Random Thoughts: Show Me the Money

It finally happened, Cuba Gooding Jr. made the Travel 2.0 blog.

Everyone’s budget is getting tighter, regardless of industry, organization, etc.  Each of us are examining costs, marketing plans and ROI.  Future projects are being put on hold, including anything dubbed ‘new’ or ‘experimental’ in nature.  We are quickly becoming much more discerning with our expenditures.

However, we all know that the market and the economy will turn around, it always does.

In the mean time, I would encourage you to resist the temptation to cut, scale back or delay your social media marketing efforts.  Unfortunately, for most of us, in times of stress, we revert back to what we know…TV, radio and print.  Understandable, but in the current market, there are numerous reasons to stay competitive and continue innovating, especially in social media.

For those of you who have yet to start a social media campaign or jump into one of the social sites that we talk about frequently on the Travel 2.0 blog, I would suggest simply listening or, better still, start participating.  Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Create a YouTube account / channel and begin posting videos.
• Join TripAdvisor and create content in the Before You Go section.
• Sign up for Twitter, create your account, follow people and just listen.
• Start reading local blogs about your area, connect with those bloggers and introduce yourself.
• Fire up that Flickr Group, or better yet, find a Flickr group that is already focused on your destination.
• Give in and sign up for your (personal) Facebook account.  See what happens, who is there, what are they talking about, would this make sense for your destination / attraction.
• Add your events to Eventful or Upcoming.  Distribute your content beyond your own site.
• Sign up for Google Reader, subscribe to some RSS feeds and understand what RSS really is.

Regardless of your budget situation, marketing plan, etc, etc., you can start researching, listening and experimenting with social media, even with a struggling economy.

And you won’t have to play catch-up once the economy rebounds.