Dear Dan: We’d like to capture customer testimonials and feedback and post the best stuff on our own website. Is that likely to be beneficial? What’s the best way to do it?  — Under Review

Dear Under Review:  Customer ratings and reviews are all the rage online these days, and for good reason. Studies show that more and more ready-to-buy shoppers use these reviews as an influencing factor when choosing between competing merchants. But many small business owners are either oblivious or uneasy over what customers are saying about them online.

Tea Guys, LLC, a family-owned and operated Hatfield, MA-based retailer of exotic tea, considered the same route that many small businesses take – ask a few customers for testimonials and post them on the company website.  But in this age of instant communication via social media, and skepticism about testimonials that businesses gather themselves, Tea Guys wanted something more cutting edge and compelling. Read the full entry

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Dear Dan: Okay, I admit we’ve taken our eye off the Internet ball a bit, and maybe we’re falling behind in the race to win more business online, and with social media. Is it really that important? How are others doing it?  — Social Slacker

Dear Slacker: Internet users conduct billions of online searches monthly. And since one in every five searches is spurred by a local need of some kind, the implications for local businesses are huge. It comes down to this:  If you aren’t leveraging online business-building strategies to their fullest, you’re putting yourself in a competitive ditch.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently stepped up its efforts to inform business owners about all the ways they can build business online – from Internet yellow pages (IYP) and mobile marketing to social media and online video. The SBA is acting because it knows that local business owners who are plugged into the web create more jobs. “As the web evolves and consumers adapt accordingly, we know that more customers are finding Main Street businesses online,” says SBA Administrator Karen Mills.  Here are four short success stories and four things you can do on your own: Read the full entry

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