Avoiding libel while naming names

[Cloud]

Let's say I want to start a consumer-oriented blog for a particular industry, to include reviews of specific people and places. Can I do this and avoid liability for libel if there's a negative review?

I'm not asking for a legal opinion--just what you think.

For instance, I've seen sites and blogs with all sorts of reviews for specific products and for services and providers like hotels, auto repair shops, etc. I'm wondering how they do that without getting into legal trouble. Maybe:

--identify all as opinion
--stick to first person reviews (not necessarily my own first person, but first-person reviews)