Changing Tides

One of the biggest things we have to work on as writers is our marketing efforts. This subject has been on my mind a lot recently following the Las Vegas Book Festival last weekend and then having a conversation about it again today. There is a sign on the wall in the heart of the building that reads "The Life Behind The Luxury". It shows some of the people that work in our hotel and casino and is an advertisement meant to inspire us to get to know the people around us that help bring the luxury to our guests.

One of my fellow dealers quipped "Maybe someone should tell the players that this is a luxury hotel". He was referring to the change in clientele we have all noticed over the years. We no longer see people dressing up to play cards or saving up for that once a year special vacation. Trips aren't about spending hours gambling or shopping for the high end toys and accessories to add to the collections of possessions when they get back home to their regular lives. Now we see people flood the casino with name badges from their conferences and trade shows, pool party fanatics in their swimsuits and sandals, and of course the sports lovers crowding the sports book every weekend to root on their favorites teams.

In the opinion of some of my co-workers the casino has fallen but I see it differently. I see the marketing trend for my location as it heads toward the conventions. We are a destination for meetings and conferences for all sizes. In that way the marketing is working splendidly. There is also the matter of people viewing "Luxury" in a completely different way now than they did twenty years ago. Those with disposable income tend to be younger and have a focus more on experience than on things. This makes those in jobs like table games dealing less needed.

Writing can be viewed similarly in that we need to look at trends like ebooks, social media marketing and useable swag as ways to connect with our readers. We no longer send newsletters through snail-mail, it now needs to be online and interactive in order to secure the attention we aspire to. I understand the frustrations of my fellow dealers and those writers who, like me, began before Amazon was even in existence. The fact of the matter however is that in order to stay relevant you must change with the times. I am working in both my writing and my day job to do exactly that.