[woohoo]

I like this post - I think it's really logical and fairly complete. A couple of comments - Firstly I think a completely hands-off approach to market/customer research is dangerous. I think you need to actually talk to prospects to really understand how they think about problems and pains. Surveys can give you clues where to look but they are not enough. Secondly, I wouldn't think of "competitors" as just other products in the space. Other alternatives could just as easily be "do nothing" or "do it manually" and if it is then you will need to differentiate between your offering and those alternatives too. Lastly, when thinking about marketing tactics, it's important to think about tactics that will work for your target markets specifically and not just all tactics that might work for any market.