| I recently made a critical mistake in my progression | | | | The second tool Overture provides is the View Bids |
| towards business success. I had decided that I was | | | | Tool. This allows you to take the keywords that you |
| going to make some money with an online store. After | | | | found and see how many ads there are for each |
| a bit of brainstorming, I picked a few things that I | | | | term and how high the bids are (higher bids get top |
| thought might be good to sell online. I then started to | | | | listings). This can help you judge your competition. |
| look for suppliers. This may seem like a reasonable | | | | For example, at the time of this writing there are 131 |
| course of action, but it is not. It is missing a key | | | | ads for the term digital camera. The top bid is 79 |
| component of any business plan: Market Research. | | | | cents. Bubble gum machine has 13 ads with a top bid |
| Competition is involved with any business. Even if you | | | | of 49 cents. Chapstick Raspberry Vanilla has no bids |
| make your own, unique product, similar products will | | | | on the term which means that the top spot could be |
| compete against yours. But the existence of | | | | purchased for the minimum price of 10 cents per click. |
| competition is not necessarily bad. The fact that online | | | | Google is your likely next step. To my knowledge, |
| retailers are selling items similar or identical to your own | | | | Google analysis tools are only available to registered |
| means that people want your product. Competition is | | | | advertisers. However, it is easy to find your |
| only bad for you when the market is becoming | | | | competition on Google. Simply enter your search term |
| saturated. | | | | and check the right side of the results screen. Those |
| Check the electronics market for a good example. | | | | ads are from the top advertisers. Checking |
| Electronics go for rock-bottom prices online because | | | | subsequent pages will reveal the entire list of |
| there are so many stores that sell them. The | | | | advertisers for that term. |
| difference in prices between stores often comes | | | | Tip: Sometimes advertisers target your term, but don't |
| down to the cost of shipping. Competition in this area is | | | | sell your product. Read the ads and visit the sites to |
| extreme. | | | | get a more accurate idea of your direct competitors. |
| Electronics dealers depend on volume, and very good | | | | The natural results (the normal, non-ad results) of your |
| suppliers, to make their money. Small retailers cannot | | | | search are important as well. Check those to see the |
| sell at those prices and turn a profit. | | | | top ranked sites in your market. Users are much more |
| In order to be successful it is essential that you know | | | | likely to click on the natural results than they are the |
| what you're up against. If you are selecting your | | | | ads. The stores at the top of the list are likely to be |
| products, then you need to know which stores already | | | | well established and may represent some solid |
| sell those products. You need to know how many | | | | competition. |
| stores there are, how much they are charging and, if | | | | Visit your competitor's web sites and see what they |
| you can find out, how well they are doing. Could you | | | | are selling. Get names and site locations. This may |
| sell for less (if only a little)? What are other ways you | | | | seem time consuming, but it will help with future |
| could differentiate your store? | | | | research. Check for site quality, organization, and ease |
| If you already have your product, then you need to | | | | of use. If their site is ugly or hard to navigate, that can |
| know where and how your competitors are | | | | work to your advantage. |
| advertising. Are they concentrated in one location? | | | | Next, check out Yahoo Shopping. Retailers setup |
| Are there good places that they have overlooked? | | | | stores with Yahoo's services and are then included in |
| How much is it going to cost to compete with them for | | | | Yahoo Shopping's listings. This can be a good way to |
| prime ad space? | | | | get fast traffic. For market research, it means easy |
| So where do you begin? The answer is Overture. | | | | access to competitor sites. On the Yahoo Shopping |
| Owned by Yahoo, Overture is one of the largest | | | | main page, do a search for your product (Braun |
| pay-per-click advertising services. What you need for | | | | blenders for example). The results show sponsored |
| research are two tools in the Overture Advertiser | | | | ads and normal listings. The sponsored ads come from |
| Center. The first is the Search Term Suggestion Tool. | | | | Overture, so you should already be familiar with those. |
| This tool allows you to look up a keyword, like "digital | | | | The normal listings come from Yahoo Product Submit |
| camera", and find out how many searches there were | | | | results and Yahoo's web-crawler database. What is |
| for that term last month. The tool will also suggest a list | | | | important in this list is displayed just below the top |
| of related terms, like "digital camera review". | | | | sponsor listings and just above the normal listings. |
| The number of searches per term comes from | | | | There should be two numbers: Number of products |
| Overture's partners like Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, CNN, | | | | and the number of stores. 'Braun blenders' shows 989 |
| etc. This is critical information because it tells you | | | | products from 76 stores (at time of writing). Those |
| whether or not people are looking for your product | | | | numbers give you an indication of how many stores |
| online and, at the same time, shows you how they are | | | | you're up against. |
| searching for it. This indicates a certain interest for | | | | Finally, visit eBay. Find the eBay Stores area (located in |
| your product. | | | | the Specialty Sites box on the homepage at time of |
| You may be able to judge the amount of interest by | | | | writing). Enter your search term to see how many |
| the number of searches for your terms. For example: | | | | eBay stores are selling your product. 'Braun blenders' |
| Digital Camera - 1,337,422 (high interest) | | | | shows ten items in eBay stores. The search may |
| Used Car - 890,346 | | | | show regular listings below the store results. These |
| Mountain Bike - 133,553 | | | | results can give you some idea your product's |
| Blender - 26,648 | | | | popularity as well as the feasibility of selling it on eBay. |
| Bubble Gum Machine - 1,502 | | | | Remember, some competition is good because it |
| Chapstick Raspberry Vanilla - 25 (very low interest) | | | | shows that there is an interest in your product. Too |
| Tip: Users searching for 'digital camera' are not | | | | much competition is bad because it means low |
| necessarily shopping for one. They may just want | | | | profitability. The spot where you can make good |
| information. | | | | money is somewhere in between. A solid business |
| Also: If people are searching on Yahoo and MSN, then | | | | plan built on thorough market research will certainly |
| you can bet that even more people are searching for | | | | boost your chances significantly. |
| the same things on Google. | | | | |