(MY THOUGHTS) Word of Mouth has Become Word of Type.. and it's more powerful than ever!

I was thinking the other day about the whole "word of mouth" concept... and how it has the power to make or break a business. A lot of times, we (the consumers), feel powerless to the large corporations, and even at times to the small-town business. This is so far from the truth!

How many times has someone told you about a positive or negative experience they had with customer service/a certain company/ a certain product, etc? How many times have you done the same? We may not even know when we are "advertising" for a company, but it happens A LOT.

Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. Quite the contrary actually.

Now with the rise in accessibility to computers, consumer voices are more powerful than ever. I was browsing through the Web when I found this website: http://www.complaints.com/ It is basically a website where you go to complain. Though, the complaints/praises do not just stop there. If you use a search engine and type in a business name with the word "review" or similar, you'll find 100's, if not 1000's of peoples' opinions, both good and bad. The audience that "hears" your complaint/praise is no longer just your close friends and family. You can now reach thousands of people of different genders, race, etc on the global scale.

What does this mean for the businesses? In my opinion, it means "shape up or ship out". After viewing a few websites, it is clear that in many polls and surveys, over 70% of people put full trust in complete strangers' opinions (meaning reviews on the Internet) and I can only see this number rising.

Why did I just write all of this? Let me tell you... I want you, as a consumer, to start using your voice. I for one am a person who will read reviews, as well as write them. If you are happy with a product/service; TELL SOMEONE. If you are utterly disgusted with a product/service; TELL SOMEONE. Not only will you be helping the consumer who is unsure, but also helping the company that has delivered an excellent product/service to you. It really is a win-win situation.