It is important to mention at this time that because we call this an Internet Business, the word Internet does not cancel out the word business. I have coached a lot of people over the years and the impression is that an Internet business is a get rich quick opportunity. Nothing is further from the truth. Yes a very small minority of people have done extremely well in a very short time as in many industries but they are exceptions to the rule. They usually came in with big data bases of people and lots of previous experience.

After speaking to most all of the successful people in this industry they have all agreed it takes time and effort. The biggest difference is you do not have to mortgage your house or take out big loans to get started.

So lets look at how to research your possible product. There are two basic principles in developing a product. 

General Purpose vs Niche

1. General Purpose - These are products that have a wide appeal. Let me explain! 

I created MP3 Sound Stream for a very specific purpose however once I released it, I started to see over time that specific niche areas were adopting it as a solution for their business or service. 

I created MP3soundstrem.com simply as a viable alternative to real audio or windows media for my clients. Over time I started to notice churches using the product to stream sermons and music so I created a separate niche site targeting that audience. I then noticed radio stations using it to archive their shows so I built another niche site targeting those customers. Same product and support but targeting different niches.

Churches (http://www.christianstreamingaudio.com) , radio stations, schools etc.

This is an important concept as I am still selling the same product and do not have to go through the process of making a new product and support etc for each new site. I get economies of scale

2. Niche Products - This is probably easier for the beginner as you simply create your product for a very specific niche. It may be an eBook on "how to profit from Scrapbooking" or how to teach your parrot to speak and maybe "Who Else Wants to Learn the Secrets of Having The Happiest, Healthiest Iguana That Lives Three Times As Long ? " ( I gather they die easily)

Scrap booking is a huge market niche however no one had gone into how to make money from scrap booking. A good friend of mine saw this and so developed how to profit from scrapbooking. Do you get the idea. Its not so much that you have to come up with a brand new product but more how to look at different products from a unique slant. 

There are so many niche products out there that you can dominate using what you will learn in this training course.

Using the Overture Keyword tool you can actually do a lot of your research to find these niches. You are looking for search terms that rank about twenty or thirty thousand searches. To high and it will be too hard a market, to low and there are not enough people looking. Single words are usually researchers so you are looking for key terms rather than single words.

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Q: I have a great idea for an amazing new online product. There is nothing like it on the market and no competition that I can find. I think it will be a huge success, and so does everyone I tell about the idea. I'm willing to bet the farm on this one. What do you think my chances of success are?

A: I never make odds on the success of "amazing new products"--online or off--because more often than not, the only thing amazing is the way the product is totally ignored by the buying public.

In my own business there have been times when we've come up with what 
we thought was an amazing product or software -- a product so amazing, in fact, that we just knew that all of humankind would sit up and take notice, then line up to write us checks. After many hours work and dollars spent developing the product then finally bringing it to market, we were amazed to find that the only people who thought the software was amazing was us.

We made humankind yawn. Quite an amazing accomplishment.

It worries me that you say there is nothing like your idea on the market. 
While you may think that is a good thing, it might actually mean that there is no market for your product. The same holds true for a lack of competition. A total lack of competition might mean that there is no demand for such a product.

I remember one of my clients finding a great niche for a certain product however the main consumers were teenagers so as an Internet based product where they would need a Credit Card it was a complete failure.

Rarely does a product come along that revolutionizes an industry. Rarer still does a product create a new industry on its own.

So how can you tell if your amazing new product really is worth gambling on?

The truth is, you can never be 100 percent certain that your idea will sell. 
No matter how enamoured you are of it or how much your friends rave about it, the success of a new idea depends on numerous factors, many of which are beyond your control.

Just a few of the factors that can affect the success of a new product include:

The viability of the product idea: Is this really a valid product idea that has the potential to generate revenue or just an epiphany that would be best forgotten?

The people behind the idea: The right team can make all the difference.

The resources required to take the product from the drawing board to 
the consumer: Do you have the perseverance, the knowledge, the contacts, the capital and a hundred other things required to take your idea from drawing board to delivery?

The demand for such a product in the marketplace: Will this product fill a need or satisfy an itch?

The competition: Is the market already crowded with competitors? If so, what will it take to move your product ahead of the pack?

Before you invest too much time and money into your idea, do a little research to determine if it's an idea worth gambling on. Research the market for similar products. Again, if there are no similar products on the market, that might mean there is no market for that product. If there truly is nothing exactly like your product, research similar products that fill a similar void in the consumer's life. Learn all you can about such products: pricing, market share, track record and so on.

