Domain Name Hijacking

More and more restaurants are having web sites, putting their identity online for all to see and utilize, not realizing that they can easily lose it and potentially never get it back.

A new client of Takeout Online owns a beautiful Mexican restaurant. He signed up with some company, who undoubtedly overcharged him for services and built a nice little web site. They also charged him about 20 times in hosting fees compared to today's norm. We at Takeout Online are interested in making money, of course, but not by using mob techniques to accomplish it, so we informed the gentleman of his options. He gladly agreed to switch to our proposed host and indicated that the company he dealt with originally is no longer in business (surprise, surprise).

When we tried to figure out how to move his site to the new host - we ran into a problem. His domain was registered (and paid for) with domainsbyproxy.com, which is an organization that keeps such info private. Contacting godaddy, the company that was the registrar didn't accomplish anything and we were told to contact domainsbyproxy people. Contacting them didn't accomplish anything and we were told to contact ICANN. Contacting them didn't accomplish anything and they referred us back to domainsbyproxy, although after actually paying attention to what we indicated as transpired - their recommendation was to get a lawyer.

Of course originally contacting the first two entities resulted in us filling out a form, attaching a copy of the owner's driver's license as well as business license. None of that helped - the domain was hijacked and we had no way to get it back.

This was almost beyond belief. The domain had a hyphenated name, first part being an atypical Mexican word and second being the name of the mall where this restaurant is situated, which is also a very unusual name. Why in the world would anyone, other than this restaurant, be interested in the name, since it's absolutely useless to anyone else. This makes no sense at all, yet the domain is hijacked and our only recourse was to get a lawyer involved, which of course isn't worth the cost and hassle involved.

So, even though plenty of people know of this site and there's a really nice banner on the window of the restaurant informing everyone of the domain name - it'll all have to be changed now.

The moral of the story is - if you're a restaurant owner - do NOT trust ANY third party to handle your affairs behind your back and then be sorry, as in the example above. Make sure that whoever does your registrations, web site etc. clearly shows you the WHOIS information sheet with your name and contact information being the Administrative Contact. If they claim they have to put someone else there - deal with someone else, there's absolutely NO reason why they can't. They can be a Technical Contact for you, but you MUST BE the Administrative Contact. Have them provide you with the name of the hosting company they're using, as well as login information to the Control Panel for that company and verify that you indeed can log in. If you ever sever your relationship with these people - change the login password before severing the relationship, so nobody can harm you via your web site as an afterthought.

Protect yourself and your identity. Just as you wouldn't trust strangers with your wallet, don't trust them with your web site implicitly. There certainly are reputable companies that will do good by you, but since you don't know who they are - always verify and make sure to keep the main control, so that if you need to change companies, for any reason, your online assets will not get hijacked.

Automated Gratuity or How I Learned to Eat at Home

No, I'm not giving up on Takeout one bit, but this morning was an interesting and new experience for me. My wife & I wanted to order some crepes for breakfast and in the little town where we reside - there aren't that many places to go for breakfast. So, there's this one place, which is unbelievably popular, although mostly that's due to them being the only prominent place in the entire town and their food is decent, not phenomenal but decent.

One thing about that place is that it's somewhat overpriced, but again, considering their monopoly in town - it's not that surprising. So, I called them to order something to go, figured by the time I get there they should be done with it... you know how that works...

To my surprise the lady on the phone told me that the price would include gratuity of 15%. I agreed, not really thinking about it much and went on my way.

On the way I started analyzing that conversation and got totally turned off by the concept. After all - isn't gratuity suppose to be something you voluntarily provide & is strictly based on the quality of service delivered? Certain there are plenty of better restaurants that inform you right on their menus that they'll charge something automatically for handling larger parties of people, which is totally understandable, although I certainly would call something else rather than what typical tips are for. But to have a place force a gratuity on me, when I placed a phone-based order (yes, these people are obviously not on the ball in the online ordering department either, although they could certainly benefit from one based on what I've seen... just haven't evolved to Takeout Online yet) for 2 people - now driving I thought it was totally outrageous.

So, what did I do once I got to the restaurant... well, I went back to my typical thinking of 'nobody forced me to place that order', so I just paid and left, but I did want to make this entry on it. I hope what The Original House of Pancakes did isn't the norm to come. It's wrong and there's no need to redefine the word 'gratuity', which dictionary.com describes as:

1.	a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip.

