FoodTruckr School – How to Start, Run and Grow a Successful Food Truck Business

In this episode of FoodTruckr School, we talk with Matt Berkland from Truckily.com about best practices and tips for sharing your location on social media. How often do you share your location? How much time do you give your customers to locate you? What do you include in a tweet versus what do you share on Facebook? All of these questions, and more, are addresses in today's episode. In addition to that, we get to learn more about a sweet social media tool called Truckily! Truckily helps us better manage our multiple social media platforms for our truck, all in one spot. It's about convenience, but it's also about giving you more time to devote to your truck and customers. More Specifically, in this episode you'll learn about: Why it's a huge mistake not to collect your customer's email addresses. The psycology of email and why it's the the #1 form of communication online . Specific examples of what you can email your customers - things you probably didn't think of. Why only relying on social media is playing a very dangerous game. Specific tools you can use to take your social media efforts to the next level. What you can do right now to get started now with your email marketing campaign. Plus so much more... Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Truckily (use code foodtruckr for special access to beta tools in the software!) Right-click here to download the MP3 file Thanks for Listening! Thank you again, for listening to this episode of FoodTruckr School. Truly, we hope you don't just listen, but you also take action and actually think about your brand, what it means and how you might be able to improve it. Also, be sure to subscribe to FoodTruckr School on iTunes so you can get new episodes directly downloaded to your mobile device or computer! You can subscribe easily by clicking here. FoodTruckr School has recently been featured in the New & Noteworthy section in iTunes, and we've have climbed as high as #12 in the overall business section! Thank you for your support, and we appreciate your time and your honest reviews and feedback too! We're here for you, and happy holidays!

In this third episode of FoodTruckr School, I don't have a guest on the show with us this time around, however I pose a very important question to all food truck owners out there: Why aren't you asking your customers for their email addresses? The only logical answer here is that you just don't know how important it is, which is why I'm here to tell you. Yes, I know you have a Twitter account and a Facebook account, and those things are important (and I share a couple of extremely useful tips for getting the most out of your time on those social media platforms too), but your customer's email address is the most important asset for most businesses, and it's no exception for those in the food truck business either. Why? Because think about it - when you email someone, you're contacting them directly. The only thing your message is competing with is other messages in one's inbox, and we all know how we often can't leave any emails unanswered. For some of us, it's the first thing we check when we wake up in the morning - or we have notifications on our mobile devices that let us know the moment a new email comes out way. With social media, you're competing with tons of noise and  when you update a status or share a tweet, you're only sending your message to a fraction of your overall following - and I talk about why that's the case during this episode too. More Specifically, in this episode you'll learn about: Why it's a huge mistake not to collect your customer's email addresses. The psycology of email and why it's the the #1 form of communication online . Specific examples of what you can email your customers - things you probably didn't think of. Why only relying on social media is playing a very dangerous game. Specific tools you can use to take your social media efforts to the next level. What you can do right now to get started now with your email marketing campaign. Plus so much more... Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Tweriod BufferApp Aweber MailChimp Right-click here to download the MP3 file Thanks for Listening! Thank you again, for listening to this episode of FoodTruckr School. Truly, we hope you don't just listen, but you also take action and actually think about your brand, what it means and how you might be able to improve it. Please let us know what you think about this episode in the comment section below! Thank you for your support. We're here for you!

