Help me, LJ-obi-wan, you're my only hope.

[valis2]

I NEED YOUR HELP.

I apologize for posting this without a cut. I hope you'll bear with me. During April/May I will be traveling across the country, stopping at many cities along the way, trying to sell some wares. I am already biting my nails about this because it will be a serious drain on my resources and a huge amount of driving and hard work.

What do I need? How can you help? Well, if you could just give me a moment of your time...

Please look at this list of states/cities and, if you live in or near one of them, or have lived in or near any of them, if you could list some affluent cities/suburbs/towns within the area I would be incredibly grateful. How does this help me? Well, I am going to be attempting to arrange shows in the meeting rooms of hotels, and if I can schedule it in an area that is more receptive to spending money, then this would be a good thing. Specifically I am looking for areas with populations of affluent women aged 25-55. Don't worry, I'm not cold-calling or selling vacuums door to door or annoying people (much). And if you can suggest any areas to avoid that would be helpful too.

Ohio: Toledo, Columbus, Lancaster, Athens
West Virginia: Charleston, Oak Hill, Beckley, Princeton
Virginia: Wytheville
North Carolina: Winston-Salem, Hickory, Statesville, Morganton, Asheville
Tennessee: Knoxville, Harriman, Oak Ridge, Cookeville, Lebanon, Nashville, Clarksville
Kentucky: Hopkinsville, Nortonville
Indiana: Evansville, Vincennes, Terre Haute, Indianapolis
Illinois: Danville, Urbana, Champaign, Bloomington/Normal, Peoria, Chillicothe, Rochelle, De Kalb, Wheaton, Chicago
Iowa: Davenport, Iowa City, Newton, Des Moines, Osceola
Missouri: Bethany, St. Joseph, Kansas City
Kansas: Kansas City, Topeka, El Dorado, Wichita, Wellington
Oklahoma: Blackwell, Perry, Guthrie, Edmond, Oklahoma City, El Reno, Weatherford, Clinton, Elk City
Texas: Amarillo, Vega
New Mexico: Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Moriarty, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Grants, Gallup
Arizona: Chambers, Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams, Ash Fork, Kingman, Bullhead City
California: Apple Valley, San Bernandino, San Diego, Escondido, Santa Clarita, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Salinas, San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Woodland, Redding, Yreka
Oregon: Medford, Roseburg, Cottage Grove, Eugene, Salem, Portland, Pendleton, La Grande, Baker
Washington: Longview, Chehalis, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Cle Elum, Yakima, Toppenish, Grandview, Richland, Kennewick
Idaho: Nampa, Boise, Mountain Home, Bliss, Rupert, Pocatello
Utah: Howell, Brigham City, Ogden, Layton, Bountiful, Salt Lake City, American Fork, Provo, Payson, Nephi, Scipio, Aurora, Richfield, Emery, Cisco
Colorado: Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Eagle, Vail, Frisco, Denver, Boulder, Loveland, Fort Collins
Wyoming: Cheyenne
Nebraska: Sidney, Ogallala, North Platte, Lexington, Kearney, Grand Island, Columbus, Norfolk
South Dakota: Freeman, Sioux Falls
Minnesota: Worthington, Jackson, Blue Earth, Albert Lea, Owatonna, Faribault, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Wisconsin: Eau Claire

I would appreciate your help tremendously. I make my living as a salesperson, and I'm used to taking a bit of a risk, but this is the riskiest thing I have ever done in my entire life, and I'm really hoping that I can plan it out well enough to make it worth that risk. If you would rather email me, then please go right ahead, email me at valis2 (at) livejournal (dot) com.

*giant hugs* Thank you so very much, flist of joy.

Comments

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

sylvadin covered the Seattle area nicely.

So, California:

In San Diego area, I'd say Del Mar/Encinitas (where you could easily draw the affluent Rancho Santa Fe/Fairbanks Ranch crowd, as well as the McMansion-dwelling wannabes), Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and maybe Carlsbad. Avoid Santee/Lakeside, El Cajon, and anything south of Downtown. And Escondido isn't upscale, even if the housing prices are.

La Jolla is very upscale, but the demographic may be too old.

Avoid Apple Valley--I've driven through it, and it's a shitty little high-desert town.

You might want to try Pasadena, however--It's not just little old ladies.

Yreka and Redding aren't upscale. Any wealthy people will be farmers, who would rather spend money on new trucks. The same goes for most of the Central Valley and far-northern California.

Woodland was nothing but a little nothing town amid endless fields a decade ago, and now it's wall-to-wall tract-house hell. Don't bother.

Ashland, Oregon might be a good choice, though. Given the choice between Ashland and Medford, I'd pick Ashland.

Maybe Bend, Oregon, too. It's been thoroughly Californicated, and some of them have got to have money.

That's all the firsthand information my post-flu brain can manage to spit up, for now. But one resource you might find useful is Claritas' market segmentation site. You can enter a Zip code and they will provide you with a list of the demographic categories commonly found within that Zip code. They also have a listing of all marketing segments, so you can decide if you want to sell to the "Movers and Shakers," "Money and Brains," or "Big Fish, Small Pond," among others. To look up the Zip codes for a particular city, use the US Postal Service's website. It'll probably be a lot of work looking up a long list of places, but it could help you narrow down which towns or neighborhoods are most likely to be home to your prospective customers.

And if you come to Seattle, I've got an extra bed, and all the cats you can pet. I'll even change the sheets...

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

If I knew what you were selling, I might be able to mull over and refine my suggestions. Email me at julian_black@LJ, if you prefer.

Oh, and welcome back! And thanks for the card! I have a belated V-day bit of weirdness in the works for you, and now that I can breathe again I might just get it done...Yarrr.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the detailed descriptions! I really, really, really appreciate it tremendously. :)