Marketing to Women Online in a New Economy

CNN keeps me company as I work every day, a kind of white noise in the background. The election has been dominant, of late. As expected. Part of that is story after story on Sarah Palin. If you recognize the importance of women as a market, you might have thought...before last night's election, that Sarah was the epitome of women's achievement.

You might, if you read Fortune Magazine or Forbes or TIME, think that women like Sarah and the ever popular Hillary, not to mention Oprah, are the women we of the fair sex who open our own businesses aspire to become; the women we want to to be like. I personally think you would be wrong.

Here's why...

Women are the dominant gender online. Women have buying power today like never before. Women are flocking to the net to conduct business, be that a part of a million dollar venture or a small, simple, but talented home-based business. Women are taking charge, folks.

When I see reports on the 50 Most Powerful Women in the country or the world, I stop and wonder: who are these women? These are not women I know. These are not women I will ever meet or sit across a table from. These are not women who will share secrets with me or advise me on whether or not to take a loan out to keep my business afloat. These are women from a different universe.

The women who make America proud, who are slaving to keep us strong and powerful as a world power...and who are the anchors that keep us afloat, are the women I meet on this blog, and on Twitter. Women who make beautiful jewelry at home. Women who create new prodcuts to fill a need. Women who use their time and talent to sew, or create, or invent...exciting bling or new recipes or books on how to be what you want to be! These are the women I used to watch and want to emulate.

My mother - who worked harder than anyone I know, and encouraged me to be the writer I always wanted to be. My mother - who ran a grocery store back in the late 20th century, and could do math in her head; which I will never be able to be. She is one of the most powerful women in the world. Because she actually buys (or would buy if I could get her to use the Internet) the wonderful trinkets my Twitter gals make at home and sell online.

My sisters - all of them. The two in Endicott who raised families to be proud, upstanding citizens - who lived in rural America because they're country girls at heart, who put family first. Both of them so talented I cannot compete, but who have not taken that path of using their outstanding talents to become entrepreneurs. They're the women I want to be like. They know how hard we all work to create excellence in our products and services.

And my youngest sister who lives here in Rochester and who has been put through more turmoil than any six people I know, but who always comes out smiling and eager to help others. She's the kind of woman that has power. She has yet to come into her true talents - but I see them in her, shining through her big blue eyes.

These are the most powerful women in the universe. These women, and all the women I meet every day on Twitter, are the women who make the decisions that keep this country running. When you're thinking of your sales for 2009, or for the holidays this year, think of these women. Get to know them. Talk to them. Listen to what they have to say. Don't dismiss their "chatter" because that chatter might be about you, or about a competitor.

Embrace these women and their attention to their families. Make life better for them. Show them how you can improve their lives, and the lives of the people they love.

Our new President-elect, Barack Obama, says of America... "all things are possible" and he should know. If you look at the women's market and the power within it, all things can be possible for you, too.

I can do no more than leave you with this quote from Meryl Streep: "Take your heart to work and ask the most and best of everybody else."

Comments

[Courtney]

You're so right. Women in the online space are moving and moving fast in business.

[Yvonne DiVita]

@Stephanie - you are so on target with that demeaning and STUPID VW commercial! To think someone made $$ to creat it, and that Brooke Shields (who doesn't need the $$) thinks she's accomplishing something...is outrageous.

@Lena - you are an honorable tribute to your Mom. And to all women, everywhere. We are fortunate to have you as a Lip-sticking contributor. Thank you!

@Fiona - yes, we do influence others, a great deal in small ways as well as large ways. It's what women do - without even thinking about it. Thanks for sharing and for introducing me to your great site. I can't wait to share further in a Link Love post, soon.

@Mary - could not have said it better. What a concept, that women are different and that power has multiple definitions. When marketing to women online, it helps to understand that we are a collective group - of individuals.

[Mary Schmidt]

Certainly there's still a glass ceiling...but more of us are leaving that particular old, creaky building. We're creating our own opportunities and refusing to be pigeon-holed.

if nothing else, the Sarah Palin media storm well illustrates how many still simply Do. Not. Get. It. There is no one type of woman and "power" has many definitions.

[fiona]

all of us are making a difference, influencing someone in some way, however small, in our own way... and that's what it's all about..
thanks

[Lena L. West]

There is a local radio personality in NY who refers to people whom she doesn't know, but who are still important/influential in her approach to life, as "friends in her head".

And, while I think it's important to have a good number of "friends in our heads" (Sir Richard Branson is like my total BFF - in my head), I think it's equally, if not more, helpful to have tangible examples of success - however you define it.

Sure, there are many times when I think, "How would Madeline Albright handle this?" but I'd be lying if I didn't also hold in my mind the vision of my mother - a single mother living in New York doing whatever was necessary to draw me closer to a better life.

WWMD? (What Would Mami Do?)

[StephanieInCA]

I certainly hope we're going to see more women in leadership positions going forward. I think there's a lot of dissonance when a largely male advertising "machine" tries to reach out in a relevant way to women-- VW's creepy "Routan Boom" campaign is a great example: http://urbzen.com/2008/11/06/routan-bust/

There might be cracks in the glass ceiling, but it's definitely still there.