This may or may not be true.  After all politicians do have the potential to wake up and realize that the cultural, lifestyle and linguistic make up of the U.S. has changed forever.  Realizing this they can adjust their message to include the Latino community instead of excluding them as so of them feel.  Only time will tell on this.

More interesting to me is the economic reality that runs parallel and around the political reality.  If the Latino community can be instrumental in choosing our political leaders, what role might they play or indeed are they playing in our economic reality.  The answer is huge.  I am not just talking about the $1.4 TRILLION dollar purchasing power the community has ( up 600% in the last 2 decades).  I am talking about the shape, texture and needs of an economy that includes such am immense and growing minority community.  Not only are Latinos shaping political leadership in the U.S., they are shaping economic realities as well.

How is this?  One is the numbers: 50 million Latinos in the U.S. and forecasts to 100 million in the next several decades.  Two, the cultural influence.  This is connected to cuisine, music, arts, social media, organizations, labor force etc.  There is no doubt that the political reality has shifted.  Sooner or later we will get an immigration reform law that will allow undocumented Spanish speaking workers the right to live and work in the U.S.  Three, family and social structure  Latinos live together, eat together, watch TV together, pray together, etc.  They model for us the way things used to be in the U.S. when life was simpler and extended family members lived within a short reach of each other.  Maybe they were less prosperous days, back then, but were we less happy, less healthy, less anything except with being less stuff that we really didn’t need.

The subliminal power of the Latino community is the most interesting to me.  Latino Spirit.  How do and might Latinos affect the way we live and think? Although no generalities can be made about any community or peoples, based on my first hand personal experience of interrelating with Spanish speakers here and abroad for almost 30 years I would like to share the wisdom of my experience about Latino culture and the Spanish speakers I know and have known.

1.  They enjoy simple the pleasures in life.They are no less happy than non-Latinos and in many cases more content than others with much more economic prosperity than them.

2. They have high morals and family values.

3. No matter how economically poor they offer and give in abundance.

4. They are positive people.  No matter how difficult life has been they tend to see their glass half full.

5. They are welcoming to outsiders of different cultures, languages, countries, lifestyles religions etc.

6. Latinos are hard and honest workers.  The Latino workers I know enjoy and excel at physical work.  They don’t complain that work may require too much of their physical energy.  They do what is needed.

In whole they have a lot to teach us the “majority community” about how to live whole and personally rich lives.

So, while you are thinking about updating your marketing vision to include reaching out to this community, you might also update your internal vision to include some ‘old’ values that the Latino community is reintroducing to the present.

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

“Hispanics,” “immigration” and “immigrants,” whether “illegal” or not, have been hot topics during the presidential campaign. But these discussions have all missed the point: The United States isn’t becoming a Hispanic nation; it always has been.

Whether Hispanics account for 15% or 16% of the population today is immaterial. Hispanic culture has been part of “America” longer than the United States has existed.

Spanish Shaped America 

Understanding Hispanic heritage is key to understanding the roots of American culture, whether it is the dollar sign, cowboy icon, barbecue and mustangs or Texas chili — which is as old as the Constitution.

Five states have Spanish names (Florida, California, Nevada, Colorado, Montana) and four more (Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona) have Hispanicized native names. And it’s no wonder: Until the mid-19th century, they were all part of New Spain, and then part of Mexico after independence, before the U.S. took them over.

Technically, Spanish language and culture became part of the national fabric of the United States when the U.S. expanded West of the Mississippi and South of the Carolinas. Over a period of 82 years, the U.S. penetrated deeply into the Hispanic sphere, annexing or occupying Florida (1821), Texas (1845), Northern Mexico (1848 and 1854), Puerto Rico (1898) and the Panama Canal zone (1903).

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

The Latino community needs the services of Attorneys with both a caring and compassionate heart and superb legal skills.  Even undocumented workers need to know they too may have legal rights in the U.S. They are most vulnerable to serious injury or death from unsafe or dangerous work situations and products.  They need information about what are their rights to compensation and medical care when faulty work situations and products lead to their injury, health issues or physical trauma.

Attorneys who are willing to put their attention on this community of potential clients will find little competition from other personal injury attorneys yet great need from Latinos / Spanish speakers, here in the U.S.  Its time attorneys stepped up,  and equipped themselves both for financial and humanitarian reasons and help this market community.

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

Or if he types into Google, “Abogados de Accidentes de Camiones” Truck Accidents Attorneys, he also will find language challenges with many of the search results.

Let’s say I am a Mexican national construction worker in the Denver area.  I have been in the country for 10 years and although I speak a little English, I don’t read and understand it that well.  I get hurt on the job and I am looking for a personal injury attorney in Denver (Abogado de Lesiones Personales de Denver)  I need legal services in the Denver area and Spanish is my native language.  I am much more comfortable in reading and comprehending Spanish than English.

