I was pleasantly surprised the other day to find Jane mentioned in a newsletter distributed to lawyers. Not that Jane can't be a lawyer, or a doctor, or a scientist--she can be, and is, all of those things. No, my surprise was in the use of "Jane" as the representative personality being discussed in TechnoLawyer's "TechnoRelease® Tuesday" newsletter. The title of the story struck an even bigger cord, "Finally, Smart Document Drafting ... On Demand (and Jane gets a Life)."

Holy Happenstance! I thought. Batman, other folks on the Internet have found Jane, at last! (This, of course, gives away my age...yet, I understand that old show from the Dick and Jane era of the 1960s is a cult classic in Japan, so perhaps my age is still a mystery.)

The story in the technolawyer's newsletter goes on to tout a new knowledgemanagement product, using Jane as a representative of their target market. I have a note in to Gregory Miller of Ixio, VP, Marketing & Business Development, and the author of the story, to discover why he chose Jane to be his representative target in the world of legal business, but I don't need a reply to know why he chose Jane.

Not only is Jane the dominant gender logging online daily, she is the dominant gender spending money online. Beyond the personal use of the Internet, Jane is quickly moving out of the paper millennium and into the digital one for her business needs, also. As noted in a previous post, when asked, 64% of women ages 18-34 said they want to become business owners. Furthermore, those doing so are actively opening up shop online.

According to the April issue of American Demographics e-commerce is winning the customer service game. In an article titled, "Customer Satisfaction Up Online," e-retail is the clear winner, over and above bricks and mortar and online travel sites. Touting customer loyalty-- an important part of the Winning Over Women persona, as noted in my book-- the article states that 24/7 access to online solutions continues to push the bar higher every year.

In the Technolawyer newsletter, service was the cornerstone of their offering. Citing the need for "document assembly and knowledge management [that] promises faster work production, less complications, and even higher margins" to help Jane with her work, the article goes on to offer their product solution. A product that is "smart" and "on demand" in its usefulness, designed to make Jane's life easier. Sounds like Smart Marketing, to me. Nice that Gregory Miller recognized the influence of using Jane to get his product in front of the right people.

This may not be the e-retail market American Demographics was talking about, but it plays into the same scheme. In the e-retail world, Jane is Queen. Those who dispute her status should read this article from the same issue of American Demographics, "Marriage Drain's Big Cost," which states that, "Married-with-children households contribute 42 percent more to the consumer economy than total households, nearly 30 percent of the GDP." (gross domestic product) This, despite the fact that as a whole, married couples represent a small share of U.S. households.

I maintain that the married-with-children households owe their status more to Jane, than to Dick. It's just basic biology. Within that group, there are Janes who are stay-at-home Moms, there are Janes who are secretaries, lawyers, doctors, administrative assistants, managers, salespeople, etc, etc. All of those Janes are pressed for time. They view the Internet as a convenient tool-- don't make it complicated for them. Be "smart" about how you build your site and set up your shopping cart. Understand the concept of "on demand."

If you do, Jane will reward you with her business. If she likes you enough, she'll take you to work with her, and home again. That's called loyalty. Smart marketing builds loyalty.

What's not to like about that?