Research is more important to your success than you may realize.
Research is something most of us probably started doing when we were still in elementary school. I know my own experience with it started when I was in 5th grade and needed to write a report on Mexico.
We were told it was OK to use an encyclopedia to look things up, but we could NOT copy things verbatim. Or tear out pages from our parents’ (or the library’s) reference books. That’s when I learned how to look things up and slightly reword information so I wasn’t plagiarizing stuff.
(Home computers didn’t exist when I was in 5th grade, so online plagiarism wasn’t a “thing” yet.)
But research is something we do throughout our lives … not just when we’re working on term papers or reports! And it’s ESPECIALLY important in the business world. (See “A Few Examples …” below.)
WHY RESEARCH IS SO IMPORTANT
As adults, I think ALL of us have learned why it’s important to do at least a little research before making important decisions. Deciding on the most reliable car to buy, the safest neighborhoods to move to, or the best companies to work for are just a few examples.
Without spending adequate time on research before making important decisions like the ones I just mentioned, you’re probably going to be very unhappy with the results.
A FEW EXAMPLES …
Here are some examples of things that should ALWAYS be accompanied by thorough research:
✅ Investigative article about a “shady” local business.
✅ Blog posts on a new piece of software.
✅ Interviewing satisfied customers for case studies on a product.
✅ Detailed magazine article about a new line of clothing.
✅ Fact-checking a book manuscript.
4 GOOD RESEARCH METHODS
MARKET RESEARCH . . .
Create a “user persona” to help you understand who your ideal client is. This can be done in several ways, including surveys and interviews.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS . . .
Whether you’re planning a trip of your own or creating an itinerary for your client or boss, you need to be prepared to spend time comparing prices charged by different hotels, restaurants, and airlines. (This can be done online or by phone.)
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS . . .
Which social media platforms do your potential customers and clients spend the most time on? Once you know the answer … whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, X … you need to start visiting those platforms, too.
KEYWORD SEARCHES . . .
Discover which words your potential clients are searching for online to provide ideas for new topics in future pieces of content.
RECOGNIZING GOOD SOURCES
“Wikipedia should never be your primary source of information.” That was the warning I heard from my boss (Senior Editor of International Travel News) when I first started working there.
(Once I realized that Wikipedia is actually a compilation of contributions from MANY people, I understood why this site should definitely NOT be a primary source.)
Information found online should always be double- and triple-checked against other sources. A minimum of three sources per piece of info is what I recommend.
Asking several people for suggestions or looking at more than one platform for ideas on good restaurants are other examples of good research.
WORKING WITH CLIENTS
Before I began working as a virtual assistant, I never thought of “RESEARCH” as a service I could offer businesses. But I soon discovered that research was one of the most important parts of the tasks I did for my first two clients.
Without spending time on research, it would have been impossible for me to create dozens of social media posts for one client. Her tasks required me to learn about Facebook advertising, post on Facebook and Instagram with Meta tools, and explore Canva.
Three months after starting to work with my Facebook marketing client, I started working with a marketer who wanted me to write blog posts on Victorian-era detective thrillers.
Since I was clueless on this topic, I had to do some serious research before I felt qualified to write those. Apparently, the client was happy with the results … which told me that my research had paid off!
This same client also had me spend several weeks researching information on independent publishers … since she was trying to avoid having to self-publish the novel she had just completed.
PERSONAL PROOF
Thinking back over my own experiences with research, I realized that I’ve been doing research since my early 20s — starting with figuring out which 4-year college to transfer to (one that offered my chosen major AND wasn’t located in a big city).
Here are some others that stand out:
🔵 Deciding which car to buy the year after I graduated from college … with the help of Consumer Reports’ list of best used cars. (The result: a 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger … with a V8 engine).
🟠 After college, I dropped off résumés in person at companies I was interested in. It allowed me to “get a feel” for the atmosphere in each office and helped me know which companies to follow up with. That method led me to my first long-term job in the field of journalism — as Managing Editor for a monthly ham radio publication.
🟣 Classified ads told me I’d need to learn word processing before I could get into desktop publishing (DTP). So I took a word processing class at a local business college and soon afterward, landed a job as word processor for a prestigious law firm. (Less than a year-and-a-half year later, I was working for a company where I was in charge of all DTP projects.)
🟢 A couple of decades later, while seeking a way to continue earning a steady income (since the travel magazine I worked for would soon be going out of business), I stumbled across an article in a book that made me decide to become a virtual assistant.
As you can see, research is not a step you can afford to skip.
