[BryanB55]

1. Define exactly who your ideal customer is. This should be very specific - come up with an exact customer persona (e.g. Not just "people who have businesses"). I like to find 30-50 real people that would be my ideal user/customer.

2. Reach out to those ideal customers anyway you can. Email, phone, twitter or in person and try to setup a 5-10 minute phone call with them to describe your idea, the problem you are solving and to find out how big of a problem it is for them.

3. Ask them if they would be willing to pay $x for whatever you are selling (insert the price you plan to charge for X).

4. If they say yes ask them if you can take their payment information right now for a pre-order and they can help you build the product so it is perfect for them and be the first to use it.. Literally take a check or credit card information and charge them. I've found that customers may say they like your idea and would buy it but the ultimate validation comes when money actually exchanges hands. When you ask someone for money there are often other objections and excuses that come up of why they can't buy it.

I'll also add that for a lot of people it can be very difficult to talk to customers and get feedback. We tend to have a fear of hearing bad things about our idea or simply not wanting to bother people. However, it's something you have to fight through and just do it.

You'll also find that many people will be happy to talk to you for the 5-10 minutes that it takes. You'll likely get your best feedback from face to face and phone conversations where they don't have time to craft out a carefully worded email.

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