My teen-aged son and I were moving from Maryland to Iowa a few years back when it happened. All our worldly goods were with us in the rental truck I was driving, and my car was strapped to a tow dolly hitched to the back of the truck. We had settled in for the roughly 1,200 miles ahead, and my son was lulled to sleep by the *white noise* of the truck. We were barely an hour outside of Baltimore on I-70 when a car passed me with everyone in the car frantically waving their arms at me and shouting something that sounded shockingly like “Your truck is on fire!” In about a ½ second three things happened. First, I looked in the rear view mirror mounted on the side of the truck and saw that, yes indeed, flames were shooting out of one of the tires on the tow dolly. Of course, immediately I pulled the truck over to the side of the road and screamed at my son “The tires are on fire!” In his groggy state he looked at me as if I had just gone completely crazy, but I certainly had succeeded in getting his attention. At the same time all of this was happening, almost magically my cell phone appeared in my hands and I was dialing 911. By the time the fire truck arrived just a couple of minutes later, the flaming tire was mostly just a puddle of very hot black goo. But my car had not been damaged and neither the truck nor the grass just beyond the highway shoulder had caught fire.

I was so glad I had a cell phone. With that one very bizarre event, I used my cell phone to call 911, to call the truck rental company, and to arrange for hotel accommodations for the night.

Apparently I am not alone in having a story to tell about an emergency when having a cell phone was a help. Pew Internet and American Life Project teamed up with AOL and Associated Press to study the way Americans use their cell phones. Their findings show that 77 percent of women and 71 percent of men reported using their cell phone in an emergency and found it very helpful.

The study showed, too, that 28 percent of respondents admitted they sometimes do not drive as safely as they ought to while using their cell phones. The findings further state, “Among cell phone users, men (32 percent) are more likely than women (25 percent) to admit they sometimes do not drive as safely as they should.”

Those are scary statistics. So as we all prepare for the upcoming New Year festivities, Woman-Centric Matters encourages you to stay safe, drive carefully, and come join us here again in 2007. Happy New Year everyone!

Holiday Facts, Courtesy US Census Bureau

Loads of people are trying to predict exactly how much revenue will be generated this holiday season. But with women making more than 80% of buying decisions in all homes (Business Week, Feb 14 2005), it is clear the purchasing power of women will make a huge impact. It may be too early to know for sure about 2006, but the US Census Bureau has published some interesting information about last year:

* 20 billion — the number of letters, packages and cards delivered by the US Postal Service between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2005 (December 19 was the "busiest mailing day" of the year)
* About one million — the number of packages delivered by the US Postal Service every day last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas (December 21 was the busiest delivery day)
* $31.7 billion — the total retail sales of the nation's department stores in December 2005
* 14% — the proportion of total 2005 sales for department stores that took place in December (the percentage for jewelry stores was 24%)
* $19.4 billion — the value of retail sales by online shopping and mail-order houses in December 2005, and easily the highest total for any month last year
* $27.1 billion — total retail e-commerce sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 (for more, see above)
* 48,695 — the number of malls and shopping centers in the US as of 2005, an increase of 12,000 since 1990
* $485 million – the amount of money America’s Christmas tree farmers received from tree sales in 2005

According to Pink Magazine, across the country women are rewriting their lives, sometimes multiple times, to create the lifestyle that more closely suits their passions and values. And it’s the over-40 crowd that is driving the trend, though it more of a life stage rather than an age-driven process. A study done at American University suggests that as many as 60% of college women expect to have six distinct careers in their lives.

Authenticity and rejecting outdated rules and myths are the inspiration for the personal reinvention. Pink states, “For many women, September 11th precipitated a reevaluation of priorities.” The magazine compares it to a gardener redoing a landscape, with women “repotting” themselves. “Their ultimate goal is to be the best they can be and live a fulfilling life.”

Do you need to be repotted?

Woman-Centric Trends for 2007

According to Entrepreneur magazine's list of ten marketing trends to watch in 2007, affluent working women –those with an annual family income of $75,000 or more- are a group to watch in the coming year. The group is increasing in size and 94.3 percent of them access the internet during an average month. Addtionally, Lucid Marketings’ study, “U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communicaitons,” found that women were more likely than men to share with others their positive experience with a business and recommend their favorite products.

Based on these predictions, establishing a woman-centric marketing campaign and giving outstanding woman-centric customer service will be essential in 2007 and can set your business up to be truly remarkable.

Contact Woman-Centric Matters to find out how to become remarkable in 2007. http://www.womancentricmatters.com/howdoesitmakeyouremarkable.aspx