At my website, http://ParentPreneurClub.com , I have other tools I use to assess my visitors' interests and needs. One is our weblog, which offers detailed reports on which pages are most popular and how long visitors view them.

Another is our library of 100 free eBooks. By logging ones which are downloaded most often, I've gleaned a wealth of information on interests of my visitors.

Up until I started tracking, I assumed that our business offerings would be most popular with my audience of work at home parents (mostly moms). However, *the* most popular eBook in Library has nothing to do with making money or running a home business: It's called "Healthy Living for a Busy Family" and it's been downloaded about three times as often as my most popular business eBook. Those stats led me to add more family and lifestyle topics to library, as well as a couple of new cooking pages -- because managing a household and raising healthy kids is as much a concern for my visitors as making a solid profit.

Finally, nothing is as good as actually *asking* your customers what they want. Surveys are an extremely useful tool and several companies offer versions you can place on your website for free. The one we've used is located here: http://webpoll.sparklit.com/

Millard Drexler -- whose vision helped make Gap nation's number one apparel retailer -- is staying on with company until a replacement is found. In meantime, Gap's new old strategy of selling basics (jeans, khakis and white shirts) combined with an ad campaign that includes Boomer icon Dennis Hopper, appears to be working. It's just too bad these guys didn't ask their customers what they wanted before changing their course. Let's hope we home business folk don't make same mistake!

The key here is to be a good judge of character and make sure you are following right people in right direction FOR YOU.

However, this NEVER entails following along blindly!

I can't stress that statement enough. Just because someone you label as a 'guru' joins a particular program does NOT mean that program is for you. If you respect that person's opinion, then fine listen to him or her, but do NOT sign up solely based on their thoughts. You've got to first consider how you feel about program, and if you can see your self successfully working it.

GET INFORMATION FIRST

If a program sounds good to you first time you read about it, then great, keep it in mind. However, I don't suggest you sign up right away. Give it some thought, ask around, contact your would- be sponsor and ask them what program is really like.

Then, if you are still excited about it, go ahead and sign up. You'll get off to a better start with it this way, since you'll know more what to expect, be more likely to stay active with it, and have more success. Nothing is worse than jumping in without knowing how a program is going to be and then being disappointed with it. That merely wastes your time and money.

I know we all work so hard to create exciting sales copy and instill 'buy now' desire in our potential customers. That's fine, but if we would all resist that temptation until it proves to be a longer lasting interest, backed up by a little research, I'd bet we'd all come out happier in end.

------------------------------------------------------------------- "Want to know what a program is like before you buy into it?" I recommend receiving "The LOBO Letter" from John Soares at Online Scam Reports. John offers objective reviews of many popular Internet programs from those already involved in them. Get Info BEFORE you spend your time and money. Read a sample issue of LOBO Letter today at: mailto:lobo@netplaynewsletters.com

Written by Joe Bingham of NetPlay Newsletter http://www.netplaynewsletters.com -------------------------------------------------------------------