I suspect that many get annoyed when links take them to Digg, Reddit, Sphinn, or elsewhere instead of directly to the content they expect. I created this poll to find out. If you have a strong opinion feel free to share it in the comments. If Twitter users know how their followers feel about this they are more likely to change how they Tweet.

NOTE: If you have already voted you can click on Vote and see results without selecting an option to see the current totals.

While you’re here why not check out some of the other posts? If you have a business or blog or would like to make money online you’re bound to find something interesting.

It is very likely that if you take the time to review businesses you frequent that they in turn will patronize and review your business. Merchant Circle is one of many local directory sites that provides a review function. Use How to Add Your Business to Merchant Circle to get started there.

Merchant Circle Review Process: 

1. Go to the Merchant Circle signin page to log in
2. Click on the Merchant Marketplace link
3. Type the “name of the business” in “location” and click “search”
4. Find the business and click “Write a review”
5. The form shown below will pop up.
6. Select an author
7. Type in a Title for your review
8. Select a rating of 1 to 5 stars where 5 is best
9. Type in what you would like to say about this business (up to 1000 characters)
10. Click Submit review

Merchant Circle Review Form

That is all there is to it. The more reviews you share the more likely others are to return the favor and review you. Remember to be honest and act with integrity because you will also be judged by others on what you write.

New GrowMap Logo

Creating a consistent brand across all of your interactions both online and off is critical to your success. The primary method for doing this is the use of a distinctive logo design. Your logo creates an immediate image - that all important first impression - responsible for how someone feels about your brand. Done well, your logo makes your business instantly recognizable wherever it appears.

Logo styles vary greatly depending on the niche you operate in and the size of your business. There is a distinct difference between the types of logos used by Major Corporations and businesses that interact with them and logos that will appeal to marketers, creative types and in specific niches. This difference is the first of many reasons for the wide range of prices charged by logo designers.

Do you need a $50 logo or a $1000+ logo design package? Read on to find out.

Smashing Magazine has two articles that clearly define what factors are involved in the most effective Logo Designs. Their 10 Common Mistakes in Logo Design is critical reading for any business that goes beyond a Web site. It spells out common mistakes an inexpensive designer is likely to make. More importantly, it explains what is necessary to transition a logo design for other uses - and THIS is where the major differences come in!

Rather than write about the details, I recommend you read the excellent article 12 Essential Rules to Follow When Designing a Logo. It provides excellent background on how to ensure a logo design is memorable and suits your business. Also be sure to read What Makes a Good Logo by David Airey because he adds additional factors not mentioned in the other posts. He wrote:

“My good friend Lee Newham taught me about five elements that can be seen in every iconic logo:

1. It’s describable
2. It’s memorable
3. It’s effective without colour
   
4. It’s scalable i.e. works when just an inch in size
5. It’s appropriate

The image below from 5 Useful Logo Design Tips (on David’s site in a guest post by Jacob Cass clearly illustrates how it meets the above criterion:

McDonalds Logo

Before you have a logo designed I strongly recommend reading David’s post and the others I am including in the body of this post. Each was carefully chosen to convey specific information you will need to make the best decision FOR YOU. Each person’s needs are different and the purpose of this post is to make it obvious what level of logo design to select for your project.

Beyond the design itself there is a major difference in deliverables between logo designers. If all you need is an image to use on your Web site you can consider the lower priced options (but seriously consider finishing this post first to make sure you won’t have regrets if you do). Any business that intends to use their logo for other purposes will have additional requirements that are unlikely to be provided by lower end design companies.

You may want to use your logo on:

1. Printed materials (stationary, catalogs, mailings, etc.)
2. Advertising (color and most likely black and white too)
3. Signs (on your building, at events, billboards, trade show booths, etc.)
4. On promotional items (corporate logo pens, business card holders, mousepads, etc.)

This is an important consideration BEFORE you select a designer because these other logo applications require your new logo be provided in different formats. They make color, font choice, and especially scalability more critical. Logo designs often use modified fonts which can be extremely difficult to recreate if you want more materials later.

