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Using Market Research for Your Small Business
Market Research on a Tight Budget
Do-It-Yourself Marketing Tips for the Home Business Entrepreneur
Tips and Traps in Developing Marketing Strategies
Using the Web to Research Your Market

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Know Your Market: How to Do Low-Cost Market Research
The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners
State of The Art Marketing Research
The Handbook of Online Marketing Research: Knowing Your Customer Using the Net
Marketing Research

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Elements of Effective Market Research

Without research, you have no basis on which to answer even the most basic questions; questions that you must answer if you truly desire to successfully market your product or service.

by Wild Bill Montgomery 
Contributing Author 

I have always been a firm believer that there is never one correct answer to a question. Some call that argumentative, I call it Independent and Creative Thought. I have also come to the conclusion over the years that by feeding answers to a student, they will ultimately starve. On the other hand by posing a question, you teach them to think and in turn feed their own thought and energies.
(article continued below ...)
 

You will never get the right answers however, if you don't know the right questions. So with this in mind, I from time to time write an article, which is consists of mostly questions! Questions covering a single subject, which I hope will provoke you into independent thought, thus creating productive output. Our topic is what? Marketing Research! 

Marketing Research is a very important step in the evolution of your business. Without research, you have no basis on which to answer even the most basic questions; questions that you must answer if you truly desire to successfully market your product or service. 

1. Your Market. 

  • Do you know whom your target market is? 
  • Who are your current customers and do they fall into your target market? 
  • Are your current customers loyal to your product? Why or Why not? 
  • If not, how can your create a loyalty strategy? 
  • What is the current size and geographic spread of your target market? 
  • What will it be in the future? 
  • Will you be able to maintain a product and company growth rate to match that of the projected growth rate of your target market? 
  • Is your product part of a trend market that has a volatile base, which can collapse or increase rapidly? 
  • Are you prepared for this? How? 
  • Do you have backend products or services? 

2. Your Price. 

  • Is your market price sensitive? 
  • If so, how does the price of your product or service stack up against your competitors? 
  • How are you justifying this price in accordance with the "Price Curve" of your market? 
  • Is there an obvious perceived value in having a higher price? 
  • How does your product Service and Support Pricing compare to your competitors? 
  • Do you offer "credit terms" to aid you in higher pricing strategies?
  • How do you think your competitor(s) will react to your pricing structures? 

3. Your Competition. 

  • Are you in or entering a market that is already overrun with competition? 
  • Have you prepared for this with a well-planned strategy to overcome the over abundance of competition? 
  • What kind of companies make up your competition and can you compete with them in this market? 
  • Have you diligently analyzed your competitions strengths and weaknesses? 
  • Have you honestly analyzed yours? 

Obviously these are not all the questions you need to answer to successfully market your product. But if you can answer the questions I've prepared here, you will find that the answers to others will come more easily. I hope that you have given these questions more than a quick thought and haphazard answer. The old saying "more is better" certainly applies here. The more data you compile and apply to each question, the better. Also, being the dyslexic-absent-minded professor type, I have found that putting everything on paper makes it clearer, easier to remember and I have it to look back on when I need to refer to something I have long since forgotten.

 

About the Author: 

Read more of Wild Bill's articles on marketing and online business tips to help you succeed in your online business ventures. Find more of his articles at "The InfoZone", the largest Business & Marketing Article Archive on the Internet. Go to: http://www.MakingProfit.com/articles 

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