I've been seeing a lot of different information both on and offline that relate directly to the stuff we are all doing here.

Today, while sitting in an auto repair shop, I picked up the current issue of Inc.

There is a great article(leader) on enterpreneurship. (sp?) that focuses on the marketing aspects of running a small business.

What was the take away from this article?  We have been hearing it from the more experienced among us over and over again.

Market Research!

The writer of this article created a product that they thought would be well received, found out after release that the market was looking for some features but had a problem with the basic premise of the product.  A little research would have saved months of work.  Fortunately, they were able to adjust and provide the product that the market wanted.

He now promotes the MVP concept.  Minimal Viable Product.  Develop the minimum product and use it to test the waters.  Then when you have the direction that your market wants.....jump all over the enhancements.

This can be adjusted to our IM promotions as well.  See what works in your promotions, test the waters and don't be afraid to adjust your sales pitch to focus on what seems to be working. 

Use your Google Analytics to acquire the needed information or get into the forums and ask a focus group for their opinions.  You can also set up a little quiz on your site to see what your readers are looking for.  Just make sure that you provide them with a bonus for doing all the work for you and don't make it too onerous.  You can provide a place to sign up for your list too.  Give the reader a way to get the bonus without the sign up if they desire.  It's fine to build your list but, as I found out the other day, people may not want to get on another list.  Forcing people to drop their e-mail to get the bonus can give people a bad taste and cause more harm than good.  Those with sufficient interest will ante-up with their CV.