How Do I Market to Hospitality Professionals and Students to Gain Interest

Ed..If you have a Linkedin profile, I suggest you join groups that could help you establish a network in the Hospitality industry. I would do the same on Twitter and Facebook for the student group. You can create an Ad on Facebook targetted to interest groups for a very low cost.

James..my apologies for refering to you as Ed in my answer above.

Purathatil,

I have created a LinkedIn group as well as a Facebook Group. The activity there has been pretty slow. I also have an ad on Facebook. My next step is to visit trade shows to get the word out and network directly with schools.

James:

Hospitality schools, community colleges that offer hospitality/tourism/management programs could be a good starting point.  If you haven’t done so already, you may concentrate on one or two institutions in your local area to test the need for your service to this target population.  Such targeted face-to-face marketing could give you new insights to tweak your service to better meet your audience needs.

Also, you may also consider encouraging students pursuing credentials relevant to the hospitality industry to serve as mentors to gain practical experience applying the theoretical knowledge they gained in hospitality and/or business school.  Hospitality Mentor is likely to attract entrepreneurs starting a venture in the hospitality industry without related academic credentials – such entrepreneurs could benefit from your student-mentors.