Key Business StartUp Advice: Test Everything

Chances are you know plenty about your area of expertise, so you've decided to move ahead with your business startup idea. But don't let your knowledge and experience blindside you to the realities of the marketplace. What you expect will achieve business success may or may not work. There's only one way to know for sure and that is to put your idea to the test. Business testing is the one concept you should embrace for long term success.

Among the best business startup advice you'll ever receive is to become a scientific marketer/entrepreneur. Marketing is crucial to your business, particularly in the early stages. But betting on what you think will work can be a costly and sometimes fatal mistake.

It's far more effective to put your ideas in front of the market and let them vote with their wallets and purses. Let the market tell you what they want and what will ultimately lead to your business success. Test small, so you don't send too much time and money on marketing strategies or advertising copy that just doesn't work.

Force every ad, marketing concept and communication to justify itself by performance in the real world of results. That's business testing and it's fundamental to hugely successful businesses around the world. Every ad must produce a positive and profitable result, or it doesn't belong. Each ad and marketing piece needs to be monitored, measured and analyzed afterwards.

This concept of testing comes from the world of direct response where billions are made by scientific marketers who consistently test and tweak their approaches until they maximize their results. It's the only way to go as far as I am concerned.

Make testing part of your business ritual. Assume nothing until your tests give you authentic feedback.

You can ignore some business start up advice you're sure to get, but please do not downplay the importance of testing. Test everything including headlines, prices, offers, methods, media, guarantees, and even the size and colors used in your ads. By testing, you'll discover with certainty the methods and approaches that work best for you. Don't do what you presume is right - do what your prospects and customers respond to and you can always measure it by their actions.