Are you losing focus, spending money, and getting nowhere in your business? Do you have a million and one ideas, yet none of them have given you the result you're looking for? Are you launching new business ideas and not getting the right responses? Have you ever learned strategies on how to test a new business idea?
Here's the mistake most make when a new business idea comes to mind. They get too excited about it. They can't stop thinking about it. They lose sleep over it. Some even begin building the idea out right away placing million-dollar dreams around it and throw it against the wall to see if it sticks.
I use these same 6 steps to test my business ideas, products, or lead magnets. They help me to determine whether or not my idea is good for my target market.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know the chances of success for a new project, product, or service BEFORE you get in too deep?
Sure, it would! And it only makes sense, right? Why not test your idea first, then put more work into it after it's validated?
Many people spend tons of money, only to end up in the same place they were in from the beginning. Entrepreneurs often create products and services, then throw every conceivable selling technique at them.
But throwing ideas against the wall to see if they stick isn't the strategy you want. In fact, you want the complete opposite! What you want is to know exactly how well your target market will accept your new idea.
So, let's change the wall technique!
[ctt template=”8″ link=”5i1jx” via=”no” ]You can create the ideal product when you put a plan in place.[/ctt]
If you are anything like me, you have a ton of new ideas! And it's why I am here to tell you there is a better approach to test your business idea and get it in front of your target audience.
The truth is, I used to use the throw – it – against – the wall technique to see if it sticks. But today, I have since learned enough to change this approach. My new way involves the 6 steps you're going to read about. And it works quite well for my clients as well.
In fact, it's how I created the” 35 Places To Promote Your Lead Magnet” idea product, and daily it continues to get me new subscribers.
Now let's talk about the 6 steps that anyone (even you!) can use to help test a new business idea. If you need more details on each section, I've highlighted each one that links out to other articles for more details and to learn more.
Step 1: 15 Minute Care Test
Step 2: Obtain Feedback from Your Target Market.
Step 3: Analyze and Create a Competitive Advantage.
Step 4: Build Your Email List.
Step 5: Track and Measure Your Key Performance Indicators.
Step 6: Continue With Validation, Tweaking, and Scaling!
Ok, let's go deeper.
Choose your idea wisely. Make sure it's something you are interested in. What is something you can talk about, on and on, for hours? What I'm talking about here is passion. You can test your passion by seeing if you can write 1-2 articles about the topic.
When you know you are passionate about it then create a 15- minute care package around it. Meaning test it to see if others will care just as much about it as you by doing it as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
You can do this in 15 minutes or less.
What you want to do it test out the smallest possible thing that you can put out into the world and start receiving responses and feedback. You can do this by creating a landing page. Most auto-responders have a built- in landing pages. Creating landing pages allow you to test out ideas before going too far down the rabbit hole wasting time.
When you build a landing page it forces you to focus on your target audience. Learn more about who your idea or project is for, what are their dreams, and what obstacles do they need to overcome?
Now, there are a number of ways you can create a landing page. Everyone has a strategy that works best for them. However, I have found Leadpages to be the quickest, simplest, and most cost-effective landing page builder…and trust me, I have tried a lot of them. But I've always come back to Leadpages to create most of my pages for testing my ideas. So far, it is the fastest and easiest way to get out a polished looking page without involving my developer. If you don't have a landing page provider you can try them out for Free.
No matter which provider you chose to build your landing page, you want to spend the least amount of time and money possible to gauge whether or not your new business idea will work with your audience.
At this point having made this landing page you may have discovered maybe you're not as excited about your new idea as you were before. Or you could be thinking now that I have created this page how will I get people to sign up or opt-in to my landing page.
If you have made it this far, then keep reading. Let's prepare to gather feedback.
SIDE NOTE TIP: Keep in mind, your goal at this stage is NOT to make a ton of money, just to test your business idea.
To get feedback, you want to learn more about your target market. Now that you have your landing page let's get people to sign up for the waiting list of your new idea.
