3 Take aways after becoming a Level 10 Local Guide

Connections & celebrations
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After spending 4+ years of posting, adding photos, editing, making changes, I became a Level 10 Local Guide. Here are my 3 main take aways from the experience.

  1. Do the program properly. You can add 20000 photos and become a Level 10 Local Guide. However, you are missing out on so much.

When you leave a review and a rating, you really help people decide where to visit. By adding wheelchair accessibility you make it easier for those needing extra space: parents, those who have an injury, or those who are actually in a wheelchair.

Wheelchari accessiblity, is important. My father has been disabled for 30+ years due to a car accident. He now has cancer. As a result, he is only able to visit places that are wheelchair accessible. Second, after having travelled to a variety of places. Those shops with no steps really make visiting them enjoyable, especially when you are with a friend who just recently had a child or has a child in a stroller. Third, ground floor places are usually wider and easy to navigate, which is great for large groups and families.

By adding a business, park, roads, bridges, pathways, other people in the city and those in other parts of the world can see your contribution. At the moment, my family is in Canada. We live in Cork. So, we have been able to communicate through Google Maps.

We have been able to keep in contact with our families. They can see the videos, photos, and reviews.

By editing a place, you help keep things in your community up to date. We haven’t left our 2km to 5km radius. Yet, we became a level 10 local guide. People start to rely on our updates for various shops.

By checking websites, names, and other edits, you are letting your community know that everything is verified and proper.

  1. you really get to meet the people of your community. We haven’t really been outside our 2 km to 5 km radius. In our 2 km to 5 km, we met business owners, hoteliers, schools, and other people who use Google maps. They have given us suggestions and feedback. We have become part the community in Cork. We have learned so much about Cork, city and county.

  2. Take your time. Remember that you are a volunteer. You may discover ways to earn money. You may not. You may create a community. You may not. At the end of the day, you set the standard. Have fun. Stay involved with the local guide community.

Enjoy the process of contributin and helping others: socks or no socks, invites or no invites, your contributions do make a difference.

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Hello @O_Nate

Congratulations on your black badge of level 10. Am still on level 8 and striving to contribute more and more. It’s not all about the points and badge we know, but it’s part of the package.

I like your post really. I am learning to explore all the different aspect of being a local guide and even been on connect. Of recent I have taken to adding new road on the map, and I have gotten almost 20 approved roads. Aside the points and badges, there is so much Knowledge and fun attached. We make new virtual friends as well. It has also help me to know my own immediate envirlonment better than normal. Congratulations again my buddy

Cheers

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@SholaIB Thank-you I appreciate the support and encouragement.

how did you get that counter at the bottom of your post?

Ah… roads… damn those things. I haven’t been able to find any new roads, bridges: yes. The process started off about the points. Gradually, as we added businesses, places, and other important information, the points became secondary.

We answer questions daily. People and businesses in our community are starting to recognize us. The fun part it all is that we did mostl of this in a 2km radius. LOL

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In relative terms, when leveling up, the jump from Level 9 to 10 is by far the biggest so a BIG congratulations to you on joining the Level 10 club @O_Nate . Thanks also for your take away messages and I’m sure many will benefit from them.

I see that you are based in beautiful Cork and what a beautiful part of the world to be in. I love Cork, so much history. I particularly love Cobh in Cork County :wink:

Keep guiding

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@AdamGT thank you for your kind and thoughtful message and encouragement. Surprisingly enough, the jump from level 9 to 10 was the easiest.

We had Learnt what made for a good profile. Adding photos, places and leaving reviews made the jump respectively easy.

Keep in mind we also did all of this within a 2km or so radius. LOL.

The biggest take away was how connected we have become with our community.

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Interesting how you say that leveling up from 9 to 10 was the easiest given that it’s the biggest jump but sounds like you got the mix right @O_Nate . People of Cork Country are lovely and I can understand how connected you would become with the community.

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@AdamGT

Well, Cork has a lot of places that could be added to Gmaps. We just had to go and find them.

For example, we added Coke Zero Bike rental locations. The bikes are available for hire; however, they weren’t on Gmaps.

Recently, due to C19, businesses kept changing their hours and services. So, we could help these businesses.

