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Was just reading that 61% of US Government expenses are covered by the taxes the government collects. Other 39% has to be borrowed.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has already forecast a 4.5% deficit to GDP for the next 10 years.

Meanwhile, the government continues to spend money we don’t have on programs that will never increase real tax revenues or the size of the taxpayer base. In the last 50 years the federal government has made no real attempt to solve the above deficit problems long term.

So what does it mean for hotel business as we look “down the road?”

One persons problem is another persons opportunity.

As the government gets bigger and bigger obviously there will be more business from governmental agencies. Equally important will be all the companies calling on various government agencies either to sell to, or get something from the government. Then there will be all the companies who call on the government who are just trying to get a piece of the action.

Historically, “insiders” have gained the most from swings in governmental spending. That’s why there are so many lobbyists trying to influence governmental agencies. Yes, they are trying to influence policy, but more important is having advanced information that can benefit them.

How do you become a government insider?

Knowledge is power.

Who in your community will benefit from the government taking a more active role in our economy? How much do you know about those entities? How can you learn more?

Even if your business is in a small town there are businesses and organizations that work closely with various business organizations. Be sure you know who they are and have a plan on how to increase your business from those organizations. They are going to have needs for hotel rooms, create group business, and have a need for recreational programs. They can benefit hotels that specialize in transient business or group business, and they can benefit resorts.

What’s the best way to tap into this buisness?

Use the Internet.

Create a social media campaign using email to reach out to organizations for each market segment you are interested in.

When thinking social media we immediately think of Twitter and Facebook. Instead, create your own social media network and let it expand based on people who are interested in what you are offering.

Have a monthly email that appeals to a highly targeted group of your customers. Ask them to subscribe and to share your emails with others they know who would be interested. By appealing to a highly specific group of customers it becomes very easy to write to them. It’s much easier to write for a narrow market. As soon as we try to write information that will appeal to a mass market we have to spend a long time carefully thinking about the market we are trying to appeal to.

This blog is written first for the hotel industry and secondly has some applications to the overall hospitality industry. Were I to write this for a much broader audience I would have to write much longer blog articles and use lot more examples, and I could not be as specific. I have a great deal of admiration for people who have the ability to cogently write for large mass audiences.

Break your marketing emails down to as small a market segment as you can. This will enable you to exchange information and feedback that is highly targeted to the needs of the specific segment. Your goal is to increase your business from that segment by 10% each year. Will you always hit the goal? Probably not, but having an aggressive revenue goal will keep your monthly emails highly targeted.

Share what’s working for your hotel. We are all peers, very, very few of us are really competitors.