Online Market Research Secrets

I had a very interesting question from Scott yesterday in response to my post on how to deal with information overload...

Here's the question:

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"Ewen, I am definitely suffering from "info overload", but I think an even bigger obstacle to my getting started is that I do not have a target market (let alone niche) in mind. Whenever I tell people that I'm struggling with picking a target market, they always say something like "Well, what's your passion".

I really don't have one. LOL, I guess life's just too busy to have time for one. What I WANT to do is identify what potentially profitable markets and niches are out there, and pick one that I think might interest me enough to learn, or that I may realize I already know something about. Most keyword tools have you start off with the "high level" market you're interested in, and give you some drill-down niche possibilities. I need something that will tell me what the profitable markets are FIRST! Is there anything you're aware of that can help?"

Thanks! Scott
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This is a GREAT question because identifying the RIGHT market is the first step to financial freedom in any business, online or offline.

In fact it is crucial to your success as an internet marketer.

The challenge is in having IDEAS for potential profitable markets FIRST before you even use any free keyword tool.

Scott got it nailed down with his question. You need to start somewhere with your online market research.

Here's the solution to get ideas of profitable markets, and it's simple:

"Open Your Eyes!"

Here's an excerpt from my 74-page guide "Striking It Rich Online" which provides a detailed explanation of the above...

(Incidentally, I think EVERY ONE should get a copy of this guide.)

=== Excerpt starts ===

You hear a lot of talk these days about “finding a niche” as if the concept is new. It's not.

A niche business is simply a business which serves a highly targeted market group.

But there's something even more important you need to know about niches.

The fact is: a niche is a business idea. Read that again and really think about it.

When you zero in on a niche, what you're really doing is zeroing in on:

1. The audience or target market you would like to serve

2. The core mission and unique selling proposition of your business

3. The core product line of your business

4. The realities of the market, which guide every aspect of how you structure your business, how you advertise and promote your business, and how you manage the long-range growth of your business

To find a niche and create a business based on that niche is to stare “marketing reality” in the face. It's the difference between having a concise business plan and no plan at all.

One maximizes your chances for success, the other is an almost certain road to failure.

So as you read this and begin to think about niches and niche businesses, keep these points in mind. Niches are not magical, newly discovered entities. They are simply markets within markets. Markets which are hungry and eager to buy.

Now a lot of people don't get niche market identification right the first time.

They choose a market that is either inappropriate relative to their skill and resources, or they choose a market that is far too general and broad.

I believe one of the reasons this happens is that those of us who teach Internet Marketing have neglected to explain our hidden thought processes. In other words, it's one thing to tell you to go look up some keywords at Overture, and quite another to explain how to evaluate the market potential represented by those keywords.

I'm going to do the best job I can here, right now, to show you how I make my own value judgments about whether a market is worth entering or not.

First, it doesn't always begin with keywords!

You'll see a lot of marketers, myself included, tell you to use free keyword tools like Overture, WordTracker, Good Keywords and a host of others to do keyword research.

Why? Because this is the quickest way I know of to find an online niche market.

However, there is an assumption behind this though. The assumption is that you have a starting point or idea already in mind when you run these searches.

You need a broad keyword to start with – something that defines the industry you intend to research.

If you have no clue which industry you're interested in, then I'd be doing you a disservice to tell you to use keyword research as a starting point. You'd be forced to sit at your computer just randomly entering words like “cats” or “coffee cup” into Overture, hoping to see something interesting pop up.

So first things first - do research and brainstorming via other sources and get your markets of interest nailed down first.

You see, I've already defined my market. I know that Internet Marketing is my area of expertise. Hence I have a standard vocabulary in mind that I can use as the starting point for my niche research.

Where are YOU at right now in STEP #1?

Are you starting totally from scratch? If you are, then you need to go “back a step”. Let's call that step “Step X”.

You're on day zero here, and this means giving yourself a crash course on how to perceive the landscape of saleable products the way a business person perceives it.

Here’s how it’s done…

(A) Start reading and taking notes

I'm making the assumption that you haven't owned a business before…it's just easier this way. Follow along anyway even if you do have some prior experience. You still might find some useful insights.

So you're starting from scratch. The first thing you need to be aware of is that your mind is habituated to seeing the world through a consumer's point of view.

There is nothing wrong with this. You should keep this ability intact because it's going to help you relate to your customers. However, this way of thinking can also blind you to seeing other profit opportunities that are right in front of you.

The average person thinks in terms of products that already exist. The niche marketer should think in terms of both existing products and products that haven't been introduced to the market yet.

How does the marketer see opportunities where others don't? It's simple:

• He pays attention to what people are already buying

• He pays attention to trends and the latest “hotspot” industries

• He stays connected to the news, to people in the know

• He is a voracious reader

Now that you know this, how do you apply it to your own situation so that you can come up with your own ideas for niche-targeted information products?

Here’s how:

1. Ask yourself these questions:

What products am I already consuming? Which industries are in the news a lot lately that I can't get off my mind, even though I've never considered myself all that interested in them?

2. Write down everything that comes to mind.

3. Examine your answers and pull out anything that looks like the simplest one or two word description of a broad niche.

Examples: the software industry, the clothing industry, the latest advances in allergy treatment according that story I saw on the news last night, etc...

4. Pick out just one or two that really grab you.

You don't have to feel confident about them; you just need to feel like they raise your curiosity and desire to know more.

5. Get ready to do some serious reading.

You've got to put your mind to work and collect as much information as you can find on the market that interests you. You can do this by surfing the web, buying magazines, joining related discussion boards and taking in any other source of information you can find.

The questions you'll want to answer are:

• How many other sub-markets does my main market break into?

• What are the products and services being sold?

• What range of prices are people charging?

• What information is the market seeking?

• What is the market's “inside” vocabulary?

(B) Putting it together - a sample illustration

Let's say that you chose “clothing” to describe your interests. I really like this example because most people would react by saying: “Clothing?? What type of information product could I possibly create on that?”

You're probably used to thinking in terms of hard goods. There are plenty of websites out there selling shirt, pants, dresses, shoes, belt buckles, etc.

But clothing is a lot more than “functional items to put on so you won't be naked”

Think about all the other ideas that circle around “clothing”:

• Fashion, fashion modeling
• Dressing to express personal style
• Dressing to look thin
• Dressing for a business interview
• Finding clothing you can afford, thrift store shopping, making your own clothes.
• Care and cleaning, stain removal, tailoring.
• Matching colors to skin-tone (warm vs. cool colors)
• Clothing worn only on special occasions (weddings, graduations, etc)

Notice how many related concepts I generated right off the bat?

Also, do you notice how, for every idea expressed, the idea can be broken down even further, sometimes into entirely new niches?

=== Excerpt ends ===

Please continue reading here...

Only when you've applied the above then do you use free keyword tools like Keyword Empire or Good Keywords...

Hope this 'opened' your eyes to the huge possibilities regarding correct market research.

The 'Midas Touch' is Yours!

Ewen