Learn This Invaluable Skill Regardless of Your Niche

There are many skills that come in handy for small business owners. I’d like to take a minute to share what I feel is one of the most helpful and valuable skills anyone can develop with some practice.

I am the first to suggest that if a business owner doesn’t personally possess a skill, he can outsource to find it, take on a partner who has it, or simply study and learn and practice until a skill becomes part of his talent.

But if you know how to do this, you will have all the content, products, and online help a business owner could ask for.

Anyone can do it. Most newbies avoid it. It takes some effort, but it gets easier every time you do it. It’s a skill that has literally made people millions! Seriously.

We learned it’s basic steps in elementary school (if you paid attention), practiced it a lot in high school, and refined it in college.

Here’s a hint if you haven’t figured out what this skill is:

According to Samuel Johnson . . . “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.”

The answer is of course . . . drum roll . . . research!

Nowhere is the lack of this skill (or at least the willingness to do it) more evident than in many people’s failing businesses.  Often owners and webmasters avoid it at all costs.  Certainly research takes some effort, knowledge, and patience.  But I believe even those who aren’t experts in research have a distinct advantage over others that don’t or won’t do any research.

In the business world, knowledge is power!  Knowledge and understanding of the niche marketplace, of consumer preferences, of cutting edge techniques and strategies, and of news, events, and the competition all increase the business power of an entrepreneur.

Let me tell you this (of which I’m 100% certain):  those business owners that do their market research (or have someone on staff do it) will have a distinct advantage over competitors that don’t do research.

I believe that, in many instances, small businesses fail because the knowledge and understanding of the solo operator about his/her own niche market is not sufficient … or is just plain out of touch with reality.  Smart research helps to eliminate that problem.

Research has many “pluses” (things beside owner knowledge):

• You get a more sure and detailed answer to your questions
• You benefit immensely just from the actual process of “digging” for an answer
• You become exposed to both (or many) sides of a question or issues so as to enhance your total understanding
• You learn a lot about related or peripheral issues that affect the subject so that you are better informed
• You learn what doesn’t work or what has failed in the past (things about the subject to avoid)
• In the end, you become a better business owner because of what research has exposed you to

You will never be at a loss for content, blog posts, articles, information products, or help in solving a problem because knowing how to do research means the knowledge of others will always be available to you (especially when you draw a blank and don’t have clear ideas of your own).

How do you do research?  Excellent question.

Why don’t you go research that subject.

After you’ve had a chance at personal discovery, I’ll come back with a few ideas and tips of my own.

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com