Entertainment-Related Businesses Benefit from Technological Gadgets

It seems mankind in general has a never-ending need to find entertainment.

Some find entertainment in mindless activity, others in research and learning.

Some entertain themselves working on creative projects. Some entertain themselves just by working.

Some want to interact with close friends; some want to be in a room full of strangers. Others want to be away from other people, but yet not be alone. Everyone wants to join a club and find people who have common interests.

Enter the gadget.

Whether you are in the airport, on the plane, in a coffee shop, eating at a restaurant or just walking down the street, you see people looking at gadgets. Many wear earphones. Some are talking to no one in particular, it seems.

At home, people have more gadgets — TVs, DVRs, desktop computers, laptop computers, video game machines and even radios. These things occupy the bookshelves and desks that once were dominated by books and papers.

The pathway for mankind’s need for entertainment has become the gadget.

With our gadgets, we can talk to people, write to people in real time, watch TV and movies, listen to music, listen to the radio, take pictures, draw pictures, store pictures, manipulate pictures, see other people’s pictures, make movies, create music, record music, publish music, archive music, do research, write papers, write books, publish books, buy books, read books, store books… OK, this list has become tiring to write and I’m sure tiring to read. Let’s change the subject a bit.

Not long ago, I shared an appetizer of Malpeques oysters from Prince Edward Island with my friend Webster from Louisiana at a Thai restaurant in Casper, Wyo. They were excellent. Afterwards we went to the local Irish pub and listened to a country singer/songwriter.

When I first ate at the restaurant, I joined its affinity program. The program then sent me an email asking me to “like” the restaurant Facebook page and receive a free appetizer or dessert, so I did. When they have special oysters on the menu, they let me know on Facebook. Knowing Webster, being Cajun, would enjoy a few oysters, I texted him and we met at the restaurant to enjoy conversation and oysters.

The local Irish pub has an electronic billboard in the parking lot it uses to advertise. I noticed the name of the singer and searched it on the Web while eating oysters. The singer had placed promotional videos on YouTube. After watching a couple, we decided that he was our next stop. While enjoying the music and the crowd at the pub, I “liked” the pub’s Facebook page so I could be notified if other performers I might be interested in came to town.

Webster and I had a nice evening out. I’m sure the local businesses that received our entertainment dollars were very happy.

This illustrates what local entertainment businesses must understand about today’s consumers. The gadget that people are hanging out with in their never-ending need to find entertainment can be a pathway directly to you.

“Social media” is a term that is used often to describe technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and other popular sites. These are websites and app environments where people publish and promote, self-identify like interests and monitor regularly.

Social media is a tool that can be used by a business to establish closer connections with consumers and provide information to draw them to spend on the products of the business.

For a business to grow sales through social media, overall goals must be clearly defined and a clear strategy for each component of social media determined. Metrics needed for success of your social media efforts must be identified and measured regularly.

Steven Hankins is CEO and co-founder of Accio.us, a technology company providing advisory and management services for small to medium-sized businesses. He can be reached at [email protected].