TYPICAL LOGO DESIGN DIFFERENCES:

• Low End Designers:
  • May charge as little as $30-$50 with $100 being common although some may charge up to $500+
  • Are far less likely to be aware of all the factors brought up in the posts above
  • May not do background research on you and your company
  • May not interview you or ask you to fill out an interview document
  • May skip creating preliminary sketches
  • More likely to “borrow” logo ideas or use stock art
  • May only provide images in Rastor (.jpg .gif .png) file formats commonly used in PhotoShop instead of Vector based images (.ai and .eps) created by programs such as Adobe Illustrator
  • Less likely to provide images in grayscale or black and white (b&w)
  • Consider using inexpensive logo design options ONLY if all you need is a logo for a Web page and a matching Avatar and Favicon or you manage to locate a Logo Designer in this price range that provides what more expensive designers do. If you need logo images for any other purposes be sure they will be provided in the appropriate formats and the design meets those requirements too. Remember that the results of attempting to match your logo later may be less than desirable.
    
• Mid-Range Logo Designers:
  • Prices range from $1000-$5000
  • The number of unique concepts created and the number of revisions strongly affect the price quoted
  • Should use an interview process or form to determine what type of logo will fit your business and your preferences
  • More likely to research your industry, competitors and audience
  • Have a deeper portfolio making it obvious what their design style is
  • Should use Industry Standard Logo Design practices including providing both Rastor and Vector file types
  • Can create logos that are more unique and memorable
  • Will modify the fonts used 90% of the time to make your text distinctive
  • Usually provide additional deliverables such as:
    
    • style guides (specs for using your logo)
      
    • color codes (RGB CMYK) - see also Color Fundamentals
      
    • multiple file formats
      
    • b&w along with color & grayscale
• High End Logo Designers:
  • Prices range from $5000 to $15,000
  • Like all specialties, Logo Designers command higher prices because they are more talented, have more experience, have more extensive portfolios, have won design awards or other recognition, or work with a more upscale clientele
• Firms and Logo Design Agencies:
  • Prices range from $15,000 up to $250,000 or more
  • Normally work with largest Corporations, Fortune 100/500
  • Prices they can command are based on experience, industry recognition and current client list

Before you hire a logo designer:

1. Know what you need based on the above information
2. Review portfolios and ensure their designs match the type and style you desire for your own logo
3. Ask specifically what items you will receive in which file types. Vector designs are preferred over only Rastor file types. (If you do not have an in-house graphics department be sure to request additional file types you can open on your PC.)  Ask which file types are included and which incur extra charges
4. Determine how many concepts and revisions you need. The more of each the higher the cost will be. Too few and you may not be satisfied with the results. Too many and the cost can be higher than necessary. Consider asking if you can pay for a smaller number and then pay extra for additional concepts or revisions. It is only fair that your designer be compensated for any additional work required.
5. Read online testimonials or reviews regarding not only their design skills but also how they communicate, their work processes, and whether they complete projects in a timely manner.
6. Remember to ask if there will be an additional charge for other file types.
7. You will need a matching Avatar (for Social Networking) and Favicon. Ask if they are included or how much additional they will cost.
8. Plan to really spend some time and invest thought into answering the questions during the interview process. The more specific your answers the better your results would be. I was very impressed with the 1981 Logo Design Questionnaire for gathering my input on the new logo for GrowMap. By the time I had finished it I had a much sharper idea of what logo designs I preferred and which I did not care for - and more importantly so did he.
9. You can get a good idea about what various Logo Designers are charging by reading through some of the comments in How Much Does Logo Design Cost. Get another take on what I have shared above reading How Much is a Great Logo Worth?

Now that you know what to ask you can move on to How to Choose a Logo Designer. When I began researching Logo Design I wrote Freelancer Challenges - Logo Graphic Designers. That post lead to several logo designers providing me with answers to my many questions - especially Joshua Geiger, the designer behind NineteenEightyOne.

Anyone who reads me knows how many questions I have about the what and why. Until I thoroughly understand a subject I can not clearly explain it equally well to those who have no background in the subjects involved, in this case graphics, file types, color codes, scalability and so on. A major reason for consultant dissatisfaction is this disparity of knowledge.

