Free Demographics or Updated Data?

During your search, you may encounter free demographic data. If data is data, then free is better, right? Not necessarily! Census data and commercial data do vary, at times so significantly that you may come to the wrong conclusion by using the latter. Let's take a look at each so that you can make the best decision when purchasing data or reports.

The best place to start is with the nature of the Census itself. Mandated by law, its original purpose was to count the population of the United States so that each state would have a proportional number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Over time, it has evolved into a more comprehensive data collection effort covering race, income, housing characteristics, and more. 80% of the population is asked basic questions (the "short form") and the other 20% is asked for more detailed information (the "long form"). Recently, the Census Bureau has made significant changes to its methodology in order to provide more updated estimates between the decennial Censuses.

When most people refer to Census data, especially concerning population, they mean one of the decennial Census databases. When Census data was first made available to businesses in the early 70's, it wasn't in a readily usable form. With the advent of computers, several enterprising companies jumpstarted the data business by repacking Census data and reselling it in a more convenient format.

Over time, these companies developed models to update data for the current year and created projections for five to ten years forward, giving birth to the first commercial demographic databases. Businesses and even government agencies were willing to pay a premium for this data, because it was available in an easy-to-use format and it could be used for planning purposes. Imagine the difficulty of designing city infrastructure without knowing demographic and economic trends! Demographic data and the tools to manipulate it quickly became essential for planning new school systems, business locations, and other projects.

The fundamental difference between Census data and commercial data is that while the Census data is free, it does not reflect current conditions in the market. In fact, the further you are from a decennial baseline, the less accurate that data becomes. If you're looking for large area estimates -- such as the total population for a state -- then the Census data will serve your needs. However, if you require low-level estimates and projections -- for everyone within the ten ZIP codes you serve, for example -- then purchasing the updated data may be in your best interest.

Why is this so? The underlying reason is that large area estimates do not vary significantly over small time spans; in terms of percentages, the population of large cities changes little year-to-year. However, population in smaller areas has the potential to change radically over the span of a few years. 500 new residents is a drop in the bucket for New York City, but may be explosive growth for a particular avenue in that city.

All in all, your choice depends upon what your business needs to best serve its customers. Census data or updated commercial data can both be useful tools; keep in mind the nature of both before making a purchasing decision.

Catenate, LLC is a web-based provider of detailed easy-to-use targeted geodemographic reports, through the Catosphere (http://www.catosphere.com) and related marketing services.

http://www.catosphere.com Wendy Cobrda, CEO

---

Top 3 Online Business Success Needs

1) Web SiteThis is for sure the most important part of your online business, this is how you create your presence on the Internet. Being in business online and not having a web... Read More

Three Ways to Get Top Quality Content for Your Niche Websites

Three Ways to Get Top Quality Content for Your Niche WebsitesGood, popular, profitable niche topic websites need good content. Period. You and I both know this.Now, there are many ways to get content... Read More

Online Sales: Easy Way To Turn Freebies Into Sales

Freebies. Freebies. Everyone loves getting things for free.You can increase sales and profits by offering freebies to people who buy your main product or service.Freebies increase the over all value of your main... Read More

Online Advertising Mistakes ? 3 Donts For Newbies

Are you new to Network Marketing? If you are, then PLEASE avoid these mistakes when you promote your business opportunity!Mistake#1. SpammingSPAM: Sending People Annoying MessagesYes, you got the point! People hate spams simply... Read More

Words That Sell - Internet Marketing

Choosing your words will be the ultimate make or break you in the Internet Marketing industry and there are some words that will stand out like an Eskimo taking a walk through the... Read More

4 of the Top 5 Search Engine Benefits to Article Marketing

You've probably heard by now that article marketing can help you build links back to your site.But there's a lot more to it than that. Articles aren't only good for leveraging yourself stronger... Read More

Online Testing Optimization

Simply put, online testing involves keying each different test variable with a unique identifying code (so each desired response can be tracked to its source), running the test campaign, keeping records, and tabulating... Read More

Sending A Joint Venture Proposal

When forming a joint venture with another business, your most important step is the approach you use when contacting your potential business partner.Participating in a joint venture with another prominent business can be... Read More

Reselling Resold Resale Rights

What the heck am I talking about?Let me tell you that this will be one of my 'Chilli Pepper' articles, it's HOT and very controversial.If you've spent anything more than 5 minutes in... Read More

10 Ways To Make Your Sales Soaring

1. Maximize the effectiveness of your banner ads. Don't just use the same ad on every banner, use a variety to attract the greatest number of clickers. Use a banner system, which changes... Read More

Discover Which Sales Triggers Are Most Effective When Mixed With SEO!