2.	something given without claim or demand.

Would I order from them again because of this little situation, which cost me a measly $1.50 extra? In a word - NO!

After slaving at a restaurant for 7 months in my youth - I certainly know and appreciate the concept of tips, but I'm totally opposed to turning it into revenue generator, and I will not give my business to anyone who misuses the concept.

Philosophically speaking, it's rather amazing how such an inconsequential amount of money can cost a customer, permanently no less. But it does and restaurants should consider such moves carefully. In the end I think they'll become losers, not winners, even when they're the only game in town.

P.S. Btw, my father-in-law makes better crepes, so I'll be fine... :)

Would you order takeout from your cell phone?

According to the latest statistics - 29% of takeout orders are being placed via cell phones. Considering how prolific cell phone use is in today's society - it's not that surprising. With more and more phones being connected to the Internet - the question I have - would these same 29% or more place their takeout order using online ordering, instead of calling via voice?

Of course using cell phones for web is cumbersome at best, at least on most of them, including the Jesus phone (sorry, Apple). It's simply impossible to replicate the big screen environment on a dinky screen. People aren't buying bigger and bigger monitors for their computers because they'd like to consume more desk space - they want to see more, in an easier to see size... in other words bigger is better. Clearly there are some that go against the tide, but nobody's ditching their 22" monitors for any kind of cell phone, when it comes to web-based computing.

So, back to cell phones. Now that we've established that scrolling through potentially large menus is painful enough on the big screen - cell phone would make the experience rival torture, to put it mildly. So, in your opinion, what would make it simple enough to use on cell phone for you to use it for ordering takeout?

One possibility would be for you to be able to preserve your online orders and assign them a number. Each order would have a unique number. Then you could text this number to the appropriate destination and presto - your order is magically submitted with all details, payment info etc., just as you did in the past. Would that be simple enough? Would you use it if it was that simple? Other ideas? - Certainly welcome your thoughts on the subject.

SEO for Restaurants - Online Marketing

There plenty of companies now that offer online marketing options, a number of which push SEO services (Search Engine Optimization), so that everyone and their brother finds your restaurant online and then crowds of people from all over the globe will swoop down to your doorstep and you'll make more money than Bill Gates. Ok, perhaps I'm being a bit sarcastic here... but then again, perhaps not.

I won't name names here, but I did get approached by one such company and even though Takeout Online is highly visible in Google and some other search engines (are there others?), thought I'd see what they can and will do. To make a long, somewhat expensive, and totally disappointing story short - it was a total waste of resources. Yes, these people can get you some other pages built that will be findable by other people, using some specific words and phrases. Can you guarantee that your customers will use those very words? Of course not, and thus the concept falls on its face. Can they guarantee that only customers in your restaurant's takeout reach will see this ad? Of course not. So, will anyone order takeout from London to New York? Highly unlikely (although someone did try).

Having a web site for any restaurant is a must. As for improving the customer experience and generating wider reach of takeout audience and improving the bottom line... that can all be done by offering some useful and compelling content, such as basic contact and info about the restaurant and offering online ordering of takeout. Anyone who'd use search to find a place to eat will surely be savvy enough and interested in ordering food online. Being part of a larger network of restaurants immediately has great benefits, since it's much more likely to be found when you're part of a large, more visible group. Takeout-Online.com provides all of these basic elements of success for restaurants of any size and type, with extreme simplicity, hassle-free and most importantly - extremely cost-effectively.

There are some businesses that could potentially benefit from companies that do SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing), but restaurants would do better to steer away from those and not waste their hard earned money.

Some people just don't get it

In talking to various restaurants about Takeout Online, it's interesting to note the vast variety of people I meet. People that are aggressive, shy, opinionated, quiet, people with accents, people who can't understand a word of English yet run restaurants somehow.

Mostly restaurant owners understand the many benefits of Takeout Online, yet some just don't seem to get it and even more importantly - they don't even seem to want to get it. Prior to the holidays we had a special where a restaurant could get a FREE web site, FREE setup on Takeout Online and if they choose to - they could have the entire benefit package for FREE... forever!

