How to Start An Internet Business For Free

So you've had a great idea. But you'll have to put in some serious work to turn the idea into a product.
What if your effort is wasted? How do you know anyone will buy it?

Step 1 - Understand what your prospects are searching for
Step 2 - Discover who your customers are and what they really want
Step 3 - Prove it: did people buy your product?

The Internet makes this kind of research a piece of cake - if you know where to find the tools. starting internet business

Step 1 - Understand what your prospects are searching for...

There's a tool called Wordtracker that lets you type in a few keywords and find out how many people are searching for those keywords. You get an accurate idea of how popular your potential product will be.

It also tells you how many web sites are found for each keyword, so you can see exactly how much competition you will have.

Wordtracker is the most mind bogglingly useful internet marketing research tool I've ever seen. It helps you understand the exact words people think of before they buy. And that means you can show them just what they want to see.

For more details, including practical examples, see the article:
Internet Marketing Research Paper - Understand What People Want To Buy

WordTracker has a free trial version that doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the paid service. But unlike most paid subscriptions, WordTracker is available for as little as US$6 for a one day subscription.
So your complete research can be done for peanuts.

Click here to try Word Tracker for free.
starting an internet business

Step 2 - Discover who your customers are and what they really want...

You know people are searching for your product. But how do you reach them? Do they want exactly what you are planning to build? Do you need to tweak your product slightly?

If people want to buy your product then they're probably talking about it in the newsgroups. Hop on to groups.google.com and search for the keywords you identified in step 1.

Look for people asking for advice on where they can find certain products. Pay attention to the details - that's how you'll find out if your product needs adjusting.
Remember that this is a small representation of your target market. For every person posting questions in newsgroups about products they can't find, there could be:

10 people searching newsgroups for answers to those questions
100 people searching the Internet for that product
1000 people looking for that product off the Internet.

If you get thousands of results you'll need to filter out the useless discussions. Try things like:

add "wanted", "can't find" or "looking for" to your search
read through the rubbish until you figure out how to exclude it.

If you don't get enough results there are three possibilities:

you have not found the right search keywords - keep looking!
people who would buy your product don't use newsgroups (ask yourself if you think your potential customers are internet users)
nobody wants to buy your product.

Try a general Internet search for your keywords at www.google.com. You're sure to get a few more clues.
If you get stuck here you may need advice to figure out who your customers are, so call me - the first hour is free. starting internet business

Step 3 - Prove it: did people buy your product?

You can use the Internet to sell products without owning a web site.

You've probably heard of Internet auctions. They're not just for selling second hand goods.
If your product will sell, it will sell in an online auction.
You can evaluate the demand for your product, and get a good idea of what people are willing to pay.

All you need is a product that can be delivered by mail (preferably anywhere in the world). Go ahead now, list your product on www.ebay.com.

What Next?

After an initial test run you'll want to tune your auction operation for maximum profit. Use this guide to squeeze every ounce out of your auctions:
Create a Bidding Frenzy and Sell More Product Through the Giant Online Auction Sites!

Too Busy?

That was how to do it for free. Is your time as valuable as your money?

If you can't spare the time to do it your self call me.
Together we'll ensure that you sell the right products to people that want them.