Subtitled The Secret Restaurant Formula this takes us inside the world of the restaurateur and shows us some of the secrets - not of cookery, but of success. How do you spread the word to potential customers? WHISPER MARKETING is what 'Bo' Bryant suggests.

Be willing to try, even if trying means failing, is Bryant's first advice. You can learn from failure and start again. Your mindset will determine how hard you try, how many ways you come up with to try, and whether you budget for marketing. There are plenty of different paths to successful marketing but you need to find the one that works for your individual business. For example, we learn that Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for having no creativity. You must learn who you are, brand yourself and be what you are marketing.

The principle of a restaurant is used to help us understand the business owner; we need to identify a customer, find what they like on our menu and what music they prefer. The owner should specialise in making their own favourite food and make it really well. The right customer for that food will enjoy it too. Your marketing should make the food and atmosphere stand out from the crowd, maybe with local craft beers, prime local steak or fun ethnic atmosphere. You should market to people near you.

Some theories will be familiar to authors, like the Elevator Pitch. This is where you have to describe the concept of your book to someone during the time of an elevator ride. A tagline or slogan is another one - a few words which make you remember the brand. Bryant also points up segment marketing, which is when your lunchtime sales are poor compared to dinner, so you concentrate on marketing the lunch menu. He advises reviewing the website of the business, to see if the menu, hours, and location are all easy to see. Advice is given on new advertising areas like Groupon, discount cards, internet mailing lists and digital billboards. You may not need to use all of it, but some methods will certainly suit you - and your pocket - better than others. He also covers industry events, for networking and grabbing ideas. Once your basic business is running, how can you expand? Deliveries?

I find occasional strong language, and what comes across as a brusque manner. Ronald 'Bo' Bryant would probably be a big-hearted, cheerful person with little time to waste and an insistence on keeping on trying, if I met him. If you want modern marketing principles set down in basic terms which you can adapt to your business, WHISPER MARKETING, which means word of mouth from satisfied customers, is a good place to start.