Do you know who buys, or is likely to buy, your 
products, services, or information?

If not, you should be looking for demographic 
information that will help you make good marketing 
decisions.

You do not have to be a research guru in order to use 
demographic information. Just look for the results of 
studies other people have done and then apply them to 
your business.

For example, my audience is the mature market...people 
over 50. There is a lot of data on this group and more 
studies are being done daily. Some data I found 
indicated that older people are avid readers. They 
really like newspapers and magazines. If I was trying 
to find clients for estate planning services, I would 
know that I should advertise through newspapers and 
magazines, rather than spend money on television.

Since my business is internet-based, this information 
about reading tells me that I should provide a content-
rich web site for my older customers, and that mailing 
a printed newsletter could be another way to develop my 
customer relationships.

How do you find demographic data?  First, find out 
who might be keeping tabs on your audience. I know, for 
instance, that AARP surveys people over 50 constantly. 
AARP makes that information available on its website.  
I also know that Forrester Research 
(http://www.forrester.com) 
does studies on older people, along with many other 
groups. Yankelovich Partners 
(http://www.yankelovich.com/) has been a leader in 
market research on older consumers; and Age Wave 
(http://www.agewave.com/) collects tons of stats on 
this market for its website.

Although AARP data is free, research firms sell their 
information...often at prices that the small business 
or entrepreneur cannot afford. But, by reading their 
news releases and the snippets of data they make 
available to the general public, you can glean quite a 
bit. To find firms that do research on your 
demographic, check out MarketResearch.com 
(http://www.marketresearch.com/).

Another great source are the news release distribution 
services. You can sign up to receive their news 
releases by email. Common ones are Internet Wire 
(http://www.internetwire.com), Internet News Bureau 
(http://www.newsbureau.com), and PR Web 
(http://www.prweb.com).

In addition, there are search tools you can use to make 
your data collection easier. Copernicus 
(http://www.copernic.com/desktop/index.html) is search 
software that is downloaded to your computer. It will 
search most search engines for keywords and phrases. 
You can get a free trial version to see how it works. 
Tracerlock (http://www.tracerlock.com) is a web-based 
service that searches most of the news portals on the 
web and then alerts you by email when it finds your 
keywords. I have found this very useful and gladly pay 
its monthly fee. Spyonit (http://www.spyonit.com) is a 
free service that will spy on specific URLs or 
keywords and phrases. It delivers what it finds to you 
by email.

Don't overlook the magazines and journals that are 
specific to your audience. For the older audience, I 
keep an eye on the AARP magazines, Readers Digest, 
Aging Today, and several others. Even a regular perusal 
of the daily newspaper will yield lots of information. 
USA Today is a great source of quick, easy-to-
understand statistical data. Take a look at the NYTimes 
online, and sign up for The Wall Street Journal's 
online version.

By casting your information "net" in this way, you are 
more likely to come across data that will help you 
devise better marketing strategies. In addition, you 
will find a lot of content for your website and ezine.

Now, if I could just figure out how to use the fact 
that the older market is an up and coming group for pet 
supplies (it's true!).