Calling all entrepreneurs…

Thinking of starting a business or looking for ways to grow your recently launched firm? VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner is filled with expert advice on taking your company to the next level.

Here are a few of the most recent stories that you might have missed:

Do you need a loyalty program? – Loyalty problems tend not to be on the forefront of entrepreneurs’ minds. But an aggressive retention marketing program, even in early stages of a company’s history, can pay big dividends.

Incorporating social media: There’s no magic bullet – Successful social marketing isn’t as simple as installing a set of apps and regular Facebook updates. But if done right, it can give you another avenue to reach existing and potential customers – and get a sense of your company’s reputation in the real world.

You’re not as good as the press thinks – Believing your own media clips can be lethal to a start-up, especially one without a product. Serial entrepreneur Steve Blank discusses how he learned this the hard way as CEO of Rocket Science Games.

Staying out of the weeds – Microsoft is hardly a small company, but with so many divisions vying for R&D dollars, CEO Steve Balmer sometimes feels like a VC. Here he talks about how he decides what to move forward with.

People Capital brings peer-to-peer lending to student loans – Our Startup Spotlight feature focuses on a service that allows investors to decide what percentage of their money goes to which students.