Test Early, Test Often

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May 6, 2011 by CRAVE Blogger | Comments (0)

We’ve all heard it: fail early, fail often. Its a mantra in the land of coding and has become perennial advice to entrepreneurs. We’ve all heard the stories: Michael Jordan misses 51% of his shots, Thomas Edison tried and failed over 1000 times trying to invent the light bulb.

So how does all that translate to you and your business? One word: TEST. Test your ideas. Forget about failure. Test early, test often.

Every entrepreneur, especially in creative fields, is terrified they will launch and hear crickets. No one wants to hold a launch party for one. Boost your chances for success by testing your ideas before you launch. Ask your market what they want before you invest time and money into creating a product.

You don’t have to pay for expensive marketing services to do a focus group. Activate your network instead.
Who makes a good test market?

Your mastermind group- It’s what they are there for. At your next meeting ask if they are willing to focus group your ideas. This is the place you can be completely honest and get open feedback. I am part of a group in which we all share parts of our projects before they go live: web copy, products, videos and concepts. Their feedback kept me from making a big mistake with a product last year. Test early!

Your family, friends and neighbors- A colleague wanted to create a product aimed at teens. He used his niece and her friends as a focus group. In his market research he found that teens don’t have a way to make purchases online. He could have wasted months trying to market on the internet. Instead, he saved tons of time by testing early and understanding his market’s distribution needs.

Your inner circle networking group or mail list- I know a coach who does free programs to a select group before she launches a paid course or product. She uses feedback from the freebie to perfect the final product. You can also offer a discount to a small beta group. The beta group’s feedback will help you refine your final offer.

Search online- There are coaches, counselors and service providers who will do free consultations or advice sessions. Sales and marketing professionals in particular often have free offers you can take advantage of. If you approach the session with very specific questions in mind you can make the most of your time.

Test your ideas before you invest time and money in a new project. Get feedback from whatever sources are available to you. Using your network to test your ideas can save you time and money.

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Deanna Lohnes is the owner of Parlance, a copywriting company aimed at small businesses. Connect with Deanna online, Facebook, and Twitter.

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