Research Primer
What's market research? And why must you do it? Here is an article that offers a general overview on the topic.
- Sources and Techniques for Your Strategic Planning Efforts
- Perform the market and competitive studies that are necessary to equip your team with the information it needs to make good decisions.
Research plays a key part in knowing which of your new business ideas will fly in the marketplace.
- Hitting the Market
- To be successful, you have to know your potential customers inside out. One entrepreneur reflects on the essentials of market research.
- Getting an Idea to Market
- Money and a great idea aren't all you need for a winning venture. The five key elements to getting an idea to market include timing, and knowing your market. A successful entrepreneur explains.
- Introducing New Products
- Increase the odds of a successful launch for your product.
- High Concept: Tapping a New Market
- Will new features and pumped-up distribution enable a niche product to reach the masses?
You don't need big bucks to do a little research. Swipe these strategies from successful CEOs and marketing experts.
- Market Research on the Cheap
- Using students to determine whether to launch a new product was a cheap and effective form of research for this bootstrapping entrepreneur.
- I'm starting a business but have no market research budget. What are some inexpensive techniques?
- Guerrilla marketer Jay Conrad Levinson offers on- and offline methods.
- How can I find an affordable market research service?
- There are a number of ways to acquire both quantitative and qualitative primary research for less.
Want to know if your next product will fly? Ask existing customers and recruit prospective ones to let you know.
- A Do-It-Yourself Customer Panel
- Do you want to put some bang into your market research without spending the big bucks? Try conducting your own customer panel.
- Do-It-Yourself Focus Groups
- Want to conduct a focus group but feel hindered by the cost? Do it yourself, and save a bundle.
- Will They Bite?
- Here's how Bite Shoes uses Web-based focus groups to help market its new products.
- Every Click They Make
- Glean customer data from your Web site using server logs, questionnaires, E-mail discussion lists, and bulletin boards.
Target your market with a thorough knowledge of whom it comprises.
- Grist: Don't Read the Business Pages
- You can learn a lot about consumers by reading the newspaper.
- The Six Costliest Mistakes You Can Make in Marketing to Women
- The reality is that women are the primary consumers in the United States. Are you doing all you can to reach this market?
- Getting the Dirt on Your Market
- New location? Get market information, including population density, demographics, and the number and type of local businesses.
Competitive Intelligence
Snoop around competitor's sites, stores, and customers to help develop your edge.
- Competitive Intelligence on a Shoestring
- You can learn a lot by researching online and targeting the right people.
- The Dirtbag Demographic
- Douglas Canning, cofounder of, SanFranciso-based Dirtbag Clothing, used competitor's Web sites to research retail locations that he could pitch to carry his Dirtbag Clothing line.
- Spies Like Us
- Staples CEO Tom Stemberg acts as a mystery shopper at his competitors' stores and his own. This Q&A reveals how he gets the most out of his visits -- and what he's has learned.
- Get a Local Look at Your Competition
- Shop at competitors' stores, count their customers, and talk to owners of similar businesses in noncompetitive areas
Research Woes
Learn from the mistakes other CEOs have made when it comes to market research.
- Grandma Got Run Over by Bad Research
- Flawed market research did in this retail-clothing store.
- John J. Kilcullen: My Biggest Mistake
- The creator of the Dummies series of how-to books discusses the importance of collecting relevant customer data.
- Carlos Alvarez: My Biggest Mistake
- The chairman and CEO of the Gambrinus Co. -- an importer of beer -- reveals his biggest business mistake: overconfidence in his brand's ability to sell without market research.
Mar 20, 2002