This was one of these situations where it was too good to be true (as always, for a limited time of course), but still... and yet some didn't want to sign up. There's a single legitimate reason not to sign up and that's where a restaurant has so much business that they just couldn't possibly handle any more. The unfortunate reality is that practically no restaurants fit such description, especially the smaller ones and all of them try to make more money by advertising, coupons etc.

So, the question (philosophically speaking) - why wouldn't a restaurant sign up for a service that offers them far greater efficiency in handling takeout orders, eliminates lost orders (according to statistics - 79% of phone takeout orders are lost, with 69% of those people going to a competitor instead), empowers the customers to order at their convenience & pace (while allowing people at the restaurant to do their job and not spend all kinds of time on the phone), provides an accurate & error-free order, certainly increases customer satisfaction, to name just some of the benefits?

The answer (logically speaking) totally eludes me. For whatever reason some people just don't get it... I'll leave it at that.

uWink or touch that screen on your table

uWink - an interesting new restaurant concept from Nolan Bushnell, of original Atari games fame, and Chuck E. Cheese. Not exactly a takeout place, but certainly an interesting concept in restaurants, and since they use computers for ordering - it fits in this blog, although it's way too early to tell if the concept will fly.

Apparently it's very computerized, with heavy use of new technologies, such as RFID, for tracking things. Ordering is done via a touch-screen computer built into each table. The computer is not only used for ordering, but for multimedia, game play (even between tables) and advertising, no doubt.

Restaurant Portions - bad for our waistline and wallet? Not necessarily.

In a recent article in the Miami Herald the point was made regarding how portions in the restaurants aren't congruent with the intake (of calories, carbs etc.) recommended for healthy human consumption, thus creating more people with weight difficulties.

Some people, as an acquaintance of mine pointed out, simply take the extra food home and divide it into 2 or more meals. This isn't only a healthier and more appropriate way to eat, but also does wonders for cost savings, since a $12 meal split into maybe 3 portions winds up costing only $4 per meal, typically less than what one would spend by cooking at home.

The moral of this is to watch what you eat and just as important - how much you eat and split the extraneous food into multiple leftovers. Of course what makes this approach that much easier is doing the same via takeout. You simply order online, and have multiple meals in the comfort of your home, enjoying the convenience and the savings while eating the appropriate amounts of food. And thus having large portions isn't so bad, after all... provided a little common sense is applied.

Looooonnnnnnnggggggg Lines at Restaurants

A new trend has been emerging, especially in more popular chain restaurants, biggest culprit of which is currently The Cheesecake Factory - long, long, lines before you even get to order your food. Sure they have little flashy beepers to notify you when it's your turn and they have large space for waiting (there's always the outside too)... but it makes one stop and think whether the hassle involved in a simple meal is worth it. Obviously for a lot of people - it is, otherwise the phenomenon at hand wouldn't be there.

This is where Takeout Online can certainly assist in the effort. Restaurants would benefit by being able to perform their duties much more efficiently and consumers would find the efficiency and convenience gratifying and certainly adding to the enjoyment of the experience... after all isn't that what it's all about?

Customers will be able to place their orders in the convenience and comfort of their home, office, library - wherever, without the limitations of time, space and noise, which they always endure onsite. They will be able to see the entire menu and take as long as they wish to make their decision, without anyone asking 'Do you need a few more minutes? I can come back...'. Then, if the restaurant does due diligence - when the customers finally arrive at the indicated time - they can immediately proceed to sit down and either avoid the wait for food entirely or only wait a short period of time. There's no need to get the waiter to come and take the order (thus saving time and eliminating any errors the waiter may make) and shouldn't be any need to wait in line.

The restaurant would get the orders ahead of customers' arrival, thus be able to manage their processes more carefully and efficiently. Try to prepare the food ahead of time, so by the time the customers arrive - the food will be ready to serve them. Since there won't be a need to have waiters take orders - that'll certainly save significant amount of waiters' time, since it's a repetitive process and can take quite a while, especially for large groups. Having the order info ahead of time would also aid in managing tables and schedule of arrivals better. And of course if someone can be seated upon arrival, with food prepared and ready to serve - that would also be a significant time saver in terms of time customers stay at a restaurant, thus enabling more customers in the same day... all clearly translating to a better bottom line... which from a restaurant's point of view - isn't what it's all about?

