For the past two weeks, we have had some great ideas for our Tuesday Fit by Five, but each week brings something new to tackle at the office, and our Fit by Five gets shuffled off to a corner of our desk.
Today, we will try to give you Five Rewarding Tips on how to market online to women -- successfully. First, we are going to start off with a report written by David Kirkpatrick, from Fortune magazine, that talks about how the U.S. is doing our young girls a disservice:
Kirkpatrick interviewed Carol Bartz, CEO of Autodesk for the last 13 years, who said this about the U.S. declining interest in math and engineering,
"Lots of tech executives are wringing their hands about U.S. competitiveness, especially because of declining interest in math and engineering. Are you?
Oh, I’m terrified. I’m really terrified for our girls. I have a 16-year-old who likes dance and singing. But what I say to her is, "You have to be able to pass freshman college calculus, end of story." Girls are steered to liberal arts. And that decision was made for them in fifth grade.
Jane hopes YOU, dear reader, are not making that mistake -- steering your daughters towards liberal arts, when math and science are crying for their participation. We don't advocate shoving them into it, but...nudging doesn't hurt! And, it will make Mom so happy -- she'll be sure to pass the word along that you understand women. That's good marketing to women online, any day!
Next, from our friend over at the White Rabbit Inn, AJ Boggio, we learned that "Women Drive Changes in Consumer Technology." Do say! (requires free registration to the Chicago Tribune.) In essence, the article notes that "it's not about pretty colors: Analysts say women who buy electronics generally want to understand how the products will help improve their lives."
Hmmm...Jane wonders where you've heard that before? Perhaps right here, at Lip-sticking, or at WonderBranding, or at reinventioninc blog? We're sure you've heard it a number of places -- but did you really get it?
According to the article, the "path to the holy grail" -- giving women what they want -- consists of learning, via focus groups sometimes, how to design products that women will buy. Are YOU asking the right questions? Are YOU keeping in mind that women influence or purchase well over 90% of the goods and services in the U.S.? We hope so.
Let's look at some recent stats concerning women and the Internet. From our friend Kelly Papincheck, Communications Director at Schipul -- the Web Marketing Company, we received this updated information, which she received from eMarketer: mainly, that "It's A woman's web."
The article states, " "While the ratio of females to males in the general population is expected to hold steady through 2009, that won't be the case on the Internet," says Ms. Williamson. "Cultural, societal and Internet business trends are combining to shift the balance toward women. Because of these factors, eMarketer projects that the female majority online will become more pronounced over the next five years — and that will have a transformative effect on content, commerce and marketing." "
But, that's only half of it. The other half is that Kelly is among 15 recipients of the 2005 International Femtor Awards through the eWomen Network. Kelly considers this "one of the greatest opportunities I have had to join a network of such accomplished women. I'm looking forward to expanding my network across the country and even internationally as I grow in my career."
Now, Kelly is someone you want shopping at your site. She won't do it if you treat her like a child, or like part of a sheep-herd. Get to know her -- she may be coming to your site any day now. Great going, Kelly. And congratulations!
Another tip we have for this week is the idea to offer your women visitors a series of Tips and Tricks. In fact, we know someone who can help you do just that, Paulette Ensign. Her site, Tips Booklets, gives all sorts of great advice on how to do this. She also offers her own Tips Booklets, which we know from experience, contain LOTS of great ideas and advice. On her homepage she says, "Transform your knowledge into electronic and hard copy tips booklets to use for marketing, motivating, and making more money." 
We will sign off with a short announcement -- tonight, at 8:30 EST, Yvonne (aka Jane) is participating in a Conversation With Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line. The 'conversation' will be on Smart Marketing to Women Online (you thought maybe we'd talk flower arrangements??). It's hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff of Build a Better Blog System.
We hope you'll be there. Click on over and register at http://www.ConversationsWithExperts.com .
What's not to like about that?
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