We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rev Ciancio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rev below.

Rev, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

Offer your services for free. If you are so confident that what you do or offer brings value, give your services away for free to a couple (or more) companies or people that fits your ideal customer profile.

No one runs a sales based webinar than me, I’m sure of it. When I started my consulting agency, I knew that I could bring a ton of value to upstart tech companies by hosting a sales pitch webinar for their product. I reached out to a couple dozen hospitality tech companies and offered to host a sales pitch webinar for them. I had a couple of caveats, but 14 of them said yes.

Three of them hired me as a result. Several other companies saw the work and asked for my help.

Likewise, when I wanted to start helping restaurants with their marketing, I published several blog posts, social media videos and even and ebooks that gave away all my “secrets” for free. That didn’t stop people from hiring me. That convinced people who were already looking to hire someone that I was the right person for the job.

Its the same reason why great restaurants sample their food — if they are that confident that once you taste it, you’ll buy it, they sample. I sample. You should sample.

Rev, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

WHAT DOES REV DO?
*I help restaurants to build guest marketing programs.
*I help restaurants gain awareness through great content created and shared on my social media.
*I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.

—-

BIO:

Rev is a New York City restaurant owner, and knows exactly how hard it is to operate and brand a hospitality business.

He is a hospitality marketing consultant, customer and technology evangelist at Branded Strategic Hospitality, with more than 25 years experience in B2B digital marketing and business development, specializing in hospitality marketing, content, local SEO, reputation management and demand generation. He helps technology companies, brands and restaurants to acquire and retain more customers.

Rev is known as an “expert burger taster,” pens hospitality and marketing tips on his Instagram @revciancio, as well as his LinkedIn Profile and hosts the Restaurant Marketing Podcast. He believes that Pizza is a religion.

—

I have a couple core guiding principles:
– Be awesome at 2 things and outsource everything else. You can be good at lots of things but being AWESOME at more than a couple things its just diluting your talents. Find someone who is better than you and guide the
– If its worth doing, its worth overdoing. Dont half ass anything, double ass the important things. Otherwise, again, you are just diluting your potential.
– Everything is figure-out-able. Take a moment. Breathe. Think. Take action only when ready.
– If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand. Believe in the result you want before you have and the how will come to you.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing your clientele:
– Provide an incredible service that is better than most others
– Create incredible content that shows others how to do it and share to the places where your ideal customer is looking for solutions (blog, podcast, trade shows, social media, etc)
– Network through being kind and always offering help
– Proactively reach out to people that fit your ideal customer profile. No pitch. Ask what there struggles are. Ask if the problem you solve is a priority. Offer and solutions. Build relationships. its the slow play but it works.
– Keep a CRM or at least a spreadsheet of prospects. Reach out regularly.
– Be kind, always.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The best way to know if people will pay for something is to see if they are already paying someone else for it.

I was convinced that I could build a huge business based around online education (courses and training you could buy online). I spent about $50K learning, building and launching. Totally failed.

I learned that my ICP (ideal customer profile) has no interest in buying education. They wanted services done for them.

I listed to a lot of people who very smart and told me what do to but didnt know my industry. What I shoudlve done is see if anyone else was doing it or even just ask people if they wanted it. I wouldve saved myself months and tens of thousands of dollars.

Reinventing the wheel is 10x better than building a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.restaurantsgrow.tv/
• Instagram: https://www.restaurantsgrow.tv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revdavidciancio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/revciancio/
• Twitter: https://x.com/revciancio
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReverendDaveCiancio

Image Credits

i have way too many photos about me

headshots: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/xryt8d7kecfpmvx0i8t4m/AOkZDb3AF3djqcd1Sw4dmBI?rlkey=eipmi0zxrh6vdwkjrz7lnacld&dl=0

Also, any photos on my blog: https://www.restaurantsgrow.tv/