As Socialbrite.org suggests, data is transforming conversations. “These days everyone is releasing it, visualizing it, aggregating it, and mashing it up. And for good reason. Data is so much more than a stack of numbers or a server filled with client outputs. It can justify the work that your organization is doing, help others understand why it is critical, and offer exciting new ways to motivate others to help solve the problems your organization is working on.”

Here are 10 practical steps to help you plan, conduct and utilize market research data in your business:

1. Determine Your Purpose

What do you hope to gain from your research? Do you want to improve an existing product or service? Are you preparing for a new product launch? Start with your main objective  and then predict what you think the data will reveal. This helps you determine next steps to take, and provides a comparison of how you view your offering and how other perceive it in the marketplace.

2. Establish the Type of Market Research You Want to Use

There are two main types of market research. Primary research is taken directly from the source, such as current or potential customers. Primary research, when done right, can be very reliable.

Secondary research is data collected from existing research conducted by others. People usually gather secondary research data from government agencies, trade associations, local chambers of commerce, and other credible sources.

3. Confirm Your Target Audience

Make sure you have a target market in mind. Your target market is the group of people that are most likely to buy your product or service. For example, if you want to develop an eco-friendly baby sling, your target market would consist of mothers of young children, and you would probably want to choose a research method that doesn’t require a lot of time due to their busy schedules, such as a short online survey.

4. Conduct Primary Market Research

There are several different ways that you can conduct your own research. Online or mail surveys, face-to-face or telephone interviews and questionnaires are all effective ways to collect data from your target audience. You can use tools like Qualaroo, SurveyMonkey, and QuestionPro.

Questions may include factors customers consider when purchasing your product or service, appropriate prices, likes or dislikes about current products or services on the market, and areas of improvement. If you do not have the time to conduct it yourself, you can outsource your study to a market research firm.

5. Conduct Secondary Market Research

The bulk of your market research will usually come from secondary research. U.S. Census data, trade associations, professional journals, and community organizations offer data that may be relevant to your study such as: market trends, regional trends and information on your competitors.

Secondary research is easier to conduct because the data you’re collecting has already been analyzed and published. However, all of your data should not come from secondary research. A balanced mix of both secondary and primary research will ensure the credibility of your findings.

6. Determine the Reliability and Validity of Your Data

After you gather your data, weed out data that isn’t reliable. High quality data will be valid (i.e. you can trust the integrity of your data), reliable (i.e. the claims you assert about the accuracy of your data is correct) and be subject to triangulation — cross-examined through the lens of multiple independent sources of data to establish the truth and accuracy of your claim.

To be honest, once upon a time, I too started with an initial focus on all of the wrong things – marketing, public relations, business development and so on. These things are instrumental along the way. But they mean absolutely nothing without one simple thing – a viable “almighty” product.

How to Develop an “Almighty” Product

Developing a viable product that is sellable and shippable should be your main priority. And if you’re on that path, or possibly your second or third startup – you know how important this idea truly is.

When you get started down the product development road, one of your main challenges will be locating, selecting and hiring reputable suppliers and manufacturers.

But don’t panic. Over time, this process can become second nature and systematic. So, if you have an idea and you’re ready to turn it into a tangible product start with these four steps:

1. Admit that you know nothing.

This is hard for some of us, myself included, but it’s important to start any business endeavor with a blank canvas. Be willing to “hunt and gather” as much information as possible.

This doesn’t mean that you should aimlessly wander about hoping and wishing that a finished product will manifest itself on your kitchen table. Instead, start where you are.

Fact: Fashion designer, Ralph Lauren had no experience in fashion design, yet he now presides over a Polo/Ralph Lauren empire. “I didn’t know how to make a tie,” Lauren confessed to Vogue in 1982. “I didn’t know fabric, I didn’t know measurements. What did I know? That I was a salesman. That I was honest. And that all I wanted was quality.”

Lesson: It’s not what you know that makes you great. It’s your willingness to admit what you don’t know and move forward intelligently to acquire what you lack.

Personally, I’ve had eight different products and services eclipse the million-dollar mark, pretty much without a business plan or any outside investments. Many times, I come back to these five “hooks,” or angles, to create them.

1. Hook #1: Give Them the Fish

You’ve probably heard the old phrase, “Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he can eat for a lifetime.”

I’m here to tell you: when it comes to product development don’t believe it! If you take that saying seriously, you’ll be up all night, wondering where you went wrong teaching people to fish. Trust me: people want that fish handed to them!

Make it insanely easy for people to do something “painful,” and they will pay you money – lots of it. A good example of this rule can be found in my first million-dollar product, InstantSalesLetters.com. I created fill-in-the-blank sales letter templates for just about any type of business to sell their product or service. Customers loved it because it saved a tremendous amount of time and thinking, and it really worked.

2. Hook #2: Make Your Promise Specific

It’s critical to make your promise specific and credible. Realistically, not everything happens within a perfect increment of time. Think about real numbers, numbers that people deal with daily, and base your claim around that concept.

Think about 8 Minute Abs or 5-hour ENERGY. Both of these concepts have made massive amounts of money, pretty much off the strength of their specific promise. Another example I saw my wife, Missy, bring home the other day was a 6-ingredient cookbook. Make your idea, brand name or slogan unique and specific.

3. Hook #3: Go the Opposite Direction

There’s a difference between being different and trying to be different. This is tip number three: go the opposite direction. My biggest example of “zigging when others are zagging” is found within the Underground® seminars I created.

Who knows! You may become obsessed with launching new ideas too.

Iterative Product Development

When you’re passionate about any aspect of business, that enthusiasm cultivates repetition. Repeating the product development process (iteration) is not unheard of for enterprise companies. Quite frankly, iteration is behind some of the world’s most successful brands.

Furthermore, if your ‘bright idea’ set the stage for a thriving company, imagine the possibilities of “genius on replay” — a consistent process of “ideation to creation.”

Whether by choice, or chance the longer you are in business, the more likely iterative product development will become. For example, you may need to:

1. Retool your current product to add value.

2. Create brand extensions to grow market share.

3. Address competitive pressures via “new news” initiatives.

And if you’re thinking, “Not me, my product is perfect just as it is,” … think again.

How many versions of your smart phone currently exist? Does your wardrobe consist of slim fit and low-rise denim — of the same brand? In contrast, do you listen to broken records that play the same track? And wouldn’t it be shameful if your favorite theater only played one movie?

The truth is — your ability to develop new products, iterate and deliver on core competencies will significantly improve and diversify your business in the long-run.