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Tim Friday Elite user 485 Posts 
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Have you tried yelp? What is your opinion about it?
PROS: -Easy way to orchestrate reviews/testimonials -Testimonials come across more as a 3rd party, seems more authentic than testimonials you see that a magician 'propositioned' to use on their website -Could be another way to effectively market yourself CONS: -You could get negative reviews -Anyone and everyone could write a review, you have less control These PROS and CONS are just my speculation, do you agree/disagree? What is your opinion and/or experiences using yelp? Please share... |
Ken Northridge Inner circle Atlantic City, NJ 2393 Posts
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My theory is the more stuff you can throw at a wall the more will stick. Yelp is free and takes very little time to set up. Why not?
As far as bad reviews, that is not an option for me. In other words if I have even the slightest suspicion that my client was not pleased I will do whatever it takes to please them. Free show, refund their money, whatever. Leaving a client unsatisfied is the worst thing you can do in business, especially these days with so many ways to vent in social media. Its amazing to me how many businesses do not understand this.
"Love is the real magic." -Doug Henning
www.KenNorthridge.com |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21245 Posts
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Bad reviews are an option for EVERYONE. Copperfield, Lance Burton, Mac King, they ALL get them at one time or another. It is a fact of life. The idea that you can please everyone is just not realistic. Yes do what you can, yes be the best you can be but that includes living in reality. 5 star resorts get bad reviews. Life goes on.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
eatonmagic Special user Orlando, FL 737 Posts
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I offer reputation management services for my clients. I have systems that are put into place to notify me when someone is talking either good or bad about my clients.
Of course, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews....they all give the customer a voice. This can and will most likely be a double-edged sword. Danny is correct...you can't please everyone. And that compliment they gave you...sometimes it's just a cover to make you feel good and then they'll let you have it behind your back. Of course not everyone does this but I HAVE seen it before. Some people just do not like either confrontation or do not know how to disappoint a manager. They'll say "Oh no..it's ok" but when they get home usually it's a different story. Here's how I look at it. There's only two ways a customer is going to talk about you. Either good or bad. Naturally, we want to defend our service/product. We take pride in our business but we often lose sight of what the MOST IMPORTANT goal is and that is keeping the client happy. I applaud Ken's way of thinking, ABSOLUTELY! Keep your W.I.T about you. That means Whatever It Takes! If you hear someone talking bad about your service, chime in! Ask what their experience was like and what was it that specifically made them choose to write a negative review. Empathize and then ask for another opportunity to EARN their business back. Invite them back with a complimentary gift card. Yes...you heard me. You don;t always have to eat after you're done performing. They CAN be used in more effective ways 
If someone praises you and your work, then by ALL means celebrate with them! Reward them! Also keep in mind that most of the time when someone has a good experience, rarely will they tell a story. Usually it's along the lines of, "Great food. Scott was wonderful." But if they have a bad experience, believe me when I tell you they will often write an entire story 4-5 paragraphs long to tell the business and the entire world why they SHOULDN'T do business with you. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21245 Posts
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The problem is if you do about 250 shows a year for hundreds of people a night you will absolutely not make everyone happy.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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patrick1515 Regular user 142 Posts
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Yelp* can be a very effective marketing tool, in larger urban areas especially. Few people use a telephone book any longer, Yelp* typically yeilds a very high search ranking. Target users of Yelp* are in the 20-40yr old demographic, perfect for birthday party magicians. Do not attempt to "stack the deck" by asking friends to post reviews, those will typically get "filtered". Instead, ask your clients if they post reviews on Yelp*. Offer an incentive for them to submit their honest review of your services. If you provide great service and a great show, then you will likely get great results out of Yelp*.
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MikeClay Special user Atlanta GA 761 Posts
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Yelp's premium is horrid...
350 a month for 500 clicks to your profile. and that's the low package. There are SO MANY other things you should do BEFORE throwing money away at yelp. http://youtu.be/RcdVbn4ueTo That video shows a reputation portal that posts to G+, Yelp, and SOOOOOO many others. Yext at 600 a year is a better purchase for marketing.
its ok.. balloon dogs don't bite
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21245 Posts
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Fake word of mouth comes back to bite you in the but.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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MikeClay Special user Atlanta GA 761 Posts
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Reputation management portals usually are not fake reviews.
it's real people with real accounts. It just gives you a portal to manage getting people to the right pages to give you a review and if they don't have something nice to say doesn't give them the option. Fake reviews are ILLEGAL and the FCC has been cracking down.
its ok.. balloon dogs don't bite
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lou serrano Special user Los Angeles, CA 671 Posts
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Yelp can be a wonderful source of new business, but whatever you do, don't advertise with them. It's the worst deal possible. You're better off going to Las Vegas and gambling your money away. At least you'll have a good time in the process.
