants, bars, bakeries, catering companies, boutique hotels, and multi-location groups. The systems adapt; the methodology is the same.
Couldn't find an answer you're looking for?
Contact MeLet's see where the gap is.
30 minutes. I'll come prepared. You tell me where you want to go.
Book a Discovery Call