Are we missing the boat or am I missing something?

[Vitamyr]

I hear everyday about the immigration debate. Living in the metro-Phoenix area, I believe we have a large Spanish speaking population. I know Spanish is 3rd behind English and Chinese in the world’s spoken languages.

I own a computer repair business that does fairly well. My wife and I also market a natural mouthwash and toothpaste.

Here is my stupid question and please understand I am by no means being racist!
· Why don’t we market to the 30 Million + Spanish speaking folks here in the U.S.?
· Should I hire someone to create my Vitamyr site in Spanish?
· Also, should I be building and selling Spanish computers?
· Who sells to them? Where are they? I checked all the major players…..Best Buy, Staples, Fry’s, no one offers PC’s with Spanish Windows installed.

Maybe I’m looking at a dead-end market, to poor to sustain their teeth let alone a computer? Hard to believe…..I think I’m missing something easy here.

Any advice or input would be appreciated. You can even say “duh, ya dummy….here is why!” just explain because I think I’m missing something here.

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[vangogh]

If you think there's a market for either of your businesses endeavors with people who speak Spanish then it certainly makes sense. I couldn't tell you whether or not there is a market, but I can't see any reason why there wouldn't be. Plenty of people speak Spanish and I would think many of those people would be happy to do business with someone who appreciates that.

I would hire someone to at least write the Spanish copy. A simple translation misses cultural differences. It might also make sense to hire someone to design the site specifically for a Spanish speaking audience as well. If you plan on selling the computers locally in Phoenix then I would think the majority of the people we're talking about are of Mexican ancestry in which case you'd want to make sure the site and business is built to solve any specific problems Mexicans living in Arizona might have.

[Patrysha]

Actually, I know a lady who specializes in Latino PR. But the way she does it in LA is different from what her colleagues in Florida do...it seems from the outside looking in that there are lots of nuances in the market across the States but it is a growing niche market.

Don't know that helps at all, but it might help to know that people are on it and there's probably research and resources out there to tap into.

[billbenson]

Its not as easy to say what your market is here though. Dell sells a different pc with Vista Español on it south of the border. Here the latinos come from every group starting at illiterate illegals to wealthy educated cubans and everything in between. My wife just helped an illegal immigrant buy and set up a laptop. Offering pc's with either Vista in spanish preinstalled or setting up the language of word etc to their specific version has a market imo. Not sure how big it is though.

Latinos tend to like dealing with Latinos as well.

I think a better market would be selling somehow US goods in Central American countries or South America. I'm most familiar with El Salvador, but products accross the board are sold there with extreme markups. A small group of old families have a lock on the market and sell at outragous mark ups. The Siman family has a lock on retail banking and other markets. Setting up a store front, ordering products, and delivering products is a model I have always thought could be successful.

siman.com ::: Almacenes Simán El Salvador ::: (http://www.siman.com/webapp/commerce/command/CategoryDisplay?cgrfnbr=42144&cgmenbr=136&sp=42144&ct=42148&this=42148&cntryid=)

As I'm writing this, I'm not sure about selling pc's here that are different than US PC's. My wife never asked me for a Latin Version of a PC, even when we were living in Central America. Her english is getting better, but its still not that great. She can search Google.sv if she wants. keeps the default word language to Spanish, spends time on Univision or other Spanish language forums. Beyond that its learning a few english words like download and thats about it.

[Vitamyr]

My brain is churning......thanks! I am watching all the boards and I am hiring help to convert our website to Spanish.

Think we'll stay here in the States though....as much as I love to travel it's hard enough to keep up here!

I will keep others informed of success if you want....give it a month or so.

[Patrysha]

Thought you might be interested in the 2010 Hispanic Social Media and Marketing Overview...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-2010-US-Hispanic-Social-iw-1272163363.html?x=0&.v=1

[Small Biz Break]

Vitamyr:

The Us Hispanic population is growing and there are a number of stats to indicate that their preference is to receive marketing and services in Spanish.

Here is a link that you may find helpful:

Study Probes Online Power of Hispanic Consumers (http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/esearch/e3icd8ec261b0f1e7f7e388d7da71adf375)

If you need any additional help with marketing to the US Hispanic population, I would recommend you contact La Comunidad Online (http://www.lacomunidadonline.com/index.cfm?action=display_state&state=TQ&language_version=english). They offer advertising opportunities and translation services, too.

I hope this helps. Best of luck.