I had never heard of Yelp Elite when I started reviewing on Yelp a few years ago.

When I first started reviewing, I was a total rookie. But I used Yelp all the time and I wanted to be apart of it. The main reasons why I started reviewing on Yelp were:
1. I used Yelp religiously. Before I went to any restaurant, I checked Yelp to get a read on what I should expect from the ambiance, the service, and the food. The fact that I used Yelp so heavily made me wanted to contribute to other people’s experiences & help other prospective visitors determine what they should expect based on my own reviews
2. I found that there was a lack of good photos of the food + a caption to go along with them (it helps to know what I’m looking at!). So, I figured I’d be one of those people who would post quality photos + quality captions so people can know what a menu item looks like before ordering it
3. I had a few really great experiences at local restaurants and I wanted to tell the world! Forreal though – I love supporting local businesses and I thought Yelp reviews were a great way to get started

Although I started reviewing quite a bit for those main 3 reasons above, never did I ever know that I could be rewarded for my reviews.

Until – a little over 2 years ago – I got an email from someone who worked at Yelp.
She said that I had really great reviews and that I should consider nominating myself for Yelp Elite.

Say whattt? I had no idea what that meant. So, I looked it up.
And I found all of this great information about it.
As a Yelp Elite, I could go to free events at restaurants and businesses throughout the area AND I could also have the opportunity to win tickets to popular events, courtesy of Yelp – which was all right up my alley (like what’s more #frugalandfree than free events all around Denver?). AND on top of that, I could meet like-minded foodies and friends in Denver who loved food, drinks, and supporting local businesses as much as I did.

I thought it was a little weird to nominate myself, but I figured I’d give it a try and see what happened.

Well, it worked. & actually very quickly.
Less than a month later, I got a shiny new Elite badge next to my name on Yelp. And a little over 2 years later, I’m now on year 3 of being a Yelp Elite and I’ve absolutely loved every second of it. I’ve attended so many cool events with the Yelp Elite Squad – from tastings at new restaurants and breweries to fun foodie events in the city.

SO, enough about me >> how can YOU become a Yelp Elite?

Well, you can start by following the same steps that I took:
1. Start writing reviews & posting photos! Make sure they’re quality reviews & photos so they get noticed by the Yelp judges and/or other Yelp Elites.
2. Interact with other Yelpies (yeah, it’s a thing). Give them ‘compliments’ and ‘friend’ them – basically, just become more involved in the Yelp community!
3. Wait for a Yelp Elite to nominate you OR follow the rules on the Yelp website to nominate yourself!
4. Become a Yelp Elite and start signing up for events. I’ll see you at the next one!