Have you surveyed your customer base lately? If yes, good for you! If no, you probably should get started right away.

Take a look at www.surveymonkey.com. It's a free online tool that works with just about any web browser and provides you with many built-in tolls such as a survey editor that lets you choose from a dozen types of questions.

This will allow you to analyze the results you collect and review the information with charts and graphs that cross-index your customer's answers.

With this information you'll have a new way to benchmark your market — are you providing what your customers value, for instance. A great place to start when building your brand.