America has Suffered Enough of the Right Wing

The following is an excerpt from dailyherald.com. Click here to read the entire story.

Since the economy has finally, publicly, hit the fan, our executive branch and Federal Reserve big wigs finally admitted to the American public that we are already well past recession and much closer to a depression.

Their solution, so far, is to make every effort to protect the American financial sector from having any of this hit them.

As for me, I sit here opening my mail (yes, I still use the mail, not a computer for my finances) and paying all the bills I owe promptly but focusing all other spending narrowly.

As for all other nonessential spending (i.e. magazine subscriptions, charities, environmental or consumer advocate organizations, etc.), I just send them no money, but only a note stating that I give no money to anyone except our soldiers and to progressive political candidates who must immediately replace the sad parade of losers now infecting our political scene.

The Power of Gay: Buying Power That Is

Politically, the GLBT community is still less than accepted today, but, as times are changing, people are starting to consider the financial power within the GLBT community as a force.

It was estimated in 2006, approximately 15.3 million GLBT consumers held buying power of over $600 Billion, and it came closer to $700 billion in 2007.

According to Harris/Witeck-Combs, 72% of GLBT consumers prefer to buy from companies that advertise to them directly, much like various other consumer groups.

Simmons research also shows that 89% of GLBT consumers are more likely to seek out brands advertised to them, and a majority are willing to pay premium prices for quality products and services.

One explanation for this. the median combined household income of same-sex couples is 60% higher than opposite-sex couples. One reason for this, studies show that GLBT Americans are twice as likely to have graduated from college, twice as likely to have an individual income over $60,000 and twice as likely to have a household income of $250,000 or more.

Find more on gay finance here at gayagenda.com.

As Straight Finance Walks, Gay Money Talks

Companies should be concentrating their efforts to target gay and lesbian consumers following new findings from the Gaydar Spending and Lifestyle Survey.

The company has found the GLBT consumer sector has been largely unaffected by the encroaching credit crunch providing a valuable source of revenue for companies. Almost 50% of the people gay people surveyed said the weak economy was nowhere to been seen on their financial radar.

Some 81% of GLBT people have credit cards and they hold an average of 3.12 cards each. Of those, 52.1% pay back the balance in full each month.

The report also found that gay and lesbian consumers are not using their cards just to keep financially afloat. Some 51.6% are still spending on holidays, 47.5% on clothes and 62.3% are internet shoppers (excluding groceries).

Research Shows Marking to GLBT Community Pays

According to American Demographics Magazine, the aggregate spending power of the gay and lesbian community nationally is $515 billion per annum. Meanwhile, Forrester Research says that the average annual household income of gay households in America is $61,300, compared with $56,900 for heterosexual households. This becomes especially important when considering members of the community’s ability to afford rent payments.

But marketing to the gay populace requires an understanding of how to speak respectfully to them, according to Justin Nelson, president and co-founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. For instance, he says you should use buzzwords like “partner” instead of “husband” or “wife,” and that your property is “all-family friendly.”

Read more at heraldtribune.com.