26: The X Factor - Why Gen X women are an untapped market
Today, I’m getting on my soapbox.
They call us the Slacker Generation. The Forgotten or Lost Generation. The Latchkey Generation. But I like to think that we are the generation that had the best and possibly the highest hair. We are Gen X.
In this episode of ill communication, I’m talking about the generation that’s largely left out of marketing and advertising campaigns. So if you want some insights into an untapped economic power and marketing opportunity, this episode is for you.
The truth is, this generation hasn’t really been invited to the table in the same way that the Boomers and Millennials have. If you haven't considered marketing to Gen X women, you're missing a huge opportunity. This generation of women is amazing, and we make incredible entrepreneurs.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
Why Gen X women make great entrepreneurs
How Gen X women hold incredible economic power
Why Gen Xers provide an untapped marketing opportunity
Thank you so much for joining me today and hearing my rally cry. I really believe that Gen X women are underrepresented in media, marketing, and small businesses and that needs to change.
Do you agree? Are you curious about what kind of opportunities there are for Gen Xers in business? I would love it if you would reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook and let me know. You can also email me at hello@kimkiel.com!
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Welcome to Ill Communication. Copywriting Tips and Sales Strategies for Small Business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women.
Leaders and changemakers.
Amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soul mate clients. Let's get started.
They call us the slacker generation, the forgotten or lost generation, the latchkey generation. But I like to think we're the generation who had the best and possibly the highest tear. If you were anything like me in junior high or high school, you perfected the art of teasing your hair to unfathomable heights. Loading on the Aussie mega hairspray and locking it into place with your hairdryer, which we then stored in our caboodles along with our mood, lipstick, blue eyeshadow and banana clips. Good times. Hey there and welcome to episode 26 of the Yale Communication Podcast. And no, I'm not here to wander down memory lane, although it is kind of fun. Today I'm getting on my soapbox. I want to talk about a generation who's largely been left out of marketing and advertising campaigns. So listen on if you want some insights into an untapped economic power and marketing opportunity, I want to shine a light on a generation who really hasn't been invited to the table in the same way the boomers and the millennials have. It's a generation that's a big part of my why, my raison d'etre and the audience I serve. And it's the generation I represent, Generation X, that people born between 1965 and 1980 and in particular, I want to celebrate Gen X women. Here's why we're friggin badass. As kids, we played in the streets until after dark. No cell phones to keep track of us or tell the time our intuition and street smarts kept us safe, and we learned hard lessons from the risks we took.
We seamlessly transitioned from talking on the rotary phone with a long cord stretched as far away as possible, from the kitchen hallway to the convenience of flip phones that fit inside your pocket. We went from passing elaborately folded notes in class to sending emails and texts with our friends. We learned how to type on a clicky, clunky typewriter, and today we can barely see the keypad on our smartphones. When we were younger, we looked after ourselves and today we're looking after our tween and young adult children. Some of us are already grandmas, and at the same time we're looking after our aging parents who are living longer than any generation before them. In a given week, I could be taking my kids to the orthodontist and my mom to the eye doctor. Meanwhile, I'm finding it hard to squeeze in my own mammogram into the schedule, and the pandemic fell heavily on the shoulders of Gen X women as we sought to provide companionship and care for our parents while at the same time figuring out how to support our kids through online school. Figuring out how to stay healthy, how to buy groceries, and somehow continuing to show up virtually or in-person in our places of work. If there's ever been a generation defined by the word pivot. It's Generation X, and it's one of the very big reasons why I think Gen X women make great entrepreneurs and small business owners. The ability to juggle multiple responsibilities and wear multiple hats is a key attribute of being a small business owner, Whether we believe it or not, we're actually pretty amazing at managing time and prioritizing tasks which all successful entrepreneurs must do.
We're resilient. We're risk takers. We have grit. We get it done. Gen X women are creative and innovative. Just look at some famous Gen X entrepreneurs and business owners like Sara Blakely and Spanx. Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop brand. Tyra Banks, Reese Witherspoon, Arianna Huffington, Tory Burch and Shonda Rhimes. And the timing is so good for us to start businesses in this season of life. See, we've been working for several years and we actually have the financial ability to invest in ourselves and start businesses. We have more established networks and communities to leverage When we start our businesses. That network and our reputations make it a little easier to find our first clients or find people to refer us to our first clients. We have proven and honed our skills and expertise for 20 plus years. Gen Xers have a level of confidence and self-assuredness that younger generations just don't have. We know our worth, our talent and our value, and that helps us show up, start and find success in business. And just as Gen Xers make great entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship suits Gen X women beautifully. You see, we need the kind of flexibility that you can create as an entrepreneur. When you own your own business, you can set your own schedule. You. Can work around the kids school times and your parents medical appointments. Entrepreneurship gives us the opportunity to be our own bosses, which, let's face it, is how we were raised.
It gives us the autonomy to make our own decisions and be accountable to ourselves instead of someone else. And my favorite reason why entrepreneurship suits Gen X women so well. It creates the kind of financial success we desire and quite frankly, the kind of financial success we deserve. There is so much financial opportunity available to entrepreneurs and online business owners. We can generate the money we need so our kids can get an education, so we can pay for our health care. So we have money to do the kind of travel and enjoy the kind of experiences we want and to create our own financial freedom for later in life. And if you're thinking middle aged dogs can't learn tricks, listen up. Studies show that Gen Xers who start a small business are twice as likely to succeed as our younger counterparts. And as for all the reasons I just stated. Now, if you get the sense that I'm passionate about this, it's because I am. It's because I've seen the tremendous gift entrepreneurship has created for me and my family. Has it been easy peasy? No. But it also hasn't been that hard and certainly not as hard as I expected it to be. And I'm so passionate about this topic because as Gen X women, we hold incredible economic power. We may be a small generation compared to the boomers and millennials, but we are influencing the financial decisions and purchases our parents are making.
And we hold the purse strings for what our kids want. We have incredible leverage in the marketplace and society, and we deserve to be on the receiving end of that prosperity and wealth. So whether you're a Gen Xer or not, whether you're thinking about starting a business or you already have one, I want to leave you with this. If you haven't considered marketing to Gen X women, you're missing a huge opportunity. And if you're a Gen X woman and you haven't considered starting your own business, I want you to start thinking about it because this is a fabulous opportunity and a great time to do it. And I want to thank you so much for joining me today and hearing my rally cry. But do you agree? Are Gen X women underrepresented in media marketing and small business? Are you curious about what kind of opportunities there are for Gen Xers in business? I want you to reach out to me on email or social media and let me know. You'll find links to connect with me in the show notes. And next week, I'm going to share a little more about my own personal journey as a mid 40 year old who started a business. I'll share the ups and downs, the flops and the fortunes, so make sure you tune in to ill communication next week. And in the meantime, I think I'll listen to the first cassette tape I ever received when I was in grade three. Cyndi Lauper.
She's so unusual because girls just want to have fun, right? See you next week. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you enjoy these snack sized strategies and tips, you'll want to join my VIP Copy and Cocktails club. It's my email newsletter where I share more coffee tips, sales strategies, and the occasional recipe for my favorite beverage or appetizer du jour. To subscribe, visit Kim Qualcomm slash newsletter. Thanks for tuning in.
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