Hello All,
I would like to share my experience and the journey being Google Local Guide. I am not sure if I will be able to let you know or will I be able to express what it means to be a Google Local Guide to me.
The journey started approximately 2 years ago (2016) when I clicked a picture at a public place and google prompted me to upload it at the location where I clicked the picture. At first, I did not upload the picture and keep thinking the entire night that why did I got the prompt to add the picture from Google, what Google would do with this picture, how this will help someone and there were tons of questions in my mind. Next day when I woke up, I decided to upload it as there is no doubt of any fraudulent or any misuses of the data as it’s all about Google and Google will never ever do that.
I upload the picture and the moment it was uploaded I got notified that you have earned 5 points for uploading picture on Google Maps. This made me more curious about getting to know more about the Google Maps and it’s local guide program in detail. After these i kept contributing and share more and more on Google maps for the places that I would visit, food that I eat, restaurants that I would go for dinner or even the international holiday places that I have visited.
I am not able to expression my feeling here but it gives me immense pleasure when I look at the number of views that I have received on the picture I uploaded or to the ratings that I have share on Google Maps as I feel that my little contribution on Google Maps is making a lot of difference in people’s life by allowing them to make a better decision in selecting a new restaurant that they want to try out, any new food truck that they want to visit or may be any new services.
Let me share with you all, every morning I eat south Indian (idli & wada) breakfast on my way to work. The guy comes on a 2 wheeler with a box at the back (similar to how a Dominoz Pizza would delivery pizza) and stand at the corner of the street where people would come and have quick and delicious breakfast. After few months we become good friends and he started sharing his daily work life issues with me that at times I am able to sell most of my food within few hours and at times I have to get 20% of the food back to home because he use to stand at the corner of the road and the cops would not allow him to stand and he has to keep changing the place every now and then. I really wanted him to help him out as he is very hard working and a humble, down to earth person and he was struggling on his business too. I started clicking pictures, of idli & wada and added the location that he would stand everyday. After 2-3 months, when I visited him on Monday morning (I still remember that day very well) he was very happy, there was a big smile on his face and the first thing that he said to me is, I don’t know what you have done really on the internet but whatever you have done it has helped me a lot and it got me two big orders over the weekend. I did not eat the breakfast because I was so so very happy that he got orders and I want to know what happened. He said that I got a call from a lady and a guys and both of them told me that we got your phone number from the internet along with the photograph of Idli and Wada and we would like to know if you do a small birthday party order for 100-150 people?
This bring tears in my eyes (joy of happiness) and I felt that my contribution is making so much difference to someone’s life and even to his financial condition.
I learn a life long lesson that anything that you do in life please do not set expectation from it that if you are doing something you should be reward or awarded for it or even you should get appreciation for it. Just keep doing your work with an aim of making someone’s life better and rest others would follow on their own. I would say to all Local Guides that please make more and more contribution on Google Maps and help millions and billions of people around the world to make their life better.
Keep contribution to Google Maps!!