A small business owner who barely uses computers has different questions than a Corporate client with a Graphic Design department. Logo Designers who regularly deal with a certain type of client will not provide the information required by others with different skills. Some already know what scalable (looks good no matter how small or large), vectorized (doesn’t look grainy) or CMYK (type of color codes used for printing) or .ai (Adobe Illustrator file format) refers to and the others don’t.

Joshua has done something that high end designers do and that all Logo Designers should seriously consider. He has provided his Logo Designer process online for us so we know exactly what to expect when working with him. Notice the detail he provides:

• how long each step will take
• what the process includes (research, support)
• confirmation that no clipart is used
• exactly what files are included
• how many concepts and revisions are included
• links to the questionnaire and payment method
• contact information

What you can not tell by reading his site is the exceptional communication skills Joshua has. While creating the new GrowMap logo I knew exactly where we were in the process, what he needed from me, and what he was providing. This may be a larger area of concern in logo design than you might think.

Some designers are intensely creative and visual and are not nearly as comfortable or talented at writing, communicating, time management and running a business. If you visit many design sites you’ll notice that some have almost no text on them. Some designers have commented that they would not read long posts or could not understand my previous post on Freelancing Logo Designers. That is unfortunate as they won’t be benefiting from what I relate here.

Clearly, Joshua was an excellent fit for me to work with because he was willing to answer all of my questions and understood that my intention was not only to take GrowMap to the next level with a professionally designed logo; it was also to help my readers know precisely how to select a designer that best fits their needs.

GrowMap could have gotten by with an inexpensive graphic design because my intentions are 100% firm on being online only. I doubt many other businesses could say the same. Are you positive you will never publish a catalog, sponsor a local event, be featured in a newspaper or magazine (oops - maybe even I was not 100% there), order stationary, buy promotional gifts with your logo on them (got me again), or have any other reason to use a different format.

More importantly, I love the new logo. It even passes all of David Airey’s tests of being describable, memorable, effective without color, scalable, and appropriate. That sounds like another blog post. I wonder how many would be interested in seeing the answers I gave on the questionnaire, the various other concepts and colors, what we chose and how we then developed the logo into the header you see here today? Let me know in the comments if you would like me to post it.

Now that you know that creating a consistent brand across all of your interactions both online and off is critical to your success AND you know what to ask I am certain you will find the perfect logo designer for your needs. I can highly recommend Joshua Geiger’s Nineteen Eighty One Logo Design for your consideration.

I challenge Logo Designers to provide all of this information online and develop your own process. Establish relationships with people outside your niche who are in a position to recommend your services. If you are also talented at writing, follow David Airey’s lead and provide quality information for the public on what you do. I know of David because of his writing - not his design work - and he has more visibility than most logo designers because of his articles and posts.

What designers who are not writers can do is what Joshua did. He recognized an opportunity to raise awareness of what he does, assist businesses in understanding how to hire a Logo Designer, and have his work featured at GrowMap, a blog whose whole reason for being is to assist businesses to grow. This is a strong potential market for mid-range logo designers.

Although we could, we choose not to charge for offering proven strategies to small businesses. We do this because many of them either can not afford us (especially during the current economic climate) OR even more importantly - they simply do not yet understand the value of what we offer. Because of this we do not have resources to spend; however, we have something that can be far more valuable: time.

We spend that time answering questions, communicating at Twitter, FriendFeed, cliKball and elsewhere, and in providing personal recommendations. Joshua knew that and saw the benefits of providing our new logo. He also knew that we always tell the truth and as of this moment although he knows we are very happy with his work he does not know what will be in this post and won’t until he reads it after it is published.

We guaranteed him credit for his work including a valuable link in the footer. (Footer and sidebar links appear on every page of a site so the larger the site the more incoming links you receive and the more valuable they are for search engine rankings.) He knew we were going to do this post and he would receive at least one link in the post.

We knew his work and since we will see it far more than anyone else we would not have gone ahead if we were not certain we would like the results he provided. We did not know the process would be so excellent or we would learn so much that we can now share with our readers.

We have learned that small businesses really need more than just a logo. They need a consistent image in many formats from a designer who really understands all we have shared above. There could be inexpensive designers out there who are this qualified and if we come across them we will let you know.

