How Will You Use Your 15 Minutes

"In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes," Andy Warhol-1968. Could his prophecy now be true? Well, these days you can be a famous house wife, a famous bachelor or reveal your paternity test on Jerry Springer for fame (yikes)! You could attempt to win your first million in an amazing race or be the villain survivor. There seems to be an endless supply of 15 minute opportunities. In the grand scheme of things few win the million and most are soon forgotten. Some best forgotten. I think Andy had the inside track on reality TV, don't you? Yep, their fame is about a blip long, but if that's your goal, go for it. The amazing race looks, well, amazing!
If that's not your goal, however, you could spend your time more wisely. Make your million(s) by being smarter, then treat yourself to a trip around the world or a few weeks on a deserted island without the villain because what you have the inside track on is the Internet. Use your 15 minutes wisely and you'll be able to capitalize on it over and over again. Yep! While it may not make you famous, in Andy's sense of the word, it can make you successful.
Marketing is key to your success and the Internet clearly and simply allows you to publish amazing content about your business. Do it right and you're successful. Do it wrong and you're forgotten. If you already provide a solid, quality product and/or service there is absolutely no reason you aren't successful, unless potential guests aren't finding you. It's simply not enough to be it, you have to market it. Your 15 minutes is now! What are you doing with it?
It's no secret that one of the the most powerful ways to engage an audience is with video. YouTube understood this. Video has made stars out of people with solid talent, but no resources or connections other their computer and YouTube. So, create a video and put it on YouTube, right? Not so fast. YouTube is great, but mostly, it has been successfully used by amateurs for self promotion. That's not to say that some professionals haven't made use of it successfully, but it's a bit like finding a needle in a haystack in a field full of haystacks. There are simply too many haystacks filled with too many distractions and the sensational and silly reign supreme. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use YouTube, you should, it simply means that you need to find the best ways to showcase your business. In the hospitality industry those who currently use video to promote their business are the early adopters; the trend setters. They understand that there is simply no way that dozens of photographs can convey what a single one to two minute video can. The first step is to put a video on your own website. If you don't have a website or you do and you need to reach more potential customers put your video(s) on TravelVision.
Video will give your potential guests a real sense of what it's like to be there. Do this simple test: look at the Riverside Hotel's video below (or by clicking on this link: Riverside Hotel). Then answer this, Which do you think is more powerful a dozen photo's on any of those glorified phone book websites or their TravelVision video?

If you need help on how to make a simple inexpensive video check out this post entitled "YouTube for Restaurants: Quick & Easy Tips for Making Videos?" from Swipely Blog.