How to Get More Yelp Reviews Without Bribing Customers

When it comes to local internet marketing and reputation management, perhaps no website is more important to companies than Yelp. In the unlikely event that you don’t know what it is, Yelp is a site that allows customers to share their opinions about local businesses. Users can submit reviews, positive or negative, and business owners have the opportunity to claim their listings and respond. (Read more…)

Google Places 101

Is your business using every possible Web 2.0 tool out there to get ahead? Yeah, right! That’s impossible, time consuming, and worse – what happens if you invest your time in a fly-by-night tool? Fortunately, this little company called Google something-or-other seems like it’s going places. And one of those places is … Google Places! (Read more…)

Fear of NOT Advertising: Yellow Pages Hostage Situation

Do you know where your marketing dollars are going?

When I started eReleases in 1998, I considered the company an online venture. I didn’t see a real need for yellow page ads or print advertising.

Then the phone rang. (Read more…)

Community Outreach: Using PR to Help Your Neighbors

The audience was small, just forty or so people. The venue was obscure, the cafeteria of a seniors center. The time was not prime, 7:15 on a Tuesday night. The speaker was an unknown to those in attendance, yours truly. But I was engaging in public relations, reminding myself that PR can mean community outreach as much as working for a big client or company. (Read more…)

Extend Your Public Relations Budget Through Your Chamber of Commerce

Many business owners don’t realize how easily and effectively they can self-promote through their local Chamber of Commerce. In fact, only a small percentage of business owners take advantage of their Chamber’s self-promotional possibilities. The following tips offer smart, simple ways of extending your public relations budget with help from your Chamber of Commerce. (Read more…)