I’ve been wondering for a while why it seemed the Lord had been nudging me to learn a new language (one of the easiest to pick up actually). Today the light bulb finally went on.

It’s all to do with a huge global market completely untapped right under all our noses. Over the last year it’s importance has been gradually dawning on me. However, reading some new stats today has literally socked me between the eyes. Ignoring them may have huge implications for Christian publishers worldwide. If their marketing departments are worth their salt they won’t want to sleep walk past this one…

So just what’s this ‘huge untapped market’ for Christian Book Publishers?

Simple - the massive Hispanic community worldwide.

Did you know that about half of the Western Hemisphere speaks Spanish as it’s primary language? In other words it is the equivalent of English here in UK and USA to huge populations which can often seem ignored by publishers.

It’s the second language globally after English and it’s use is growing exponentially by the day. Let’s just think about this for a second - 500 million people around world are Spanish speakers according to the University of Illinois and the Latino population of the USA has grown 60% over the last decade. Hmm, can you spot a market there for Christian books?

In fact the USA recent figures from the Census Report 2004 - 2005 show that half the USA population growth was Hispanic officially making them the fastest growing minority in the USA.

Surely Christian book publishing businesses owe it to themselves to reach this vast market, especially when it is in such an easy language to learn as Spanish? At the very least, why not provide access to your website in Spanish? These days the technology makes this pretty easy and inexpensive too. I may post more on this market in future with tips on how to go about tapping into it.

Now, where did I put those ‘Learn Spanish in a Weekend CDS’?

Copyright 2006 David Alston - Marketing Consultant to Sovereign World Ltd.