"Yelp for Financial Professionals”? Who said that

Hey,

You know how we call Sam’s List “the Yelp for Financial Professionals”?

Yeah… might need to rethink that.

I just watched Billionaire Dollar Bully, the doc exposing how Yelp bullied small businesses with shady advertising practices and filtered reviews.

You should watch it.

Meanwhile, I’m running into a dead end road when it comes to collecting client reviews on Sam’s List. Specifically for financial advisors.

We’ve spent the last few months working with lawyers and compliance people to make sure Sam’s List is SEC- and FINRA-safe when it comes to reviews from financial advisors.

(Financial Advisors weren’t allowed to collect reviews until 2021)

It’s sorta working.

We’ve onboarded 70+ advisors. Everything’s set up.

And yet… not one client review.

I’ve tried everything. They’re scared. Or confused. Or overly cautious. (Or all three.)

But at this point, I’m basically a motivational speaker for middle-aged men with $20M - $100M AUM (Assets Under Management) who just need a little push to ask someone to say something nice.

Well, I’ll be over here trying to convince the most risk-averse people on the planet to collect a dang review.

Some shocking truths about Yelp:

• Yelp could list your business without your consent.

  • Once it was listed, you couldn’t delete or edit it unless you agreed to their Terms of Service, which also waived your right to sue 😵‍💫 

• They were notorious for harassing businesses with nonstop sales calls.

  • Like 7–21 times a week with pressure to spend $300–600/mo just for extra visibility on the site.

• OH, you’re refusing to pay?

  • Some businesses said their positive reviews were filtered out while bad ones stayed up until you paid them.

• Too many good reviews too fast? Filtered.

• Yelp created a “Yelp Elite” club for its most active users.

  • People who wrote hundreds of reviews, got invited to fancy events, and allegedly used their status to score discounts or special treatment.

    • There’s a South Park episode on this

  • Some even posted on Craigslist offering paid reviews for places they never stepped foot in. Wild.

• Businesses reported Yelp would show their ads in completely different cities and states than they served just to eat up budget and maximize spend.

• Employees worked in a toxic, leaderboard-driven environment that was like a hybrid like Dance Moms meets The Wolf of Wall Street.

• In one court case, over 2,000 small businesses filed FTC complaints against Yelp claiming their rankings dropped when they refused to pay.

  • The case never moved forward. Not because there wasn’t merit, but because the FTC only takes on ~15–20 cases a year and needs irrefutable proof. And Yelp’s algorithm is locked down so tightly, it’s nearly impossible to prove anything definitively.

• Oh, and their CEO reportedly sold $25M+ worth of stock during all of this.

So yeah… I think we might need a new tagline.

Well!

That’s where my brain’s been this week.

For now, I’m headed back into Ahrefs and Google Sheets because we’re wrapping up Week 3 of my 30 day challenge to get our SEO and inbound traffic back on track.

Might even do a blackout week. No meetings. Just deep work.

Because this advisor review slump has me in a mood and I need the SEO to hit. 😮‍💨

Wish me luck.

👋 Kimi

P.S. Highly recommend watching Billion Dollar Bully if you’re into internet drama.

👆️ One more thing:

1. I’m in the market for backlinks. If you’d like to help with this, let’s set something up!

2. If your company serves accountants, fractional CFOs, or financial advisors, or you have a product that business owners love and you want to get in front of them, I’m finalizing a partner page with exclusive discounts for this group. HMU

3. Yelp isn’t the only one sabbatoging businesses. Noah Kagan just posted on Twitter that TrustPilot is trying to extort his company too. What’s going on with these review sites…?!

Week 2 Highlights

⭐️ We’ve been getting a handful of inbound from ChatGPT!

⭐️ A fractional HR company reached out about partnering with us. Their clients need outsourced accounting and finance help and they want to use Sam’s List as a solution. That’s a traffic win right there!

⭐️ 2 backlinks secured!!!!

If you want to keep up, I’m documenting the 30 day challenge everywhere:

🎙️ TikTok

🐤 Twitter

✍️ LinkedIn

@notkimigreen

Day 12 building the next $100 million dollar marketplace where businesses and individuals can find accountants, bookkeepers, fractional CF... See more

P.S.

If you want to help out…

If your current accountant, fractional CFO, or financial advisor is on Sam’s List, go leave a review! The good, bad, and ugly are welcomed. We don’t censor around here!

(but if it’s harmful or threatening i hope you can understand if it gets removed)

If ‘your guy’ isn’t on Sam’s List, well, tell them to get on there!