Tweak...

Today has been one of those days. Filled with things to do, people to see, decisions to make, usual sort of stuff. But at the end of this day life took a left instead of a right. Now I'm left-handed so that didn't bother me so much, at least to begin with, but now, as it all is sinking in, well, it has left me unsettled.

A conversation I had late this afternoon about how we, as a society, purchase goods and services made me realize, well, that I had missed a basic reality of life in these United States. I have heard off and on throughout my career that women really do make most of the purchasing decisions for each household, but well it must not have sunk in. Why do I say that? Well, as I have labored and toiled to promote the magazine I publish I haven't really given the appropriate emphasis to this important demographic. Lest I get too, well, technical (which is difficult for me because I really don't know anything!) the salient point of this bit of "aha" for me is that advertisers want, no need, to reach women (men, at least in the advertising world are mostly an after thought).

I am really ok with this personally because women generally make better buying decisions than men. But by missing this important point I have, gulp, spent the past 8 months investing heavily in a concept that hasn't done enough to reach the true buyers of goods and services ... our wives, mothers, grandmothers. Wooohooo! I celebrate you today, my dear female friends! However...

Therefore it has made it difficult to get the ad revenue we need to make a profit on each issue. Each month we struggle, partly because we are viewed as either slightly male-oriented, or neutral. Which has left me re-thinking the ENTIRE concept that my magazine is founded on. OK, fair enough, but what now? If we are going on, going to continue to publish, I probably need to restyle the magazine, editorially, visually. But it may be too late to recover.

Or not. Men have trouble hearing what women say, at times anyway and I am no different. But I am listening now, VERY carefully. What will they say?

Stay tuned.

(PAUSE)

"Honey, could you get me some shaving cream the next time you are at Save Mart? And don't forget to get more potato chips!"