Women's Buying/Reading Preferences

The Women's Business Center (WBC) held their 5th annual WBC Celebration & Showcase this week at CR Sparks in Bedford, NH. There were 45 women business owners exhibiting, including My Handyman. At events, I try to learn more about prospective customers including the best ways to build a relationship with them. I thought it would be helpful to share the results of my mini survey.

24 people completed survey cards and another 10 left business cards. Here's what I learned:

• Would you prefer to buy from a woman?   20 said yes ... 91%
• Have you heard about 4 Walls ONE Roof, a network of Women Owned businesses providing products and services for the home? only 2 said yes ... 9%
• Do you read The Mirror (year old, semimonthly magazine targeting women)? only 2 said yes ... 9%
• Do you read Applaud Magazine ( 5 yr old magazine for women)? had 7 yes responses ... 32%

Where do you look for women owned businesses? The responses varied quite a bit:

• Web was the clear winner here with 9 mentions ... 41%
• Networking, and women's organizations were clearly important to this group of women with 10 mentions ... 45% (WBC received 4 mentions, Business and Professional Women got 1, Southern NH Women's Business Network got 1 and WMW (not familiar with this group) got 1 mention. 

I am continually looking for new & creative ways to reach potential customers so the following questions provided some insight into ideas I'm considering:

• Do you do any home repairs yourself? 15 women said yes ... 63%
• Would you attend a home repair workshop? 16 of 22 said yes ... 73%
• Are you involved in school fund raising? only 2 said yes ... 9%

Some initial thoughts from reviewing this data:

• Professional women don't frequent the typical distribution points, i.e. grocery stores, that The Mirror & Applaud use heavily. A different approach to reach these women is needed.
• Professional women rely on their women's networking groups for support in their professional AND personal lives.
• Women are involved in maintaining their homes & want to develop knowledge and skills in this area so My Handyman should give this consideration.
• Professional women may not have school age children, which is why they're no longer involved in school fund raising.

PLEASE share similar information that you have and/or ideas about how to leverage this information. It's easy to click on "comments" and add your feedback for everyone to see.