When we went shopping, some products were not available; so, we took photos of different products when they were in the shop. We kept posting about the Farmer’s Markets. Gradually, you find ways to add and help local businesses.

Now, I m adding bike racks and taking photos of the River Lee. My dad, in Canada, likes the Marina market, River Lee, and the Marina in general.

So, adding content is a bit more chilled and fun.

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Congratulations for reaching at level 10 @O_Nate

Definitely it’s a hard job but you have done it.

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@AbdullahAM

Thank-you, as mentioned before the process was enjoyable. We learned a lot about our neighbours, Cork, and the local community and businesses.

Stat focused, have fun, and go out and socialize with your local community. Stay safe as well.

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Lol, I just hit level 10 today and >16K photos is the foundation. But I do reviews and answer questions, too. 280 reviews, 1400 questions added to the total. I take pictures of handicap access when I shoot a business, and hours. Anyhow, you are right, it is a journey and there are many ways to contribute, but I just chuckled because I did use mostly photos to get there!

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Good one! Keep contributing.

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Congrats, @O_Nate , and thank you for the tips. I’ve just recently started really focusing on the areas immediately surrounding home and work, and have found lots of places that might use the boost from a photo or updated information. I have not taken any steps to connect with businesses, though. Do you bring up during chats that you contribute heavily to Maps, or do you keep that private to get a real feel for staff/owners?

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Great. i have to say it is not easy to get Level 10 as it requires a lot of dedication and effort.

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Wow. You have done it!
It is very challenging I know. you have to put in too much effort and time.

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Really enjoyed this post @O_Nate

I started out just chasing the numbers too, but I had a terrible phone so photos were not an option haha. My whole attitude towards it changes when i started to think about why I use google maps, i.e. what do I take from it and how can I make it easier for others.

Sorry to hear about your father! Wheelchair accessibility is an awesome thing to be adding to reviews etc. I have 3 young children and so alot of my posts are centered around how accessible something is for say pushchairs/strollers or how safe something is for young children.

Great post, glad there are like-minded individuals in the community. Keep it up. :grin:

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@AdventuresWithRosy thank-you for your condolences; however, we can take that situation and make something worthwhile.

As a family, I could imagine that you want the extra space. You look for those family friend spots. You start to appreciate those contributions that help you see and get a feel for a place. As you know, a few businesses don’t always showcase their lovely establishment.

Super happy to hear that you yourself have taken on a different perspective regarding Gmaps. Yes, getting the numbers is exciting. However, when you go about doing the program fully. You really get to meet some amazing people and become part of your community. Tourists and visitors to your area; recognize you and say, “I saw your photo, review, or video, thanks for the suggestion.”

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@chamarthi thank-you I appreciate the support.

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@JustJake thank-you for your questions and feedback. Sounds like you have taken things to a new level as well.

Regarding approaching a business, there really is no set answer. Well… if my GF isn’t with me and the shop is quiet, I may approach the owner or manager. However, that is usually after I ordered something and spent some time in the place. Sometimes people approach me and ask what it is that I am doing. hahaha… that gets a bit ackward, sometimes.

When I do approach them, I ask if there is anything specific that makes his/er shop unique: Eg, organic foods, foods made by someone special, they support a local charity, and so on. I may ask if there is a particular area that sh/e wants highlighted. Maybe there is a flower bed that the local school or university made. Maybe, the baseball bat is a bat that a famous baseball player had.

Sometimes… you do what you feel is right to you.

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@Socialpreneur 2020 was a great year to get things done. We could go for walks. There were many parks and other spots that were not labelled on the map. We could add videos and many other things. So… Gmaps was a wonderful way to fill the day. :smile:

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@MarkHenninger congratulations on reaching Level 10. :smile:

There were only so many photos that I could add. I also enjoy meeting the owners, staff, and the local community. So, listening to what people wanted made a difference on how I approached Gmaps. Photos definitely help. You get a buzz out of seeing your views increase. You get a buzz out seeing certain photos get mad views. However, when you check websites, hours, and other details of the community, you know that the websites are the proper website for the company.

After looking at over 2000+ websites, in different parts of the world, you appreciate the ones that have put in the time and effort into making a good website. You don’t mind reporting websites that are not legit or for that particular business.

At the end of the day, we all are on our own journey.