Once I graduated from college and moved to a state I never been to before, I decided to start researching online what are the most recommended restaurants and unique cuisine I should try. My list quickly grew from 10 restaurants to more than 300 local restaurants in Illinois. Even though it will take me awhile to visit all of them, I look forward every single day to discover what each restaurant has to offer. Being a Local Guide has helped me to accomplish several things, I was able to organize a conference through work for all my coworkers who traveled from abroad for this business meeting. I leveraged my list to recommend restaurants that we should go to throughout the week and I was able to support these local businesses by booking a reservation for more than 30 people. Everyone enjoyed the choices and they started spreading the world to their friends and family who have plans to visit the Windy City.
During the current situation, I think my Local Guide restaurant list will be crucial because local businesses are struggling to keep their store open and they rely on customers to help them stay afloat. From time to time, my friends and coworkers would either contact me to ask for a recommendation or simply check the review section of each restaurant to see if I have reviewed it. I am committed to supporting the local restaurants especially in the current circumstances so I am happy that I have started my Local Guide profile two and half years ago.
As I look back at my accomplishment through Local Guide so far, I think there is one key takeaway I will always remember which is how important it is to encourage my friends and family to support the local businesses and make sure we give back to the community.
The most recent example I have is about a restaurant that treated my fiancee and I very badly. Few days later, my friend was looking for a restaurant and was reading through the reviews, then found mine and decided to not go to the restaurant in solidarity with what I went through.
