You Can Test an Idea/Concept for a New Business
It doesn't have to be an online business. People will respond in the same way on the Internet or in the real life. Or better yet, it has been proven that people tend to be more sincere online, as long as you respect their privacy.
Usually, you test the potential of a new business on pilot groups. You use techniques such as the survey, the focus group and other classical methods in market research. Testing a new business is a whole business itself, and you have to invest a lot of money in order to get a good service.
On the other hand, AdWords™ can be a wise alternative. And much cheaper.
Set up a “fake” campaign. Choose the keywords that best express your idea. Remember to put yourself in your future customers' shoes. Use the definitions that they would. Depending on the topic, you can have solid information on your potential market in a few hours, days or weeks. If you're wondering about the “landing page”, here's an idea: you can make it a questionnaire. A five headline, online survey that can help you gather even more data on your target niche.
You Can Test a Name
Step number two: You've made an idea about the size of your potential market. You know how many people out of one hundred would stop in front of your shop and get in (sort of a click through rate).
The next question is: Is the name of your business (or project) inspired enough? Follow these steps:
- Think of two possible names.
- Write the ad copy.
- Run the two ads simultaneously.
- Select the winner.
- Choose a third name.
- Make the split test again, and so on until you have a winner.
You Can Get Real-time Feedback
As said before, a well writen survey behind that ad can save you even more money while in the market research stage. To increase your visitors' receptivity, you can offer something for free in return of the data.
You Can Write Great Ads for Your Business
By using the split test method you can also test your copywriting skills. Because of the tight word count, headlines are better suited to AdWords™ testing.
To sum it all up, what works with AdWords™ will work everywhere. Thus, don't hesitate. It's cheap and it's efficient.
In the end, AdWords™ is not just a way to make a living online. It's a way to start earning a living anywhere. It doesn't matter what you want to do - as long as you need people's reaction, you can test it with Google AdWords™. Read Perry Marshall's Definitive Guide to Google AdWords to learn in detail how you can use AdWords™ as the ultimate direct marketing tool.