Page 83 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

The fun thing about this kind of research, especially the open-ended questions
to which people can respond however they’d like, is that you’ll often learn things
you had no idea about before. It’s also a way to build momentum toward a big
launch or relaunch, something we’ll look at more in Chapter 8.

You can ask for input either on a small, one-on-one basis or on a group basis.
To check with a broader group of respondents, I use a paid service provided by
SurveyMonkey.com, but you can also create a free, less sophisticated version
with Google Forms (available within Google Docs). Write to your group of
respondents, tell them what you’re thinking about, and ask for help. It’s good to
keep the survey very simple: Ask only what you need to know. All of us are
busy, but if you construct a good survey, the response rate can be 50 percent or
higher.

Once you’ve moved beyond the basics and have a good idea of what you’re
hoping to offer, you can take this process further. I often write to my customer
list and ask about specific product ideas, like this:

Here are a few projects I’m thinking about working on during the next few
months, but I could be totally wrong. Please let me know what you think of
each idea.

Idea 1
Idea 2
Idea 3
etc.

I then apply a simple ranking scale to each idea and ask the respondents to
stick with their first impression. The ranking scale usually consists of answers
such as “I love it!” “You should do it,” “Sounds interesting,” “Would need to
hear more,” and “It’s not for me.”
Generally speaking, it’s good to keep surveys to less than ten questions or so.
To get more overall responses, ask fewer questions. To get more detailed
responses (but from fewer people), ask more questions. It’s up to you, but make
sure that whatever you ask is something you actually need to know about. Pay
close attention to the feedback; it will either confirm your intention to proceed or
make you think about restructuring your proposed project.
Either way, the information is valuable, but also remember that the majority
opinion isn’t everything. Among other concerns, you’ll need your own
motivations for building a project over time. If your motivations are based