In the Four Hour Work Week, there was a section where Tim talked about analyzing customer preferences by using Google's AdWords.  The idea is to try different messages, different names, different approaches, and see which ones get the most clicks.  This gives you some idea of what catches peoples' attention and ultimately what they want. 
I'm taking a Marketing Class at the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business, and in that class we are studying something called Conjoint Analysis.  (By the way, the Moore School was recently ranked #1 in the world for International MBA programs-- click here to read more.)  
Conjoint Analysis is a technique for sudying the preferences of consumers.  What I like about it is that it takes something that seems to be high on feelings and intuition and turns it into a science.  There's an excellent video tutorial on Conjoint Analysis found here at Sawtooth Software's Web Site. 
As I watched it, I was thinking about my business, which is building Web Sites and small communities and small businesses, and thinking about how I might better understand a specific market such as attorneys.  In my opinion, every attorney ought to have a Web site, but why?  And why don't they all have them now?  What do attorneys think when they think of a Web site?  Do they not have one because they don't know who to call?  Do they think it will cost $5000?  Do they just not have the time? 
These are all questions that could be answered with some careful market analysis.