We know that Joshua has these abilities, charges at the lowest end of the mid-range logo designers, and can provide complete graphic support of his logo designs for small businesses - and they are our target audience and who most need such support.

You can see his work in his portfolio (click the arrows to see more) and also where it has been featured:

Showcase Galleries:

Articles & Interviews:

We leave you with a quote from Joshua:

“We need to keep your “brand” seamless across all mediums. It is best to have your logo designer create all the collateral materials. Only the designer really knows exactly how everything should look.”

If you have a small business consider investing in a Logo Image that gives you the look of a major corporation without having to spend anywhere near what they do. If you do Logo Design, consider focusing at least some of your efforts on small businesses. Also consider raising awareness of your work by trading a custom design to a deserving Non-Profit or high profile blog in exchange for attribution, incoming links, and recommendations.

WHY INVEST IN LOGO DESIGN?:

• 4 Reasons Your Blog Needs a Logo
• 6 Reasons a Logo Should Cost More Than Your Lunch

Is anything in this post unclear? Do you have any questions that were not answered? Are you a Logo Designer with something to add or another viewpoint? Please consider leaving a comment.

If you are a logo designer you are also invited to leave a brief bio and additional links to your portfolio, process, or other relevant information. Comments with additional links in them do usually end up needing moderation; however, I will approve all real comments with relevant links.

Favicons visible in FireFox Browser

In the screen capture above you can see our new Favicon followed by one for Adam Singer’s blog The Future Buzz and Andy Beard’s blog AndyBeard.eu. Favicons can be created from almost any image file type (.jpg .gif .png .bmp) and are saved as the .ico file type.

Every Web site should seriously consider having a distinctive Favicon created that matches their Avatar and Logo. You can use one of the Favicon generation tools below to create one from an existing image and the Favicon WordPress plugins to install it on your site. The process is similar for installing Favicons in Non-WordPress sites.

FREE FAVICON GENERATORS:

1. Dynamic Drive Favicon Generator - create a Favicon from an existing image [input images: gif, jpg, png, and bmp]
2. FaviconGenerator - create a Favicon from an existing image [simple - no options - square images only]
3. Favicon-Generator - create a Favicon from an existing image [input images: gif, jpg, png - few options]
4. ProDraw Favicon Generator - create a Favicon from an existing image [Supports JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIF file formats for uploading. Output size from 16x16 pixels (favicon.ico icon size), 32x32 (desktop icon), 48x48 (large XP icon) up to 128x128 pixels (Windows Vista icon size) in the *.ICO icon format.]
5. Favicon CC - create Favicons in a paint type program

WORDPRESS FAVICON PLUGINS:

• Shockingly Simple Favicon - plugin to add a Favicon to a WP site without editing Theme files
• Plugin to Add Favicons to Blogrolls in WordPress

I will still answer all questions and reply to all substantial comments for as long as that remains possible.

There are few places a business owner or blogger can find such extensive experience and thoroughly researched proven strategies for growing their business AND get a personal reply and answers to any questions they may have. Can I ask a favor of you? Would you please share this blog with any business, bloggers, or affiliate marketers who could benefit? Thank you.

Why would you want Twitter IDs in your comments? Here are the benefits:

• Save time searching for Twitter accounts
• Makes it easy to find out if you are following your readers
• Follow up on comments or let readers know you have replied or updated a post they were particularly interested in
• Easily find and follow interesting commentators
• Another way to reward your commentators - lets your readers find and follow them at Twitter

This plugin “auto-magically” adds your commentators Twitter IDs to all of their previous comments, providing them with far more visibility in posts that are already indexed in the search engines. Anyone serious about adding readers and followers could visit existing posts, make intelligent comments, create a dofollow link with their choice of anchor text and thereby use this blog to drive traffic to their own blogs and businesses.

Something spammers don’t understand is that only quality comments relevant to the post where they appear work for generating real people to visit!

What some don’t realize about power Social Networking users is we automatically pay it forward by sharing whatever benefits others. When someone else takes up our causes we seek out worthy causes they support and share them with our users. Have you ever wondered what gets shared online and why? Now you know!

THIS is how the few can improve the world. You can join us by simply sharing what helps others. When you take action for them, we will take action for you.

