You build a better reputation and get more links and shares per post by creating better content. If you put more time and money into your work, it should pay off on average.
Doing your research, the art of gathering or creating entirely new information for your audience, is one of the best ways to enhance the quality of your work. The problem is that independent research is time-consuming and expensive. Pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to do the necessary research, or invest dozens of hours doing it yourself. Here are five strategies for getting original research faster and cheaper.
1. Searching existing data.
The internet is a prominent place with many resources to inspire and guide you. Leverage the resources you already have instead of trying to pull a whole new dataset out of thin air. For example, if you are trying to publish statistics about small business websites, you can collect a sample of the websites for small businesses that you find yourself and use those websites for your research.
2. Dive into personal metrics.
Instead of looking externally, she can publish her research based on the data she collects for her website and business. For example, let’s say you’re a marketing company looking at conversion rates for blog posts. You can examine the metrics you’ve collected, run experiments, and measure how the experiments change your results. As long as you don’t mind publicising this information, it’s a cheap and discreet way to let your readers know.
3. Asking around.
If you need help, ask other business owners in your expert network for the information you can use in the original research report. You may have access to data that you do not have. In that case, we can create a finished product that benefits both brands. You can also conduct more qualitative research, solicit opinions and recommendations, and post your results accordingly.
4. Dividing the work.
To reduce your content production costs, you can always split the work and distribute smaller chunks across your team. For example, you can ask each team member to research information about his ten local businesses or spend an hour each week discovering new information on your own.
5. Conducting surveys
Surveys are an inexpensive way to do your research. Within the target audience, each person should spend 5-10 minutes on the survey, but only time to review the information collected at the end of the survey.
If you follow a mailing list or a fair amount of social media, you can be sure you’ll get enough responses to warrant a survey. Otherwise, consider purchasing a list or taking a survey in a public place. If you are still waiting for an answer, offer a gift card or something to encourage participation.