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IN THIS ISSUE:
| Bulletin Archive | |
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FROM THE EDITOR
Market Research Tools Update Last issue I announced our tools were leaving Microsoft’s bCentral as of July 2004. You can no longer get to our tools through bCentral, but don’t despair. Just point your browser to our tools at www.thirdwaveresearch.com/mrttwr instead. Your login and purchase history at bCentral Market Research Tools have been transferred. You won’t need to re-register. You’ll find the same functionality you’re used to finding at the old bCentral address. Happy marketing! SURVEY
Working Solo Survey on Networking In April I encouraged you to participate in Working Solo founder Teri Lonier’s survey on social networks and microbusinesses. That research was part of a project that Teri and her colleague Charles Mathews presented at an entrepreneurship research conference in June. She promised to share the results with us, and you can find her gateway to the academic paper by clicking here. Highlights from the survey report Charles and Teri focused their research on microbusinesses, lifestyle entrepreneurs, and the self-employed. They inquired about participation in Master Mind and similar small-group networks. (Read the paper to find out more about Master Mind networks; any group of entrepreneurial peers who meet regularly for mutual support and advice fits the description.) Charles and Teri found that while eight out of ten survey respondents belong to at least one business or industry association, a surprising 20.5% indicated no association affiliation at all. When asked about their participation in networking functions, two thirds of the respondents indicated an average between 1 and 3 events each month, while an additional 12.5% attend 4 or 5 events/month. (How do you stack up against these statistics?) Perhaps the most surprising fact was that more than half (52.6%) of survey respondents reported that they have never taken part in a Master Mind or similar type of network. This research revealed many benefits of small support groups, including:
Resources "Measuring the Impact of Social Networks on Entrepreneurial Success: The Master Mind Principle" TOOL BITS
Tool Bits: Greatest Hits of "The Bulletin"
The current issue will be the last issue published of "The Bulletin".
The archive of past issues (over 2
years’ worth) will continue to be available from our Market Research Tools home page.
I’ve enjoyed corresponding with you via "The Bulletin" and I hope you will take the time to join the new Yahoo group that I offer in its place. To encourage discussion of the Market Research Tools, I’ve set up a group for us on Yahoo. Please join us at finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Third_Wave. Many of the articles I wrote for "The Bulletin" are just as useful today as when they first appeared. In fact, I use the archives often in answering tool users’ questions. Here, then, are links to the back issues I have found most helpful when I explain how to use the Market Research Tools for marketing and strategic planning. Bulletin Volume 1 #1: "Radius requests: precision you can count on" Follow Patty as she uses the Demographic Profiler to increase her odds of success in the video arcade she plans to open. (Part 1 of 2) Bulletin Volume 1 # 2: "Household Spending: finding hidden markets" Patty turns to the Household Spending tool to learn about consumer spending on the category that interests her – spending on arcade-style games. (Part 2 of 2) Bulletin Volume 1 #6: "A beauty of a business location" Belinda wants to open a cosmetics boutique specializing in products for women of diverse skin tones. She uses the Household Spending tool to research location and market potential. (Part 1 of 2) Also in this issue, our most popular quiz: "Entrepreneur or Manager: Do you have the right stuff?" Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? And, more importantly, do you have what it takes to transition gracefully to the role of manager, should your start-up business thrive and grow? Take our quiz and find out! Bulletin Volume 1 #7: "Belinda’s beauty of a location—using demographic profiles" Now, Belinda is ready to look at Demographic Profiles for the neighborhoods she is considering. How does a Demographic Profile report differ from a Household Spending report? And what value does it add to Belinda’s decision-making process? (Part 2 of 2) Bulletin Volume 2 #3: "For small area research, ZIP Codes can’t deliver" ZIP Codes get the mail where it's supposed to go. But for demographic research, they're worse than useless. It's time you learned the truth about ZIP Codes, U.S. Census data, and the geographic units used to filter it. Bulletin Volume 2 #10: "Segmentation unlocks the power of direct mail" If you invest in direct mail marketing, you want results. The latest development in direct mail has been the increasing use of segmentation systems to match mail messages to their recipients more precisely, thus lifting response rates. | |  | |
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