I type in the keywords logical to my Spanish brain: “Abogado de Denver” looking for an attorney in the Denver metro area.  The results I get would logically suggest to me as a Spanish speaker that the websites  listed under those keywords “Abogado de Denver” would all be written in Spanish; or at the very least be bilingual websites written in English and Spanish.

For some reason many attorneys think that buying Spanish language keywords for their personal injury legal practices while offering websites only written in English is a good marketing strategy.  It isn’t.

Continuing the example: If I am injured on the job in the Denver area and really need a personal injury attorney in Denver and you lure me to view your website using the Spanish keywords Abogado de Denver, but I only get English content when I click on your website, chances are you have lost me forever.  Linguistically and culturally Spanish speakers will be turned off by websites seeking Latino clients but only offering them English content.  It seems like an insult or betrayal.  They think you just don’t understand how to market to them.

I like to think of this issue metaphorically.  You are a Italian national living in the U.S. and are lonely for the comforts, culture and cuisine of your country.  You make friends with a co-worker whose lunch box is filled daily with pasta and lasagne and the foods you grew up on.   You tell him how much you miss home cooked Italian food.  As a friendly gesture he invites you to his house for dinner only to find they have brought in Chinese.

In short: Deliver what you are promoting.  If Spanish language keywords is part of your legal online marketing strategy then Spanish language website content is what you must deliver.   The Spanish keyword strategy is a good welcome mat for the Latino community but you must “greet them when they knock on your door”.

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show the number of Hispanic workers who die on the job has risen as the overall number of workplace deaths has declined. According to the BLS, fatalities among foreign-born workers accounted for 74 percent of the fatalities among all Hispanic construction workers since it began collecting foreign-born information.

According to job safety officials, Hispanic immigrants, often unskilled and often in the United States illegally, are hired disproportionately into many of the most dangerous jobs, such as roofing, construction, agriculture and taxi driving.

These workers are exposed to dangerous machinery and equipment with little, if any, training or protection.  As a result Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation practice areas are beginning to include Spanish-speaking attorneys and staff members.

As an example, hundreds of people in California to be killed or have their lives changed drastically due to work-related injuries and illnesses. Los Angeles County, which employs a high percentage of Hispanic workers, many of whom are low-wage, immigrant or undocumented workers, accounts for roughly one-quarter of the state’s work-related fatalities, according to the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program, which is part of the California Department of Public Health.

According to FACE, between 1992 and 2007:

• Hispanic workers accounted for 46 percent of all work-related fatalities in Los Angeles County.
• Hispanic workers were 50 percent more likely to die on the job than non-Hispanic workers.

The 10 occupations with the highest fatality rates for Hispanic workers in Los Angeles County in that same 15-year period (per 100,000 workers) according to FACE are:

• Roofers (49.3)
• Taxi drivers and chauffeurs (30.7)
• Door-to-door sales and street vendors (26.4)
• Security guards and gaming officers (25.1)
• Construction laborers (20.6)
• Electricians (17.7)
• Welding, soldering, brazing workers (14.3)
• Supervisors of construction workers (14.2)
• Police officers (13)
• Grounds maintenance workers (12.5)

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

The 2010 U.S. Latino population is approximately 50 million people, and Latinos are found in every state and urban area in the country. Because of the the potential market the Latino community holds, it is helpful for businesses to understand some of the basic qualities and values Latino culture is known to hold.

First one should be careful not to over generalize or stereotype a particular culture.  Yet in my 27 years of speaking Spanish and living and working with the Latino community, I have learned some common traits which broadly describe aspects of Latino culture here in the U.S.

Here are a few things to know if you are going to do business with the Latino community:

1.  Latinos generally live in households of more individuals and greater numbers of extended family members.  Grandma, cousins, aunts and uncles often live together in Latino households.  I have seen this wherever I have traveled or lived.  This may be due to economic necessity and/or that Latino culture is very close knit and any family member in need is welcomed into the household. Businesses reach more potential consumers per household by engaging the Latino community.

2.  Latino culture by nature is very social.  How does this affect businesses?  Word of mouth is very efficient in the Latino community.  If an individual has had a positive experience with a particular company or product the entire family and friendship network will soon also know about it.  A marketing dollar travels farther.  Also Latinos love technology that keeps them in communication with each other; cell phones, internet, social media websites, iPads, etc.

3.  Latinos often take the slow and sure approach to new engage new businesses, products and services.  Though when they do choose they are very loyal.  So for example the typical Latino family may take longer to choose from whom to purchase their next car. But when they do decide, given that their experience is positive, they often become loyal to that dealership and sales person for life.

4.  Because most U.S. Latinos consider themselves a minority community, (albeit the fastest growing one) they want an indication from the business community that are welcomed and accepted.  Discrimination in its variety of forms is still present for the U.S. Latino, so he/she will look for indications that the welcome mat has been extended.

How can businesses show the Latino community they welcome them and their business?

Here are a few business tips which will go a long way in getting the Latino community’s attention.

-Use Spanish not English in advertising and marketing messages online and off.

-Hire Latino employees, representatives, contractors etc.