We all know the importance of gaining top visibility to a specific target audience on the major search engines. After all, you really need qualified traffic or those who are actually searching for... Read More

Creating Multiple Streams Of Income Part 2

Over my years of experience in doing business on the Internet I have noticed two things that prevent most people from making any kind of money with a part time business.First most people... Read More

The Real Truth About Making Money on the Internet

Are you thinking about starting an online business? Have you already started one and you're not making the money you'd like to? If you answer yes to either of these questions then there... Read More

Take the Guesswork Out of Niche Marketing

Many of us learn from the Gurus that we should identify a niche and dominate it, so we can make money online. They give us brief glimpses about what is to be done,... Read More

How To Get Qualified Visitors to Your Site

Having an eBusiness isn't just about getting gobs of people to your site and hope that a number of them buy. Having your little web counter screaming 50,000 visitors a day doesn't mean... Read More

FREE Classifieds-Advertising: Your Online Work From Home Business

If you are on a shoestring budget and need to find cheap advertising on the internet there is nothing cheaper than FREE classifieds and they are literally everywhere you look.The trick to FREE... Read More

Web Internet Marketing: 10 Magical Secrets To Make Your Ad Appealing

Do you want to make your ad appealing and increase Your sales?If you answer yes, here are a few web internet marketing secrets to make it happen:1. Use plenty of examples in your... Read More

Year In Review: Top Ten Internet Businesses 2004

The internet boom hit a high mark in 2004. With old standbys and new emergences, the top ten internet businesses 2004 show a variety of companies all with one thing in common: they... Read More

How To Let Your Customers Search For YOU! ? Part 3

Thank you for stopping by part 3 of the article series on 'How To Let Your Customers Search For YOU!' In this part I will teach you one more technique that is often... Read More

Its Not That Hard: Expert Shares Practical Tips For Internet Marketing Novices

Try to run a search for the name Edward Gilbert. You'll garner about 2,700,000 hits, and the most prominent of them would refer to Edward Gilbert the doctor, Edward Gilbert the lawyer, and... Read More

Outsourcing Your Web Marketing

The online world is constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire... Read More

Internet Marketing - You Have to Give a Little to Make a Little

Internet marketing by definition is "the use of the Internet to advertise and sell merchandise or services."Most people when trying to sell their product/service go for the cheapest solution possible; why pay $40... Read More

Three Key Steps to Invention Marketing

Ever see a new product and say to yourself, "Why didn't I think of that?" Well, if you stop to think about it, probably everyone one of us has either had an idea... Read More

3 Steps To Effectively Increase Your Marketing Response

It's well known that internet marketers are in the business of marketing. To become successful in business, it's crucial to actively promote your business to gain new customers. Let's face it... No promotion,... Read More

Googles Own AdSense Tips

Google is at least as interested as you are in having your ads perform well on your site. And they've gone to some work to provide the information you need to optimize your... Read More

Dollars In The Details!

When it comes to your marketing message, the little things count. Trouble is, you'll never come to respect how much, until you make a commitment to science.Let me ask you something. Do you... Read More

Make Extra Sales with your P.S. - Internet Marketing

This "little" test I ran was in dedication of Corey Rudl. He was always big into "test test test" and then tell someone about it. So here is one of my little tests... Read More

Convey Website Credibility Authentically!

Your prospects want one thing and one thing only! They want the reassurance that what you say about what you offer is legitimate. Because credibility is crucial to the success of your business,... Read More

Attitude - The Marketers Most Important Trait

Attitude is a key part of each of us. A central part of our make-up, who we are as individuals. It is also a major factor whether you succeed at what you do... Read More