It is not always obvious what features at Merchant Circle are free and which incur additional charges so do read the fine print. To get started simply enter your primary business phone number on the Merchant Circle Submission page and click submit. This is a screen capture of that page:

Merchant Circle Add Your Business

If your business is not already listed you will get the form below with text reading “The phone number you entered does not match any business in our system.” Fill out this information and click Submit.

Submit Business Listings at Merchant Circle

Merchant Circle will send a confirmation link to the email address you used. Click on that link to continue the process. If you want to start out with just the free Merchant Circle account, click on the link in the top right corner of the Merchant Circle Pricing page that says No, thanks. Set up my profile as shown in the screen capture below:

Process to Submit Business to Merchant Circle

If you want to start out with just the free Merchant Circle account, click on the light gray link in the top right corner of the Merchant Circle Pricing page that says No, thanks. Set up my profile as shown in the screen capture below:

Fees for Merchant Circle Accounts

You will see references to verifying your Merchant Circle listing. There is more than one process for Merchant Circle Account Verification for doing so:

1. Pay $2.99 per month, billed in one year payment of $35.88
2. Free if you can to provide two out of these three: Sellers Permit Number, Business License Number, or DUNS Number
3. Although it first appears that supplying the business name and email of five businesses that will verify yours would allow you to verify your account without charge, going through that process brings you to a checkout page asking for the $35.88 annual fee.

It appears that unless you provide two of the three numbers mentioned above that if you want your business verified you will have to pay the annual fee.

Merchant Circle is one of the most ambitious of the Local Search Directory sites.  You may want to spend some time getting familiar with what they offer and then decide which of the directories with advanced functions is the best fit for your business.  You may want to keep notes on your activities and measure the amount of traffic you receive when you are active and when you are not. Let your results determine how much time to spend on each site.

MERCHANT CIRCLE HOW-TO RESOURCES:

• Official Merchant Circle How-to Guides
• How Do You Use Merchant Circle

MERCHANT CIRCLE GUEST BLOGGER SERIES:

• Andrew Shotland - Local SEO Guide - @AndrewShotland - How to Do Local SEO in 5 Minutes or So
• John Jantsch - Duct Tape Marketing - @ducttape - How to Listen in the Age of the Customer
• Dane Carlson - Business Opportunities Weblog -  @danec - Small Business Branding Online

The infoUSA database powers 85% of online directories including:

• Google Local Search
• Yahoo! Yellow Pages
• Microsoft’s MSN Local Search and Windows Live Local Search
• AOL brands including Compuserve, Netscape and Mapquest
• infoSpace
• 90% of in-car navigation

They also sell the infoUSA database products directly to businesses and for incorporation into computer programs and online services. Simply go to Add or Change Your infoUSA Business Listing and follow the process.  Here are the screen captures of the entire process as of the day this post was written. [These are current even though the  copyright date on these pages is 2006.]

infoUSA SUBMISSION TIPS:

• Enter phone numbers with no spaces or punctuation like this: AAAPPPNNNN (Area code, prefix, number)
• Do not use your toll free number as your main phone number - there is a field for it on a subsequent page

infoUSA Submission process:

Just today Chris Crum of WebProNews asked Do You Respect DMOZ after 11 years? The Official Happy Birthday DMOZ announced by AOL is June 8, 2009. Although DMOZ was once a quality directory, the reason for their declining favor can be summed up in one word: attitude. That attitude comes through clearly in their R-E-S-P-E-C-T- for DMOZ post and the responses to comments there.

DMOZ IGNORES REQUESTS:

“I saw a definition on the Alternate Webmaster Glossary (http://www.experienced-people.co.uk/1099-webmaster-glossary/) of ODP: That place where you submit a site and forget about it. (And they forget about it too). That’s what webmasters think of the ODP.”~ Will in comments in that DMOZ respect post mentioned above~

DMOZ ATTITUDE

According to DMOZ, it is always YOUR fault if you don’t get listed because you obviously did not follow their rules. You must have made a mistake. You just aren’t “good enough”. While I am certain they do get many submissions that are poor, using their rules as an excuse to reject or ignore quality sites is unwise at best and a major cause for their impending demise at worst.

