Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I started my business, Chai Expectations (Jewish matchmaking) in the Fall of `06 in Charlotte, NC, and am expanding to Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head and Florence through a licensed affiliation.  How far-reaching should my marketing of this expansion go?  How do I reach Jewish singles who are willing to relocate down South (or those wanting to join a service to meet people who would relocate for THEM) without spending a fortune on advertising?  Which great internet sites would you recommend for posting?  Chat rooms??   

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Laurie Berzack, MSW
Founder, Chai Expectations
www.chaiexpectations.com

Hi Laurie,

I`m also in Charlotte and read your story in the Charlotte Observer. Based on how attractive the women (and yourself) were in that article. I wouldn`t mind converting myself! (I actually joined jdate.com once while living in DC, with the express note at the beginning of, `I`m not in the tribe but I know many of the words and would convert for the right person`).

The outlier city in your list above has to be Florence, SC. Huh? Also, you seem way too qualified and successful from what I`ve read to be licensing at this point. That`s a definite way to kill your burgeoning brand - growing too quickly and not being able to control quality in licensing situations.

This is a sweeping generalization, but I don`t see your target market (high income, well-educated, professional) hanging around in chat rooms. Subscribers of the New York Times Sunday edition, yes, and those mailing lists are available for a fee and could be solid leads with a great direct mail invite.

It seems to me that things like the Observer article, and other news angles discussing (for example) the declining Jewish population in the U.S. could be leveraged into solid PR.

I would also target the larger, more metro southern cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Raleigh, etc, rather than the smaller, resort-type ones you mentioned. at least you`d be getting more exposure for your story that way.

If you`d like to meet for coffee to talk about it, I`ll throw on a schmata and we`ll discuss!. Just PM me.

I had a similar thought about the locations you listed.  I used to live in Savannah, GA and I know Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach are mostly tourist destinations.  Not that people don`t live there but it doesn`t seem like the right geographic target.  Jeff made a good suggestion about hitting more metropolitan areas.  Then again, even though there may be less of them, maybe Jewish singles in smaller communities are the ones that are underserved.  That`s the kind of data you should know if you haven`t researched it already.

I didn`t quite understand the "relocating" thing you mentioned above.  Are you trying to match people from outside your area to people that live there?