Had an email this week from the team over at Judy's Book to let me know about a new online reputation management tool that they've added to their site. If you've not yet heard of this great site, Judy's Book was founded as a free online community designed to let people share their opinions, thoughts and reviews of local businesses. Their latest service addition is aimed directly at local businesses and is designed to not only help them respond to customer feedback, but also to let them know when that feedback shows up.

By taking the time to register your business with Judy's Book, you open yourself up to the option of receiving email notifications any time a Judy's Book member writes up comments about your business. These email notifications tie in with the site's new "Respond to Review" service. That service opens things up to allow local businesses to directly address customer concerns and complaints on the Judy's Book site.

With studies showing that nearly half of all consumers will avoid a company based on a bad review, the team at Judy's Book felt that it was essential to offer local businesses the opportunity to respond to any criticism posted on the site. "Any business owner will tell you that word-of-mouth is key to building a successful business. However, figuring out how to grow and manage word-of-mouth can be very difficult," said Andy Sack, CEO and-co-founder of Judy's Book. "With this new service, Judy's Book provides businesses with a simple but effective method to manage their reputation among new and existing customers."

Both of these services are free to any business that takes the time to register as a Judy's Book merchant. Since registering takes only a minute and the email notifications let you know when an issue needs your attention, it's well worth the time for any local business to register with the site.