| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Why Market to Generation X?
Generation X"--the 40 million or so people born between 1965 and 1976--understands it is living in a world of uncertainty where neither the govern¬ment nor private employers offer lifetime financial security. This is, however, the next generation of responsible adults, bright young people with families to protect and educate...and nearly 40 years until retirement. Generation X was the backbone of Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues serving the US effort to bring peace to the Middle East. None had to be there. They chose to be there by becoming Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen or Coast Guardsmen. For example, our son, Bill, 32, was finishing a four-year Marine Corps enlistment when September 11 changed his life plan. Completing Officer Candidate School and The Basic School would mean another four-year commitment-but one he gladly made. After receiving his commission, Bill was assigned to Okinawa, and recently returned from an 8-month deployment to Iraq. So don't mistake Gen-Xers for Baby Boomers. Generation X detests labels--including the "Gen-X" tag it's had to live with--and unlike their Boomer parents, has no illusions about the future. Gen-Xers are... ? Less status-conscious than their parents, Gen-Xers are not into show, they want re¬sults. Many Xers no longer view college as the only way to prepare for vocations lead¬ing to rewarding careers. These sharp young people are becoming a significant economic and social force. ? Boldly putting their own stamp on business. Launching hi-tech and other types of companies at a record clip, Gen-Xers are less tied down by old notions of bureaucracy, and they're ready to try out their own management styles. Yet, they view financial prosperity as a by-product of a well-rounded life, not the main event. ? Risk-takers. Surveys find adversity, challenges, and the high risk of failure, far from discouraging Gen-Xers, have produced a tough, even ruthless edge. Resilience, the willingness to abandon a losing project and try again, is fundamental. ? Motivated to make a difference. Gen-Xers are attracted to careers that compel interest and provide the challenge of competition. Thirty years ago, Peter Drucker in The Ef¬fective Executive, wrote: "Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right." Judging by the wave of successful Whiz Kids with neither formal business edu¬cation nor conventional management training, Drucker's message resonates. ? Interested in good personal relationships. Embracing racial and cultural diversity more genuinely and less self-consciously than any generation before them, Xers are also more likely to be tuned-in to personal relationships and do business with someone they like and believe to be competent than with someone claim¬ing to be an "expert." ? Delaying marriage and starting families. Maybe it's because they've seen so many Boomers end up in divorce court, the so-called challenge of being single in a couples-oriented world no longer squares with the demographics. As a result, Xers also are: ? More stable when they do marry, Xers are about nesting and making a house a home. Today's newlyweds are typically more mature, well-established and have higher incomes than in the past. ? Better savers than their Boomer parents. In this they are more like their grandparents. The average Gen-X Moms and Dads start putting money away for college when their kids are 2˝, while most Boomers waited until theirs were 7. ? Rediscovering traditional family values. Appalled by the moral relativism and situational ethics of their parents' generation--the Clintons were the last straw for many young Americans (Al Gore and John Kerry amusing poseurs) Xers similarly don't buy the notion that the government-as-nanny-state knows best. Their message: It doesn't take a village, stupid, it takes parents! ? Redefining the family-career challenge. Boomer women may have opened the door to the workplace, but their daughters are facing the family-career challenge in their own ways. "I have talked to women of all ages about balancing work and family life. What has surprised me the most is the difference in outlook between women my age, 27, and women just 10 years older," says Elizabeth McGuire, a graduate student at John Hopkins School of International Studies: "But most women I know who are in their 20's are dissatisfied with [family-career] alternatives. Concerned about infertility, many of us want to have children while we're young. And though many of the dual-career couples I know who have nannies are wonderful parents and have successful careers, it seems their relationships with each other have suffered. While others debate whether day care is harmful to children, we are more worried about avoiding the frenetic pace these families seem to keep." In a word: Gen-Xers are unique. They don't do things or look at the world the way their parents did, and they have to be approached and worked with accordingly. What This Means To You Marketing and selling to Generation X is a work in progress. That means you can take what you do best and creatively wing it based on what you know about this unique mar¬ketplace. Declares motivational speaker and author, Sue A. Hershkowitz, CSP, "Look for ways to twist the familiar and success will beat a path to your door." We say: Gen-Xers may not beat a path to your door, but you can show them the way. Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net. Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training for over 30 years-but as Will Rogers put it: "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Through interactive, Web-based "Do-While-Learning?" programs, e-Newsletters and straight-talking articles, Bill helps small-business owners and independent professionals get the job done: profitably improving performance, helping grow your business, skipping expensive mistakes, making the journey to success faster, smoother, easier. And fun!
