Thread: Validating ideas to build an online business

I got this actionable advice from AppSumo's Business Blueprint course (google it, I didn't want to be confused for spam).

If you're a newbie and/or a "wantrepreneur" like me (guilty on all accounts) and if you can't decide on a business idea or you think you don't have enough money to get started, read on!

Rather than this:

"Is this a fastlane idea?"

or

"I have a great idea, but I need $X,XXXX,XXXX just to get the ball rolling."

Do this:

1. Take your idea and do a google adwords search with relevant terms. Only choose ideas with high search volume and low competition for that term. That's evidence that there's a market with room for some competitors to enter it.

2. Reduce your idea to it's absolute most basic, and cheapest (preferably free) form. For instance, I had an idea for an site for independent musicians that would have interviews and news from other indie artists that had reached a certain modicum of success. I would host premium content, exclusive live sessions, etc. BUT instead I reduced it to a newsletter that was basically a business news aggregate for indie musicians with an emphasis on interviews with artists from other news sites.

3. Set up a MailChimp account and create a list based on your idea (free).

4. Set up an account for a landing page on instapage.com ($5), design a quick landing page, and insert a MailChimp form from you list in step 2. You can use their domain for now to host your landing page for free for now.

5. Go on facebook, twitter, forums, pinterest...wherever your prospective market is and start connecting (non spammy, mind you). Message people, mention them, retweet them, be nice to them and form a genuine connection from the get-go.

6. Try to get 100 subscribers in 30 days.

7. If you don't, either your idea sucked and you should move on or you didn't work hard enough to get subscribers.

8. Keep building your list and then start building a business around your idea.

In the business blueprint course, they said you can test multiple ideas at once, but I'm doing just one for now (so as not to violate the "monogamy rule" AND to get this all figured out because it's my first time).

If you noticed in MJs book, when he started his site, he had people emailing him like crazy before he even monetized his idea. Essentially, he validated the idea before going completely balls out on it, even if inadvertently (correct me if I'm wrong on this, MJ).

You can even do this with physical products: build a list to let people know when something is released. Hell, even sell things BEFORE you make them...now that's validation. Don't worry about how you'll manage all the logistics just yet. You'll figure it out when you have to.

I'd recommend the course to any newbies/wantrepreneurs out there. It explains all the steps in details and there are some solid extras on copy writing, etc. I got it at a discount ($59, I think). I'm not sure if it's worth the full $199, but there is a money back guarantee (and I'm a cheap ass!).

What do some of you more experience web marketers have to add?

Oh, and check out my newsletter and send me feedback if you want: indieStraps.com [my instapage lander is still up as well: http://www.indiestraps.simplelander.com]

Simple lander link corrected

Thanks for the advice. I read a recent thread on here that also suggested getting orders and interest first as a means of motivating you to take action (no choice after you have an order!).