[Ankesh]

Thanks Michael for asking "How."

Btw - I do agree with you that because not many people write "how" to do things - readers don't follow through. But I think that makes a good barrier. It will get rid of people who make excuses.

Anyways, back to your questions.

>HOW do you Find A Crowd in a magazine or online groups?

I dont find crowds "in" magazines and online groups. The magazines and online groups themselves represent a crowd. If there is no crowd, there will be no magazine.

For further research, just ask the magazine or the online group owner to send you more information about their readers / visitors because you are thinking of advertising with them. (The industry term is demographics.)

Most magazines will send you a very glossy rate card that has their number of readers. Assume its inflated.

Many online groups may not have anything like that available. But you can see the action happening on the websites - the number of posts per week, the number of regular posters, the number of new posters.

>HOW do you Research to find what they are buying?

Just as you do. By reading and following ads or "wishlists".

* On Google (how many ads are there for the keyword)
* Other websites like ebay, clickbank etc
* Top lists - like amazon, New York Times etc
* How many ads are there in the magazine
* What kind of ads are those
* Have they been running for a long time

* On forums, I try to see if a question is being asked again and again.

I use a number of tools / techniques / questions / criteria. But I don't rely on just one of them to make my decision. And there is no formula that tells me tool A is worth 20% and tool B is worth 15%. Its more a feeling after going through a lot of information.

I would love to know if someone has a more scientific process.