Marketing for Solopreneurs

The Changing Entrepreneur: What Kind of Business Are You?

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. The author, Diana Ransom of smSmallBiz.com, reported on the new trend of specialized labeling for entrepreneurs.

While “solopreneur” has become widely accepted as a term for someone who owns a one-person-shop, the number of ways to distinguish the small business owner may be getting a little out of control. With everything from “ecopreneur” to “mompreneur”, there seems to be a label for everyone.

Some marketers like this new trend because it helps the business owner stand out in a competitive marketplace. The label can describe you as the businessperson, your niche market or both.

Here are some of the current buzzwords:

Solopreneur: a one-person business.
Copreneurs: owners of a two-person business, often a husband and wife.
Sideline Entrepreneur: a moonlighter who is testing the waters with a side business.
Travelpreneur/Adventurepreneur: the adventure-seeking entrepreneur.
Socialpreneur: the owner of a nonprofit company looking to solve a social problem
Ecopreneurs/Greenpreneurs: entrepreneurs who have turned their “green” causes into profits
Mompreneur/Dadpreneur: a parent with young children and a home-based business
Teenpreneur: a college or teen-aged entrepreneur
Entrepreness/Fempreneur: a female entrepreneur who caters to the women’s market
Serial Entrepreneur: a start-up “addict” who goes from one business to another

So, a woman who is a one-person business, who has a child and works at home, and who creates environmentally-friendly products is a solo-mom-eco-social-preneur?

Do you fit anywhere on this list? Do you like being labeled?

Marketing with Music: What Is Led Zeppelin Selling?

Watching TV the other day, I recognized a Led Zeppelin song in a commercial. It was a commercial for a car, but I can't say for sure what brand or model. But the song, I definitely remember.

It got me thinking about target marketing. This commercial was aimed at the boomer market, the 44-62-year-old demographic—people born between 1946 and 1964.

For most of us, music is powerful. It brings back memories, both good and bad. How many of us hear a song and remember a very specific point in time, sometimes down to the street we were driving down and who we were with when we heard it?

So what's to say that when I am watching this commercial, and I hear this song, my mind doesn't wander to past times and the advertiser loses me? I no longer care about the car whipping along. I’m singing along to the music, remembering the good old Led Zeppelin days.

Or, do I subconsciously think, "Wow, this company knows me. It's playing a song from my past. I think I’ll check out this car." I think it could go either way.

Me? I remember the song. But the car? Couldn’t tell you the brand if my life depended on it.

What do you think? Is music a powerful advertising tool or does it distract you from the sales message?