Lou MC Yelps a Lot

One day, I wanted to produce a photo collage from all Around the World UYE's. I came across this page - Best Unofficial Yelp Events in Houston . Wow. I'm so honored.  UYE: Asian Heritage Celebration @ Strings Noodle made on the list. This is why we need to get in the culture of attending UYE's and writing reviews on the UYE biz pages. We promote each other's events when it comes to event planning. Another benefit is to use reviews as a feedback. This is only seen on desktop version. I believe reviews posed on UYE (unofficial Yelp event) or OYE (official Yelp event) are not eligible for ROTD (review of the day). So you can write anything to your desire, just don't be rude.

All of the sudden, my Yelp friend list got so big. Wait, who the #%$* and that *#@$ from my Facebook are now my Yelp friends. Then, I went checking on my settings. Oh, no, I don't like this idea. I want this feature to be permanently un-checked. Not everyone on my Facebook with a Yelp account is Yelp active. In fact, my Yelp friends on Facebook is more active than those Facebook friends with Yelp account in general. I keep my Yelp friend list small is because the ease of sending invitations to my UYE's and other events. The current process is very time consuming, unless HQ changes the invitation style. I created a  step by step instruction on my blog . I guess HQ was responding to some people complained about they still having trouble to invite FB friends. Then, I noticed the request screen has changed. Below is a capture from desktop compared to the app, The request from Facebook appeared differently. I'm happy to get my control back.

At the New Year’s Elite badge release, some Yelpers were excited with another year's elite status. But some left out wondering, "Where is mine?" I'm guessing there is a formula to calculate how much you contribute to the Yelp community. By checking in and posting photos do not impact Yelp's business objective, reviews do. I printed out my friends list before and after the badge release, I concluded a reason why few of my Elite Yelper friends couldn't carry the status from last year. They had something in common. I see everyone had a gap of review writing for more than 3 months during 2015. I can't say how long and how much they need in order to catch up. Let's prove me wrong. If you want to give this a try, start writing again - post at least one review a week. It may just do the trick. HQ gives Elite badge almost weekly. Here are some examples - monthly review posts:  Meriem B . from Houston, TX This gap in reviews costed his continuing Eli...

Wait. What is this? Is it a math problem for me to solve? No way, who put this thing in the middle of my profile? This is a new feature for app users only - Last 90 Days. No worry. This is a new tool to show how your Yelp contribution being viewed. It's like a website counter for each element: reviews, photos and profile. So, I captured the images from iPhone and Android to share with you. It appears the website has same info. Woohoo! I captured some Q&A from my Beta App Group: It updates once a day. Only shows other users' views, none from me. Everyone can see it. Yes, everyone. Here is how the number crunches: Someone looked at your profile multiple times within the 90 day period counts. But someone looked at your content repeatedly in a short time won't count. HQ has a blog to share  http://officialblog.yelp.com/2016/01/how-many-views-do-your-reviews-get-find-out-now.html So far, I only find one news helpful. I think we are going to hear more about i...

First of all, I am not affiliated with Yelp and I write reviews on Yelp for fun. Secondly, I don't ask for special treatment from businesses because I write reviews for fun. Third, I am a hard-core Elite Yelper. I always encourage Yelpers to write reviews. Now, let’s go to the featured presentation. Many ideas created this UYE . Since my ROTD (Review of the Day) on 2/11/2014, I have been a regular customer to Eatwell Bakery Cafe for my yogurt fix and remain in contact with the owner, Ziad. The more I talk to him, the more I like to feature Eatwell in my UYE choices. Ziad has a passion in promoting healthy gourmet with a Mediterranean twist. It was perfect timing to wrap up the challenge while Eatwell celebrates its anniversary in October. The UYE was named "Zoom Zoom 100 & Beyond" as a result from a Talk thread . This UYE was dedicated to the Yelpers who participated in the  2015 Yelp Challenge . I started the cyber event as a challenge to encourage my fellow Yel...

This is a question for business owners. If you had a business recently relocated, do you change the address on Yelp page or tell the world that you moved to a new address? It prompted me to this blog. I recently go contacted by a business owner in Chinese: Subject: 百利中医皮肤科 ( TCM Acupuncture & Herbs Clinic ) Mr lou  您好!谢谢您在yelp帮我们!我们现在搬到新址所以­还得麻烦您帮我们把旧的照片删掉!多谢多谢!   杨晓娜 (Hi, Mr Lou! Thank you for helping us on Yelp! We moved to a new address. Please delete the old photos you posted. Thank you. Xiaona Y.) I got very curious and found out the storefront  and store hours  photos were removed. I suspected that the biz page owner already removed them. My first expression was, "oh no. They did it all wrong." I was a little pissed off at first. But then, I realized Chinese are getting more adoptive to new methods of advertising. That's what Yelp is about. I drove by to see the old location. It is occupied by a massage therapist and TCM is still on the wall. ...

