How to Survey your Market – Thinking outside the Online Survey Tools Box

I am always going on about how much small businesses need to do market research, even those who are just starting up.   Market Research will tell you everything you need to know about your customers, such as how they buy your products, and what needs they have that can be fulfilled by your products.

Many soloist and small businesses rush out into the market with their new product idea without first answering these questions, and then wonder why nobody buys their product.

One of the main reasons that research is skipped is due to lack of funds to hire a research agency, however there are a number of tools and resources available to help you run your own research studies right here on this site.

How to Negotiating with Your Salary

When you think back to your last job offer, were you happy with the result? I'm not proud to admit the number of jobs I accepted without attempting to negotiate anything, only to be discouraged about the outcome later (thankfully, I've learned my lesson).

Which is why I'm grateful there are people in the world like negotiation expert Victoria Pynchon who help people — especially women — learn how to navigate the world of money and power. If only I had discovered her sooner.

Types of Social Media Fans - Which type of You Are ?

Types of Social Media Fans - Which type of You Are ?

Social Media a great tool for Market Research

Market research can be a costly and time-intensive process. However, many businesses have begun to turn to social media as a cost-effective and in-depth tool for gaining insights into their customers, market, brand appearance and other important market research aspects. The keys to utilizing social media for market research are to understand the benefits and creating a proper research plan. These six tips offer easy to implement ways to utilize social media in your market research methods for improved, measurable results.

Market Research Methods - Primary & Secondary means

There are several ways to categorize the various market research methods.  The vast majority of techniques fit into one of six categories:

(1) secondary research,

(2) surveys,

(3) focus groups,

(4) interviews,

(5) observation, or

(6) experiments/field trials.

                       

Market Research Methods: An Overview

A Simple Rule to Eliminate Useless Meetings

Ask your team to identify their biggest productivity killer and inevitably two issues will rise to the top of the list: managing their inboxes and their meeting schedules. I'll tackle the former in a future post. For now, I'd like to focus on increasing the value of meetings by sharing a practice our team has implemented to great effect.

Bear in mind: Just because the material has been sent doesn't mean it will be read. Taking a page out of Jeff Bezo's book, we begin each meeting by providing attendees roughly 5-10 minutes to read through the deck. If people have already read it, this gives them an opportunity to refresh their memory, identify areas they'd like to go deeper on, or just catch up on email.

If the idea of kicking off a meeting with up to 10 minutes of silence strikes you as odd, you're not alone. The first time I read about this practice it immediately conjured up images of a library or study hall, two of the last forums I would equate with meeting productivity. However, after the first few times you try it, not only won't it be awkward -- it will be welcome. This is particularly true when meetings end early with participants agreeing it was time well spent.