For years my family has lived with less, we grow/raise most of our food and spend a lot of time enjoying the price-less riches around us – hiking, biking, etc. The things we purchase have meaning and use and it gives us a lot of freedom to not worry about money that much. Or taking care of lots of stuff, dusting, etc. for that matter.

As a copywriter who writes for the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market, I’m seeing this trend spread in an interesting way. People are willing to spend more money on things that are higher quality and have a deeper value attached. Even with the recession, for instance, the organic market is still pretty good. People feel like it’s a priority and a solid long term investment to spend more money on higher quality items and maybe get less volume in the end. And not only are people looking for solid products, but also ones that connect them to a larger improvement on their life – sustainable communities.

This is worth thinking about in your marketing – what greater value can you attach to your products that makes it worth having? That gives people satisfaction in a multi-dimensional way?