In today's Financial Post, Part 2 in a series of 12 articles on starting a business talks about market testing your products as a form of market research. Conventionally, business owners may look to their competition, read market statistics, read published research, conduct focus groups and build customer surveys. A photography business may not fit this traditional kind of market research, so testing is crucial.
How can photographers test (and therefore research) their market? Simply put, by working in it. When you are starting out you may take any assignment that comes your way. This is a great way to do market research. As a photographer, ask for feedback about the photography session or print sale as soon as possible after the transaction. Find out if there were any barriers to the shoot, getting the sale, or selling more prints. Was the shoot a great experience for your client? Was the time after the shoot (looking at proofs) a great experience for your client? Was it fun and easy for your client to buy prints? Was price a consideration or did your client hire you on reputation or referral? Were there any pricing problems or confusion with things like post processing charges? Generally, people don't mind spending their money when they have a good experience doing so. That's a sign of good customer service. Did you complete the job on time and on budget? Did you deliver what they needed? Did you, as the photographer, have trouble pricing the job? Did you make a profit?
Pay attention to all the indicators one way or another and adjust your shooting, pricing, and sales tactics accordingly. Listen to your customers. They are your best asset and indicator that you are doing a good job. No customers, no business. Don't be afraid to ask the difficult questions, including why you lost a shoot.
From this you can further evaluate your strengths and capitalize on those strengths. As Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt say in their book, 
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