Get Them Talking Tired of trying to round up new customers on your own? Go online and start yelping for referrals.
By Heather Clancy •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One good referral is worth dozens of unqualified prospects. So San Francisco spa and yoga studio International Orange is happy to have found a wellspring of qualified leads at Yelp.com , a local internet search site. Yelp lets people search for local businesses in communities across the U.S., sorting results by the number and quality of customer reviews that businesses get. Reviewers, or "yelpers," rate businesses using one to five stars and build reputations of their own--hopefully graduating to the Yelp Elite Squad.
"Yelp has turned out to be a really good match for us," says Amy Darland, 32-year-old co-founder and managing partner of International Orange, which expects $3 million in sales this year. Darland opened the spa in 2002 with Melissa Ferst and Kary Chendo, both 34.
