Most of us with home-based businesses are working towards marketing our products to the female population. We're not the only ones. Women account for roughly 80 percent of all consumer buying.

So how best to reach this market?

In "Don't Think Pink...what really makes women buy and how to increase your share of this crucial market", authors Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned work to answer that very question.

Women are busy these days and are always looking for ways to save time. The Internet has become an answer to many savvy female shoppers. Women make up a slight majority of the total U.S. at home web population which is 52 percent female and 48 percent male. Women are logging onto the world wide web for both community and shopping.

Make sure your business is providing an easy and time-saving shopping experience for your target audience. "It is important to tailor that experience so that it delivers on her preferences and eliminates time-gobbling friction" according to Johnson and Learned.

If you are using email as a marketing tool, stay away from sending useless, impersonal, self-serving email. That will only lead to women opting out of your email list. Your emails need to provide them with something...at the very least, information they can use.

Customer service is key, avoid these mistakes...

• Slowness or failure to respond to inquiries - Nothing loses a customer more quickly then not responding to their needs in a very timely manner.
• Lack of personal contact - Always be easily reachable by phone/email, information which should be clearly found on your web site.
• Late Delivery - If late delivery is unavoidable due to back-orders, be sure to contact your customer personally and offer a gift certificate or something of value in appreciation for their patience.
• No order tracking - Provide the customers with information on when their shipment has gone out and tracking numbers so that they can get their own updates on where their package is.
• Complicated return process- Be there to make returns easy on your customer. Make sure they understand the return process when they purchase items from you.

One of the sections in "Don't Think Pink" talks about making improving a women's life part of your brand's context. Johnson and Learned use Mary Kay Cosmetics as an example. "They have guided thousands of women into entrepreneurship by offering them an opportunity to "Be In Business For Yourself...But Not By Yourself". They have effectively shifted the concept of joining a business away from the fear of isolation and lack of support into a new context of being part of a large supportive community. That's delivering the same "package" but with a re-worked marketing approach that resonates with women's values."

Although much of the book "Don't Think Pink" is geared towards marketing ideas for larger businesses, a great deal can be gleaned from it for successfully marketing your home business. It's definitely worth a read!