Dina Kaplan, blip.tv

Schmoozing has saved Dina Kaplan a lot of money. Kaplan, who co-founded blip.tv, an online platform for creators of independent Web shows, is based in New York, but she and her staff found themselves spending a lot of time in Los Angeles. She spent four months building friendship with the management of a hotel close to blip.tv's LA office. Now she and her employees stay there 100 nights a year at an "unbelievably low rate," she says. "It becomes your home away from home."

Kaplan takes advantage of incentives for loyalty in other ways, too. Her company uses a single credit card--the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card--for as many purchases as possible. By building up reward points, she says, "you're able to stay in incredible hotels for free if you're charging enough things."