Yelp Takes the Internet Local and Fills a Demand

Maybe you've heard of Yelp. Maybe you haven't. I love the site and think it's going to be an internet hit within the next year or so.

So far Yelp has about 9 million users and the community is growing everyday. You can literally review everything in almost any US city from restaurants to real estate. It's one of the more useful web 2.0 sites out there.

Many web insiders have been saying target local search. Yelp listened and is reaping the rewards of doing so. There's a huge demand for information about local businesses. Though, not just any information is in demand people want to know where the best restaurants are in their neighborhood or what service can they trust when they need them (such as auto mechanics) Yelp takes this concept takes it out of the hands of the business owners, media and restaurant reviewers and puts it in the hands of the people.

Yelp is a good way to cut through a paid endorsements on a website, vague restaurant reviews or a TV news segment that might be a little wary about saying too many negative (or any) things about a business fearing they might be sued by the owner.

Yelper's tells it like it is. Though, some small business owners aren't as enthusiastic about the idea of Yelp. As one business owner comments on the Blog of Sarah Lacy's blog, Valley Girl,

As a small business owner I dread the idea of Yelp becoming a substitute for the suggestion box. The population of Yelp users seems to be party kids and have no right influencing anyone other than maybe themselves. Yelp is evil.

Is Yelp evil though? Are most of it's users party kids who taking out angst online at businesses or even people who work at these businesses they don't like?

Not really.

Though, there are issues about the legitimacy of ratings about a business based on personal taste (especially for restaurants), there's a wide spectrum of Yelper's. In general the site is pretty trustworthy and on target. There's also moderators that remove reviews that seem unnecessarily harsh. You can also get a sense of someone having a vendetta if a business has many reviews and gets high marks with (almost) everyone.

This is one of the interactive aspects I like about some web 2.0 companies such as Yelp. This site provides instant feedback for any offline business. Some restaurant's are even putting "Approved by Yelp" stickers on their windows similar to the "Zagats Rated" signs and stickers.

Could Yelp be a replacement for Zagats guidebooks for restaurateurs? We'll have to wait and see right now it's a great informative website that is gaining influence and authority. Yelp understands everyone truly is a critic.

And no I don't I'm not affiliated with Yelp nor do I work for them but I wish I did :)

More next time.

Why Zappos.com Pays Trainee's to Leave

You might have heard of the online shoe retailer Zappos, maybe you haven't. Zappos has been selling shoes online since 1999- and have weathered the dot com bubble well. Very well. Zappos has already done around $800 million in profits but that isn't the company’s main goal.

The main goal of the company is create and foster a business environment that allows for growth of its employees. Zappo's trainee's a put through a 4 week training course and learn about every aspect of the business and then when it is all over they are offered $1,000 (sometimes $2,000) to walk away if it isn't right for them or they're just in it for the money. That's not to say they aren't paid, employees are paid more the CEO.

It's an ingenious way of hiring people who are devoted to the company and actually want to work for your company, rather than just wanting to work for a company. It's also incredibly important they hire the right people because Zappos houses their call center right in their headquarters outside of Las Vegas. You won't be calling a number in Bombay when you need customer support and outsourcing isn't in the business model.

Tony Hsieh CEO of the company bases his success of Zappos on having a great product and having great customer service. What a concept for most businesses, treating customers well. Not only does Zappos treat their customers as assets they also listen to the recommendations from their customers of what they want to be offered. Zappos Airlines? Sure maybe down the road. Hsieh is taking that idea into consideration for the future.

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Also, Zappos refers customers to competitors if they don't have something in stock. A notion that would make old school businessmen scorn at the idea. Nonetheless this has done very well for customer service as the customers see Zappos as a helpful guide to buying shoes instead of a greedy corporation that just focuses on profit. If only more businesses pointed helped their customers like this than maybe they would have more business.