By Perry Marshall

I don't know about you, but I've spent a lot of money developing products and ideas that nobody wanted to buy.

What a horrendous waste - especially considering how many other ideas there are that people will spend money on!

If you understand how to use Google AdWords, you'll never need to invest more than a few hundred dollars - or in the worst case a few thousand dollars - chasing a product idea that has no chance of working.

Let's say you've got a product idea. The product itself costs $50,000 to develop, and you're sure it's a good idea because it solves a really thorny problem.

So here's what you do: You write a report, e-book or white paper about how to solve that problem. You create an opt-in page where people can get your report in exchange for giving you their contact information.

Then you buy keywords, send people to that page and see how many people you can get to opt in.

That alone will tell you something!

And if you can't get anybody to opt-in to your report - or if you can't find keywords that people are searching for - then that's a good sign you should abandon the project before you throw any more money at it.

When people opt in, send them an email (or maybe even call them on the phone) and ask them what they're looking for. If your report is any good, they'll be happy to talk to you, and you'll get LOTS of input about the kinds of problems they're trying to solve.

It's impossible to do this and not learn some major things that you did not know or anticipate.

Not only will this process validate that you're solving a worthwhile problem, it will also fine tune your efforts so you're dealing with the real problems that real people have!

It's worth repeating: after testing your concept on Google AdWords, you'll never throw good money at a lousy product idea. And when you need assistance or investment money, you'll have proof that people are looking for what you have to sell.

Perry Marshall offers a 5-day tutorial on the how to beat the AdWords System and play the game with finesse. It's available for free at www.perrymarshall.com/google

Social networking icons by komodomedia.com.