In this second episode of FoodTruckr School, we chat with Chris Adams from Rocketman Creative, a branding expert and strategist who helps food trucks new and old establish their identity and focus or re-focus their branding efforts for maximum impact. It's so much more than just designing a cool logo - there's an entire culture that can be created based on how well your brand is established. Think about brands like Apple or Starbucks - powerful brands with cult-like followings that people are proud to support, and will often go out of their way to. After listening to this episode, you'll know exactly what it takes to create a brand that succeeds, and have a marketing education that will help you stand out from the crowd. And the best part - this podcast, as always, is free! :) More Specifically, in this episode you'll learn about: The important elements that need to exist before even a logo or any designs. 4 core elements of an outstanding, memorable logo. The true definition of brand and the most important word that you need to know that relate to it. Characteristics of food trucks with poor branding, so you don't make these same mistakes. The importance of the "tone" and "flair" that you have within your brand. The exact step-by-step process Chris uses to help food truck owners shape their brand. How to validate your food truck business idea before you spend money on a truck. Positioning and developing your "unique offering" and personality as a food truck. How to craft your menu to truly support your brand and message. The secret of "easter eggs". Plus so much more... Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Rocketman Creative (Chris's website) Boston Food Truck Alliance Position by Al Reis and Jack Trout (Amazon.com Affiliate Link) Boston's Baddest Burger Super Q Smart Brand Flight Plan FoodTruckr Edition (Free Workbook Download!) Right-click here to download the MP3 file Thanks for Listening! Thank you again, for listening to this episode of FoodTruckr School. Truly, we hope you don't just listen, but you also take action and actually think about your brand, what it means and how you might be able to improve it. Thanks to Chris once again for his expertise and strategies, and if you have a moment, please let us know what you think about this episode in the comment section below! FoodTruckr School will be on iTunes in a couple of weeks, and at that point you can leave a rating and review on iTunes too. Until our next episode, thank you for your support. We're here for you!

We at FoodTruckr are extremely happy to welcome you to the very first episode of FoodTruckr School! FoodTruckr School is a podcast dedicated to helping you take your food truck business to the next level. Whether you're just starting out or you're a veteran in the business, we've got a whole lineup of incredibly valuable, entertaining, motivational and educational shows for you. And we're not just interviewing owners of other food trucks and sharing their journey and success stories. There may be some of that, but the purpose of this show - our job - is to teach you something new to help your food truck business flourish. We plan on interviewing everyone from branding and social media experts to health inspectors and even food truck patrons. Anyone and everyone that has something to do with helping you succeed. In this first episode, I'm happy to welcome Mike Swaleh from Tikka Tikka Taco. Mike and his team were the second place winners from Season 4 of The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network. Mike's first time on a food truck was filmed on the show, and since then he's learned a ton about what works and what doesn't in the food truck industry. He also gives us a behind-the-scenes account of what it was like to be on The Great Food Truck Race, as well as what he's doing now to help raise money for a food truck, since they didn't win first place and take home a truck of their own. More Specifically, in this episode you'll learn about: The inspiration for Tikka Tikka Taco and its fusion cuisine. How Tikka Tikka Taco landed a spot on The Great Food Truck Race Mike's biggest lessons learned when he stepped foot into a food truck for the first time. What Mike says you should know before starting up a food truck business. How the Tikka Tikka Taco team is taking social media to the next level. Tips for building a great team and culture within your truck. What crowdfunding is and what it can do for you. Plus a whole lot more! Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Tikka Tikka Taco The Great Food Truck Race IndieGoGo Kickstarter Right-click here to download the MP3 file Help Tikka Tikka Taco! As Mike shared in this episode, he and his team are raising funds to help pay for their food truck that they were so close to winning. As I write this post, they are currently one-third of the way there, and they need your help! Please click on the button below to help kickstart their campaign and get a little something in return too! Click Here to Help Support Tikka Tikka Taco! A huge thank you to Mike for sharing a little bit of his story and incredible insight into the Food Truck business from a very unique perspective. Mike, if you're reading this, we wish you all the best of luck, and I'm 100% certain this isn't the last time we're going to hear from you. And a huge thank you to YOU - the listener - for checking out the first episode of FoodTruckr School. We promise there is much more to come, including our next episode when we interview a Food Truck branding expert and designer who has worked with several trucks in the Boston area, who has a lot to share about what you and your brand can do to increase your bottom line. Until then, please subscribe to the blog by entering your email address below, and get our free eBook to help you quickly take what you do on Twitter and Facebook to the next level. Here's to you and your food!