Do you know your market?

Recently a client asked me about the Hispanic-American statistics online. I was impressed by this question and decided to do some research. In Texas, this is a growing demographic. Many companies in the Southwest offer services in Spanish to try and tap into this market. It turns out internet is making this particular client simpler to reach.

In May, I looked into a breakdown of the Hispanic-American market in regards to media. eMarketer offers a very comprehensive article with multiple graphs on the subject. Over all, it shows that Hispanic-Americans use more media than other Americans, even though they often have more limited access to the internet.

eMarketer predicts that the US Hispanic population will grow to 30 million by 2012. We are at 23 million currently. That's 7 million in the next four years.

In business terms, what does this mean? Its always smart to be aware of your audience; what their needs and wants are. If you already market to Hispanic-Americans, it might be time to focus a little harder on your online efforts. The rest of us should make sure we are open and accessible to all races and cultures. The internet truly cuts race out of the picture for many businesses (and it is truly a blessing that we can be colorblind). Yet, we should still stay vigilant to the market and where it is heading.

The Hispanic market is expanding online. Your business might not be targeting this demographic but if you are interested in finding out more about your niche I highly suggest using eMarketer to track down your perfect client and their internet habits.

The center of the internet, in case you didn't know, is here

But all joking aside, where do you think the center of the internet is? In the past, most
people might say a search engine like our friends at

.

Or perhaps your browser is central to your online experience. Of course that is very important and I suggest if you are still using internet explorer, please consider switching to firefox.

I think the center of the internet, however is quickly becoming personalized. If you own an antique bookstore you don't need to be as big as Amazon. The Niche website is coming into power and with it, the power of small business.

Don't let this scare you:

In the end, all that matters is this:

Far too often I meet small business owners without websites. I'm incredulous. I immediately ask "Why?" Often I hear this: "Why should I spend money on a site no one will look at?"

I'm floored that so many business owners still think only big businesses need a website. To me, the internet exists for small businesses. People want to buy from local businesses! They are often cheaper, have better customer service and often fill a niche. Kroger may offer meat when you need it but sometimes you want that perfect type of fish, rare enough not to be stocked in the big stores... or you may have a thing for German pop music and the selection at Virgin Music will probably not be very big. Thus, the need for local, niche business.

The great thing about the internet is that now, if you own a niche, people across the globe can find you! Niche websites have practically become a buzz word in internet marketing circles. iMedia says that people are moving away from portals in favor of blogs and websites revolving around their particular interests. This trend is called The Long Tail effect. Chris Anderson coined the term and wrote an interesting article back in 2004 all about it. What it boils down to is that mainstream isn't the entire pie, there is a huge market out there for what's not "popular". Everyone has their distinct needs and interests.

Chris has a book and a blog that go into more detail about what The Long Tail is and how it effects business. Its worth checking out.

I'm curious if anyone has experienced the niche effect, like receiving internet business from across the country. I'd love to spotlight some cases, let me know if you have one.

First of all, magic number of the day: 67.

Google hit an all time high recently. They accounted for 67.9% of all web searches. Which just goes to show, advertising with someone who can put you on 30 search engines... not the best way to use your resources.

NEW STUFF:

Over with the links, under blogroll, I've listed Blogs I've Helped With. Right now there are two. These are people who I suggested getting a blog to or physically helped them set it up. Right now we have Joan Cole who has a neat project she's blogging about, her new green dream home. Also, I linked to Big Al. Big Al creates delicious Texas BBQ rubs. He has information about himself and his products and is planning to list meat-tastings and other events. Check them out!

Last but not least, if you haven't seen Twitter. Check it out. I'm sure I'll blog about it soon. But if you interested, you can find me there.

Who knew a single color could be so powerful. More and more companies want to label themselves green. In fact, with more and more petitions like the one in the UK and campaigns going around, it is strongly encouraged.While advertising inserts are still ranked #1 as the most effective marketing tool, the pressure to go green may change that.

The internet looks like the media of choice to replace direct mail-outs. The debate continues over which web tool will replace "junk mail". I suggest anything that falls into the magical category of permission-based marketing which I have discussed before.

And because I can't resist. I know, its horrible.

I have heard my generation called any number of things, the "blinking 12:00's" after digital clocks when they reset, generation "Y" as a compliment (or not so complimentary) to generation "X", and Dan Tapscott in his book Growing up Digital (he also wrote Wikinomics) calls us the "Net" Generation or N-Geners for short. I gave up and just say "I grew up in the Information Age."

What's so important about the children of the Baby Boomers? Well, we are changing the face of the world, which may not sound that huge, every up-and-coming generation does. However, marketing strategies, technology and even communication will have to change to accommodate these tech-savvy young adults and kids. Already we are untouched by TV and radio ads because we've been flooded with advertisement our entire lives. We multi-task through two and three kinds of media at once. We are making newspapers obsolete.

So how should this change your marketing strategy? What is the most important thing for your company to do? If you don't know, find out.

So. We've established that more and more women go online. The upcoming generations are also completely immersed in internet culture and the teen online population continues to skyrocket. And, as with every other market, the Baby-Boomers refuse to get left behind. In 2006, at least 58.2 million Boomers accessed the internet at least once a month. eMarketer predicts that number will jump to 63.7 million by 2011. That's about 5 million more Boomers online! About a one million increase each year. The web isn't just for kids, every single generation, gender and race is only increasing in online number. Even the "Silver Surfers", those 60+ are predicted to increase by 7 million in the same 5 year period, taking hold of 12% of internet users.