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By developing a product after your customers tell you what they want, you can have a product for which there is demand. Let's say you're thinking about writing a software program for doing automotive repairs. It's for do-it-yourself car enthusiasts and does engine diagnostics that help increase fuel efficiency by five miles per gallon.

If a guy bought your software (which you haven't written yet), he could buy a cable at Radio Shack, take his computer into his garage, hook it up to his car, and the software would collect a load of data and display it on the screen. Your program would then tell the guy what to tweak in his engine.

Sounds like a great idea. But how do you know there's a market for this? You can find out if there's water in the swimming pool before you dive in. You certainly don't want to spend months writing software if nobody's going to buy it. So here's what you do:

1. Write an e-book, white paper or guide. Call it "How to Use Engine Diagnostics to Improve Your Car's Fuel Efficiency by Five Miles per Gallon." In it you tell people how to do it the hard way, the whole routine that takes you three days, including the spreadsheet and the connector from Radio Shack.

2. Head for Google and hid on starter keywords. Find all of the major terms related to engine diagnostics.

3. Post an ad.

DIY Engine Diagnostics Simple Procedure Improves Your Car-5 MPG or Better www.AutoDiag.com

On your landing page, you have a sales letter that tells them about your e-book. You can also follow up with a series of e-mails that talk more about this.

4. Get ideas and feedback from your readers.

5. Sell the e-book. Or even give it away for free. But not without a plan. While you're marketing your e-book, you're going to take the next step with your buyers.

6. Test your customers' response to your actual product idea. What do they say back to you? Are they interested? Do they pester you to find out when this will be available? Do they offer to pay you for it now, hoping to get first dibs on it when it comes out? If so, you know you've got a winner.

7. Sell your product. The dollars will come rolling in.

You've listened to your customers; you've put together a product in line with what they ask you for; you've proven to yourself that they're interested. Now when you give them exactly what they want, you'll make the cash register ring.