Have you ever marketed to a certain group?

[callthatgirl]

Examples:

• Gay Market
• African Americans
• Hispanic/Spanish
• Women groups
• Small Office/Home Office (SOHO)
• Male groups
• Sporting groups (golf, hunting, shooting, athletics)
• Disabled/Deaf
• Unemployed/transitioned
• Stay at home moms

Last September, I decided to market to the Gay folks in Minneapolis. It's a huge market and while I have many clients who are gay, it's hard to get into their target market withotu paying big bucks for ads in their big newspapers. I opted to pay a lesser charge and advertise in a bootstrapping local magazine for a way lesser cost. BTW...this was my ONLY advertising cost in 2009, $75 a month and I got print/online/newsletter blasts. We created cool ads and I haven't got one call in 7 months. They say advertising takes time. I wait...

Then in the last 2 weeks, I got an email from one of the most well known drag queens in Minneapolis. Wants to work witih me. She/He is in love with my logo and marketing and wants to help me. He/She called with about 10 ideas of how we could market together and I was in awe.

He/She has a podcast of 10,000 listeners, wants to interview me
Has an itunes download for interview/3,000 downloads
Has an very active blog/wants my logo/unknown

And endless ideas, or so it seems...we meet on Wed for a formal chat/meeting, I am totally excited! This is a huge deal for a business like mine and I will work this market.

We cannot forget in marketing to do what is good for business. How are you marketing? What demographic? Who are our potential clients? ANYONE!!!

Think outside the box, no matter where you live.

[sjlplat]

Wow, it sounds like your marketing paid off. I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere, but in Albuquerque the gay community is pretty tight-knit. It's a valuable community to have on your side, as they tend to be very social and they will spread the word about you -- good or bad.

Out here the community consists of mostly older people, and that is the demographic that I will be targeting. A lot of people around here are retired, farmers, ranchers, and/or have ties to the oil industry. Since corporate work is sparse, you also find a lot of small businesses.

The general area is heavily populated with lower-income families, so I am trying to come up with some services that might be beneficial to this demographic as well. It might not yield a lot of revenue, but it will show that I am a good steward to the community.