Sometimes there are other bloggers who are so clever, I just have to share them with my readers. Hayashi over at Design Sojourn has been writing about his “adventures of designing, creating, hacking and remodding my own brand of Cool Mp3 players.”

One of his latest posts defines his target audience - he actually says they are not geeks, but rather techno-philes.

Same thing, Hayashi! Well…I’ll call them Chic Geeks since they appreciate design and are savvy enough to enjoy well-designed products. He has developed several pictures of what they might be carrying:

The rest of the pictures are clever and I think he has hit his target audience right on their not-such-great-haircut heads. Read his post and look at the rest of his pictures here.

By the way, Hayashi, I am posting a link to the Linuxhelp site to help you in your target marketing research. It is the Dating Guide for Geeks (v1.0.0). Since the allure of the opposite sex always helps sell products in one way or another, I think this will help you develop ads for your Mp3 players.

Since I totally and completely agree that in marketing to a target audience you must KNOW your target audience, here are few other places to help in your research on the Geeks (oops…ignore the word geek - we’ll call them: techno-philes).
Famous Geek Haircuts

The Guide for Women Who Want to Date a Geek

Guy’s Guide to Geek Girls

Advice from a She-Geek

The Top 10 Gaming Colleges (you’re sure to find oodles of your target audience here)

Health Problems Related to the Geek Lifestyle

Top 20 Geek Novels (of course The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy made #1, duh!)

Top 10 Gifts for Geeks

And to end this list, I looked at a number of “Top 10 Movies for Geeks” lists and since I didn’t agree with any of them (and being a bit of a cult/sci-fi movie geek myself), I’m posting my own.

The Maven’s Top 10 List of Geek Movies

1. The Matrix Trilogy
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. Star Wars Trology
4. Office Space
5. Tron
6. Weird Science
7. Revenge of the Nerds
8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (ties with Monty Python’s Life of Brian)
9. Napoleon Dynamite
10. Any Star Trek Movie
11. A tie for almost made it into the top 10: X-men, Spiderman, Batman Begins, and Hellboy

Hugs and success,

Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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Hello folks,

I’ve been looking at the marketing of some interesting new types of exercise hobbies.

Some have made the Maven cut because I am intrigued and would like to try them.Others look…less fun. And if it isn’t fun, I’ll just stick with my good old running shoes, thanks.

However, instead of telling you the ones I like and don’t like, I’ll simply present them and let you decide for yourself. Does their marketing make you want to “run” out and buy one? [I crack myself up]

Power Chute - Run with a big chute-thingy dragging behind you. It looks like a mighty workout.

Zorb - Run/tumble in big airball on land or in the water. It looks very cool at night since it can be lit up.

Bullet Belt - this device allows you to run as hard as you can without going anywhere at all because your trainer is holding you back.

Powerizer Stilts - Now these things look like a guaranteed good time.

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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As the owner of a design firm, I know how hard it is to come up with a clever advertisement. Especially when it is for an everyday product. These ads are exceptional examples of clever thinking and “pictures speak louder than words.”

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

The colgate ad says “The world’s most delicious toothpaste.”

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I was listening to the news last week and heard that Ford is laying off another 10,000 workers. This is in addition to 4,000 already announced in the first quarter. The company posted a $1.3 billion loss in the first six months of 2006. And, so basically it is sacking one-third of its workforce and closing 16 American factories. The company plans to cut 45,000 jobs by 2008.

Love the stability of a corporate job.

Perhaps Grandfather Ford is unhappy in his grave. Ford’s premise was to build cars that people want and can afford. Hmmm…doesn’t Ford own Jaguar?

Big-ass gas-guzzling beast vehicles are out. Goodbye Explorer. Goodbye Navigator. Goodbye F-150. Little cars like the Toyota Yaris, the Honda Fit, and the Nissan Versa are expected to sell out in 2006. They are the Belles of the Car Ball. And oh so darn Cute! The Japanese carmakers definitely have the wee thing down. Makes me think of Hello Kitty!

So…what is Ford going to do? Merge with GM? Perhaps. So far, analysts have been less than impressed with their not-so-aggressive recovery plan.

Well, I have an idea. To keep up in with the little and cute trend, I think Ford should make MINI_PICKUPS. They can model themselves after the British Leyland Mini pickups or Austin MINI pickups:

Make some cherry red and build some pink ones for the Mary Kay ladies in Texas. Can’t you just see the possibilities? Alright Ford, let me know what you think…

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your Friendly Marketing Maven

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I am a big advocate of blogging. Of course, I am completely biased since I am a blogger.

A couple of months ago, I received a comment from a blogger who is an exceptional example of a niche business that uses a blog to its marketing advantage.

Peter is the founder of Lightening Labels, a label printing business. According to his bio, his company is one of the fastest growing label printing companies in the United States. And Peter regularly writes posts in his blog. He writes all…about…label printing. His blog is Lightening Labels Blog.

I learned a lot of things on his blog. His topics include: Label Laminates, Soap & Candle Labels, and Innovation at the Label Symposium. This man knows labels.

And, I wanted to know more. And so, I sent Peter some questions.

And folks, here are his answers:

Wendy: Why did you start your blog?

Peter: I started the blog for several reasons. There were no other label printers out there with blogs so it was a chance to be the first and put us on the cutting edge in the eye of our customers and prospects. We also wanted to have a tool to give ourselves a bit more credibility with prospects - we find most of our customers through the search engines and so the blog allows us to let people learn more about us. We also use the blog to educate our customers. Lastly I enjoy writing, and this was a useful outlet for me to pursue that passion.

Wendy: How has your blog helped your business?

Peter: It helps our business in a number of ways. As mentioned above it gives our prospects a way to learn more about us. When you rely on the search engines for business the more you can share about yourselves the better. It also helps us gain traffic from the search engines. We get people every day who come to the blog looking for something about labels on the search engines, and they end up on our main web site requesting label samples. And it allows our existing customers to get to know us better. Finally it gives us the position of authority in the label industry - we are the first company with a blog.

Wendy: What do your customers think about your blogging?

Peter: The response has been positive from our customers so far. I have had a few comments from customers who appreciated a certain post. To be honest, though, we are still trying to get the word out to all our customers. We did an email blast but because of filtering that reaches only 40% of our customer base. We do a print newsletter every quarter and we are featuring the blog in the summer issue.

Wendy: What do you think about blogging as a small business marketing strategy?

Peter: I really think every small business should have a blog. It is a way to demonstrate your expertise in your field and a way to educate your customers, and it just gives you more credibility. It really is a marketing tool and a way to differentiate your company from the competition. For a small time investment of just a couple of hours a week, you can build a database of articles very quickly. Then it is a simple matter of gathering this information together and publishing a white paper or e-booklet, that you can give away as a promotional tool.

So if you don’t have a blog yet, get yourself on over to Wordpress or Blogger and start one now. No matter what niche you are in, there are ample opportunities to write and market yourself with blogging.

Thanks Peter!

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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Last night, I went for a run.

Did I want to go for a run?

No, not really. I wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to sit on my couch and read a book. But I went anyway because exercise is a non-negotiable activity. I know if I want to stay fit and healthy, that I have to exercise.

In the same way, marketing is a non-negotiable activity for the well-being and longevity of your business. Will you want to do it? Not always.

But do it anyway. A long-term commitment to marketing is the best way to keep your company “fit.”

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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