that is good advise Adam.
I am in business as well and though in my field you can't really go ask the competition, I own several pieces of software that do some crazy analysis on other companies "web presence" (keywords, links, etc..) and it comes back to close to what you say, look at what others that are doing are doing, and use that!

I have an online business that sells high end door fixtures :-)
But of course search engine presence is "life" so I spend hours analyzing what the others are doing, from their site's code, to how they link to other sites and such things, specially of those who rank top on the search engines, and then I try to apply where can I to my site SEM and SEO.
Just like you say, trial&error costs a ton of money and time just to find out what works, and using other's experience, no matter how, can make a huge difference, specially with a new business where time is of essence to get things going fast and avoid spending all your startup capital before you start to see returns on your investment!
As you can see my line of business has nothing to do with yours, or with body mods shops, but business principals are and the no matter what, and using proved methods to be successful is always advise to taken and used!!

your cat makes me happy