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Start Small

When launching a new product, it can be helpful to start small. Release your product (possibly just in a beta) to a small group of customers. Use the limited release to help you refine the product and marketing messages. Leverage the fact that your customer base is small by creatively involving them in marketing the product to a larger group.

The danger is that this small group of customers skews your analysis of the market. To the extent that the group is unrepresentative of the larger market for your product, you may draw conclusions that are not favorable to selling to that larger market. So pay a lot of attention to the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the individuals in the small group and how they fit in with the corresponding characteristics in the larger market.

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