- How can you validate your product cheaply and easily?
I'm going to give my top three ways
that you've probably never heard about in this video.
Let's go.
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- Hey, guys. Sam here from KeyCommerce.com
and today we're talking about validating your product
cheaply and easily.
Okay, a lot of people will set up a store,
get their products online and then run some Facebook ads,
lose $300 and then get scared and give up
and go, "This sucks."
This is really sad because there are so many ways
to actually validate your products
and know if it's gonna work
before you spend a dollar at all.
I'm going to talk about three unique ways
that you can use to validate your product
without spending more than a few dollars on your website.
Let's go.
The first way, which is the absolute easiest
and cheapest way to do it
is to literally just go to your customers in real life
and talk to them.
Let me explain this one.
No one really thinks about this
because they're so focused on making money online
that they forget they're dealing with real people.
If you're trying to start a gardening eCom store,
then go to where those gardeners are actually hanging out,
maybe a plant store or a gardening club,
and go and talk to your customers.
Find out what their problems and frustrations are
and ask their opinion on your product.
You can even just show them a photo of your product
that's on your phone.
It may wound weird to go and talk to random people like this
but you'll be surprised at how they respond
if you are polite, respectful, and positive.
Like I said, you got to be respectful,
but this is an amazing way to get some valuable information
from people.
You will literally learn more in 10 minutes of doing this
than you would in spending hundreds of dollars
on Facebook ads.
I've done this before and it's absolutely blown away
my preconceptions about my product and niche.
You will learn so much
and sometimes get pointed in a totally different direction
about your niche and products.
They might even mention a different problem
that you hadn't thought about
and request a certain product feature,
and boom, suddenly you have a new product idea
for your niche that solves a problem.
Go out, find that product, and get it built
and get it in front of those people.
Easy.
Okay, guys, the second way
I recommend validating your product is by using eBay.
You don't have to set up a whole new website
and you're not gonna pay anything
until eBay actually sells your product.
Just create a new listing and get your product up there.
Don't forget to put time into your listing and description
and really communicate the value to your target market.
"But Sam, I want to start an eCom store,
"not be stuck on eBay."
Yes, I get it, but we're here to validate a product.
eBay gets you access to millions of people
and even deals with all the hosting
and all that kind of stuff.
Get your product up there and see if you get some sales.
This is a great way to validate your product
and to see if there's a demand for it out there
in the market.
Okay, the third way.
The final way is a great way
to test out your messaging as well.
You set up a basic Shopify website
but then also track how people interact with that website.
You don't need to run ads to do this
but that will help you get data more quickly.
Start by posting in forums and Facebook groups
where your ideal customer hangs out.
I recommend contributing in these groups,
adding value before you try and get those people
from that group on to your website.
Add value first.
Don't just spam.
The world has enough spammers.
You want to make sure you have Google Analytics installed
and I also recommend installing some free software
like Hotjar. (whooshing)
I'll leave a link in the description to Hotjar.
The free version works fine for this exercise.
With Google Analytics you can track how many people
add to cart and you might even get a few sales.
If you don't have the product yet
or don't have a relationship set up with a supplier,
then when an order comes in you can just refund that order
and email the customer.
It's quite rare that they'll get upset about this.
Just email them personally and respectfully.
Hotjar is fantastic because you can record heat maps
and see how people have actually used your website
as well as screen recordings,
so it's like looking over someone's shoulder
as they interact with your website.
This is fantastic because you'll be able to see
where they focus their attention on your website
and where they get stuck on the page.
They might scroll straight to
the shipping information section,
and this might tell you a number of things.
It might tell you that they're very conscious
about shipping,
maybe they're worried it's gonna arrive damaged,
but whatever it is, they want to know something
that's in that section.
I also recommend getting some free LiveChat software,
set it up on your website too.
If you want it to be free and easy to set up,
I recommend tawk.to.
I'll put a link in the description to that software.
It's super easy to set up
and the free version does everything you need.
This allows you to get set up for free
and talk to people directly while they're on your website.
It's really useful for collecting extra insights.
So yeah, I'll leave a link in the description
to tawk.to (whooshing)
so you can actually go there, sign up,
and create that account for free.
All right, guys.
Those are my tips for validating a product
cheaply and easily.
I really hope you found this video useful.
If you did, please give it a thumbs up
and please leave any questions in the comment section below.
If you want to learn more about growing your eCom store,
check out the rest of the videos on my channel,
I make a lot of videos just like this one
on all parts of your store,
and consider subscribing so you can grow your store
alongside me.
Thanks so much for watching, guys,
and I'll see you in the next video.
Bye for now.
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