-Place retail outlets in or close to Latino communities.

-Advertise in Spanish on billboards in Latino urban areas

-Use Latino culturally relevant images and graphics in marketing executions.

-Use Latino spokespeople to promote the company to the Latino consumer.   Here are two examples:  Macy’s or J.C. Penney

In following blogs, I will talk more about doing business with the Latino community.

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

Click on image to see population and growth rates by race for every state

The Wall Street Journal has placed a powerful graphic on their website.  It shows the dramatic increase of Latino / Hispanic population throughout the U.S. from 2000-2010 in each and every state.  You can mouse over each individual state to see the percentage increase in Hispanic, Asian, Black and White populations during the last decade.  The results are dramatic.

The Latino population grew faster than was expected and it accounted for more than half of the entire nation’s growth over the past 10 years. The increase was driven both by births and immigration. The demographics of the U.S. Latino / Hispanic population are summarized in these charts which shows why the Latino market certainly deserves greater attention than many businesses give it with companies generally allocating little or nothing to their ad budgets to target the Latino /Hispanic market. Given the lack of competition savvy Latino marketing campaigns can show significant results.  Those who want to seriously study the online aspect of the Latino / Hispanic market would be well served by studying the revised and updated 2011 IAB report.

In business as in life information is power!

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

 Source: Social Climb, LLC

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

The latest findings from NPD’s CREST Hispanic foodservice market research showed that 42 percent of restaurant visits by Hispanic/Latino customers included children, compared with 30 percent of restaurant visits from non-Hispanic customers.  This says a lot about how Hispanics think.  It is not taboo for them to bring children to restaurants and let them act as children.

“Hispanic restaurant consumers tell us that they would visit restaurants more if they make children feel welcome,” said Michele Schmal, vice president of product management for NPD’s foodservice division.  Many restaurants give off a vibe suggesting children are either not welcome or that they must behave like saints.   This attitude is not welcoming to the Latino community.

“Language also matters in reaching this market,” Schmal said. “Restaurant operators and food manufacturers would do well to focus marketing to Hispanics around the family and children.”  How this is done is key.  Bilingual menus, Spanish speaking restaurant staff, advertising in Spanish and a presence in Latino communities all will dramatically increase this community’s interest in frequenting a restaurant.  Minor expense for potentially large returns.  The key as always is to make them feel welcome and wanted.

Among Hispanic consumers, those who speak more Spanish than English tended to visit restaurants with children slightly more often than bilingual or English-dominant Hispanics. Spanish-dominant Hispanics included their children in 43 percent of their restaurant visits, compared with 41 percent of restaurant visits for bilingual customers and 42 percent for English-dominant Hispanics.

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.

Attorneys do not realize the Latino community is looking for legal services presented to them with Spanish content.  That is to say that they want online attorney website information to be in Spanish.  When it comes to discussing their cases face to face with attorneys, most Spanish speakers get by with simple English or bring in a friend or family member more fluent in English to the legal consult with the attorney.

Then why are few attorneys pursuing this market?   The most common reason attorneys give me is that they don’t know how.  They think that because they do not speak the language or because they are of a different culture that marketing to Spanish speakers in Denver and those in other cities, is out of reach.  This is simply not true.  The variables involved in reaching the Spanish speaking community in Denver or any city is not complicated.  It does involve research and working with those who specialize in this marketing niche.  But given that the Latino/Hispanic presence is significant in numbers in Denver and most urban center in the  United States, the limited marketing competition targeting this community  and the sizable potential economic benefits, attorneys should run not walk to this opportunity.

Unfortunately we know from statistics that Hispanics, Latinos, Spanish speakers are 25-30% more likely to be injured or killed on the job than any other demographic.   This is because of the type of work they do such as construction, gardening and work requiring use of dangerous machinery, work exposed to traffic flows and work requiring heavy lifting. Generally, Latinos are often given the most dangerous jobs at the companies where they work.  They don’t complain because they are grateful for the work opportunity.

Also Spanish speakers are frequently victims of crime and do get into criminal legal trouble themselves. They may also have driving related incidents and accidents connected to driving under the influence, driving without a license etc.  Like any group or community, Latinos need the services of DUI and DWI attorneys.

Generally speaking like other communities and cultures that live in the U.S. Latinos, Hispanics or Spanish speakers need the services of attorneys specializing in personal injury, worker’s compensation, criminal law and attorneys who specialize in DUI and DWI cases.

If Denver and big city personal injury attorneys, (See: an example of a personal injury website directed at Spanish speakers in the Denver area) Denver criminal lawyers and Denver DUI and DWI lawyers would direct their marketing campaign to attract the Latino culture in Spanish, they would find that Spanish speakers are eager to connect with them.

Rob Coven is president and founder of Market To Latinos an online, Spanish language based, marketing and consulting company. He has been working and living with the Spanish speaking and Latino community since 1984. He writes blogs and shares important articles and research on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S. and abroad. Call Rob at 706-850-7555 or info@MarketToLatinos.com.