Thanks to my friend, Michael Russer, a guru of modern marketing for the real estate industry, for a couple of great quotes that are particularly apropos of the innkeeping world today.

Charles Darwin said, "It's not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." In more recent years Eric Hoffer wrote, "In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

Having watched the real estate industry teeter on the verge of extinction along with travel agents a few years ago, I can attest to the power of learning and adapting to survive and, I might add, thrive. There are lots of B&Bs and inns out there who are doing business the same way they have for years, and some are struggling. After all, hospitality is hospitality, right? Yes and no. How you treat people will never change, i.e. caring for them and doing the right things for them. It's how you get those people to begin with that is changing at warp speed. It's called Web 2.0 and now Travel 2.0.

Believe me, at The B&B Team we don't have all the answers, but we're LEARNING FAST what we need to do, and what our clients need to be doing, to remain successful. And we see some innkeepers who are adopting social media into their marketing campaigns with stellar results. Take a look at how George and Janice Yankowski have incorporated new media into their site at The Maine Stay Inn in Kennebunkport, ME. Also the Thomas Shepherd Inn in Shepherdstown, WV and The Whitegate Inn in Mendocino, CA are blogging for guests. How about your area: are other innkeepers blogging? Take a look to find out. Ask them how it's going.

When was the last time you tried something really, really new? I bet it was fun!

Peter