In previous blog posts, I’ve explained that you need 3 things to succeed and covered the first two:
There’s one more thing you need–a market. That means you need to find a product or service that meets the needs and desires of people who can buy from you.
There are several ways to know if your product or service meets a need in society.
Is it helpful?
You may be a skilled and passionate bank robber or drug dealer, but your activities are not helpful to society. So, you shouldn’t choose those types of activities.
Choose activities that help people in some way. For example, a product or service can save people time or money, make them happier, or educate them. This website is called Change the World Marketing, because many of you have chosen to improve the lives of people in some way.
Are people looking for it?
You can find out how many people do a Google search for words related to your product or service. In my blog post, “3 steps to easy SEO success,” I explain how to use Google Adwords to discover what people are searching for. In that post, you’ll find the link to Google Adwords so you can get started right away. If many people are searching for those words, you know people want or need it.
Do your subscribers want it?
If you have an email list, ask your subscribers what they want. Here are some questions you can ask:
- On what topics would you attend a free webinar?
- What do you want to learn so much that you would pay for a course on it?
- What obstacles are hindering your success?
You can create a survey in Survey Monkey or SurveyGizmo to make collecting the answers easier. It’s helpful if you offer a free gift for completing the survey.
Are others successfully selling it?
Do you have competitors? Have they been selling your product or service (or something similar) for a while? If so, there’s probably a need, since marketers usually don’t continue to sell something that doesn’t have buyers.
There’s a misconception that you shouldn’t sell something that others are selling. WRONG! It’s rare to find something so unique that no one else is selling something similar. You just need to have an advantage. The advantage could be:
- Price
- Service
- Quality
- Convenience
Look at how Amazon.com made a huge business by making the online purchase of books, and then everything, more convenient–with their emphasis on great service. They don’t sell anything unique, but they still provide a service and convenience advantage–and sometimes a price advantage as well.
Do your products or services meet a need?
Do some of the analysis I just described to see if you have a market. Do you have experience with a product or service that didn’t have a market? (Almost everyone has had that experience!) Leave a comment to share what you learned.