Leave Reviews
From restaurants to books, small businesses rely on word of mouth and reviews. Make a habit of leaving a quick review after eating or shopping at a locally-owned business, or review your favorite find each week. Reviews don’t just persuade customers, they also unlock rank. Many systems require a set number of reviews before doing things like recommending matches. (This helps avoid review-stuffing, too.)
How to do it:
Reviews don’t have to be intimidating. I used to do promotion for authors, and people would tell me how much they loved a book, but when I said “could you put that in a review?” they’d backpedal. Most were embarrassed to have the author read their comments, but I’m married to an author. Every time he gets a five-star review his entire day lights up, even if it just says “great book.”
Keep it simple. Describe your experience with some context: “Great selection of puzzles” or “Salmon was delicious” is enough, or go all-in with creative writing and pictures. It’s all good! Award the stars. If it isn’t a perfect review, say why. “Food was very good, but service was slow so I’m taking off one star. Will definitely try it again, though.”
Leave reviews for small/local/minority-owned products and businesses anywhere you can. Google maps, Yelp, Facebook, etc. If you really love something, write a short post about it! NOTE: some of the businesses we love to boycott have the most robust review economies because they dominate the market. We recommend you DO leave reviews places like Amazon or Google, even if you don’t personally use those services. You’re supporting small businesses where consumers go.
