The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call -- July 31, 1997

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - July 31, 1997

FAX ALTERNATIVE
I was flying back from Anaheim after the National Speakers Association convention last week and my seatmate turned me on to JFAX. If you are running out of phone lines, this might be something to look at. For $12.50 a month, these guys set up a phone number for you in NY, Chicago, LA , Atlanta, SF, Boston or a toll-free number (you can also have a number in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal but I didn't think that would be as relevent!) When people send you a fax at that number, it is captured in their system and sent to you as an e-mail attachment. If you already have a local fax number, you could have it set to automatically forward calls to JFax -- might be cheaper than installing another phone line. I am not necessarily endorsing them because I haven't used the service -- although I am thinking seriously about giving it a go -- but I thought it was an interesting new technology. You can reach them at http://www.jfax.com. (NOTE 1/22/98: I have started using JFax to pick up my faxes when I am on the road. It works beautifully! They also have a voice mail feature now.)

INTERNET RESOURCE INFO
One of the neatest tricks I have seen is a mailbot, an automated response system that you can use to send information to people who ask (and capture their e-mail address in the process.) For a demo of how this works, send an e-mail message to mikerounds@speaking.com (no message necessary) and almost immediately (depending on the time of day, I suppose) you will get back pages and pages of great Internet reference material -- where to find almost anything. He also has info on how to set up your own mailbot if you are interested but just the stuff he sends is worth sending the message. Don't worry, you will not be inundated with promotional spam!

INDUSTRY REFERENCE SOURCES
I have put a number of new links to various resources around the hospitality biz on my website. Take a look under http://www.restaurantdoctor.com/biglinks.html. If you haven't dropped by the site lately, there are a number of new articles posted, past issues of the newsletter and an open forum where you can post questions and offer your opinion to others looking for advice. The address is http://www.restaurantdoctor.com.

SUCH A DEAL!
As you may know, I have re-issued "50 Tips to Improve Your Tips" in a more colorful binding. I still have about 60 copies of the old version left. The text is virtually the same, the size is a little smaller and there is not a full-color cover. As part of my summer clean-out, I will make them available at 15 copies for $50, first-come, first-served. For reference, the new books sell for $5.95 each, 10 copies for $50. To get the new books at a price this low, you would have to order 100 copies. If you are not familiar with the book, check it out at http://www.restaurantdoctor.com/books/50tips.html.

CHEAP STUFF
If you haven't already discovered it, check out http://www.onsale.com. It is an online auction of computer and electronic goodies. I have picked up a couple of deals and am quite pleased. The prices are amazing! If you are in the market for toys, check here first.

GROWING PAINS
Please bear with me as I discover what I should be doing with this e-mail update. I don't want to repeat items that have been (or will be) in the newsletter so it is still very much a work in progress. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

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