December 11, 2007, Vol 1, Issue 25

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We’re in the holiday spirit now and hope you are too. So sit down with a mug of hot chocolate and we’ll entertain you with a few of our favorite sites.

Just a quick reminder that we’ll be on limited staff between Christmas and New Years (and we know many of you will be, too!) so if you need us (and we hope you do), please let us know as soon as possible.

Stats in a flash.

Ever wonder where find all of those great demographic and consumer trends? It’s easy: We read a lot.

And we get some pretty neat bundled stat emails: marketing/media trends, consumer facts, multi-cultural , youth, women.

Don’t tell Andrew, but if you want your own emails with wonderful stats about demographics and trends, you can get yours here.

And when you need more depth, don’t forget to call us!

Intermezzo.

Looking for a little light reading over the holidays? Tired of giving your money away to the big box book sellers? Never fear, we have a solution!

There are over 30,000 free downloadable books at The Online Books Page.

I’m thinking about downloading Alfred DeGrazia’s Complete Works in Quantavolution and Catastrophe. Sounds relaxing, yes?

You spent what?

Did you know that American consumers spent 7.1 percent less on alcoholic beverages in 2005 than they did in 2004 and 26 percent more for gasoline?

Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can find out all kinds of groovy data from The Consumer Expenditure Survey.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of two surveys collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Census Bureau – the quarterly Interview survey and the Diary survey – that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics.

This is great stuff and we know how much you love numbers – especially when they support your marketing messages!

Stump the Researcher.

A loyal reader asks: I admit it, I haven’t finished my holiday shopping. (And don’t tell me you did. I don’t want to hear it.) How can I figure out what to get?

Oh reader, where have you been? Social networking has made the art of finding the perfect gift so much easier. Check out these great networks:

And submit your own question – send an email!
Click here for the answer. It’ll just take a minute.

So even with all of the holiday craziness, we’ve managed to provide you with some solid information in our last newsletter of 2007. (Whew!)

Thanks for being a loyal reader. We wish you joy and happiness for the holidays.

See you in 2008!