Ed Erickson Erickson of Erickson Market Research says that market research can be used to decide how you your market yourself. It can be key, he says in finding the differentiating factor.

But many small businesses think that research is a pipe dream, best left to the big boys. Surprise! It doesn't take a lot of money to conduct research. Market research is really about gaining customer intelligence. The best way to do that, says Erickson is through your customer.

Jay Ehret hosts this discussion on market research for small business. HotSpots in the podcast include: How small businesses can use market research, Discovering the benefits people will buy, How to ask your customers questions that gets feedback you can use, Creating a customer feedback mechanism to track what your customers think, The first steps to conducting market research.