Every online entrepreneur wants to create products and services that will be popular. Unfortunately, many of us have a huge lack of confidence in our products.
Sure, you may think that a new course or workshop is a great idea, but how do you know it will sell? Will other people in your audience find it as useful as you hope it is?
Imagine spending weeks or even months of time—plus the cost of design, video editing and all the other pieces that go along with it—only to discover it’s not what your audience wants or needs.
How frustrating would that be?
You don’t have to leave it to chance, though. There are plenty of ways to test your idea before spending the time and energy on a full launch.
Below are three methods to research your audience to create in-demand products, services, and even affiliate offers from related creators.
Table of Contents
Survey Your Audience
This is the simplest way to get a feel for what your market needs and wants. Ask your audience what they’d like to see directly.
You can create a survey and send it out to your mailing list, Facebook page or group, and other social media profiles. Use form apps like Typeform, Survey Monkey, or Google Forms to create your survey.
I’ve had success with adding a survey on my website’s homepage as a way to get in touch with new visitors, too.
Don’t forget to provide a way for those who take your survey to subscribe to your email list. That way you can grow your list with any new people who are looking for help as well.
For best results, keep it short. Getting people to start a survey can be hard enough, but the more questions you have, the fewer responses you’ll get.
Keep your survey at around 10 questions or less. If you can do it in half that, that’s even better.
Don’t forget to ask essential questions such as:
- What they’re struggling with
- Their preferred learning method (video, text, audio, etc.)
- What they feel the training is worth (what would they pay)
These three questions will tell you everything you need to know to create a program that’s practically guaranteed to sell.
Listen to Complaints
Find communities where your ideal clients or customers hang out. Pay attention to what people are asking or complaining about the most. These are the things they need help with.
For example, let’s say you’re a business coach. Your Facebook group is filled with questions about running Facebook ads. There are comments on how they’re struggling to achieve the results they know are possible.
If you pay attention to what’s being said in your group, it’s clear that there’s a need for some training about Facebook ads.
You can then create training materials, to answer all their questions like an ebook, course, or video series. On the other hand, you can seek out another creator who’s willing to sell their course to your audience with you as an affiliate.
Study Your Competition
Hopefully, you have a list of competitors and you’re reading their blogs and emails, and lurking in their Facebook groups. This is a great way to gain insight into what they’re doing—not to copy them but to discover what’s hot right now.
Consider checking out their paid products as well. Again, you should never copy them, but you can either:
- Promote them as an affiliate
- Create a better, more comprehensive version with your own spin
- Create a lite, lower-cost version (again, with your own spin)
Coming up with ideas in a vacuum is a great way to waste a lot of time and money on programs that won’t sell. Instead, pay attention to what your market is asking for, find out what they’re willing to pay, and delve into your competition’s offers.
Recap: Create Products & Service for Your Audience
Use one or all these three methods to get a better understanding of your customer before you create a new product or service:
- Survey your audience
- Listen to complaints
- Study your competition
The information you gain from these three activities alone will give you incredible insight into your market. It will show you what they want and need and make easy it for you to create your own hot-selling products and services.
Gather your info, and all that’s left is to create your amazing product.
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