Alex Pooley's Blog

On the back of yesterdays post regarding opportunities in marketing Internet content to women, here’s another opportunity for the enthusiastic Internet entrepreneur (why is that word so hard to type?!)…

“This”:http://p6.hostingprod.com/@ventureblog.com/articles/indiv/2005/001227.html article discusses how to make money off the long tail phenomenon. I recommend reading it through, but the most important bit is at the end of the article:

“_The real money is in aggregation and filtering and those will continue to be interesting businesses for the foreseeable future._”

This comment is in the context of exploiting the long tail phenomenon that has gained wider appreciation over the last few years.

The thing to take away from this article is that the long tail has opened up new business opportunities but there’s still plenty of opportunity everywhere else on the Internet.

“Check out my comment on the blog for a more detailed discussion if you’re interested.”:http://ventureblog.com/vb-mt/mt-tb.cgi?__mode=view&entry_id=1227

So “here’s”:http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6011557.html a “study” suggesting that women make up the majority of younger Internet users.

“_Eighty-six percent of women ages 18-29 are Web users, compared with 80 percent of men. But 34 percent of men 65 and older use the Internet, compared with 21 percent of elderly women._”

OK, so firstly, 80%+ using the Internet is awesome for anyone working with computers. Those starting a venture should target this younger demographic. Secondly, women using the net more than men.. that’s a suprise. There’s more:

“_…while women tend to value things involving relationships or human connections_”

Those that have been keeping up with the Internet bubble that has been simmering away will be aware of all those social software sites that keep sprouting up. With all this social software around, how much is male centric? and how many completely ignore women?

I still think the IT world is driven by males with male biased opinions and products. If you agree with me, and you agree with these statistics then you have no choice but to agree that there is a _massive_ opportunity in marketting Internet services to women.

For a long time now I have believed that business is about creating mutually beneficial deals.

Trade has gone from:

* You need some steak for tonights dinner so you trade someone their steak for half a dozen eggs from your chicken.

To this:

* A higher power has created money. You’re getting paid to work on a farm. You need steak so you pay someone for that steak.

Money is essentially an abstraction of the value created when work is done. Instead of paying you in steaks or berries, you are paid in the more economical ‘money’. So money and trade are much the same thing.

This is why in business you need to give people what they want, because you’re really offering them something to trade.

* Coca-Cola offer tasty beverages.
* McDonalds offers convenient food.
* Insurance companies offer safety of mind.
* Employees offer their time and energy.

and they all want money in return so they can trade money with others to get what they need.

So to be successful in business you need to create good stuff to trade.