Market research doesn’t have to be a separate “phase” in your business, a to-do list checkbox. It could be an ongoing relationship. When you talk to your people regularly, your product improves, your message sharpens, and your confidence grows. How can you do that effectively?
Jayesh from the community was overwhelmed
Jayesh had been in the online business space for more than a year. He tried building a sales funnel, downloaded every lead magnet promising “6-figure blueprints,” and subscribed to more newsletters than he could count. And yet, no success. His digital products sat untouched. His mailing list was a ghost town. Worse, he felt like he was constantly creating without any idea if it mattered to anyone.
That’s when he posted in a community forum, unsure what to do next. The responses flooded in. Most told him to refine his funnel or invest in ads. But one reply stood out: “Forget the funnel. Start by asking people what they need.”
He thought he needed a funnel, but he needed clarity
Jayesh didn’t have a traffic problem. He had a clarity problem. He was building in a vacuum—assuming what people needed instead of simply asking.
Market research done right is more than Google Forms and analytics dashboards. It starts with conversations. The kind you’d have at a coffee shop. The kind that reveals not only what people want, but why they want it.
When Jayesh started reaching out to his small audience with simple questions—”What’s your biggest struggle with [topic]?” or “What do you wish existed to help with this?”, he discovered that people wanted a step-by-step walkthrough. They wanted examples. They wanted someone who understood where they were starting from. With this insight, Jayesh created content that stuck and product that worked. And this time, people actually bought.
The only research you need to start selling
You don’t need spreadsheets to start selling. You need to be human. Understanding your audience doesn’t come from guessing or stalking competitors, it comes from dialogue.
Ask. Listen. Repeat.
Here’s the simple three-step process:
- Ask: Reach out directly to potential customers—via email, DMs, or group posts. Ask what they’re struggling with, what they’ve tried, and what they wish existed.
- Listen: Don’t interrupt. Don’t pitch. Just listen. Look for patterns in their language, their emotions, their hesitations.
- Repeat: Reflect what they said—in your content, in your offer, in your sales page. When they read it, it should feel like you’re inside their head.
This process works whether you have 100 followers or 10,000. You don’t need big data, you need meaningful data.
Questions that make people feel seen (and buy)
The key to good market research is asking better questions. Not just “What do you want?” but questions that reveal beliefs, frustrations, and dreams.
Try these (adapted to your niche, of course):
- “What’s something you’ve tried that didn’t work—and why do you think it didn’t?”
- “If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about [topic], what would it be?”
- “What are you hoping to feel once this problem is solved?”
- “What’s stopping you from getting started?”
These questions are trust builders. They show your audience that you care enough to listen—and that you’re building something with them, not just at them. When people feel seen, they don’t need a 12-step sales funnel to convert. They need a reason to trust that you understand them. The rest flows naturally.
Jayesh learned the hard way that a fancy funnel can’t make up for a lack of clarity. But once he started having real conversations, his entire business changed. No spreadsheets required. So, before you build the funnel, build the connection. Ask. Listen. Repeat. And then build something your audience actually wants to buy.
