How to Validate Demand for Your Product
I didn't write my book on how to break into consulting until I validated demand.  Here were my step:<p>1.  Write up a table of contents<p>2.  Throw up a quick landing page on unbounce.  This was the page I used <a href="http://unbouncepages.com/become-a-freelance-software-consultant/" rel="nofollow">http://unbouncepages.com/become-a-freelance-software-consult...</a> (but I did a 1month trial of Unbounce premium so I could cname it to codeforcash.zackburt.com)<p>3.  Bought traffic on Reddit ads (/r/programming) and Facebook (programmers in USA).  BTW, two young kids (a college student and a recent graduate) commented on my Facebook ad to bash me.  The ad performed better <i>after</i> their comments.<p>I got email signups from Reddit at $4.50 net Cost Per Lead and from Facebook at $6.50 net Cost Per Lead.  I spent a total of $100 buying traffic before I sat down to write the book.  Although there was no way that 100% of the emails would convert to sales, (ultimately, about 35%+ of them did so far), it was clear to me that there was a potentially scaleable marketing channel (once I optimized the ads to drive down cost and improved conversion rate on email -> sale).  That, and people on HN constantly ask how to break into consulting, so I also intuitively believed in the market.<p>But these days I am reluctant to dive into anything unless I know there is a repeatable sales process. I qualify potential startups as employers or clients based on this belief – I don't want to waste my time and I don't want them to waste theirs.  I've been burned WAY too many times by startups with products or services that haven't been proven to have <i>economic</i> demand.  Let people vote with their wallet not their mouth.