audrey fong fong

Yelp has been around for years and honestly, where would we be without it? I use it often to find restaurants in unfamiliar areas, to track new places in my neighborhood, and to offer constructive criticism to businesses. I remember hearing about Yelp Elite years ago, when a girl at my high school became Yelp Elite, and it felt like a very big deal. This belief was reinforced in my mind time and time again because every time I went to a food blogger meet up, it felt like the food bloggers who were Yelp Elite turned up their noses at those of us who weren't. After a brief search around Google on how to become Yelp Elite, I felt like there was no simple answer, so I did what I had to do to satisfy my curiosity - I went on a journey to become Yelp Elite.
And what do you know - it wasn't that hard. Within a month and a half, I became Yelp Elite. At that point, I had about 40 reviews in and maybe 2 dozen photos uploaded. Here's what I learned along the way:

• Consistency is more important than quality and quantity it seems. I posted about 2 reviews a day. Each review was about 4-5 sentences long. This might seem like a lot, especially if you don't eat out often, but think of it this way: If you've lived in the same area for a bit, start writing reviews of all the past places you've tried.
• Keep your reviews simple and friendly! No one likes a Debbie downer. That doesn't mean you can't be honest, but if all of your reviews are harsh, it doesn't look great.
• I started to check in every place I went to because Yelp would then give me an alert, reminding me to write a review, and that helped me keep on track.
• In order to become Yelp Elite, you need to nominate yourself on the Yelp Elite Squad page. I didn't know this until my local Yelp Community Leader reached out to me, saying I should apply. Your community leader manages the geographical area you're in, so the key to getting them to notice you is to try to post about places in your community. For example, instead of blogging about all of New York, focus on your neighborhood like SoHo or even just Manhattan. I think they're the ones, who ultimately decide if you get Yelp Elite, so getting them to notice you is important.
• After nominating yourself, keep your eyes on your email (including the spam folder) for an email confirming your status and then you have to click to say you agree to the terms and conditions. That's it!