Research Techniques

Hello,
Research seems to be one of the essentials in effective marketing. What I have learned here and a few other places is that the majority of your time should be spent in researching and making sure that you have a market that is large enough to earn a profit from and a market that is willing to spend with you. So, you must research this market to make sure that it is hungry and large enough with a willingness to spend.

My research has taken me to the library to very special directories and indexes such as The Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters and of course the SRDS as well as several other directories that provide information for National Associations, etc.

I am also becoming more adept at using the Net for research. One of the best resources I have found is Make Your Knowledge Sell. If you don't have it in your library you should get it.

Another great resource is The Online Research Handbook and The Handbook of Online Market Research. You can find both titles at Amazon.com.

Now my question is this, what resources do you use and do you have a particular strategy or methodology that you use that works for you over half the time thus short circuiting the time wasted?

Also, how long does it take before you realize that you no longer need to do anymore research on an idea because there is simply no market or time to develop the concept?

I am researching several markets currently and the amount of information on these markets is overwhelming.

I am currently trrying to narrow these markets down and find a suitable niche from which to base my product development decision.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thank You
Taylor Trump