Meet Michael Wheaton | CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Wheaton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started a website design and digital marketing firm called Web Welder over twenty years ago when I relocated to Denver from New York City where I was a public relations executive for a very large nonprofit. One of my first clients was a Hollywood Production Film company in Los Angeles. I had never met the owners, director, or executive producer in person. We simply met through a mutual friend and communicated over the phone and by email. One day I received a phone call from the producer stating that they were coming to Denver to film a documentary with a scene taking place in City Park and asked if I would be willing to come out and meet their team in person. Since I lived in Denver at the time, it was convenient.

As I arrived at the production set, the film crew was packing up to take a lunch break. I met the executive producer, and she asked if I was interested in having lunch. I suggested to her that there were a few good places to eat up the block. As we walked to the local eateries, there was a hotdog cart on our way. She asked, “How about a hotdog?” I agreed and as we were ordering the food, I noticed that the owner had an East Coast dialect. His name was Steve, and he was from Connecticut, not far from New York City where I used to live. He was a former fireman and told me that he started selling hotdogs here because he could not find a good hotdog like he could back in Connecticut. I agreed as being from New York, that the hotdogs in Denver were not quite the same. As we continued to talk, he asked what I did. I told him I developed websites. We seemed to hit it off and he contracted me to create a website for his hotdog business. He had a basic website at the time but wanted something more elaborate.

Creating a website for a hotdog cart seemed somewhat simple. There would need to be a menu (ideally with photos of the food items), location, hours of operation, bio on the owner and what makes it different than the other hotdog carts in the area. I thought to myself on how I could make it more interesting and came up with the concept of creating not just a food-related website but rather a digital experience for the site visitor. As part of this experience, I created an interactive animated video game on the website which allowed a site visitor to make their own animated hotdog, place it in a bun and run it through the garden of toppings. As part of this game, the user would be give the type of hotdog the game wanted them to make, such as a Chicago Dog. The user would have to place all the correct toppings and if they got it correctly, the website would offer them a coupon on their next hotdog purchase. Also included was a Hotdog History game of which a user would have to answer the correct answers to the historical questions and if they placed at least 80% correctly, the website would provide them a free lemonade on their next purchase. The website also included an interactive map of the United States where a user could place their cursor over any Major Leage Ballpark in the country and see what the most popular hotdog was ordered at the stadium. If a user placed their cursor over Turner Field in Georgia, a picture of the Atlanta Slaw Dog would popup and provide all the ingredients included. There were other interesting and interactive features added to the website.

When the site was ready to launch, Steve absolutely loved it and he told most everyone to go visit his website. A week later, I received a phone call from Warren Byrne, the host of the Restaurant Show which was a popular radio show in its day. Warren called me live on air and asked my name and if I was the one who created the website. I replied and Warren went on to say that in his nearly 40 years of experience working with restaurants, that the website I created for a hotdog cart was by far the best one he had ever seen. He went on to scold me somewhat staring that he got on the website after dinner time at 6:30 pm and was still on it at 2:30 in the morning and how he hardly got any sleep but how that was also a good thing. Lastly, Warren stated that my company name Web Welder was a stupid name for a company that markets websites. That coming Monday, I would create a separate company named Diner Designer and never looked back. Steve would go on to hire my new company to market his business and through the years, developed several brick-and-mortar locations, restaurants in airports, stadia, and other locations. Steve would eventually create his own beers, brats and hotdogs to be sold in liquor and grocery stores.

Within a year from that impromptu radio spot on the Restaurant Show, Diner Designer would grow from one little hotdog cart client to serving 374 restaurants throughout the country including a couple of national restaurant chains. Warren Byrne’s Restaurant Show would hire Diner Designer to manage their website as well as Pat Miller’s Gabby Gourmet radio show. Together with Gabby Gourmet, Diner Designer would establish Chow Down for Charity – a food-related contest that would provide proceeds to charity – most notably Project Angel Heart – a local food bank offering meals to those in need. The food contests would attract local eateries to compete against others in front of a local celebrity judging panel. It was extremely popular and for a good cause. Eventually Diner Designer would host their own radio show titled Tasting Denver which highlighted the food scene in Denver.

From its humble beginnings creating an interactive website for a food cart 20 years ago, Diner Designer has grown to being a full-service marketing agency for the food service industry – basically a one-stop shop for restaurants in the areas of design, development and deployment of digital and traditional marketing strategies and campaigns. Diner Designer does it all, from menu and sign design, to websites, search engine optimization, paid fo advertising, content creation, social media marketing, customer loyalty strategies, event coordination, customer acquisition, reputation and review management, etc. Diner Designer understands the time constraints of restaurant owners and managers and therefore offers an all-in-one solution so rather than having to work with multiple vendors, we work with them with the ultimate goal of attracting and maintaining new and happily returning customers.

What’s Next?
Diner Designer is positioning itself to become a national franchise working with various restaurant marketing firms to help offer a one-stop solution. Most marketing firms specialize in one or two aspects but not the full spectrum. For instance, they may design menus but not social media, or they may do paid-for advertising but not create websites, etc. Our goal is to offer the best all-encompassing approach for restaurants to increase their awareness, maintain their brand reputation, attract new and returning customers and all restauranters to do what they do best – offer the best dining experience to their clientele.

For more information, visit www.dinerdesigner.com

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Diner Designer is a leading online marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing for restaurants. We manage your social media channels, design your website, market your business to increase sales and boost your online presence.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Warren Byrne, Steve Ballas, Pat Miller

Website: https://dinerdesigner.com/

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