BECOME A DMOZ EDITOR

Any visit to DMOZ makes it obvious there is a shortage of editors. There is a very good reason for that. Many suggest becoming a DMOZ editor is one way to finally get that elusive DMOZ listing you desire. Many claim that doesn’t work:

DMOZ rejects new editors without explanation and rarely responds or adds new websites submitted by users to categories. ~ Comment from Jeff Reason ~

I wanted to give DMOZ a fair test so I applied to become an editor. Apparently I am not talented enough to volunteer my time as the application was declined. I did definitely disclose all Web sites I am involved with so that isn’t the issue. If you still want to give it a try read The Secret to Getting Listed at DMOZ and Submitting a Successful DMOZ application.

While we originally did not know whether the charges of corruption at DMOZ were accurate; they certainly are abundant. It is really hard to argue against that accusation given what happened to ShoeMoney. Not only is ShoeMoney still not listed there are only 23 listings in the Affiliate Weblogs category where he once appeared. The PleasantonWebDesignBlog post DMOZ is Corrupt and the comments in it are representative of many we’ve read elsewhere. Here are even more concerns about DMOZ Editors.

Chris Crum at WebProNews asks Does Dmoz Still Have a Place in Search?  They seem to be telling us they don’t. After thorough research we have concluded that although a DMOZ link is still considered valuable, DMOZ is largely a waste of time. Apply once carefully following their rules if you wish and then, as Will suggested, forget about them.

QUALITY SITES DMOZ IGNORED or REJECTED:

• Trying to get in DMOZ? More Evidence of DMOZ Corruption

Related articles by Zemanta

• Want Your Listing to be Approved in DMOZ? Use Real Titles (seroundtable.com)
• Want to Get Listed in DMOZ? Become an Editor (mt-soft.com.ar)

This post is part of a series on how to add your business to free Local Listing Directory sites.  This step-by-step process is the shortest path to getting listed at Yelp.

DO NOT start by logging into an existing personal Yelp account or at Yelp.com. You need to go to Biz.Yelp.com for Business Owners and to request Business Listings.

While there is some controversy over Yelp about Yelp Reviews, they do have a major amount of traffic (23 to 25 million unique visitors per month according to Compete) and if you only want to add one business it is one of the easier Local Search Directories you can get your business listed in.

NOTE: There are two separate log-ins for Yelp: One is a Business Owner login and the other is your individual Yelp account login. If you create an account for one it does NOT work to log-in to the other. It helps to think of them as two separate sites and ensure you are in the one applicable to what you wish to do. You may wish to create accounts for both. You can create them using the same log-in information if you wish - just remember you have to log into them separately.

HOW TO LIST A BUSINESS AT YELP:

1. Get a Yelp Business Owner Account
2. Search for your Business name, city and state. (Also check old business names you may have used in the past.)
3. If you find a listing for your business you will have to confirm by phone.  Yelp’s system will dial the phone number provided in your listing to confirm it is you. You have to be available to enter a code their Web site provides.
4. If you do NOT find a listing click on the link that says Having Trouble Finding Your Business.
5. Type in your business information.
6. Their system does not currently have an option for selecting 24×7 hours. Either do not select any hours OR use the hours you answer the phone.
7. You need to respond to an email to verify your email address.
8. After your submission is manually reviewed you will receive instructions on Claiming Your Business.
9. Log into your BUSINESS ACCOUNT (not your PERSONAL ACCOUNT) to:

• Upload photos
• Add specialties
• Add business history
• Add business owner bio
• Create offers and announcements
• Recommend Other Businesses
• Check statistics (on the Summary Tab)
• See reviews others have made about your business

AVOIDING YELP CONFUSION:

The Yelp system has some quirks:

1. Even though you enter your Web site URL it will not appear in your listing until your listing has been reviewed by a moderator at Yelp.
2. There is a sixty day waiting period before new accounts are unlocked. Only basic information about your business appears until your account is unlocked - even if you have already entered it into your business listing! If you try to claim your business early you will get the message “This Business Page Cannot Be Claimed At This Time. This business has been on Yelp less than 60 days and cannot be claimed at this time.”
3. If you attempt to log back into your business account shortly after creating it you may get “The email address or password you entered is incorrect.” Check your email confirmation and make sure you entered your email address and password correctly. If you did there is probably a technical issue that will resolve itself in a few hours or days as the information replicates across multiple servers at Yelp. All you can do is wait and try to log in again later. If that doesn’t work see the Yelp Caution in the next section of this post.
4. Although you CAN delete photos you upload for your business there does not appear to be any way to delete a photo you upload to your Bio in your Businesss account profile except by replacing it with another.

