Most people who are looking to develop a business, be that online or traditional, develop the product first and then look to market it...wrong!

The first thing you MUST do is find a hungry market...

This is an absolute MUST...before you do anything else! It still amazes me the number of people who approach me with a product they have spent years developing without doing a scrap of research.

This seems blindingly obvious to me now, but when I think back...I had ideas and got totally blinkered.

The rose-tinted glasses were on and my product was the best thing out there and was going to sell by the thousand.I knew best!! (Sound familiar?)

My first experience of this was as a very young and green twenty something.

I spent a fortune getting a range of sepiatoned photographic prints made up and expertly framed. I then spent a lot more buying a large stand at a huge craft fair which ran over three days in Milton Keynes.

I then sat there on the stand for those three days and sold... wait for it... TWO pictures. I spent more on coffee and sandwiches than I sold in pictures!

Did I learn my lesson? Of course not!

When I first went online I read all of the books, watched a load of video tapes and proceeded to get it wrong again. I spent a load of money getting a DVD set made up and guess what?

This time...$2,760 in Adwords - NO sales! Hey I am good!

Now I have learned my lesson. If I have an idea, I research the market first.

I look for competitive products (these are good by the way), I look for forums where the subject is discussed, I do Google searches, I use keyword research tools to find out how many searches are being done online.

I look at the magazine racks...in short, I make sure there is a market before I even think about launching a product.

And, when I first test a market, I normally do so as an affiliate. I find a product in that market on Clickbank or Commission Junction and I promote it. I set a small budget and I test ad variations and I see if I can make money.

If I can make money online in the niche, then...and only then do I look to develop my own product.

So, don't fall into the trap of developing a product first and then looking for a market!Trust me I know this can hurt you!

Once you start to develop your own product you will get "too close" to it to remain objective. You must absolutely, 110% do your research first...then you will be absolutely sure your "baby" will bring you the rewards you are looking for!

If you'd like to get some great ideas for products you can sell in your online (or traditional) business, click this link for 267 great information product ideas. I hope this helps.

Good luck!