Yelp
For any consumer-oriented business, Yelp is a key website. It’s basically an online directory of businesses in almost every category. But the key component is that customers are encouraged to write reviews. Every business should check out their Yelp listing (and keep monitoring it) and take positive and negative feedback seriously.
Google Places
Ever find erroneous information about your business when you look it up on Google Maps? Well you can correct that information, and add enhanced listing information, including photos and videos, by registering your business at www.google.com/places.
Flickr
Flickr is a free site where any individual or business can upload and host photos. Want to create a slideshow of new products for your website? You can do it for free with a digital camera and a free Flickr account.
FourSquare
Those in the know say geo-based services are the next wave in the development of mobile. And that’s why mobile apps like FourSquare have been all the rage of late. FourSquare allows its users to “check in” at different locales and write reviews in the form of “tips.”
QR Codes
Whether you call them QR codes, 2D barcodes or smart tags, these images are increasingly being found in marketing campaigns. The codes, which look like square barcodes, can be scanned by smartphones and are preset to connect to anything on the Internet, including email signup pages or promotional videos. You’ll need a special app on your phone to decode the codes.
Digg
Digg and other sites like it are news aggregators that allow web surfers to promote their favorite articles. If your business has a blog, you’ll want to include Digg links so people can share your headlines on the site.
