KNOWLEDGE = POWER by Judy A. Kaplan 12/17/12

              

         In order to find your mental strength, your spiritual connection to the universe, learn everything you can about all the things you are interested in knowing about.  Don’t stop learning about those things until you know all you want to know. What does that mean? It means that if you hear about something or see it on television and like it, research the subject, usually starting with the internet.  Find books, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and videos.  While there is information on social media sites including Youtube and blogs, it is better to rely on academic works or published books and articles because many blogs and videos are meant to be just entertainment and opinion. ALWAYS, check what you read on the internet against at least one or two other sources.  Once you’ve read everything you can find that discusses the subject,  make sure you understand it and can describe it in your own way, in your own words.  If you can’t your work is not done yet.  Keep studying looking for experts on the subject, reading their work. Find news programs like 60 minutes or one of the morning shows and find interviews or segments about the topic. Keep going until you truly learn about your subject. For me, I found that some things are not written in easy-to-understand language or do not clearly describe the subject.  In this case, keep researching until you find it. Go to a library, ask a librarian to recommend books or articles on the subject.  It’s exhausting, but it’s worth it.

The key is…and this is HUGE…..don’t stop learning or trying to learn about your subject until you do understand it. Never give up the pursuit of knowledge. It is the only TRUE power. Everything else is fleeting. That doesn’t mean you have to know everything. Knowledge of even one thing, your favorite music, food, movie, anything, is your power.  So if knowledge is power, then power is strength. Strength is what defeats your insecurity. Strength or confidence, as I call it, is the thing that will help you enjoy anything you have to overcome or learn and make you want to improve or learn more. It’s a very attractive character trait.

You don’t have to be borne with it. You do have to develop it by putting effort into learning and gaining knowledge about things you like or love. 

So do it. Do it now. It becomes habit. The more you do, it, the more you want to do it.

       So how does this connect you to the Universe? When you are seeking knowledge about something you truly like or love, you are being as true and as real as a human being can be.  You are experiencing the joy of your true self.  In that moment you are connecting to a larger force, a force which is funneling all knowledge to you.  This force is the source of all things. This force is the Universe.  The Universe is supporting you in your search for knowledge, your search for the power within you and ultimately, the search for your true self and your higher purpose.  Just try it. 

PSYCHOGRAPHICS: Another way to look at consumer behavior by Judy A. Kaplan/12/17.12

      Marketers and advertisers love categories.  Demographics were always a major part of the analyses used in developing a marketing plan.  Realizing that understanding target customers also involves learning about their psychological characteristics, in other words, modes of behavior, lifestyle habits and “attitudes”, marketers and advertisers develop a detailed dossier of consumer buying  potential. This method of market analysis known as psychographics is used to give insight to the behavior lifestyle of a target market.  It helps marketers figure out what it will take to convert the targeted consumer to their customer.  What behaviors of a target market are directly related to the way they buy and what they buy. 

      With information obtained through consumer surveys, focus groups and questionnaires, advertisers can fine-tune their marketing, basically narrowing their focus to a specific consumer, i.e., women who are into fitness, health foods and athletics.  Directing your advertising to the consumer who is already interested in your product market increases the probability of converting a consumer to a customer. It saves advertising dollars that may be wasted on a general audience of consumers in a certain demographic who may or may not be interested in your products. 

       Although not discussed here, marketing experts refer to “types” of psychographic profiles. Categories with descriptive profiles are used to develop a marketing campaign to match that buyer to the particular product.  I have not researched the categories or read statistics on these profiles, but studies can be found as the need to understand consumers has made market research an essential part of American consumerism.

BOOMERANGERS: WHO ARE THEY AND WHAT DO THEY DO?

Knowing who your market is is a key to a successful marketing plan.  The buying power of a group of young consumers, known as 

boomerangers, their ages ranging between 18 and 34, presents a new target group for businesses to focus on.   The increased buying power of the boomeranger can be largely attributed to the fact that they are returning to "re-nest" with their parents. Living at home, the 18 million or so young moneymakers find they can save a great deal of their income which would typically go to living expenses. Money otherwise needed to rent can now be spent on any number of consumer products.