Why Target The "Matures"Written by Bill Willard
The "Matures" are generations that came along between 1909 and 1945. Born to and tempered by economic uncertainty, older Matures were nurtured by New Deal and served in mightiest armed force fielded by any nation. The Matures' core values are a roll call of traditional American culture: Honor; optimism, selflessness, dedication to a higher purpose (self-sacrifice equals virtue). Having made World safe for democracy, men and women whom we now refer to as “Matures” attended college on G.I. Bill, opened businesses, raised families…and saw Marshall Plan rebuild Europe from ground up (many as participants!). Shared Experiences -- Seeing is Believing As a result of these shared experiences, Matures tend to believe in ability of institutions and people with expertise and will to achieve to solve problems and get things done. Still, like other people, Matures want options and need to know long-term benefits of things they buy and buy into. While they may have a soft spot for their own grandkids, at heart these people are unemotional pragmatists who distrust marketing hype, resist canned sales tactics and insist on doing business with trusted professionals with proven track records, not just anyone claiming to be an "expert." Mature Market Segments The Matures tend to think and associate with people many years younger than themselves. With that in mind, it is worthwhile to understand common characteristics associated with various age-based market segments that make up this large generational cohort and be prepared to help prospects address age-specific subjects: • Age 50 - 64: The 33 million pre-retirees between ages 50 to 64 control assets worth approximately $575 billion and have highest disposable income of any age group. This age group has a self-image of a much younger generation, is concerned with appearance, fitness, nutrition and self-fulfillment. They are good prospects for exercise equipment, cosmetics, luxury cars, financial services, investment advice and travel. While there are more or less equal numbers of men and women in this age group, many are new grandparents and spend a lot of money on their grandchildren. Also among this group are members of "Sandwich Generation." That is, younger Matures and older Boomers who may still have children in college and are in midst of planning for retirement, but who also find themselves having to provide a certain amount of financial support and make important decisions for their own parents. To keep themselves marketable some people in this situation are going back to school looking for additional income opportunities through adult education (in effect, using what they learn at school tonight on job tomorrow). • Age 65 - 74: The 17 million people in this market segment control assets worth approximately $195 billion. Largely, but not entirely, retired now, most have a great deal of free time; yet they are still very active and are concerned about diet and health, and are very sensitive about being excluded from society. They tend to choose lighter foods, use prescription medications, and buy services that help them accomplish daily chores. Because most women still outlive most men, there is an increase in number of female-headed households in this group. Many have substantial sums of money in cash equivalents. They are good prospects for travel services, restaurants and leisure activities, as well as estate planning and, increasingly, long-term care products.
| | Structure Of A Successful Music WebsiteWritten by Dan Meiyers
Ideally each page of your website should serve a specific purpose. The main purpose of sales page for your cd is to sell cd. If have a page with Google Adsense main purpose is to generate money by to get people to click on advertisement. If its not an important part or process, don't loading up page with things like unnecessary animations or sounds. This will only distract visitors from achieving task laid out for them, ie. buying your product.Below are some ideas to include in your website and main purpose of each. 1) Main Page The main pages is a general landing page to funnel visitors to different areas of your site. Create a clear and easy navigation process linked to other pages of your site. *If you use Javascript for navigation, place text link at bottom. This ensures that search engines will be able to spider site properly. You could also use this page to feature your cd, music samples and other offers. 2) Order Page(s) Create a sales letter for each item that your are selling. Tomorrow we'll go over some copywriting tips to build a successful order page. 3) Press Releases This section is where visitors can read 3rd party articles published about you, increasing your credibility and exposure. 4) Contact Information This is so people can get a hold of you to book shows, ask questions about products, collaborations, interviews or other opportunities (you never know) Include as much contact information as possible, like your phone, cell, mailing address, email etc. 5) Privacy Policy Complies with privacy laws if your are collecting any of information about your customers/visitors. This also helps to build trust and people will give their information more freely. Here's a link to a privacy policy generator. http://www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.shtml 6) Electronic Press Kit This is where you refer media to easily download an information package about you. Here's some ideas on what you can include. * Biography * Demo Songs * Pictures * Reviews/Testimonials * Sideshow Of Photos * Video or Film Footage (Windows Media or Quicktime format)
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