What’s the secret to business success?

Simple: Know what people want, and deliver.

That’s really all there is to it, actually.

It’s just that the knowing what people want part can be a little tricky.

Focus groups and user surveys are extremely valuable business tools.

They can offer insight into personal buying preferences, brand affinities and seasonal habits that often can’t be teased out any other way.

But they ain’t cheap.

And that moves these tools quickly from the necessity category squarely to the luxury category.

Which means, in many cases, that they are never to be heard from again.

Or are they?

Turns out there are a couple of very cool tools available that put the fundamentals of business focus groups in the hands of the masses.

SurveyMonkey is the online survey tool with the name you won’t forget. It offers some pretty robust functionality, and a pretty unbeatable price (free for the basic service).

Other players include Vovici and Zoomerang. Like SurveyMonkey, they offer basic accounts and/or free trials.

Either way, it’s a great way to get started learning more about that whole secret to business success thingie.

Next question?

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