Market Research Determines Your Product Development 3

Identify Your Market

The first thing you need to figure out with your marketplace research is if your market is easily identified online and is reachable. This is pretty much straight forward and there are a few ways to find out. Then you need to figure out if people will actually purchase it online. An example might be plastic surgery….now of course you can find candidates for plastic surgery online, but have you seen an affiliate program for it yet?

Obviously it is a service not a product right? What if you had the idea you are going to sell plastic surgery referrals and make money from them? You may be able to negotiate with one doctor to do this or you may be able to negotiate with several. In general though you will fail if that is the premise behind your business unless it is only local.

Still you will need to figure out a way to capture the interested prospects and qualify what constitutes a lead to be paid by the doctor. How will you be able to track those prospects? It is indeed tricky business. How will you make sure the doctor pays you?

Another example which would be much easier to target would be “professional soccer enthusiasts”. It is an easily identifiable group of people and there are many products related to professional soccer which you can sell online. A tummy tuck might be hard to get paid cash for even if you are getting paid for leads, but an e-book on soccer tips and training has a direct group looking for it. In addition there are ways to find those people easily.

You are unlikely to find a plastic surgery club online….mind you we haven’t checked into this completely but it seems a bit of a stretch (pun). Who knows maybe you could make a book about it and sell it but it is going to be much more difficult to find the buyers than a book on soccer. You have to think about your overall strategy here not just the front end product. Once you capture people who buy the book then what? It could be done and they could possibly be surveyed as to their interest in having a procedure done but where would you find these people and research them other than by buying traffic and surveying them?

It can be done but at what expense? The soccer enthusiasts are easy to find. They are going to sites to find tips, products and input. You can find out where they meet to trade information and advice. You can define this market and easily find these prospects and that means you can make money. Is your market easy to identify? If not you may not want to waste your time.

Another important point is that just because you think everyone will benefit from your product does not mean that everyone will buy it. Let’s say you have a fat reduction pill and you would think that half the population of the US needs it. Well you may be right but not everyone will buy it or even have a care to look at it. Many marketers focus too much on gaining all the market share possible rather than focusing on a niche that will buy it.

Only people interested in losing weight might have an interest and most of them won’t be interested in it either. Many people don’t believe in taking a pill to lose weight so they are not good candidates. Many people might also want the pill but wouldn’t be able to afford it or justify the expense. You need to find the people who are going to be willing to spend money to buy that solution.

Want Versus Need

The next thing you definitely want to do is target prospects who are looking for a solution or have a strong desire for something. You do not want to target people based on what they need, but you should rather be looking for groups of people who WANT what you are selling. They may want it because it is a solution to their problem or they may want it because it is a desired product. Only sell to the wants not to the needs. Select your market with precision and don’t try to create a method for selling to everyone by spreading yourself too thin.

Start with a specific “Niche” market and make it successful…then you can look for ways to grow your sites or offerings larger and into multiple areas. You don’t have to sell products to every “category” in your market, but you will want to monetize as many as you are comfortable selling. You need to consider your Niche and how the many various products and other types of monetization all fit together and make sense for you.

Where Do I Start?

You need to list your own interests and passions before you begin. What do you already have an interest in? Do you have background or experience in a specific area? If you do then start with what you know. You will have an advantage because your knowledge will allow you to focus your marketing strategy quicker.

You will already have ideas of the areas of interest in the market. If your passion is art you know there is an ocean of potential products and potential buyers in areas as wide ranging as: clip art, posters, paintings, artists, art supplies, art galleries, plays, orchestras, techniques and lessons on how to create specific art work or how to create a specific style, acting, singing, dance, etc. Any of these can be aimed at: designers, singers, play wrights, musicians, painters, agents, instructors etc.

Market Research Can Make Sense

Author: Scott Holden – TrafficEraBlog

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