How To Find A
Really Good Topic For An Information Product
By Jason Lewis
If you are struggling to come up with a great idea for an information
product, here’s a great tip for you…
One of the best places to go looking for ideas is Internet message
boards/forums. If you don’t already know what a message board is,
it’s basically a meeting place for people interested in the same
subject.
People looking for advice and help, post questions and opinions on the
forum. Other members will express their opinions and answers to the
questions posted. It doesn’t matter what the topic is, there are
usually some differing opinions between the forum members, which can
often lead to interesting and lively debates.
You can easily find forums relating to your niche of interest by doing
a quick search on
www.google.com.
Just type in a word or words that describe the niche you’re interested
in, followed by the words: ‘forum’ or ‘message board’. If you put
your search phrase in inverted commas “ “ you should get a more
accurate result with your search.
For example, if you wanted to find a forum related to ‘Internet
marketing’ you would type in the phrase:
“Internet marketing forum”
Or
“Internet marketing message board”
If you also do the same searches as a plural, i.e. ‘forums’, you might
come across a website or two that have a list of relevant forums which
cover your niche topic of interest. This could be very useful and
save you a bit of time with your research.
Before you create an information product, it’s always a good idea to
see if there is an existing demand for the information you are going
to provide.
Look for the most popular threads
Once you enter a forum, you should have a good look around to try and
spot the most popular ‘posts’. You will often see a number next to
each post/thread to see how many times it has been viewed and or
replied to. You should be able to quickly identify which topics are
of high interest to the members of the forum.
This will give you a very good indication as to what subjects your
target customers are likely to be interested in.
Check out the message archives
Most forums will usually have a search facility. Once you’ve
identified one or two topics of seemingly high interest, you should
perform a search to try and find older posts discussing the same
topic.
You should look out for patterns of high interest in the previous
posts as well. Sometimes you might discover a ‘one-off’ post on a
topic that has gotten a lot of views/interest. This can be due to an
‘off-topic’ debate within the thread. If you can find a number of
popular posts on a particular subject this will go some way to proving
the high demand for that information.
What problems are they having?
Often, the best information products will solve a problem for people.
By researching the most popular posts, you should be able to easily
identify the most common problems and questions that people are
asking.
As you carry out your research, it’s a good idea to write down the
questions being asked on paper. You should hopefully begin to start
seeing a pattern emerge.
Once you have a list of the most common problems/questions being
asked, you should then make a note of the replies/answers to those
questions. You are looking to see if there is already a solution in
the marketplace for the problems people are having.
If there is a solution available, why is it that so many members of
the forum don’t know about it?
You could create:
A better more comprehensive information product than what’s currently
available.
A less complex and easier to understand version.
A detailed list of ‘hard to find’ websites that provide the solution
that everyone is after on the forums. This could include a review of
each site, their products, service, prices etc.
Let your imagination run wild!
Jason Lewis, Copyright 2004
Jason Lewis is the Author of the new 'Business Brainwaves' Newsletter.
Uncovering new business ideas and untapped 'gaps in the market' that
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