Test Your Business Idea by Engaging
Engage in communities where you think there will be a lot of potential customers
Have you ever overthought your product launch?
If you answer no, you either haven’t launched a product or you’re a superhero and I want to learn your ways.
If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. Most people overthink their launches…
“I just need to tweak my brand a bit”
“I need to grow my audience a little before launching”
“I need to clarify my value proposition”
These may be true. You might feel like you have to do these things. But you won’t know anything until you show what you’re building to a few potential customers.
Find some where they spend their time online and offline. Someone I met is looking to sell hand soap based on up-cycled coffee grounds.
He’s planning on hanging out at a local coffee shop and asking people what they think about the concept. And it’s a great next step!
Worst case scenario is they’re not interested in his hand soap.
But they might be interested in the movement of buying up-cycled products.
They might like him as a person and want to stay updated with his work.
They might provide some valuable feedback on his value proposition, landing page, and branding.
Either way, he’ll move forward with more certainty. He’ll move forward with a larger audience. With more momentum.
So if you’re out there, paralyzed on how to launch a product and brand, try to un paralyze yourself by engaging.
First, figure out what data you want to collect. Do you want to figure out if your brand is appealing? If your messaging is compelling? If people will buy your product?
You can gather it if you engage.
If you’re B2B, find some members of your target audience on LinkedIn and DM saying you’d love to speak to them for some research.
If your B2C, find people on Instagram who’re commenting on similar products and DM them asking a few questions about whatever you want feedback on.
Find where your potential customers are. Ask them questions. Don’t be a dick. Create genuine connection. And you’ll gain momentum.
If you don’t know who your potential customers are, take your best guess! Start somewhere. See where it takes you.
I’m in the same process. Trying to figure out how to productize my services to make them more compelling to the right people. I’ve been doing research with social entrepreneurs to find common pain points to create a solution for.
It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for my business. 80% of people I’ve interviewed have signed up for my newsletter. A few of them are great prospects.
Best of all, I’ve gained more insight into their problems, and am much closer to creating an amazing solution that brings social entrepreneurs closer to success and changing the world.
If it works for me and millions of other entrepreneurs, It’ll work for you.
When in doubt developing a new product or service, engage. Connect. You’ll gain momentum.
