Since I got involved in the local guide activities about 2 years ago initially I never knew it as Google Local Guides or any of what I currently know it as. In-fact I was not even aware of the impact it had on other people’s lives and businesses. More than 24-months later, it has turned out to mean quite a lot to me some of which I shall be sharing in this article.
In the beginning, It all started off as giving reviews of places I visit. Personally, I work from home most times but once in a while I go out to cafes, co-working spaces and you know just a few other out-door locations to work. As nature would have it, the urge to explore more places came from time to time and Google Map was an integral app for helping me find places around.
One of the factor that helps me decide where to visit is the reviews & what other people say about the place I contemplate visiting and also the other details like photos and ratings I see on Google Maps. Few minutes later I am at one of the locations I discovered and after my experience I usually go back to the app to share my own reviews and ratings with hopes that it helps someone else in future. This was how it all started. Gradually it became an habit and somehow there was a connection to it and a connection to everyone else that my contributions affected especially the potential customers and the business owners.
I love how over the years it turned out to be a tool for the heart and like Steve Jobs said, when you can touch someone’s heart, that’s limitless. With the Google Local Guides, I was able to touch hearts of people some of which I probably might never meet and contribute to helping them create memories as they experience and make decisions on places they visit. This same effect is applicable to business owners because I remember some business owner told me sometimes back how the reviews light up his heart and inspire him to growing and becoming better.
As much as it seems obvious, it turned out these little actions had quite a lot of ripple effects - for the business owners, they get more customers and are inspired to doing greater jobs knowing fully well a bad review could cost them the next potential customers while for the users, one of the ripple effects was helping them get more value for their time, money and experience. This gives me so much joy and definitely the number one on the list of what the Google Local Guides means to me - The ability to serve as a tool for the heart, spread love and help people make decisions that leads to creating timeless memories and experiences.
One other factor that I would like to mention is the impact it has had on small businesses newly added to the map through the “Add Places” feature. And here’s how this means a lot to me. This one simple act transcends beyond just adding a place as a local guide to as far as creating and leaving a digital imprint on the sands of time and here’s another reason why the privilege to be a contributor and a local guide means a lot to me.
The ripple effect of this action can be experienced when looking at the world through the Google Earth platform & as you look at the whole world and zoom in, you get to see this marker somewhere on the map of the world and that particular one represents you, your business or whatever you added to the map - the ability to visualize this makes us easily realize we are all tiny parts of something way bigger and also creates a spark that constantly satisfies the natural urge and desire to leave a mark on the sands of time.
The Google local guide program has created that opportunity for everyone to be able to publish and share their own digital imprints with the world and there by making it easy for more people to discover and find them. The businesses and places I have been able to contribute and add to the map as a Local guide have been able to generate new customers and sales and when they call me to share their joy with me, this in return equally makes me happy knowing that new businesses, small business and places could benefit from the ripple effects of these activities and actions.
Over the years, we have always read manuals of computer programs and new technologies on how to use them so often times the case has always been humans learning how to use the technology to get desired results. But here in this case, we as humans are the ones contributing and telling the technology how it can serve us best. By contributing more and sharing more as a Local Guide, the timelessness of the impact of these contributions to not only making the technology a smarter one but to also making the world a better for the next person is one sure factor I would never take for granted and this is why being a local guide as turned out to mean quite a lot to me because in the end it is really not only about me but more about me as a channel through which I can serve and contribute to humanity by sharing my experiences, adding new places amongst several other local guide related activities.
Hence in summary, to me the local guides ultimately means love, connectivity, sharing/contributing to helping others make better decisions either as a user or business/place owner while making the technology smarter, more intelligent and helping it serve humanity much better.
PS: on my trips away from home, the contributions from the local guides have equally been key in helping me settle in, move around and make core decisions needed to help me to also meet new people, have great time with friends & have a memorable experience for myself same way I hope my contributions has been impactful to tourist and visitors too. So here’s saying a big Thank you to all local guides all over the world, you mean so much to me & together we can all make exploring the world and creating experiences much more memorable for everyone. Coming to Nigeria anytime soon? Be sure to reach out to me for all the plugs and guides you might ever need…
See you around!
