How to Get Photo Inquiries From Google Maps

Get photo inquiries from Google Maps | How to get inquiries for your photography business without using social media

In case you’re just tuning in, here’s the gist: I was wrongly suspended from Instagram earlier this month. I didn’t know what else to do except try to make lemonade out of that big awful lemon, so I turned it into a whole series on the ways that we can grow and maintain our businesses without Instagram. 

First up on that list is Google Maps, which is a fantastic resource for businesses, and much less emotionally complex than social media. 😉 Getting your Maps listing in order is easy yet impactful, and will go a long way toward bringing clients through your door! Here are three quick steps so you can get photo inquiries from Google Maps:

1. Create a listing, if you don’t have one

If you don’t yet have a Google Maps listing, you absolutely need to get one! I’ll let Google walk you through that instead of me, but it’s not difficult. And you don’t need a street address for your listing, but can instead select areas that you serve and never worry that your privacy is at risk.

2. Update your listing

If you already have a listing, it’s time to update it! Google allows you to choose a cover photo and a logo (I personally just use my own profile photo in the logo space), and also upload lots of images. 

Your cover photo is what shows up at the top when someone clicks your listing, so it’s your most important image. Choose one that you love, and that fits well enough into the awkward horizontal space Google provides. I’ll be honest, Google Maps does not have a very pretty, aesthetically pleasing design, so our images don’t get displayed wonderfully. However, we’re all dealing with the same format, and all you need is to have photos that reflect your style and capture a potential client’s interest enough for them to click through to your website. Don’t stress too much, and don’t overthink it!

The other piece that is important is to delete any old images that don’t reflect your current style. I haven’t done this in a while, and it’s on my to do list to go through the older images on my listing that don’t quite look like what I shoot these days. In particular, I have quite a few wedding images on my listing, but I have stepped almost completely away from weddings to focus on families and education. It deserves an update!

3. Get reviews!

This is the only remotely tricky part of managing your listing. After all, clients are super busy just like we are, and getting reviews is easier said than done! But it’s possible, don’t worry. 🙂

I do request a review in my gallery delivery emails, so it’s convenient for my clients and right at hand as they’re browsing their photos and feeling all the happy feelings. However, most people still don’t use this link – more often, they’ll send a sweet text or email instead.

And those messages are so wonderful to receive! In fact, many people probably choose that because it feels much more personal than a Google review. And it’s perfectly appropriate for us to use those testimonials on our websites.

But of course, it still doesn’t add to our rating on Google. Personally, I’ve had the best luck getting reviews when I can not just slip a link into an email, but get slightly uncomfortable and simply ask a straightforward favor. I hate asking favors, but the truth is that happy clients want to support you and your business!

You can do this in a few different ways:

• If a client sends a note or a text to thank you and tell you how much they love their images, you can respond with gratitude and also ask them to put that into a Google review. Say something like, “It means SO much to me to hear how happy you are! I had a wonderful time working with your family, and I hope you know how much I value your business. Do you mind if I ask you a quick favor? If you simply copy-paste what you just wrote to me into a Google review, it actually has a huge impact on my business! I appreciate you very much, and I don’t take those kinds of reviews for granted.” And of course include a link!
• You can make part of your post-session workflow include a request for a review. For example, if you follow up after gallery delivery, or when a client receives prints, etc. you can ask again for a review at that step. Full disclosure, I don’t do this – it’s simply not an approach I’ve chosen because it doesn’t fit into my personal workflow. But it might work great for you!
• Send an email to your entire client list a couple times each year asking for reviews. Thank those who have already reviewed you, ask those who haven’t to share their experience, and let them know again how valued they all are.

Many happy clients won’t write reviews, of course. It’s just part of business and should never be taken personally. And some clients you haven’t seen in years will see an email from you requesting a review, and write you something wonderful long after their actual experience!

Don’t forget of course that part of getting good reviews is earning them. We would not be here without our clients. I truly don’t take a penny that my clients invest with me for granted, and I aim to tell them at every step of their experience with me – and especially when I’m asking for a review – that I value them and never take their trust in me for granted. I am human and may not do this perfectly, but I continually aim to make my clients feel appreciated, respected, and valuable.

It’s also important to share with our clients that Google reviews make a real difference in our ability to be found and to book new clients. When our clients love their experience with us and realize that this is genuinely one of the BEST things they can do for us, they are so happy to do it! 

Get photo inquiries from Google Maps | How to get inquiries for your photography business without using social media

And another update:

Recently, I actually got my Instagram account back. It’s a good thing, absolutely! It was wrong that it was suspended, and it removed me from hashtag searches and tags from other accounts, which are a real boost and a big way that clients find me.

But partway through my almost two week suspension, I realized that it was actually the gift I didn’t know I needed, and I don’t want to go back to business as usual.

After going through the emotions and fears that I initially had about how my suspension would impact my income and my family, I began to see it as a wonderful opportunity with many benefits:

• My mental health has been better than I can remember since starting my business! I really thought I had healthy social media habits, but even doing my best wasn’t nearly as healthy as being offline. Sure, I miss some of the fun personal things shared there, but I would be lying if I said the fun stuff is worth the cost of truly caring for my mental health. Without IG, I’m just… happier. I could go on and on and on about this but I won’t right now. The point is that being offline is amazing, and not just ‘taking a break’ while feeling like I should go back to it as soon as possible. Social media had deeper roots than I realized, and I’m simply not willing to let them grow back after they were painfully but blessedly ripped out. 🙂
• I’ve known that there are other important avenues to focus on in my business, like my newsletter and SEO. But to be honest, I really didn’t think I could opt out of social media altogether. I believed it was necessary to some degree, so I tried to use it as little as possible and add light to it wherever I could. I tried to make the very best of a necessary evil. Instagram did help me grow my business, and I don’t know yet if other avenues can fully replace it. However, my break gave me SO much motivation to do everything in my power to get it out of my life, and not take for granted that I have to be in that space. I think there might be a way forward without it, and I’m going to give it a very real try. And like I said, you all get to hear me navigate in real time, whether I succeed or fail at growing without Instagram!
• I have time for other work. This is a really big deal – Instagram is time consuming to maintain, and it robs us of even more time than we spend posting on it when we accidentally doom scroll! I have been able to do so much more thinking and planning and working without IG in my life. I actually have a really exciting new launch coming up soon (not a new product, but a new space for learning and connecting!) and I am absolutely loving that my mind has room to create new ideas and listen more fully to my own inner voice.

Friend, there is no judgment about whether you choose to use social media or not. NONE.

This isn’t about right or wrong, or what I believe you should be doing. This is about not being forced to rely on a corporation that doesn’t care about us, and finding the healthiest way to run our businesses – and I’m sharing my journey with you in case it resonates. I’m not asking for pledges from everyone to go social-media-free, or creating a challenge for you to sign up for, and I’m not even promising that I won’t use my account again!  I might realize at some point that I do need Instagram in my business, and then I’ll figure out how to do it better and healthier than before.

But my goodness, this situation that felt so awful and unjust a couple weeks ago has surprisingly turned into the most wonderful gift, and I’m excited to operate out of this new perspective.

Get photo inquiries from Google Maps | How to get inquiries for your photography business without using social media

Get photo inquiries from Google Maps | How to get inquiries for your photography business without using social media