I see at the marketing research process as an activity of watching. I want to see who the players are on the supply side and see who the customers are and what makes them tick. Demographics is a slightly esoteric term it really means who are these people. You want to learn what moves them.
Get an image of what their life is like. Are they people with jobs or self employed? Average age? what do they do in their free time? Hike? Shoot pool? Barbecue? I think you really need to understand your market on this personally level to be able to know what they need. Different sets of people have different communication styles. Well educated people are more likely to analyse in a rational way, less educated people are often more visual in the way they think about things.
After all if you want to sell something to these people you need to know what they want and how to talk to them.
To know the competition online you will need to, at minimum, visit a couple dozen websites related to your market. See what they sell and possibly you can put a new twist on what is selling well now.
I run Google Alerts for any market I am very interested in. Then I see all the new blog posts and news as soon as it is published. Find a need and fill it is as true today as it always will be.
Understand your market as well as possible. How often have you seen someone who worked in an indusrty for years start their own business and be very successful? It is because they understsand that market and who the players. While it may be ideal to have spent some time in a market you can study and learn a market as well.
Is there something that always interested you but you never had time to learn about in depth? That may be a good market for you. If you research is well you will know if it is a good and profitable market and are less likely to spin your wheels.
Market research is a process.
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Great website. Lots of helpful info here. I?m sending it to several friends ans also sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you on your sweat!