Did you know that 90 percent of people trust peer recommendations and only 14 percent trust advertisements? In February I have been touring Minnesota different towns to talk to people about using the Internet to promote their business –one good way is my encouraging happy customers to post reviews .

If you have a business that might benefit (or benefit from) tourists, it makes sense to encourage people to post reviews on TripAdvisor http://www.tripadvisor.com. You can start by setting up a business listing with them: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners-t2. A listing is free. It may make sense to think about their advertising; it definitely makes sense to try it out with the free listing.

For some businesses it makes more sense to set up a listing on Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/ And again you can start with a free business listing.

For others, for example professional services (accountants, lawyers) it can make sense to encourage people to recommend you on LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/ (A recent survey indicated that 90 percent of small businesses who used LinkedIn found it valuable.)

Getting reviews from customers and clients is a two-step process. First – ask them to post reviews. Maybe include a link to post a review on your business card or brochure and/or simply ask them. The second step is pay attention to what folks are saying. Thank people who say kind things and address any reviews that are less than stellar. Folks reading the reviews will see the effort.