The benefit of having a Yelp page with positive reviews is that you'll get new business. The downside is that you don't own your page, and you don't own the content on your page. Someone can post a negative review, or as in my case, someone can post a review that is not of your business. I had someone post a review on my Yelp page that was of the Magic Castle. I went through the process of informing Yelp about it, and they did nothing about it. They refuse to remove it. I've also written to the person who posted the review, and she has never responded. Fortunately, it's not a bad review, but it's still kind of ridiculous that it's there. There is no way to call and speak to anyone at Yelp if you have a problem. It's something to keep in mind. With that being said, Yelp has landed me quite a few gigs in the few short months that people started reviewing my business. Patrick made a very valid point. Don't try to stack the deck by having friends give you a review. They will probably get filtered out. Lou Serrano |
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Tim Friday Elite user 485 Posts
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Thanks guys, I contacted my local yelp representative and she is getting me set up. It's good to know details about friend's reviews getting filtered out.
eatonmagic, I enjoyed hearing your interview on Successful Performercast podcast, lots of great info, thank you for that as well! |
misterillusion Special user Roseville, California 748 Posts
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Quote:
On Jul 17, 2014, lou serrano wrote: Hi Lou......What you recommend as an alternative: Google Adwords? Thanks, Charlie |
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MikeClay Special user Atlanta GA 761 Posts
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It depends on your target audience.
If your targeting Businesses = LinkedIn Soccer Moms = Facebook if you have a good website and landing page targeting Google Adwords.
its ok.. balloon dogs don't bite
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JoshLondonMagic Special user 675 Posts
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I was contacted by yelp (as I usually am every 6 weeks) and they tried to sell me on on paid search advertising with them.
After hearing there are really no analytics worth measuring and they don't even have a proper algorithm set up to target ads it quickly became clear that advertising on yelp is way out of the question. Plus, as Mike pointed out, the fees are outrageous. The problem I have with yelp is that for every review I have showing, there are at least 3 reviews that were filtered. These reviews are honest reviews too! I've had a yelp rep tell me the only way to get those reviews unfiltered is to buy advertising. MisterIllusion - Adwords is great if you don't have a strong SEO presence and need to drive traffic to your website. The traffic is easy to get, but the hard part is converting the traffic to paying customers. Josh
Josh
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misterillusion Special user Roseville, California 748 Posts
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Quote:
On Jul 29, 2014, JoshLondonMagic wrote: Thanks Josh. Good advice. I do have a good SEO, but I think that my web site needs some tweaking. I appreciate your input --Charlie |
Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts
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I had a great review on my Yelp. I got another review, still 5 star and Yelp removed (hid it and it was not recommended which is worse). I got the rep who called me trying me to get me to pay high fees. I blew her away over the phone with some mentalism so I called her back on Sunday and left her a voicemail about the review. Also, my title was changed. I was showing up on google with the Yelp now I am not. Unsure what happened there but I changed my business title back.
ClICK HERE for HOW TO MAKE TRANSITION FROM MAGICIAN TO MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER WORLD NEW BOOK!
Click here for NEW PROMO TRAILER! 90 seconds of pure laughs without a standing ovation! Click here for Magicians Austin Mentalist Performance https://www.facebook.com/AustinMagicians https://www.speakermatch.com/profile/gianicano/ Magicians Company Entertainers in Dallas, TX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8sHW_zVuSc https://about.me/motivationalpublicspeaker |
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Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts
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UPDATE....My reviews are disappearing like hot cakes. These are not clients with only one review either. Some have lots of photos, had their review for many months and wham! Gone! I have more then twice as many reviews hidden now as I do showing. I don't get it. I was fine and appeared at a gig, got some reviews then one by one, the reviews along with some older ones are gone.
ClICK HERE for HOW TO MAKE TRANSITION FROM MAGICIAN TO MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER WORLD NEW BOOK!
Click here for NEW PROMO TRAILER! 90 seconds of pure laughs without a standing ovation! Click here for Magicians Austin Mentalist Performance https://www.facebook.com/AustinMagicians https://www.speakermatch.com/profile/gianicano/ Magicians Company Entertainers in Dallas, TX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8sHW_zVuSc https://about.me/motivationalpublicspeaker |
| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Tricky business » » Yelp? (9 Likes) | |
Posted: Jul 16, 2014 09:26 pm 
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