Mark Hathaway, a white-collar criminal defense attorney says, “Yelp.com has to be careful that their business model does not look like they are asking business owners for protection money from bad reviews when Yelp.com** controls whether the bad reviews are posted in the first place. Some business owners may feel that the local neighborhood protection racket has just moved to the Web.”

2010 is the year of the changing of the guard.
Here are 3 things you need to give some thought:

1. Search Engine Optimization is the key to making the 1st page of Google. You can do your own SEO or you can pay someone else to do it for you.

2. Great results from Craigslist require only that you know how to craft an ad. Luckily, I know a school that can teach you how to write effective ads. Or you can just pay someone to do it for you.

3. Your feedback score on Yelp can be maintained by you alone. You can’t pay someone else to make your customers happy.

Roy H. Williams

** Even if Yelp is kicked to the curb by a newcomer like AngiesList, the idea of peer-to-peer business reviews is here to stay.