First, announce it on your own social media channels. You can get one or two leads from this 
approach. You can also reach out to your close relationships.
Personally, my favorite feedback test portal are Facebook groups! Facebook groups, in my opinion, are a great tool for observing your market, gauging your audience's pain points, and testing how your new idea could be the solution to their problems.
You want to join groups that house your target audience.
Post an “Interest Question” type of post focused around your new idea landing page and those who respond with interest send them your new opt-in page. Or you can simply post on a promo day as in this post example where I obtained over 50 emails this particular day. Imagine how your email list can grow by doing this daily in multiple places.
Now it time to research not only your competitors but also your target audience.
First your target audience. Those who opt-ed into your landing page even if it was just one, two, or 30 ask them questions. You can automatically send it via your auto-responder sequencing or if it is a few then send them a message. I prefer to auto send a survey. You're looking to find out why they signed up and how you can improve your business idea.
Now it's time to research any competitors who are offering a similar project. Now, just so you know, I'm not saying to be a copycat! You are looking for why your target audience might be interested. What worked for them and what did not.
Most times you can find “gaps” in the competition, places where your business can make a difference. This way, you can create unique competitive advantages based on the pain or pleasure your audience feels. You are in essence looking to make your idea better by filling in the gaps of what your market needs.
Always look for opportunities to build up your list. After obtaining feedback; refine and modify your landing page. Go back to where you originally found your target audience and begin offering your idea via your modified landing page. Remember to nurture your new subscribers. When someone opts into your list they are raising their hand for you to get more personal. This is your chance to ask more questions and research your audience in more depth.
This also allows you to start building an audience that is ready to hear from you. As you will learn if you don't already know, your list is the best place to interview your audience, make sales, offer beta programs before they hit the market, and so much more.
With that being said, continue to gain the trust of your subscribers and obtain commitments. Explain what they will receive and how your products and services will continue to benefit them.
As with anything in both life and business, you should always know the value of your efforts. Measure your strategy, vision, and results. You should also keep a scorecard based on your overall vision for the project. Did you reach your goal? Did you get the number of sales (or in this case, email subscribers) you wanted to add to your list?
If yes, then…Yes!!! Wahoo, congratulations! Now, it's time to improve and continue to tweak it.
If you did not meet your goal, then now is a good time to follow up on why. Study your feedback and make improvements. Then, go at it again from a different angle.
Some of the biggest mistakes we make in business and life happen when we're trying to do it all by ourselves. For some reason, we were conditioned to do this as humans. However, the most successful people have never become successful by doing it alone.
(This is why I created a community where entrepreneurs can collaborate. Come Join Us!)
Now, it's time to collaborate with other individuals in your industry. Everyone has their own spin on what they do…but together, we can offer support. And sometimes, others need exactly what you offer! Also, this is a great chance to get in front of someone else's audience in order to grow your audience. It's a time to gain affiliations that help promote your product and more.
To all my newbies, I know what it's like to be new online, overwhelmed by the many directions you can take when it comes to testing your idea or starting a website business. I mean, it is called the world wide web. And more than ever, we can reach people from complete opposite corners of the world…literally.
Plus, the truth is, no matter who you are (new or not), you can do better in running your operations. We all can. Every one of us can have better strategies where we spend less money and time.
We all need to sharpen our skills, put the right tactics in place, and make our business stand out.
It's the reason why it's more important today than ever before to test your ideas.
Because I love to gather information, test strategies, make things simpler, I put together a cheat sheet with information. It talks about how to take your idea from its test stages to its validation stages and beyond. This is the same plan I use to map out my ideas, as well as for new clients when I first bring them on board.
If you feel this is too overwhelming, don't hesitate to send me an email or comment below. I will be happy to help you get through the phases!
How about you? What strategies have you used to validate your business ideas? Share with us in the comments. We would love to hear from you.
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