Consumer reviews of businesses, products and service is having a growing influence over what other consumers choose to do than ever before. The importance of what your family and friends say about different restaurants, stores, movies and the like can be seen in the number of apps and online sites that encourage reviews by customers. Apps like Yelp, Foursquare, Around Us, and thousands more have been built around the idea that sharing our opinions with people is a part of the social engagement known as social media.

A 2013 study by BrightLocal (http://www.brightlocal.com/) found 85% of consumers say they read online reviews for local businesses, up from 76% in 2012. What's also interesting is that the number of reviews consumers read before trusting the business has gone down. Before forming an opinion of a business, 67% of consumers read six or fewer reviews, up from 52% in 2012–which means those reviews are more powerful than ever.

In previous columns I've discussed the need to engage with people in the social media world whether you want to or not. But this evolution of online surveys and business ratings that are found everywhere by anyone has prompted the development of a new line of online services for small businesses.