I attended a very interesting and meaningful event - Dine Out Fight AIDS on Thursday, April 30, 2015. This is a synchronized event with 60 other cities around the country. On Yelp, there was no exception. Our Yelp Ambassador, Courtney S. created an " official UYE " to drum up Yelpers' support for the cause. I personally love UYE's, as well as love to support our community. I went to the website and sighed - there isn't any effective way to see where all the restaurants are. So, I created a list based on Yelp Biz page listing. This made my evening more convenient - just click and go on the Events feature of Yelp app. My goal was to hit 3 supporting restaurants in 3 hours:  Jenni's Noodle House in the Heights , Niko Niko Greek and American Cafe and  Cafe Piquet Cuban Cuisine . I used social media - Instagram & Yelp to document my experiences impromptu. I met some energetic volunteers and took some group photos with them. I also mingled with strangers...

It's important to properly entering correct information for your UYE on Yelp Events page. It's best to have a Public Venue with an existing business page. So the location with GPS is more accurate. There is another important element "Who is it for". I discovered it from my guests at my last UYE. It's important to provide accurate information about your event. Originally, my Asian Heritage Month UYE was listed as "Yelp Community." For awhile, I didn't see any activities on the guests count. Then, I changed it to "Everybody" because I want more people to attend this UYE. I never thought this could make a major impact on a Google Search. At the end of my UYE, I asked my guests if they were interested to stay in touch on Yelp. Paul, who was not a Yelper, told me that he just arrived from Singapore, "I wanted to find something to do in town. So I searched 'Asian Heritage Month' on Google. Your event was on top." --...

List is a feature on Yelp and mainly used to group reviews with related topic. It could be anything from Best Places for Dim Sum to Worst Places to Get Wasted. You can title the list any way you want and be sure to write a description to explain to the readers. I love this List feature, which helps me to be more productive with my Yelping experiences. As for readers, they can follow my story better, like " Auto 'n Mobile of Houston ." It's about everything that moves with an automobile. I purposely grouped my biz reviews on dealing with my flat tire experiences in the spring of 2014 and car shopping experiences in the fall of 2014. In case you don't know how to make a list, here is my easy to follow instruction: First, you must use a computer. Yelp app does not have such feature and mobile web browser does not have proper encryption in security and permission to allow authoring. (Sorry about the jargon.) Log in at  www.yelp.com  and make sure you are at yo...

It brought to my attention as my coworker had an unexplained sinus headache, while Western medicines won't help. I thought to share my Ancient Chinese secret with Almond Frost to relieve his symptoms. I found some good selections at a couple of grocery stores in SW Houston - Jusgo Supermarket and Dynasty Supermarket . Since there isn't any properly translated wikipedia doc available, I thought to translated it myself. (Google Translator failed badly). Remember, this is not to replace anything that your doctors ordered. -------------- Almond Paste or Almond Tea 杏仁茶 as known as "Almond Frost 杏仁霜" is a beverage made by almond. Because it's thinner than thick soup or porridge, it's called "tea." Hong Kong edition The teahouses and the residents in Hong Kong usually call the almond frost as the apricot frost. The reason for “the frost” is because of thickness compared to the milk's consistency. But the different company produces different po...

In case you didn't know, UYE stands for Unofficial Yelp Events. So you want to organize an UYE. Repeat after me: 1-2-cha-cha-cha. Let me show you some of my tips on how to turn a fun meet-up to a successful UYE. Here is how an UYE started Elements of Unofficial Yelp Events: Get your friends together to agree on the 5 W's (When,Where,Who, How and Why).  Must have a reason or purpose - themed parties are more fun. Identify the location. If you never been there, pay a special visit and take time to see the surroundings and parking situation. Must have a confirmed date/time. Moving target is a bad idea. Post it on the Yelp Event pages, share the event to your friends and announce it on Talks. Prepare a biz page and ask the guests to check in, post photos and write a review. Inform the location management of your party plan. So they will have enough food, space and staff. Best way to describe UYE to a manager/owner is "some friends just want to meet up for a sma...