People will usually buy what they WANT

before they buy what they NEED.

This is particularly true online where temptation and opportunity lurk around every page corner.

A woman may need to get from her house, to work, and back.

But, she wants a Hummer H2.

Fulfilling the need to get to work and back could be a bus pass. But, the Hummer H2 fulfills her wants though the Hummer is serious overkill for meeting a transportation need.

Add to this counterintuitive concept, the filter that wants and needs are dominated by is our own personal perception. If you've ever spoken the words you don't know what's good for you, then you have some idea of how murky our understanding can be of our own situation.

I need to get to bed and get some sleep has frequently been trumped by I think I'll have another beer.

So, if you come to the marketplace seeking to fulfill someone's needs, you run the risk of missing the mark and setting up a sales system that won't convert to very many sales.

This is not an exact science, but an aspect of your marketing that you should pay attention to. People will often TALK about what they NEED and dream or think about (or even do Google searches for?) what they WANT.

When you start to examine a market look carefully at what people are saying and the WAY they are expressing their desires and questions.

Words mean things. They have a meaning that begins in the mind of the searcher and are expressed in the context we find them online. Pay attention and when you are looking at discovering your client needs and wants always ask yourself to look deeper.

Consumer-society has trained us to eat your dessert first and it is not uncommon for a truly useful product to sit in the shadows of a sexier one that is just fun.

This is something that divorced people can often relate to.

Keep an open mind here and be willing to challenge your assumptions about your market as you look for the pony in the pile. You may need to start with a cheaper fun product and evolve the customer toward a more profitable needs based purchase after they have begun to trust you more.

Don't wait around forever doing research. Reach a reasonable conclusion and move on. If what you are offering to your market is not what they want they will vote by not taking you up on the offer and you can learn from that and get better.