Yvonne here - Jane is taking a break. Maybe the truth is that I'm taking a break, from trying to be two different women. Jane will reappear at selected moments...but, for the most part, you're stuck with me, dear readers.

It's Sunday. Cold, bitter, white, and slippery here in Upstate, NY. We braved the weather at 11:00 a.m. this morning to walk the dog, and discovered we should have taken our ice-skates along!

As we begin the 3rd week of January, in the New Year, let's see what marketing to women online dirt I can share...

First, in case you doubt my word, I refer you all to the Pew and Internet Life Project for the latest on how men and women shop online. For instance, their report says,

"women are enthusiastic online communicators, and they use email in a more robust way. Women are more likely than men to use email to write to friends and family about a variety of topics: sharing news and worries, planning events, forwarding jokes and funny stories."

This tells me that you should be approaching the women's market by being friendly, newsy, helpful, and funny. If you're having trouble getting your head around being friendly, newsy, helpful or funny...I suggest you get some ladies on board to show you how.

Depending on your target market - women of a certain age (often called baby boomers), women with young kids (often referred to as echo boomers or Gen Xers), as well as college students (Gen Ys), and teens or tweens...the up and coming consumers of tomorrow - you'll need to spend some time getting a clear picture of how your core market (remember: that small, eager group of women on the lookout for what you sell) shops, where they congregate, and who, among them, influences them. Blogs are good for that. And, this blog, in particular, has a new project we'll be launching soon...to help you figure out what women really want.

In the meantime, I suggest adding pets to your arsenal. Women are big on pets. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Assoc. (APPMA), 63% of U.S. households own a pet. 45% of them own more than one pet. Favorite pets: no big surprise, it's Dogs followed by Cats. I have one of each...and, yes, they are definitely members of the family. The dog sleeps in her own bed, right next to mine, and the cat snuggles up on the bed...at my feet.

In the near future, I'll have information on Pet Insurance, too.

Stay tuned.