Facebook mobile now includes a feature that lets you to tell your friends when you are visiting a specific business location. Facebook calls this “checking-in.”  This means that you can use a smartphone device to receive a list of local businesses in your area and subsequently “check in” at the one you are frequenting.  This “check-in” is then visible to all of your friends through your newsfeed and a posting on your personal Facebook wall.  Businesses are taking advantage of this new concept and adding certain deals and specials that are available only to those people who have “checked in” to the specific location.  With a constant increase in the number of mobile Facebook users, we can’t help but wonder what effects this will this have on local SMB owners. Some of the early participants of Facebook Deals included 24 Hour Fitness, Alamo Draft house Cinema, American Eagle Outfitters, Chipotle, Gap, Golden State Warriors, JC Penney, McDonald’s, and Starbucks.  Gap was one of the first to advertise their Facebook Deals through commercials. The first 10,000 customers to “check-in” to the Gap location received a free pair of jeans.  This got people lined up at 8 am to take advantage of the Facebook Deal.

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According to a new study, 7 out of 10 potential customers are more likely to buy from a local business when it makes information accessible through a social media site. This yearly study, which is called “Local Search Usage Study: Bridging The Gaps, From Search to Sales,” is a combined effort of TMP Directional Marketing and comScore. The study surveys 4,000 consumers online and contains data obtained by observing one million of those who allowed their online searches to be monitored anonymously.

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I was surprised at first when I read this, but given the proliferation of Smartphones, it’s actually not that hard to believe. Even my 64 year old father uses a Blackberry and my 10 year old nephew has an Iphone.  Yelp has become the trusted go-to resource for anyone searching for local businesses. In June 2010, Yelp announced that every 5 seconds, someone uses their mobile phone app to call a local business.  During the month of May, Yelp for iPhone had over 1.4 million visitors.

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A great business can take years to build a positive reputation, but it can be destroyed almost overnight with a few bad reviews.  In the past, when people talked about your business, it was behind your back and you almost never heard about it.  Today, most of these dialogues are right in front of your own eyes. For better or worse, internet buzz is there for the entire world to see. There are an enormous number of review sites, forums, facebook pages and twitter feeds where your business is subjected to hearsay and rumor mongering! Reputation management has become an essential task for every business. But for many small businesses, it is overwhelming. There are over 20 high-traffic sites such as Yelp and Google Local where customers or disgruntled ex-employees may be posting reviews. How can you keep up with all the comments, reviews, and chatter about your business across the web?

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