Subtitle: Habla Espanol?
Confession: Despite that I’ve been working within Latino social circles for many years, I am not fluent in the Spanish language. I DO have a working knowledge however…
In an effort to improve my Spanish I’m taking time to study over the the summer in preparation for a vacation and to broaden my reach on and offline as well…also, my daughter’s language skills are developing rapidly, and I want to communicate with her in both English and Spanish as she grows.
I place my self as an advanced beginner or at the intermediate level. What I’m doing is using online podcasts, social media sites, and books as well as my wife 
to practice. So for this month, and next I’ll be less active online as I dedicate more time to this goal as well as some others.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Subtitle: Niche, niche, niche…everything!
The world wide web is all about being connected, no matter how granular you define your audience you’ll always still hit a larger whole.
You may ask, then what is the use? Niche markets are a slice of a greater whole, but in fact you’ll see that your ’slice’ is still a part of a great whole.
My friend Joe, has a great example of this concept in action. Here’s an excerpt from Joe’s upcoming book:
In June of 2009, the Cervantes Institute of Chicago launched a short story contest on their blog with the goal of engaging local writers and Spanish students in the Chicago area. What happened provides a perfect example of how our expectations of launching a Spanish-language promotion or website do not conform to the reality of the World Wide Web. Salvador Vergara, the librarian at the Cervantes Institute Chicago, told me how they never expected any entrants from outside of the U.S. just like so many domestic brand managers who launch Hispanic promotions online. Instead, they were shocked to find that over 70% of their entrants were not only from outside of the Chicago area but outside of the U.S. from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Holland, Venezuela, the Ukraine and Spain.
Funny stuff. They sought US Spanish speakers, and instead attracted an overwhelming global response. A niche within a niche, reaching a greater whole.
You can make this work exponentially for you by identifying related areas to what you do, and make those lateral connections.
How about you? Do you have any examples of reaching a certain target, only to get unexpected results?
Popularity: 62% [?]
Ingenio Bilingual Toys
This is amazing! It took all this time for a company to launch a bilingual toy line? This was looking everyone in the face.
Ingenio’s bilingual product line ranges from electronic learning toys and puzzles to educational games. All products emphasize English and Spanish equally to enable the child to learn a second language easily…Ingenio helps preschool and grade school children (ages 3-8 years) learn both languages in the context of fun…
If you go over to Inenio’s site you’ll be pointed to Amazon as an online retailer.
I like this a lot. I have a daughter of my own who is almost a year shy of the recommended age. Will keep you updated right here after going through some of the products.
Popularity: 8% [?]
