The New Marketing Research Tool - Twitter	Visited: 1752 Not rated Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by TJ Philpott July 30, 2009

Conducting marketing research is very important for any business. The key to success of any online business is the profitability of the niche market you select. First and foremost though should be the determination of market demand. Without the demand the probability of generating any profit is zip. With that said our consideration will turn to a relatively new way to conduct market research that will enable you to uncover those niche markets with plenty demand and profit potential.

Twitter, the fast growing micro blogging social network site offers you the opportunity to tap into a real time search engine containing invaluable research information.
 
If you're looking for online business ideas around which to build an income Twitter could be your answer.
 
Let's look at a simple 3 step process you can use to help you generate potent niche marketing opportunities by using Twitter.

Determine Popular Topics First
 
Firstly you want to see what everybody is talking about by looking at 'trending topics' which is located on the right hand side of the page. Being Twitter is a highly populated social network site you can assume trends found here reflect most of what you may find across the internet.
 
Under trending topics you'll find separate 'discussions' being held on various topics. The topics or keywords of these individual discussions are precluded by a hash mark (#). Choose a topic of interest to you and join the conversation.
 
Focusing on conversations that interest you is very important!

Two other methods you can use to locate popular topics on Twitter are visiting hashtags dot org and stufftotweet dot com.

Find the Conversations

Track down these conversations on Twitter by entering the appropriate keywords into the search box.

Plug into conversations as this will be your market research.
 
Start to follow some of the participants since generally once you follow someone they'll follow you back. This allows you to stay up with and view these conversations as they occur from day to day.

Plug Into & Follow the Conversations
 
Now that you've located these conversations you of course will contribute where you can but you definitely want to listen and take notes. You are looking for trends, common problems, angles, or other ideas to explore. If possible uncover a common problem and develop a solution for it. This could be the basis of your niche.
 
Throughout the course of these discussions various ideas, opinions, or preferences will be offered so take note of this. Focus in on the more prevalent and consistent 'sub-topics' to help you 'narrow' your search'.

By following these conversations over an extended period of time you'll be validating the lasting popularity or interest of the topic you're 'researching'.

This process will be conducted over a period of time and the information you collect can then be used to further explore with other market research tools. You'll want to do this to insure your hunch/findings possess the market potential you are looking for.

Marketing research can be very time consuming and boring but it is a necessary evil for any online business. The key to your success will the profit potential of the niche market you select as the core of your business. Determining the market demand is your first step when considering the potential of any number of niche markets. The accuracy of your market research is crucial and if done correctly will lead to profitable online business ideas for you. Knowing how to efficiently use the real time search engine that Twitter has should enable you to speed up the research process. Just following the current trends and the conversations surrounding them should supply you with very insightful data. It is then up to you to put this information to work as you apply it to your niche marketing efforts. The end results should be rewarding.