YELP CHALLENGES:

• Like many other Local Directories, Yelp uses existing databases. Your business may already be listed OR when you enter it the city may be incorrect if there are other cities that use the same zip code.  If this occurs in an existing listing you can claim the business and edit the city. If it is a new listing you will have to contact Yelp to have this corrected or wait sixty days to do it yourself.
• Their system sometimes refuses to accept a listing or address. Verify you are entering the address correctly or try changing the format you’re using to enter the address (remove periods, change spaces, abbreviate or remove abbreviations). If that doesn’t work you may have to contact Yelp.

YELP CAUTION:

If you work with more than one business be very careful using Yelp in the same browser on the same computer. If you log out of one account and into another you sometimes see information that belongs in the original account you were working in. To be safe you may have to delete cookies related to Yelp before logging into a different account.

If you accidentally log into one account’s information from a different email address it appears to delete your original email address and you may not be able to log back into the original account. If that happens create the account again or start at the Claim Your Business process (provided your listing has been on Yelp more than sixty days - see point 2 immediately above).

OFFICIAL YELP BLOG:

• Yelp Official Blog
• Contact Yelp to provide feedback or request assistance

YELP FAQS:

• Personal Yelp Account FAQs
  
• Yelp Business Owners Guide

NOTE: You can NOT always tell whether the information you are using is for the business or personal Yelp by looking at the domain URL. Some business owner information is on the Yelp.com domain (like the Business Owners Guide. When you are logged into your Business owners account you will be on Biz.Yelp.com.

YELP ON TWITTER:

If you need assistance try using Twitter to contact an official Yelp representative or Yelp Community Manager (CM). Here are the Yelp folks I’ve been able to locate so far.

• @Yelp - The official Twitter voice of Yelp HQ in San Francisco (formerly @YelpInc)
• @yelpmobile - Yelp Mobile
• @yelpdotcom - Identity not confirmed
  

YELP MANAGERS ON TWITTER:

• @cckarl - Chantelle Karl - Communications Manager for Yelp East Coast (including UK and Canada)
• @LutherLowe - Luther Lowe - Yelp’s Manager of Local Business Outreach

YELP COMMUNITY MANAGERS ON TWITTER:

• @PDXYelp - Don B - Portland, Oregon Yelp CM
• @yelpatlanta - Kathleen M - Atlanta, Georgia Yelp CM
• @yelpaustin - Kevin N - Yelp Austin CM
• @yelpboston - Yelp Boston, Massachusetts
• @yelpchicago - Colleen C - Chicago, Illinois CM
• @yelpdc - Yelp DC (Washington DC)
• @YelpDenver - Tiffany C - Yelp Denver CM
• @YelpEastBay - East Bay Yelp CM
• @Yelp_Houston - Yelp Houston
• @LeonYelpLondon - Leon Campbell - Camden, London
• @Lizzles_Yelp - Lizzie Gold - London
• @Yelp_London - Laura Nestler - Yelp London
• @YelpLA - Dawson - Los Angeles, Calif.
• @yelpmiami - Maria A - Yelp Miami, Florida
• @yelpminneapolis - Sarah Peterson - Yelp Minneapolis CM
• @YelpOC - Hazel Q - Yelp Orange County California
• @RuggyYelpSD - Ruggy Joesten - San Diego  CA
• @YelpSeattle - Katie S - Yelp Seattle CM
• @YelpSV - Connie C. - Yelp Silicone Valley
• @yelptoronto - Kat F - Yelp Toronto CM
• @yelp_vancouver - Crystal H. - Vancouver BC Yelp CM

If you know of any others let me know in the comments here or contact me at Twitter.

YELP  FOR BUSINESS OWNERS:

• Seven Steps for Yelp Success
• How to Manage Your Yelp Reviews