Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building a content based online business, The Content Marketing Equation which is available on Amazon.com.

I spoke earlier in this chapter about visiting online forums to get information directly from your target market. While this will definitely get you information that you can use to understand your market, there is nothing like talking to them in person.

Sitting down with people, or even just one person in your selected niche, can give you a wealth of information  that wouldn’t be as easily picked up through online forums. For example, a ten minute conversation with a young engineer could yield five to ten challenges he or she is dealing with, which could then be used to create five to ten articles or podcasts on The Engineering Career Coach website.

The best way to accomplish this is to attend a major conference in your market segment. This will give you the ability to talk directly to those who will ultimately consume your content. Fortunately, you already have a list of upcoming conferences in your niche from the prior section.[Read More]