I had a long conversation with one of my nephews, Mike, this evening.  He had a lot to report, including record sales this week at the restaurant he co-founded with his brother Chris.  The topic turned to one of my favorites, which is “personal brand.”  I’m acting as a part-time mentor for Mike, and I want him to start focusing more on his personal brand.  By that I mean he should begin to take an active role in determining what people think of when they think of Mike. 

One of the suggestions that I made was to consider starting his own blog to begin creating his personal brand, independent of his restaurant’s brand.   He could start it on the restaurant business.  I did a quick Google Blog search and came up with several interesting sites.  But then I asked Mike what he was really passionate about.  Mike is really passionate about cooking.  Certainly his restaurant, Black and Brew, gives him an opportunity to experiment some.  And he tells me they have been changing a number of things in their second year of operations.  These include evolving the drink and food items to appeal to a mixed, more-mature crowd, meaning, not only the local college students, but also the 25 – 45 year old age group.  This change enabled them to avoid the after-college-is-out sales drop they experienced last year.   On the culinary side, it is still a largely sandwich and soups place, however. (more…)

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