We’ve written on some pretty interesting small business rewards programs here on this blog. We’re always big proponents of small business rewards programs because people love a good deal. What’s more, people love knowing they’re a part of a program where they can be rewarded – for lack of a better word – for their loyalty towards a specific company. The more you shop, the more you save...

Should a customer loyalty program come with fine print and what basically amounts to “black out dates”? You know, the program that offers you points or discounts by coming back, but you can only get those rewards on certain days. Or sometimes the rewards aren’t eligible during other promotions. Is this fair to your loyal customers? Here’s a better question - is it smart? Fe...

Everyone writes and blogs about trends and predictions for the coming year, so we’ll join the crowd. John Arnold wrote about 10 online marketing trends for 2010 on Entrepreneur.com. We’d like to list them here and debate whether or not we agree with his assessment to “test, invest or rest” the tactics. Many we agree on but there are a few we disagree with so here’s ou...

World-renown coffee chain, Starbucks, is launching a new loyalty program for 2010. Starbucks has struggled to maintain loyalty programs in the recent past, due to customer groups and their continued efforts to try and bend the rules to their favor. Under the new loyalty program plan it appears that many Starbucks customers will be losing a 10 percent discount but will be gaining a variety of benef...

Many startups realize the significance good customer service can mean for the success of a small business - or even a large operation. When done right, customer service can grease the wheels of any marketing and loyalty program. That’s exactly what Joan Lamonica did when she opened up a retail store recently. She’s the fashion designer and owner of Sara Mique and she quickly realized h...

Does your small business have a loyalty program or a rewards program? In short, these types of programs “reward” customers for being “loyal” to you by coming back and shopping repeatedly. As a company, you’re committed to keeping them happy and providing an incentive for them to come back and shop again and again. In it’s simplest form, an example of a loyalty p...