Many people underestimate the value of market testing. They might think that since they know how great the product is, everyone else will too. Whether or not that is true, there are many other reasons why you should do market research. Properly conducted market tests will help you determine what the perceived value of your product is (which determines how much people will pay for your product), how well people understand your product by looking at it, how well your promotional products are delivering your message and if you need to make any changes to your design. The good news is that for many products, you can set up quick and mostly painless market research.

By Edith Tolchin - "The Sourcing Lady"

In this article Edith Tolchin goes over the main steps in having your product produced by a foreign source. If you are interested in outsourcing your production overseas, this is an article you won't want to miss!

Dear Don, I have a great new product, but I'm worried about overseas competition. How do I keep them from edging me out?

When John Lyddon moved to the Santa Cruz mountains, he was worried that his young children might be in danger from wildcats that prowled his heavily forested 67 acre ranch. Using a tractor with a bucket and chain, he began to laboriously remove brush, trees and boulders to discourage the wildcats from coming close to his house. He believed that there had to be a better method than dismounting his tractor and struggling with a grapple, chain and bucket whenever he needed to remove a bush, tree, boulder or fence post.