The Rise of Consumer Reviews

It wasn't so long ago that consumer product reviews were a difficult sell to many retailers and product marketers.  Way back in 1999, when I first started pitching reviews to enterprises as a way to convert sales and increase engagement, I'd often get serious push...

The last few days, we have seen a flurry of controversy around the local business rating community Yelp.com, a popular and influential online community where visitors can rate local merchants such as restaurants and bars. The allegations? That Yelp will remove or hide negative reviews for companies that advertise.

The social web offers tremendous viral marketing potential for those that know what they're doing. Here are five easy, cost effective things you can do to leverage the social web to drive exposure, customers, and revenue:

1) Create a Facebook Page for your business. Whether or not you feel comfortable...