2022
Hi Traci!
I hope this message finds you well.
Although it is very late, are applications still being considered under special circumstances?
To date, I have been fortunate and the results with Contributor have been very successful. I have seen the potential that Google Contributor has and always ask myself, how can it be improved? Or, what other incentives can be provided for contributors to go out of there way and help make improvements across the world? Outside of helping other people with reviews, added places, photo's, it is not exactly something one can make money off. However, I asked myself the question, if I was able to drive 120,000 views to a single business with just one photo, I wonder what that is worth to that business? Prior to submitting that photo, none existed.
Below is the business driven to Mr. Nicks Pizzeria in Tarrytown, NY.
I am elated that Mr. Nicks (great pizza by the way!) is receiving so much traffic and business. However, I thought to myself there must be a way to make money off this for places that do not exist, or businesses that are not aware of the importance of Google My Business, and how powerful a tool it can be. So, I took some photo's of businesses where I knew the owner. They would see the spike in business, they know that I can build websites and have taken a liking to photography, and setup their Google My Business.
I started to create Google My Businesses for buildings that were not indexed, did not show up because of old street map views, and then turned them into websites.
For instance, 33 Beekman, which is the world's tallest dorm owned by Pace University, did not show up on Google Maps at all. If you were to Google the precise location using street view, a construction image would appear, from years ago. I updated all of that and what appears now is not only the building, but Google My Business, and an actual website.
All the photo's on the website were taken with my phone!
On my personal website, I built a page dedicated solely to Google My Business, and how vital it is for businesses to have one. I break things down very clearly and it can be seen here https://malbertell.com/google-appearance/. I did that for Hair On The Hudson in Tarrytown, NY. There business has exploded and made a small fortune. Their staff never changed, there business did not get an upgrade, but what it received was the benefits of Google My Business and Google Contributor. I see hundreds of businesses missing out of the very same thing I did for them!
What I love about doing this is it's truly a win-win for everyone. However, I do not think enough people know about this and it would be an honor for me to do this on a larger scale. The results have been incredible and I truly believe this is only the tip of the iceberg.
This is my passion and I have so much fun doing it but as you can imagine, it is extremely time consuming. I can't even begin to think what it would be like to do this across the world. I genuinely believe it can help hundreds, if not billions of people. If it's helped millions already, with my two main areas being in New York and Western Florida, I can't even begin to think what it could be if given the opportunity to do so on a larger scale.
Again, nothing changed intrinsically about Hair On The Hudson. However, once their online presence did, their business went to new heights. How many other "Hair On The Hudson's" are there I wonder? I am eager to hopefully find out and I think this is one of the greatest platforms that currently exist.
I hope to hear from you and am very eager to see what you think about this and the new point system.
Thank you!
Quick highlights from Contributor:
- Over 2,000,000 views of photos
- Have 6 Google My Businesses
- Added 6 places that never existed
- 2106 answers
- 1397 photo's
@malbertell wrote:
Hi Traci!
I hope this message finds you well.
Although it is very late, are applications still being considered under special circumstances?
To date, I have been fortunate and the results with Contributor have been very successful. I have seen the potential that Google Contributor has and always ask myself, how can it be improved? Or, what other incentives can be provided for contributors to go out of there way and help make improvements across the world? Outside of helping other people with reviews, added places, photo's, it is not exactly something one can make money off. However, I asked myself the question, if I was able to drive 120,000 views to a single business with just one photo, I wonder what that is worth to that business? Prior to submitting that photo, none existed.
Below is the business driven to Mr. Nicks Pizzeria in Tarrytown, NY.
I am elated that Mr. Nicks (great pizza by the way!) is receiving so much traffic and business. However, I thought to myself there must be a way to make money off this for places that do not exist, or businesses that are not aware of the importance of Google My Business, and how powerful a tool it can be. So, I took some photo's of businesses where I knew the owner. They would see the spike in business, they know that I can build websites and have taken a liking to photography, and setup their Google My Business.
I started to create Google My Businesses for buildings that were not indexed, did not show up because of old street map views, and then turned them into websites.
For instance, 33 Beekman, which is the world's tallest dorm owned by Pace University, did not show up on Google Maps at all. If you were to Google the precise location using street view, a construction image would appear, from years ago. I updated all of that and what appears now is not only the building, but Google My Business, and an actual website.
All the photo's on the website were taken with my phone!
On my personal website, I built a page dedicated solely to Google My Business, and how vital it is for businesses to have one. I break things down very clearly and it can be seen here https://malbertell.com/google-appearance/. I did that for Hair On The Hudson in Tarrytown, NY. There business has exploded and made a small fortune. Their staff never changed, there business did not get an upgrade, but what it received was the benefits of Google My Business and Google Contributor. I see hundreds of businesses missing out of the very same thing I did for them!
What I love about doing this is it's truly a win-win for everyone. However, I do not think enough people know about this and it would be an honor for me to do this on a larger scale. The results have been incredible and I truly believe this is only the tip of the iceberg.
This is my passion and I have so much fun doing it but as you can imagine, it is extremely time consuming. I can't even begin to think what it would be like to do this across the world. I genuinely believe it can help hundreds, if not billions of people. If it's helped millions already, with my two main areas being in New York and Western Florida, I can't even begin to think what it could be if given the opportunity to do so on a larger scale.
Again, nothing changed intrinsically about Hair On The Hudson. However, once their online presence did, their business went to new heights. How many other "Hair On The Hudson's" are there I wonder? I am eager to hopefully find out and I think this is one of the greatest platforms that currently exist.
I hope to hear from you and am very eager to see what you think about this and the new point system.
Thank you!
Quick highlights from Contributor:
- Over 2,000,000 views of photos
- Have 6 Google My Businesses
- Added 6 places that never existed
- 2106 answers
Hi @malbertell congratulations for your work and your dedication, but i think you are not working the right way: mybusiness is a different program from local guides, although some of us (included me) are also SVT photographer that offer MyBusiness support.
You should create MyBusiness in behalf of a customer/manager, and not by your own when you find a building that is not on maps; as a local guide you have (some) tools to improve the map.
Regardind last time summit request, i'm pretty sure this is not possible, but i encourage you to go on with your activities (keeping in mind what i wrote) to be ready for the next summit!
Best luck.
