How Do We Know if Something is a Good Target Market?

When kids are just getting started, I think it's important they just do something they enjoy and love. However, it's nice to see results in the form of website traffic and income too! That's why not everything that your kids like will be a viable business, so you'll need to weigh your options. The two of you will need to decide what your child should get out of the online business learning experience.

Here are some preliminary research tools you may want to try:

• Go to the bookstore and look at magazines. If there is a magazine on the topic your child wants to create a website on, the market might be viable. If a magazine is being published that likely means that there are enough people interested in the subject that will buy a printed magazine. In addition, magazines make money by selling advertising...if there are enough advertisers to keep the magazine going -- that is a good sign that this market buys related products. If you don't want to go to the bookstore, you can look online at Magazines.com.

• Check keyword research tools. There are tools online that allow you to see how often people search for certain things online. For example, how often people search for "Pokemon Trading Cards" or "Strawberry Shortcake Doll"

  • Here are two research tools you might want to check out:

    • WordTracker: most sophisticated keyword research tool available online.

    • Overture Tool: good tool for finding keywords quickly

  You can start by searching for a general keyword like “dolls” and then digging deeper and expanding your thought processes as you see new possibilities and ideas.

Those are just a few ideas to get your target market research going. Ultimately, if your child wants to make money from her website, she'll need to keep these things in mind:

1. You must reach a target market that is passionate about their interest or desperately need to solve a problem.
2. Possibly more important than the passion is a willingness to spending money to fulfill that passion or solve that problem. People can be passionate about things they never spend any money on.