Can 'focus groups' help me market my invention?
I believe in focus groups. I think that in the beginning you need to, I call it one-on one focus group, I call it, you know, let me make the cookie, did you like it? Oh, you didn't, ok let me let you try another one and than you keep making cookies. But when you start getting bigger and your projects start to become greater in scope, you need to sit down with people who can give you honest criticism. I think the best way of understanding focus groups is if you've ever eaten at a fast-food restaurant. Remember before you bit into that burrito or taco, 10,000 other people tasted that product to figure out what the exact texture, taste, heat, packaging, wrapping was done before you ever put your mouth into it. Focus groups are also important because it's a group of people that are focused on providing information about your product. They are usually qualified. Paying a firm to find the right candidates to give you feedback can be expensive, but if you're really selling a lot of your product it's imperative that you invest the money because focus groups will give you insight because they're talking to 10,000, and then they bring it down to 500, and they give you 20 people who are going to give you so much focus about your product that you can use that to appeal to a greater audience.
