2009-09 Dennis' Deliberations

Dennis Deliberations……



My kids in Orlando, my accountant, who lives in College Park, some business friends I left, all tell me things seem to not be getting better in Orlando.

“Destination Tourism” seems to be a fading dream for the middle and upper-middle classes. Here is the Shenandoah Valley, we draw a lot of day-trippers or one-night tourists from the Washington, Baltimore and even Philly and NYC area. People are more ready to drive than fly. Flying is just too much of a hassle unless you have to.

You can leave the NYC area at 6AM and be having lunch here on the mountain top in Massanutten 4-Season Resort at Noon. It is 12 miles from my house

As long as gas prices stay about where they are, this area’s tourism should remain about where it is.

We also have the 2 Universities and 1 college in town. Moreover, agriculture is huge in this area and people always need to eat. As a result our unemployment in town is about 6% whereas Florida is 10.7%. Virginia seems to have it a little more together in terms of taxation. There is a small state income tax but here in Harrisonburg, property taxes are low, car insurance and health insurance are very inexpensive.

In the meantime, I am resurrecting my version of the Vince Carmen school-show-booking-method and that is a lot more promising here in the tall grass than in highly populated Central Florida.

One of my pet peeves is that the media keeps handwringing on and on about the state of the economy: Daily statistics on unemployment, Minute by minute reports on why the stimulus package isn‘t working, Weekly griping about how things are getting worse. Well ENOUGH! 85 to 90% of Americans still have a job and money to spend and the streets are not deserted. People forget that even during the Great Depression fortunes were made and the entertainment business prospered. The key is “Work” and “Creativity”. You need to find a niche market.

Well, with the help of John Abrams who is always thinking of every possible way to keep ahead of this “new economy”, I thought we would give you license to wring your hands. You read that right. I am officially giving you license to wring your hands about the economy. For more ideas see www.rebelentertainers.com.

BUT... you have to meet some qualifications. Here they are:

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve created and implemented a 5 - 10 step email campaign for anybody who visits your website or requests info about your services.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve contacted all CURRENT customers at least 3 times in the last three months by email, mail or phone.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve contacted all PAST and DEAD customers to find out why they left and see if they are in need of your services now.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve created a new show or brand new services that you can present to your current and new customers.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve started an entire new campaign either through direct mail or website or magazine ads or Facebook or Twitter and every other media you can think of to get NEW customers.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve contacted all agents and party-event planners around your area.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve attended every convention and expo within your target market.

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’ve become a member of your local Chamber of Commerce and contacted every business in the Chamber about your services

You wring your hands about the economy if....

You’re blogging regularly to your target market.

OK. If you’ve taken every single one of these actions and you’re still struggling with making money with magic in this economy, then you are officially licensed to wring your hands about the economy.

Dennis