1. Identify key challenges in your niche.

Your time is valuable so having a way to streamline your marketing research activity is key. A great way to do this is by setting aside a specific time to scan interesting and informative articles that your audience can use. Set Google alerts to find blogs, magazines, and news articles that are related to your industry. If you have a hard time determining what key words to use try looking at words that are highlighted as links. There may also be a summary of keywords directly following articles if the author adds them to their post.

2. Set Google alerts.

Use keywords that you find from your research to set Google alerts. If you are using keywords from a blog post delivered through Google alerts then you are already one step ahead. Most often the words have been generated through the authors blogging platform which means that these are popular search terms in your niche.

3. Use the Google alert to develop engaging questions.

Sometimes you may run into creativity blocks that make it time consuming to create fresh content for your website or blog. In order to stay in the flow use the information from your daily alerts to come up with questions that you can share with your audience. This is a great way to grab their attention and prompt feedback about issues of interest to them.

4. Share your perspective.

Another way to engage your audience is by sharing your comments about something you read. Your alerts can deliver blog posts right to your inbox but you don't have to limit your comments to blogs. Be creative by subscribing to news articles and other interesting finds to see what major events are happening that can create new opportunities for growth in your market.

5. Share a link.

Finally, share, share, share. When you come across content that can make a difference in the success of your network, communicate what you find. Add links from articles that you comment on for your online community. People really appreciate when you give them something to help them save time, be entertained, and make more money.