WhatWorks: This Week's Business Advice

Building Your Loyal Customer Base

This issue of What Works concentrates on expanding your business's loyal clientele. Show your customers you love them and they're more inclined to love you back. Simple tools such as loyalty punch cards, surveys and blogs are easy ways to thank and get to know your customers a little better. And this issue's Q&A has help understanding the latest increase to the Federal minimum wage.

Check out the What Works for Business blog for more ideas on how to build your customer base and news on the latest solutions for small business. Sign up for the RSS feed to receive automatic updates.

Minimum Wage Hike Worries Small Business

Q. Dear Dan: We pay our seasonal help the minimum wage. Now I hear it’s going up again, which seems like bad timing in this economy. Is this right? - Worried Employer

A. Dear Worried Employer: Back in 2007, the Federal government passed a minimum wage increase to be implemented in three steps, ending with an increase to $7.25 per hour (from $6.55) effective July 24, 2009. Here's what you need to know:

Launching a Loyalty Program
By Matt Alderton
Small businesses rely on word of mouth to bring customers through their doors. But once the word has reached their ears, it's keeping them listening that truly counts. Raise the volume of your voice with a customer loyalty program.

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Surveying Your Customers
By Jennifer Mattern
Surveys allow your business to learn about the demographics of your target market. More importantly, they allow you to get into your customers' heads to find out what you're doing right and what you might want to change. There are a few different types of customer surveys:

Blogging for Small Business Owners
By Chris Maxcer
Blogs aren't just an online diary. For small business owners, they're a marketing tool used to reach and interact with customers. Learn how to increase your visibility through blogging...

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Creating a Customer Database
By Jenni Simcoe
An up-to-date customer database can save your company time and money and, most importantly, help you attract repeat business. There are many options for creating and managing your small business's customer database. An effective database can...