Ask around. What was Pulp Fiction bar before I took over? How about the Southern Cross Group restaurants? Meisterbrau LIVE? I took these places from almost empty, loss making businesses to some of the busiest, most talked about venues in Suzhou. How did I do it? I could do the same for your business.LEVERAGING MY PERSONAL NETWORKI have built up an extensive personal network over 17 years in Suzhou. More than 5,000 Wechat contacts, many of whom I know personally. This allows me to promote what is happening at the bar and restaurants, in close to real time, to a large, highly targeted audience. Most importantly, this audience trusts what I have to say. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGMy network and overall social media presence allows me to get my message across all major local Wechat and other social media groups. Creating new content daily keeps the message fresh and interesting. I am continuously searching for original ways to make my message heard above the social media “noise”. For example, in 2016 I introduced the idea of using red packets to send prizes in my Wechat groups as a way to keep people following what is posted. This is now common practice throughout the Wechat community. INNOVATIVE EVENTS AND PROMOTIONI have been responsible for some of the largest and most successful bar and restaurant events ever seen in Suzhou. From putting a “twist” on the more traditional events such as Halloween and St Patrick’s day to unique events such as our Singles Day Charity Date Auction and Australian bushfire fundraising music festival.CUSTOMER ACCOUNT MANAGEMENTWorking on-site in the bar and restaurant enables me to foster strong relationships with first time and repeat customers to encourage customer loyalty and retention. I pride myself with being on first name terms with most customers and understanding their needs. FLUENT MANDARINBeing able to converse fluently in mandarin allows me to communicate freely with non-English speaking staff which helps align our culture to my vision. It also allows me to build relationships with local customers.These skills aren’t just applicable in the hospitality industry. If you would like the profile of your company to be raised in the local and wider community and/ or have a product or service suited to social selling and relationship marketing, let’s talk. I am fully committed to staying in China for the foreseeable future.