Promoting your business with Yelp NY Times article

We are big fan of Yelp.com and having our clients listed there.  To find out more on the advantages of Yelp.com, the value of testimonials and promoting your website, please click here to visit our newsletter on the subject.

Here’s a great article from the New York Times on Yelp.com  Using the Web to Draw in Crowds. Key points that the article notes:

• Yelp.com is great at attracting the gen X & younger crowds.
  “Sites like Yelp make places like us seem hip, as opposed to being seen as stodgy old-school places,” Ms. Russ Federman said.
• With so many online retail stores, Yelp.com helps brick and mortar stores compete online
• Bad reviews are still bad reviews, but you can contact unhappy customers through and possibly recify the situation.  Then customers are highly likely to change their reviews to be more positive.
• There is a great business owner management interface so you can see how many people can view your profile.  THrough this interface you can also post specials, photos, etc.  It’s all free too!
• Last but not least, our favorite exerpt:

“Why request reviews?” Mr. Owyang continued. “Research indicates that customers trust other reviews from peers like them. In fact, 83 percent trust opinions of a friend or acquaintance who has used the product or services. Only 63 percent of consumers trust a review of an expert. You can see where this is headed. Yelp is allowing customers to connect to each other, rather than relying on experts. Word of mouth prevails.”

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