Yelp is a great online tool that all businesses should be taking advantage of. If you’ve never heard of it until now, that’s fine, keep reading.

Yelp claims that it is a “fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what’s great – and not so great – in your area”. Yelp is a tool that allows people to rate & review their favorite, and not-so-favorite, local businesses.

So what exactly does this mean for your business? Well, it means that you can use Yelp as a way to generate positive customer feedback about your business. Then, when other potential customers are searching for products and services within your industry on Yelp, you have a better chance of driving those customers to your store or website. Yelp amplifies the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

Another thing that you want to consider about Yelp is that your business is most likely already in their system. It’s an open network and people can review any business, which means people in your area are reviewing your business already, whether you like it or not. Since people may already be talking about your business on Yelp, it makes sense that you join that conversation. Here are a few reasons why being on Yelp makes sense for your business:

• Answer any negative reviews that have been made
• Customize your profile with valuable information
• Run campaigns to move you to the top of Yelp lists
• Encourage customers to write positive reviews about your business

If you’re still a non-believer in the power of this tool, check out the 10 things you should know about Yelp. You’ll discover facts like, as of August 2009, more than 25 million people visited Yelp in the past 30 days and that since it’s inception in 2004 Yelpers have written over 7 million local reviews. More and more people are going to Yelp to write reviews and even more than that are going there to read those reviews prior to making purchasing decisions.

How do I get started using Yelp?

The first step is to create a profile on Yelp. After that, you can search for your business in order to “unlock” it and begin customizing it to fit your needs. Check out their video on how to unlock your business on Yelp.

After you get your business setup on Yelp the way you want, start promoting it in your store. Offer incentives to customers for writing reviews on Yelp. Try not to coax them into positive reviews only. You want to know their honest feedback. That feedback can be used to improve things that aren’t working so well, and continue doing things that customers like. The more people who bookmark and review your business on Yelp, the further it moves up the rankings within your category. If you can get listed on “What’s hot on Yelp”, that’s going to drive more traffic to your store. Be creative in the ways that you promote Yelp to your customers. Be sure to offer them something of value for writing the review or bookmarking your profile, such as, receive 10% off your next purchase for reviewing us on Yelp. Before supplying customers with their incentive, be sure they show you (perhaps on their phone) that they wrote the review and/or bookmarked your profile.

Here are some great ways people are using Yelp to find out information on businesses in and around their area:

• Browse by business category
• Browse by neighborhood
• Find popular events near you
• See what’s hot on Yelp based on bookmarks

If you want some help with getting set up on Yelp or coming up with Yelp marketing campaigns, definitely contact Catalyst Marketers for more information.

Remember to connect with us, other social media experts, and other business owners by signing up for the Catalyst Marketers Facebook Fan Page – A place where business owners and social media experts can converge to exchange ideas around using social tools to grow their business.

How do I promote my social media?

It’s a question that comes up in almost every conversation I have with business owners who either just got started using social media to promote their business OR who are considering using it. It’s a good question to ask. My response is always the same, be creative. Depending on the type of business you own, there are countless ways to drive traffic to your social media sites. Because the question comes up so much, I’m going to continue posting social media promotion ideas for business owners here on this blog. Remember to subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up to date with our posts.

Today’s tip is for restaurant owners. If you offer delivery as part of your service to customers, then use that service to promote your social media sites. I’m sure you already use it to promote your menu. I know I receive a menu in most of my takeout bags. Now that you’re thinking like a New Social Business, you’ll see an opportunity with your takeout service to promote your social media sites. Simply get a 2 x 4 card (perhaps even smaller) made up with your logo, perhaps your tagline, and links to your Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account, and any other social sites that you own (including your website). Staple that card to every takeout bag. If you don’t want to staple it, then insert it into the bag. If you want to get really creative, print your social sites on the bag itself (though I think the first two ideas will work harder for you).

Another important point is to put your value proposition somewhere on the card as well – you have to provide value to customers if you want them to take action. For example, connect with us on the following sites and receive 10% off your next takeout order. This gives customers the incentive to take the action of connecting with you on your social sites.

Here are some other posts on promoting your social media sites:

• Socialize your business cards
Promote your social media in print ads

Remember to connect with us, other social media experts, and other business owners by signing up for the Catalyst Marketers Facebook Fan Page – A place where business owners and social media experts can converge to exchange ideas around using social tools to grow their business.