The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

In the United States women make more than 80 percent of discretionary purchases, which is why in this economy many companies are looking to amp up their female marketing efforts, according to a recent article published in The Economist. These companies are anticipating that a female-focused strategy will result in a much-needed sales boost.

“Frito Lay, a snack-food company owned by PepsiCo, has launched a campaign called ‘Only in a Woman’s World’ to convince that crisps and popcorn are not just for male, beer-guzzling sports fans. Office Max, America’s second-largest office-supplies company, has redesigned its notebooks and file-holders to appeal to women and has run advertisements that encourage women to make their cubicle more colourful. For the first time, McDonald’s was a sponsor of New York Fashion Week in February, promoting a new line of hot drinks to trendsetting women.” 

The great thing about marketing to women is that they’re loyal, and if they like you, word of your product or service will spread like wildfire. You have to be careful though. Marketing to women isn’t as easy as simply feminizing your product (a.k.a. turning it pink and purple and slapping a pretty bow on it). Marketing to women requires an understanding of how women think as consumers. For example, women want to know the details, and they aren’t afraid to ask for them. So they demand more in terms of information and customer touch points. With this in mind, you can develop your product, service and/or Web site in such a way that information delivery and customer service have a strong presence.

Whatever you decide to do in an effort to bring women to the forefront of your marketing efforts, don’t just copy tactics and programs that have worked for others. Instead, bear them in mind and focus more on learning as much as you can about the women who buy your particular product or service and cater to their needs.

If your business is going to have a Web site, then your Web site needs to have a domain name. Before you begin the domain name registration process, however, you need to understand what makes a good domain name and the qualities that make your domain name relevant and important to your business.

Most businesses use their company name, which is usually a wise choice. If you’ve already created a company name that’s short, memorable, unique, gives clues as to what you do, and has good keywords, then go with it. Using your company name as your domain name is especially important if you are a local business. Local businesses don’t usually thrive off traffic from all over the Web, so search engine presence may need to take a back seat to growing awareness of your company name in a specific area.

Bernard Madoff, investment fund manager and former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, admitted to being responsible for the largest and longest Ponzi scheme in history, swindling $65 billion away from thousands of investors over the past three decades. If the idea of Bernie Madoff spending the rest of his life in prison isn’t enough to set your mind at ease however, perhaps smashing his face across the fairway will do the trick.

Small startup Sleazeballs LLC was launched to help those who golf and hate Bernie Madoff deal with their anger in a more constructive and slightly comical manner. Bernie Madoff golf balls, complete with his name and likeness imprinted on the sweet spot, promise to provide “maximum deception,” “optimum spin for maximum duplicity,” as well as “guaranteed cut-throat action.” Oh, and it comes with a complementary “sham cover.”

Madoff is the first sleazeball to hit the market, but the business owner (who is not giving out his name) claims there will be more as soon as a suitable person comes along.

The balls come three to a sleeve for $17.95 and are pretty much one of the coolest business ideas I’ve seen in a while. 

Have a great weekend!

Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch post  eariler this week about the prescription drug Provigil definitely aired some dirty laundry among the entrepreneurial community. “The buzz lately is that it’s the ‘entrepreneur’s drug of choice,’” according to Arrington. Provigil is only approved to treat narcolepsy, but entrepreneurs are using it to work upwards of 20 hours a day and still maintain focus and concentration. Apparently the drug works wonders, according to the post and many of the comments.

So am I shocked by this? No, but I am a little disheartened. It reminds me of the whole baseball/steroids fiasco. People were upset because they like to think that greatness comes from those who are truly great, not those who are good but use drugs to give themselves that extra push. I think, in many ways, the same principle applies here.

Beyond the obvious health hazards (it hasn’t been proven safe for this kind of use) and the horrible example it sets, abusing prescription drugs doesn’t project a positive image. I appreciate an entrepreneur who works hard and sacrifices to make it big. But when “performance enhancing” drugs are involved, I tend to not appreciate the work as much, if at all.

Provigil may not end up having any long-term side effects or serious health risks, but it’s still a prescription drug for a reason, the abuse of which is never a good idea. On top of that, what about the health issues involved with sleep deprivation. I think they’re far graver than most people realize. So why not just work as hard as you can and then refresh yourself with some sleep? Is there something wrong with that approach?

John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing blog posted a brilliant entry on social marketing earlier this week. His idea of building upon your social marketing strategies as you progress up the social marketing hierarchy is intriguing. I do, however, have one modest gripe. I think that social networking is far more important to social marketing because of the substantial amount of engagement it provides. 

Having said that I still think that it’s a fantastic article with insightful information, so I encourage you to check it out for yourselves.