Takeout is not just for eating - choose your Wine

A new website, Winelog, is an excellent resource for those who want their wine, but don't know their wine or perhaps want to compare notes on their knowledge. The site offers ability to view and rate wines as well as add comments. The rating system is driven by the community, it's 'social wining' if you will, and provides a clean and simple approach to picking wine in style, quickly and easily.

Tipping point

To tip or not and if so - how much? Seems like an ever present question when one goes out. Recently due to a change in food as we know it, with stores opening delis and fast-casual becoming the new breed of restaurants - the landscape is changing and the tipping question still exists.

According to an article in the Register Guard (Eugene, OR), tipping varies depending on the restaurant, but the old sentiment seems to still rule the day - it's up to the tipper and it's based on the service.

Takeout and Restaurant Owners

It seems that takeout is hugely popular and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Yet, many restaurant owners just don't seem to get the importance of that trend for their business success. Case in point my Takeout-Online.com service. Many restaurants I talked to see the light and sign up for the service, considering how affordable, flexible and unintrusive it is to their business and how much impact it can have on it. Yet, even though I mention that the service can be risk-free and even cost-free, I still get a response sometimes that "it's not in the budget" or "we're not ready to start yet"... which always perplexes me... how can something that doesn't cost anything be "not in budget"?

Restuarant Owners need to look beyond just doing what they've always been doing and adopt some of these new tools, like the Takeout Online service, to be able to stay competitive or their competition will do them in using these tools.

Personal Chefs

In addition to takeout out of restaurants, a lot of families use personal chefs to be able to not cook and yet still eat high quality foods at home. This article describes some example of this growing trend.

Fast-casual and convenience

The Arizona Republic newspaper had an article regarding 'fast-casual' restaurants and how convenience and takeout rule the world of restaurants more and more.

According to the article, some of the fast-casual restaurants's takeout accounts for 40% of their business.

Interestingly enough, all of the restaurants mentioned in the article currently don't offer online ordering, which would improve their bottom line even more so if they did.

A Great Opportunity for Anyone... with Right Attitude!

As we move into our new expansion schedule - we're looking for good people throughout the country to help us with bringing Takeout Online service to the restaurant industry nationwide.

Current opportunity is significant, because we're not only offering a piece of the action, but a piece of the pie as well. That's right, with our current plan (which I can't divulge here) - you could get a piece of the company if you actively participate with us in this important growth stage.

If you have some time on your hands and are willing to do some face-to-face time with your local restaurants - you could be looking at a very substantial residual income in not too distant future and own a piece of the company as well. Just about anyone with decent people skills can participate. I always say that the most important qualification is attitude and that's really what counts.

We provide the training, the marketing plan and materials and handle all of the technical aspects. We also have a comprehensive Web site specifically dedicated to the members of our team, where they can get a wealth of information, easily communicate and collaborate with each other and access any and all related printed materials.

Interested? Contact Takeout Online for details.

New Takeout Statistics

There was an article published in Wisconsin State Journal regarding a dramatic rise in takeout consumption and decrease in home cooking.

"The number of dinners made at home from scratch continues to freefall. It dropped another 7 percent over the last two years, and now accounts for 32 percent of all evening meals in the U.S., according to the National Restaurant Association."

This trend isn't surprising, considering how busy everyone is these days... but it's also interesting in the fact that people don't just go out to eat, but instead get takeout to still enjoy a family dinner together.

Introduction to Takeout

This blog is dedicated to a new phenomenon in the USA, a new lifestyle for ever-growing number of people, a different (somewhat) approach to the basic human need... a need to eat!

The discussions will revolve about food, restaurants, business opportunities (related to takeout), trends and philosophy behind it all.

The idea is to create one of the favorite stops with 'food for thought', if you will, for all things takeout.

We started a company 5 years ago, dedicated to this very topic, allowing anyone to order online, called www.Takeout-Online.com, therefore you'll see our posting concentrating on the restaurants in our areas of influence, which is currently in the State of Washington, USA. However, there's a major effort underway to expand it into many more areas and that's where the business opportunity comes in (should you be interested in joining us in this effort of providing an extremely valuable service to both restaurants and consumers). You can get more information about Takeout Online here, and here and info regarding the business opportunity here.

I'll finish this introduction by signing it with the signature my partner signs his e-mails...

takeout!