Today’s entry has been inspired by a story on NPR, Knit 1, Purl 2, Point and Click At first glance, the story appears to detail a downward trend in the craft world: there are less knitters than there used to be and stores catering the new crowd of knitters are failing.
However, if one reads beyond the story into the comments, one discovers that perhaps the trend is not faltering but changing: there may be less knitters than before, but apparently they’re buying just as much as they ever did: the buying is taking place online rather than in local yarn shops.
Add to that commentary about the popularity of social networking sites for knitters Ravelry is perhaps the best known site, and the lesson becomes clear:
No Nichepreneur should base their thoughts about a market’s strengths or weaknesses upon a single news source. You need to dig a little deeper, go further into the story, and actually talk with the people who you want as your target audience!
For over 25 years, Susan Friedmann, CSP, has traveled the world helping companies put their best foot forward at trade shows and events. Working with organizations who want to grow their target marketing strategies, Susan offers programs to increase results and focus on building better relationships with customers, prospects and advocates in the marketplace.