Posts Tagged ‘Finance’

Top Trends – Questions and Answers!

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Car_small_2 Many of us are curious about trends and trend spotting. We ask questions such as: how do we spot a trend? what is the life cycle of a trend?  and what are the upcoming trends for 2009? We have addressed trends affecting the LGBT market before. Well, a just published report on the website www.trendspotting.com has some additional answers for those of us who are trend spotting.

             

Checking out trendspotting.com’s Top 15 Questions (and Answers), they admit right up front that spotting a trend is a bit tricky, and a lengthy process. However, they offer a quick 4 step process to help us along the way. I decided to start with the first and most important question to kick off my curiosity; “How do I actually spot consumer trends? And then how do I apply them?”

          

Here’s their recommendation- Ask yourself if a trend you’re tracking has the potential to:

            

  1. influence or shape a company’s vision
  2. inspire someone to come up with a new business concept or brand
  3. add a new product, service or experience for a certain customer segment
  4. speak the language of those consumers already ‘living’ the trend; show them you know what they’re excited about in your campaigns, branding and your conversations with them

Think of trends in the LGBT community that began with us. LGBT-exclusive travel has been popular for many years –think Olivia Cruises, Atlantis or RSVP. We often are among the first to set the trends in fashion and routinely jump quickly into new technology. And as we age, we have LGBT retirement communities in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Fe and elsewhere.

                  

So, ask yourself what new trends you can spot in the LGBT community using the 4 step process above. You might just discover the next consumer trend.

| November 6th, 2008 No Comments »
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Where will you be when you are 65? 70? 75?

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Gay_elders

We all hope you will not be aging alone. Recently I read an article on Boston.com about gay aging issues (“Gay Elders Distinctive Challenges Get Closer Look”). According to the article, an estimated 2.5 million gay seniors living and aging alone in America is a reality. It’s a scary statistic, isn’t it? We tend not to think much about it, as gays we like to think we are always young. And youth and good looks is what is celebrated, not an aging gay population.

                  

So where does that leave the older gay population? As Laura Nguyen pointed out in her recent post “Booming New Ad Campaign”, a recent Newsweek article highlights some alarming statistics about the aging gay boomer population. Among them, over the next 25 years, the number of Americans age 65 or older will increase by 12 to 20 percent. Out of those seniors, seven to 10 percent are predicted to be members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community. This is truly an invisible population to many.

Why? Many of these persons never came out to family, friends or coworkers. They remain caught in limbo between the straight world and the gay world. Now that they are aging they don’t know where they fit. And they are afraid of bias and anti-gay treatment at senior centers or from the health care system. If they are alone, as many are, the problems escalate. Who to call with medical issues? Who can they turn to for financial advice or assistance? Their vulnerability is enormous.

   

For those gay couples who are aging, they face a different set of challenges. Lack of rights for same sex couples rises to the top of the list. You better be armed with the appropriate legal forms if you want to get in and see your partner in the hospital. Or if need to make some major medical decisions, you’ll need more forms! Recently, AARP decided to tackle the issue (full disclosure: they are a Fleishman-Hillard client, although none of our team works with them). The largest advocacy group in the world for persons over 50 years old, is going to focus on gay and lesbian aging at a conference organized by SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) and sponsored by AARP this month. This is a huge deal! AARP sponsoring an event that features workshops on a variety of issues related to the older GLBT audience – a first! Are you over 50? YOU should sign up for AARP today and show your support.

                   

Issues of aging and the struggles are difficult for us all. For a generation that many of us don’t know, it can be devastating. How can you help? Find out more by checking out AARP, SAGE and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. They are all working to help support our elderly gay friends who face unique challenges we never imagined.

   

| October 17th, 2008 1 Comment »
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401k’s, IRA’s and our financial world

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J0422264_2

Where do we start with the recent financial mess we’re in? I watch my 401k sinking and wonder what should I do? Ride it out, right? It’s hard when that is your retirement wasting away. And with the financial world falling apart around us you have to ask what more could I be doing?

          

So, I looked at my finances. And thought about where I could start saving more to sock away a CD or two. One obvious place is my discretionary spending. Another way of saying shopping. I am a female, I love to shop. I can’t help it, it’s genetic I am sure! Anyway, one source I love and have begun to trust as well is Queercents from our friend Nina Smith. She has a fun, sometimes quirky but always humorous site that shares others’ insights into the world of being gay and financially aware. See for yourself, by checking out the site. I love their recent post Turning Spenders into Savers; Why We Buy. And I love her motto; we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going shopping without coupons!

| September 19th, 2008 2 Comments »
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News and Notes

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J0430536Here’s a quick summary of information we’ve received from our friends in the blogosphere about relevant news coverage and new blog series. We hope you’ll check them out for the latest and greatest on gay and lesbian communications:

• Our friend Dana Rudolph at Mombian let us know about an Entrepreneur story on marketing same-sex weddings that was recently picked up by msnbc.com. As Dana said to us, it’s nice to see stories like this getting picked up in so-called “mainstream” outlets.

• Our friend Nina Smith at Queercents sent us an announcement about a new series they’ve launched called “How to Stretch Your Food Dollar.’ It’s an informative (and helpful) look at creative ways to eat well on a budget.

• Our new friend Jacque Wing at The Trevor Project gave us a heads-up (after reading Eddy’s post on the organization) on a new program the Project is launching this year to combat LGBTQ youth suicide. We’ll have more on this program in the coming weeks, but for now check it out on their Web site.

Do you have other relevant gay and lesbian communications news? Let us know and we may feature it here in the future.

| August 5th, 2008 No Comments »
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Gay Media Matters Redux

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J0387555Last month, I blogged about the importance of gay media and discussed the potential sale of The Advocate and Out to a new publisher in light of current owner PlanetOut’s financial difficulties. At the end of last week, we learned (thanks to the Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrief) that Mediaweek and other publications are reporting that a unit of here! Networks has signed a “binding letter of intent” to buy the magazine and book publishing arm of PlanetOut for a reported $6 million. According to the article and a press release on the the PlanetOut Inc. Web site, the deal is expected to close by August 31.

I hope this announcement is good news and that here! will continue to promote the power of our voices in these important print publications. here! seems to be a on a tear lately, with growing success in broadcast and online ventures so I’m hoping that means their “deep pockets” will be put to good use in bolstering these gay print media icons.

I was also interested to see the circulation and ad page figures for both The Advocate and Out mentioned in the article. Apparently, although the circulation figures are up for both magazines, the ad pages were down last year. The article cites several reasons for the slide (lack of a publisher for part of the year, a decline in entertainment and pharmaceutical advertising, etc.), but I wonder what you think. We’ve talked a bit lately about advertising and various new campaigns aimed at our community. At the same time, we’re hearing about the decline of gay print advertising in two leading print publications. Is this evidence of a trend or just a symptom of PlanetOut’s troubles? Share your thoughts in the comments below.   

| April 15th, 2008 2 Comments »
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