One of the most under-utilized Internet resources for your shop is Yelp. Here’s what Gaspedal has to say about that:
3 ways to get more Yelp reviews
Numbers from September 2011 show Yelp has more than 61 million monthly visitors who are reading more than 22 million reviews. It’s an incredibly powerful word of mouth community that every day influences where millions of people do business.
How to get more of your fans leaving reviews:
1. Remind your customers
2. Link to your Yelp profile
3. Reply and respond1. Remind your customers
When was the last time you woke up and said, “Today’s the day I write a review for that business I love!”? For most of us, we just don’t think this way. This is why you need to regularly tell your customers how important their word of mouth is to you. Put signs on your tables, add it to your business cards, put it on your invoices, and remind people on the way out the door. Just keep it simple and don’t be pushy — something like, “Please let us know how we’re doing on Yelp” can make a big difference.
2. Link to your Yelp profile
Even when you’re not openly asking for reviews, you can still drive a lot of fans to them by simply linking to your Yelp profile from your website, your email signature, and your newsletters. And if you’re hesitant because you’re concerned about your current ratings, remember this: Strangers are already going to Yelp first. Pointing your happy customers and loyal fans there means they can add their voice to the conversation.
3. Reply and respond
Like any community, your Yelp page is healthier and better when you’re involved. The more you engage, the more reviews you get (and the higher quality they’ll be). For more on this, check out Yelp’s recommendations on how to participate.
Note from Kate: If you don’t follow Gaspedal, you should!
Click to see Auntie Kate’s best advise on how to bury stinky reviews.
Click to see how we “cultivated” a consignment shop’s listing on Yahoo Local.
How much time a week do you put into managing your online reputation?
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Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
You can provide “great customer service” and “wow” your customers every day but the Yelp crowd won’t care if they don’t “like” your business for what ever reason.
Many small business, including my own, have been seriously hurt by disingenuous and poor Yelp reviews. Yelper’s are almost like a cult. They visit your business and leave a review on their smart phone while they’re walking out your door and could care less about the impact they may have on a small local business like my own. Instead of voicing their concerns directly with the owner or manager and giving them the opportunity to address their “issue” on the spot, they hide behind their Yelp accounts and never give the owner an opportunity to fix the issue!
I once made the mistake of politely responding to a Yelp review and offering to address any concerns the Yelper had and hoped that they would give us “another chance”. Wow, you would have thought that I showed up at the guys doorstep with a shotgun. The response that I got basically said “how dare you challenge or respond to my review, can’t you see that I have over a hundred reviews….”. It’s very obvious that most Yelpers have never owned a business (and probably never will).
I own a small retail store that has been business for nine years. We are very proud of our customer service, unique inventory and competitive prices. In fact, we have won numerous customer service awards and were even featured in INC Magazine in an article about how other business should follow our lead on how to treat the 21st century consumer! We have 4.5 stars on Google, incredible reviews on CityGuide and many other legitimate review portals. I have over 340 unsolicited reviews on my website from “raving fans”.
I’ve had many customers tell me that they couldn’t believe our Yelp reviews. Many were so upset that they opened a Yelp account and left their own review. But of course, these reviews were “filtered” by Yelp because my customers don’t fit the Yelp “profile”.
It’s no wonder that Yelp is involved in numerous legal battles, not only about their deceptive sale policies (sales reps claiming that they can remove poor reviews if you buy Yelp advertising) but about their review process.
The bottom line is that there’s NOTHING you can do about Yelp reviews other than just go about your daily routine of providing outstanding customer service and hope that someday one your own real customers will be “allowed” to leave their own review.
So Yelpers, I have a challenge for you. The next time you’re not happy with a business talk directly with the owner or manager first and then leave your review (I know, it’s hard because your fellow Yelpers will belittle you because you actually “talked” with the owner…some nerve you have). Tell your fellow Yelpers how the business handled your problem. After all, no business gets it right 100% of the time, but what’s really important is how the business handles the “issue”.