Whoops! I Did It Again! The Top 5 Reasons to Survey Your Audience

The top 5 reasons for requesting audience feedback are as follows, in order of descending importance:

Reason 1 - Prevents you from spending time, energy and money on products and programs they aren't interested in

Reason 2 - Prevents you from spending time, energy and money on products and programs they aren't interested in

Reason 3 - Prevents you from spending time, energy and money on products and programs they aren't interested in

Reason 4 - Prevents you from spending time, energy and money on products and programs they aren't interested in

Reason 5 - Did I mention? It prevents you from spending time, energy and money on products and programs they aren't interested in.

We've all done it (and if you haven't ever, I don't want to hear from your smarty-pants self). You know, had a brilliant idea for a product or program that we just knew was exactly what our audience needed to solve their problems. So we plowed ahead, developed the thing . . . and then got pretty much zero response from our peeps.

Hey, they just weren't that into it.

So what's the antidote? Well, a little R&D is never a bad thing. It's always better to ask, rather than assume. (You know what happens when you assume. . .)

Besides the five urgent reasons listed above, soliciting feedback from your audience gives you a leg up in your product development in three other important ways.

-> Creates interaction - Relationship is, hands down, one of the most powerful factors in an independent, heart-centered entrepreneur's bag of tricks. When your "product" is a service (which means it's really you they're buying), your potential client has to feel a connection to you before they're willing to plunk down money.

-> Sparks ideas you wouldn't have thought of on your own - Brain trusts and mastermind groups came about for a very good reason. No one person can think of everything. In the case of creativity, the sum is much greater than the individual parts.

-> Gives you the exact vocabulary your audience uses - Words are meaningful in that they create an internal experience for us. And that internal experience is different from person to person. To grab someone's attention, you want to speak their language. You may be talking about becoming "wealthy" when your audience is looking to become "financially independent" or "filthy, stinking rich."

The best way to help your clients transform their lives with your products, programs and services is by including them in the process. You'll make more sales too because you'll find out exactly what solutions they're willing spend money on. Pretty nice, huh?

Helen Graves, Grand Poohbah of Crackerjack Online Marketing Strategy, offers practical online sales and product marketing tips to create long-lasting client connections. She can be reached via www.CrackerjackOnlineMarketing.com.

Sign up for her free special report on product launch strategy, "How to Create Desire So Your Products and Programs Sell Like Hotcakes," at www.Product-Campaign.com