You are the Diver
Thought leadership research is the diving board. YOU are the diver.
Every researcher I know has gotten this question or comment at some point: “Steve Jobs said research isn’t helpful because people don’t know what they want.” Actually, what Steve said in an interview in 1998 was: “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want…
Knowing what people do isn’t the same as knowing what they think.
Many people who do research with their customers or prospects forget this simple and incredibly valuable step!
Research can be a wonderful way to establish your organization as an expert on an audience, a geography or an industry.
One of the most productive things you can do for your organization is to develop your own, opted-in group of volunteers to participate in ongoing research and discussions. Your proprietary research panel (or “Insiders” or “Advisory Panel” or whatever you want to call it) can serve a variety of valuable roles: They can reduce…