Principle 2
Identifying Hot Trends in the Marketplace
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
—Arthur C. Clarke
In the last chapter we talked about creating your own product or service that you can market to the world. In this chapter we are going to talk about ways you can judge whether your product or service is hot or not. The best way to make this determination is to keep an open mind, study trends in the marketplace, and then ask yourself whether people want to purchase the products or services you are offering or plan on offering. Additionally, you will learn how Cornelius Vanderbilt and others made a fortune by following their guts and riding the wave of a major trend in the transportation industry.
We all know things that were hot in the past but are no longer hot today. For example, CDs and CD duplication are now being replaced by video download. In other words, the technology used for creating the CD product for storage of content is soon going to be outdated just like vinyl records, eight-track tapes, cassette tapes, big box TVs, and typewriters. Desktop computers are being replaced by laptop computers, which are being replaced by smart phones and new technologies such as the Apple iPad.
As you look into the future, ask your teenagers what they see as hot products in the marketplace; chances are they will have an edge up on you since they are closer to the new and hip products of tomorrow.
In fact, I am sure this chapter will soon be outdated ...
