Okay, that makes perfect sense. I'm still with you on this! Well almost! What is/are "psychographics"? Is that like some kind of Psychiatric Doodle-Art or something? :-) LOL

Hi Winston; ======================================= Is that like some kind of Psychiatric Doodle-Art or something? LOL ======================================= LOL. Should be. The Internet makes me psycho. Seriously, though, psychographics are just one of the three marketing 'graphics.' Most people are familiar with targeting by geographics (creating your target market by where they live) and demographics (age, income, education, status or occupation, region of country, household size, etc) Psychographics is the study of people's lifestyles and behaviors, the kinds of interests they have, the values they hold and how they behave. Here's an example. Let's say you ran a tattoo parlour. Trying to target your market by demographics would be really hard. You can't really say that "men in their 30s" are your target market. But, you can look at their interests and behaviours. When you do, you'll notice that a lot of bikers have tattoos. A lot of the alternative fashion scene also has tattoos. (There's likely tons more, but that's just a quick example) So, a tattoo parlour owner could then brainstorm on ways to reach their market in additional ways. Sure, he could place an ad in a tattoo magazine. Along with tons of others, of course. The savvy tattoo shop owner might also write an article on tips to keep a tattoo vibrant in color and inhibit fading - and submit it to an alternative fashion magazine. If they like the article, he can tell them that instead of sending him a "freelancer" payment, he'd be happy if they'd just mention the url of his website underneath the article. (Like the author bios we see online) Voila - he's reached the "white ring" absolutely free, gained the credibility of being published (third party endorsement) and there are no competitors listed beside him as there would be in an ad scenario. The point of psychographic targeting is that somewhere along the way, marketers realized that a lot of people who are interested in "A" are also interested in "B" and maybe "C, D, and E" It opens a door to additional places to advertise - or better yet - to reach consumers with non-advertorial advice and tips that offer credibility as well as attention. I could write a book on this topic alone (lol) so if you have questions, ask away. I don't mind. : ) Linda

Thanks Linda, Now I'm off to write an article on "Doodle-Art for Psychos'". That should draw in some real winners! :-) Okay back to reality for a minuite! The first two types of targeting I am familiar with to some degree, but this psychogrphics was something I had never heard of before. What you say makes sense to me. Now to go offline with pencil and paper in hand and see what I can come up with. And it actually makes more sense for me (at least in my mind) to use this type of targeting approach than the first two as I seem to be really struggling in those areas. In one business I have no problem determining who my target market is and making contact with them. This greeting card business is a little different though. I've been having a hard time in figuring out "who" to market it too with any degree of targeted approach. Because this business is still relatively new to me, especially online, I think I have to step out of the box for a minute and look at it from a few different directions.

Linda, =========== So... there you go. A starting point. Fire away and ask your questions, 'cause I know you have them. lol =========== How on earth do you get to your target online, especially if you are not a fan of the paid advertisement.

Winston, ================ Is that like some kind of Psychiatric Doodle-Art or something? LOL ================ That is so funny I almost wet my pants. What a GREAT sense of humor you have.