foursquare - Yu-kai Chou

Local businesses have a love-hate relationship with Yelp. If you have a 3.5+ rating on Yelp with over 30 reviews, then Yelp is a terrific resource for new customer acquisition. On the other hand, if you have a sub-3 rating on Yelp, then Yelp can destroy your business. The ratings and stars is a good example of gamification, a booming trend. (Click here to see What is Gamification)

It’s therefore important to not only get a lot of reviews on Yelp, but to make sure they’re positive reviews. This post will cover how to increase your review count, while a future post will cover how to make sure these Yelp reviews are positive.

Who should read this post: local business owner that are looking to increase their Yelp reviews

Why you will learn: how to get customers to leave you more Yelp reviews

Continue reading How to get more Yelp reviews for your business

From Foursquare and Gowalla to Facebook and Google Places, “checking-in” is becoming second nature to millions of people nationwide. Checking-in, as it relates to consumers and technology, refers to using location based services integrated with smart phones, allowing users to “announce” where they are at based on a particular venue. Users can download from a multitude of apps to check-in using a specific platform to earn points. From the millions of Foursquare users to the hundreds of millions of Facebook users, this offers businesses a vast user base to tap into. One goal these check-in services hope to achieve is to fill the intersection between technology and brick-and-mortar businesses. Check-in services encourage consumers to visit physical storefronts to look, peruse, and buy.

Do you check-in?

People check-in for various reasons, but a ReadWriteWeb article highlights some of the top reasons including: the ability to discover where your friends are at, earning badges and virtual goods, gaining points, and even accumulating rewards for frequent visits at a particular establishment. With the onset of real-world rewards for becoming mayor, patronizing a business, and winning challenges, people are taking check-ins more seriously. Rewards can range from buy-one-get-one-free offers to $15 off a $50 purchase. Continue reading The Check-in Phenomenon