MORE RESOURCES:
marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Keep Costs Down and Keep the Marketing Strategy Simple One of the biggest mistakes we could make as business owners is spending too much money on marketing our service or product without knowing how to market it correctly. I've seen plenty of money wasted on marketing that did not produce any sales and most home based business don't have too much money to waste when ramping up. Fundraising: How To Avoid Three Common Mistakes I'm a board member of a local nonprofit and we are about to launch our annual campaign. Like other nonprofits in our community, we are facing a very competitive funding environment. Get Results: Start with Your Marketing Message and Objective Recently I was talking with a very bright traditional marketer on the value of integrating Internet marketing into an enterprise's marketing mix. Personally, I have witnessed significant and measurable increases in the online results of an enterprise when they include traditional marketing strategies like direct mail, radio, television or publicity with their internet marketing strategies. Top 10 Tips To Market & Build Your Professional Practice In building and running a professional practice (or any small business or a home-based business), there are many items that must be monitored closely. As a small operation, you can't afford to find out too late that a critical aspect of your business has gotten off-track! This list looks at 10 items to emphasize at the start of a new year, or any time you want to rapidly grow your business in a short period of time. The Power Of A Story If you want your marketing to be effective, you absolutely must connect emotionally with your prospects. And one of the best ways to do that is by telling a story. How to Turn a Marketing Calendar into Marketing Success! Do you have a list of marketing ideas that you'd like to implement, but just never seem to get around to actually doing some of them? Who has the time?Creating a marketing calendar is the only way to make sure you stick to your plans. Take it seriously - don't forward today's marketing to-do into tomorrow's list or you'll fall behind right away. Too Much To Do: Four Keys to Effective Delegating Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. Beyond Fear And Greed: Emotions That Sell Fear and Greed. The stock-in-trade of sales. Make Your Marketing Solve a Problem You may be engaged in a marketing activities that are working against you. Or, at the very least, are making sales more difficult. Grow Your Business By Getting Your Customers Buying From You More Often - 35 Ideas 35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:There are 3 ways to grow any business. Just 3:- Get more customers- Get more from each sale- Sell to each customer more frequently. Marketing is More Important Than Expertise Being a master of your craft, skill, or talent doesn't ensure the success of your business. You can be the greatest at what you do, and if nobody knows about you, you're quickly out of business. 4 Steps to Successful Offline Drawings There are many different ways to market offline, each important to your success. One of these being drawings. Moving a Business Relationship from Free to Fee: Power of Freebies - Part 2 In the last issue we looked at 5 reasons why giving stuff away is a great tactic for filling your pipeline.Now let's take a look at the kind of things you may want to give. Is A Marketing Plan The Same Thing As A Communications Plan? How does a marketing plan relate to an organization's communications plan? What are the differences? Is the marketing plan just one aspect of the communications plan? Should one consider combining them into a single document?A communications plan is a PART of your marketing plan. A communications plan is a focused strategy you use to get the word out about your business, product or service. Private Practice Marketing: 3 Secrets I Wish I Knew When I First Started Out I don't know about you, but I am still waiting for my first class in graduate school about how to develop, market, and run a private practice.I'm also still waiting for my father to have a discussion with me about the facts of life. How Can I Get Name Recognition? Some of the ways in which to get your "name out there" are to call your local television and radio stations, and ascertain whether there is a medium you can get your name in. A very good source are public stations that hold auctions, at which you can donate your services. Marry Your Marketing Plan Make a vow to keep up your marketing schedule in good times and not so good times.I have said it time and time again that marketing, no matter what type you choose, is a building process. 5 Ways to Upgrade Your Existing Marketing Materials for Practically Nothing! In addition to direct marketing strategies you want to be sure your existing passive, or indirect, marketing activities are as effective as possible. When is the last time you took a good look at your existing marketing activities?Here are some fast, easy (and free to inexpensive) ways to update and upgrade your existing marketing activities. E-commerce : The Bottom of Pyramid Approach For centuries and most of the decades in the 20th century (i.e when computer was invented) access and communication was the tool of rich and ultra rich people, prohibitively expansive to 'not so rich' and 'not at all rich' people. Promotional Lanyards to Market Your Products and Services It has become fairly common place to see Id badges dangling from a persons neck on a short cord, and on the cord or small rope itself, is printed the name of a company, or a school or an event on it. When you spot one of these, you can be sure you're looking at a lanyard.
|
| Article List | Index | Site Map |
|
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved. |