Research the competition, too. Again, if there is no competition, there may not be a market for a product like yours. If there is competition, research the competition fully (little guys and big guys) to help determine if you can realistically compete for market share.

Identify your target customer and ask them for an honest evaluation of the idea and its marketability. Avoid friends and family, as they usually just tell you what you want to hear. If your target customer is a 35-year-old woman, pitch your idea to every 35-year-old woman you meet and gauge their responses. (Just don't break any stalking laws in the name of market research.)

The best advice I can give you when it comes to amazing new product ideas is, it's best to follow your head and not your heart. It's a lesson that took me years to learn. If I had a nickel for every amazing new product I've invested in, I'd go play a few hands of poker.

In the traditional world this would cost you a small fortune to do however this is where the Internet has taken this whole process to a new level. You can do all your research for free.

So go off and find similar web sites, use the overture tool, hit the news stands and libraries and do your research. 

Now that you have seen the power of these tool lets do an exercise. Go to the overture search tool which will open in a new window and type in podcast. As you will see this is a great niche area so lets see if people actually spend money on this service so the next thing to search for is if there other sites available. You can go to Amazon and also Google to see what the podcasting community is like. I also look to see if there are any articles available and other Ebooks or products available. Another place to look is on eBay to see what they are selling for a niche.

Alexa is also a good place to have a look at different markets. 

I also look to see if it is a broad area or very specific because I want to be able to produce one product and then drill it down into different areas.

Ok then after we have done the research we find that it is a very big field and even some of the major companies have articles and resources. So we could think that this is a bloated market however, as a friend of mine realised, there is very little in all the resources that talk about making money from podcasting. Also as a lot of people are doing it there will be even more wanting to.

I also found that Apple IPod and related product sales over the last 12 months have been some of the highest in the marketplace. Don't just look in the general arena but go as wide as you can to research your product potential.

I also found that people are doing conferences on podcasting so this is an area for later scrutiny. So in the future you could also run seminars or become a speaker on this topic

This is why I harp so much about picking fields you are willing to make into a business because if it grows then a whole range of possibilities will arise and if your not interested in that area then you will miss out on the big bucks.

So it is up to you now to go and research your products. Other great places to get ideas and also research are news agencies, libraries, newspapers, bookshops. There are so many untapped fields on the net you should be able to find some great niches.

Market Research Page

Another great way to test your market is to run a market survey page. These are simple one page files where you ask a question and people give you feedback. You can use this to rate the market. You will be able to do this after you have learnt how to build a web page as it is a little complicated to start with. 

Resources and Research Tools

From Dave

* I find myself using copernic constantly as one example. www.copernic.com In fact, I have it running right
now in another window.

* Google's government search engine also gets a lot of mileage from me. www.google.com/unclesam

* Another one that's constantly open on my computer is good keywords. www.goodkeywords.com Excellent
for brainstorming niche ideas.

Here is one I like

http://search.rightnow4you.com/

This one is very good too http://www.technobloggie.com/

http://www.redmatrixx.com/DLC.html  from Indy

Very good IT discussions... http://www.ittoolbox.com/

A favorite for many years... http://www.lockergnome.com/

And of course... http://www.hotscripts.com/

I use http://www.nichebot.com/ -> nice to develop your ideas :)  from Ekik

I would recommend SearchAutomator Pro.. its got search capabilities coming out of its ears. You can get it here free (rebranded as Niche Browser) from Jason Moffatt: www.internetbusinesspro.com/selects/nb (thats an aff link but you dont have to buy anything) from Andy

I like Google Scholar for professional material (sifts out a lot of the crap)

http://scholar.google.com

This is a great free recsource for beginners. It's a free online Internet Marketing guide.

http://www.imstarter.com

Also, for checking both overture keyword searches as well as cost per click on their PPC engine at the same time...

http://www.pixelfast.com/overture/

As far as getting ideas for a niche, I like:

MySpace Groups
http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.categories

43 Things Zeitgeist
http://www.43things.com/zeitgeist

del.icio.us Tag Cloud
http://del.icio.us/tag/

Craigslist
http://www.craigslist.com

digg Labs Stack
http://labs.digg.com/stack

... to name a few.

For keyword research after that point, I use Keyword Elite.  from Jason

CEO Express
http://www.ceoexpress.com/

Has everything available on 1 page.