I have been working on a lot of fun projects.

In January, a local group of hotels asked me to speak about digital marketing and advertising techniques. I included my presentation below but need to warn you that you will probably need headphones to hear it. The next time I do a presentation, I will amp up the volume.

At the end of the presentation I talk about a new site / service we created. My goal was help connect the hotel industry with people looking for hotel rooms. I wanted to create something that all hotels could be a part of and equally benefit everyone involved. So without further adieu I introduce to you WhosGotRoom.com the easy way to find a hotel room.

The goal of Who’s Got Room is to help people find a hotel room in any town immediately. At the same time, we want to help hotels fill their empty rooms.

The site has a lot of work ahead and not many hotels are in the system yet. But as the site grows, people will be able to find available hotel rooms wherever they travel. Instead of just being able to find a hotels in Fargo, ND, or a hotels in Ashland, NH, you will be able to search any city for available hotel rooms.

Who’s Got Room lists the most recently updated hotels first in order to provide the most relevant information possible. If you are driving across the country, the site allows you to know what hotels ahead have available rooms. If a snowstorm comes while you are driving down the interstate, you won’t have to call 10 different hotels to know what’s available. Or perhaps you neglected to get a room early when attending a concert on New Year’s Eve. Who’s Got Room can help. You get the idea.

Nine times out of 10, hotels will have availability in the area you are questioning. But that isn’t always the case, and you never know if you are heading to a town without rooms. For that, you now have Who’s Got Room.

The site is in BETA and liable to break, which we encourage. Give us your feedback and tell us your thoughts. We’d love to hear them.

Video below is of Josh Whitford speaking for the Fargo Moorhead Lodging Association (click here and skip to 11:30 to hear the start of my presentation and 49:00 to see Who’s Got Room.com).

This guest post is from Chelle, a freelance real estate marketing assistant and writer. If you enjoy this post, be sure to check out her real estate marketing blog for more marketing ideas. If you would like to guest post on the Unconventional Marketing Blog go to the guest post page to learn more.

There’s a very simple question that many marketers and businesses fail to ask themselves:

“What do people need?”

We think we know the answer to this, since most businesses offer specific products/services that meet specific needs. For example, if you are sick, you see a doctor. If you need your car fixed, you go to a mechanic. If you need to buy something, you go to a store. You have a need; the business meets it.

But what many businesses fail to recognize is most consumers typically have more than “a need”. We usually have several needs. And on top of needs, we have wants, too. When you think like a customer you can identify these needs and wants and use them to enhance their experience. Enhancing their experience is one easy to implement strategy for attracting and retaining new customers, and for many businesses can even be an additional source of income.

Thinking like your customers is as easy as asking yourself these questions:

• Why does the customer need my product/service?
• What will the customer need while using my product/service?
• What will the customer do before and after using my product and/or service?

You should be able to come up with a decent sized list of things you can do to meet these extra needs of the customer. Some of these things you may not be able to provide yourself – but you could partner with existing businesses to extend your auxiliary services through referrals. Referrals, when chosen wisely, can not only bring more business to you, but also increase potential income if you are able to collect a small referral fee or commission.

To give you a few ideas on how you can use auxiliary services, here are a few examples of add-on services a business could provide:

• Shopping centers offering childcare so parents (and other shoppers!) can shop in peace
• Doctors calling in prescriptions ahead of time so the customer doesn’t have to wait in line
• Mechanics offering pick-up and drop-off services for your vehicle so you don’t have to go through the hassle of dropping your car off
• A vet offering medications, grooming supplies, and referrals to dog walking services or groomers
• A wedding planner referring a caterer, reception hall, musician, travel agency, or florist
• A moving company offering packing services, boxes, and property clean-up services
• A web based business providing forums or automated call center for support

There are endless possibilities when you start thinking like a customer and what they need. The more you offer, the more your business will grow and become profitable. Just be careful you don’t get too big or too far off base from your business – most customers would not be too keen on having surgery at an auto repair shop!

Are you thinking like your customer? Do you understand what they need? What auxiliary add-on services could you provide to enhance their experience while expanding your business?