Focus Group for marketing how and effectiveness (Boot Strapped)?

I'm a B2C start up bootstraping. I'm working on a software product and am looking for techniques to talk with my hopeful customers.

Working a real time dictionary solution that integrates and suggests in any application on Windows. I've created a proof of concept but still aways away from a final product. I have a day job and am looking for low risk ways to talk with my possible customer. I've done some demographic research and believe that she is younger then 30, educated, has a house hold income of 60K+, and looks up words while at work.

My current market research is top down (meaning I've done some extrapalations from demographic information from some sites and literature) but need to validate my hypothesis on what I believe to be a niche market that is sufficiently sized for a bootstrap.

Has anyone used a service that is low cost to get some feedback on your marketing ideas from customers using a focus group service? I would love to get something facilitated with actionable information for less than 1K. Getting this information where it doesn't impact my day job is key.

Anyone have some thoughts on approach. This whole talking to the customer bit that is so critical that I know I need to do is a real struggle.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

I find it hard to do Focus Groups or actual feedback before having a beta. The problem is that without a beta that users can touch and feel it is tough for them to understand the concepts.

My personal belief is not to hire a research firm for this. I would rather ask for feedback in survey form through market research telephone calls to get an idea of what your clients would like from a tool like this. Then i think you build a beta, get a few pizzas, and offer people $50 for 1 hour of their time to be a part of a focus group.

At the end of the day, i wouldn't try to quantify an idea based on a Focus Group. I think its best just to be agile in both your development and marketing. Asking for constant feedback from users base on their experiences, and then making changes accordingly.