Melissa: You're listening to the Do Something More podcast. And this is episode 37, why leaving a review can be an act of service. Welcome to the Do Something More podcast service oriented show where we highlight the helpers who inspire us all to do something more. I'm your host, Melissa Draper. Thank you so much for being here. Hello and welcome to another episode of the podcast. And today it's just going to be me sharing a few thoughts on why leaving a review, especially during this holiday season, can be an act of service. But first of all, I would like to encourage you, if you haven't already, to go follow the podcast on social media. We're on Instagram at Dosomethingmore Podcast and on Facebook at the Do Something More Podcast. And I share updates of when new episodes are going to be dropping. I share insights and stories that sometimes I don't share on the podcast, and I also share inspirational quotes. So if you want some uplifting content in your feed, go ahead and follow on social media and I'll leave links to both of those in the show notes. So today I had the idea, the thought to just say a few words about leaving a review, and especially because we've started this holiday season with shopping and using different businesses and some of those different things. And I wanted to just share the idea that leaving a review, taking just a few minutes to do that can be a simple act of service. So I want to just start off first with a quick story. A few years ago, my family was headed up to my parents cabin in Wyoming, and our car was having some car troubles. I can't remember now what it was, but we were able to pull into Heber, Utah, which was about an hour, maybe a little more than an hour away from our home. So we still had a couple more hours to go on our trip and me and my husband were trying to decide what to do. So I thought, well, let's just see. It was getting later in the day, so we weren't even sure if we could find anyone open that was willing to help us. But I went on Google Reviews and I looked for a local shop that maybe would be open, could help us, and also had some good reputable reviews there on Google Reviews. So we found a place, we went in there. It was a small local shop owned and operated by someone that lived there in Heber. We explained our situation to him and he so graciously took our car in right on the spot. He was busy, he had other customers, but he took our car, was able to fix it within a couple of hours and send us on our way, and also charged us a very reasonable amount for the work that he did for us. And we were just so grateful. This kind of big thing that could have just turned into taking away our plans for that trip just merely became really an inconvenience because of the graciousness of the owner of this shop who was willing to help us. And afterwards, me and my husband were just talking about how thankful we were to find someone that was willing to be kind and do that service for us and how we wish we could give back in some way more than just the little tip we paid him when we paid for our bill on the car. And the only thing that we eventually could come up with was to leave him a positive Google review and to recommend his services and to thank him on there for what they did for us. And so it took us a little bit, but we finally did that. And that's really all we could think of was how to thank and kind of give it back to this business that had helped us. And I remember after doing that, realizing and thinking that I don't really leave a lot of reviews. And this is something I kind of thought about again several months ago, that I do consume a lot of reviews. I'm naturally a researcher. I like to research things and kind of check things out. So I read reviews for different reasons all the time. But I realized I was not really a contributor of reviews. I did not contribute or give any nearly to the level that I read them. And so in little ways here and there, I decided I would be a little better at leaving reviews, mostly because I enjoy reading them as well. And I'm thankful for the people that take the time to do it. And it really doesn't take that long, it takes just a few minutes. And so I've tried to do better at that and do a few here and there to support good companies and places that are doing good work. So in that process, I have really learned for myself that leaving a review can be a simple act of service. It might feel funny or sound funny to say that, especially when we're talking about businesses and things, but many of these businesses, they're peoples and families livelihood, and we can do a simple service for them by reviewing and thanking them for the good work that we've received from them. So there's different ways to do this. I kind of thought of a few ways I wanted to share in case this has inspired you to go and leave a review. And the first is in the way that I kind of mentioned in my story, is to leave reviews with small businesses, with local businesses, or small businesses that you have used their services or their products. Many times those businesses are trying to build their clientele or they might not have as much money for marketing and things as the other bigger businesses do. And so something as simple as a Google review can really mean a lot to that business. It helps others as they're searching for what that business offers to find it, and it also helps them get more customers as they see those positive reviews. And this is one area that I think I've really tried that I hadn't in the past. For example, we have a company that we've bought some violins for my kids from. They're here in Utah in my home state. And they make beautiful violins and they sell some at an affordable price. My kids are an orchestra, and they do enjoy that, but they're not huge string instrument players. They mostly play them for orchestra. And I was so thankful to find a place that offered me a quality instrument without breaking the bank. And the customer service they have there is amazing too. And this last fall, we bought my daughter a violin, and we'd bought my son one a couple of years ago. And so I realized I was like, I need to leave these guys a review. They've been really good to us. So something as simple as that, it can be your hairdresser that you use. It can be, like I mentioned, a car shop. It can be those small businesses that you just like to go buy unique things in your community or even online. So that's my first idea, just leave a review. For a small business, it can really be an act of service. The second idea is to leave a review for the products or items that you buy and that you have enjoyed, or you can describe what that experience has been like. So I know for me on Amazon or other places when I'm shopping, I definitely read those reviews. Or when I'm buying clothes online, I don't really buy a lot of my clothes in person anymore. I buy a lot of them online. And so I'm grateful for others that take the time to read a review on how it fits or how it works for them to give me an idea if it's something I want to purchase. And also on some of those sites like Amazon, they do have problems with fake reviews. And so by you adding your genuine review, that can help others that are looking for those products. So that can be another way it serves others who are looking for similar items. I know again, at Christmas time when I'm looking for gifts or things for my kids, I like to read some of those reviews for products or things that they're wanting, make sure I'm buying a good quality product so that can be a service to others. And again, I know it sounds silly to think of that with consumerism, but we all need to buy some of those things. And so those reviews can be a service. And of course, my last idea, I have to say, is leave a review for a podcast that you listen to or really any other content. There's different ways of doing that. Of course, for podcasts, you can actually leave a review, of course, on Apple podcasts for other content, either Instagram accounts or even blogs. I know maybe people don't read those as much, but some still do, or other things. You can leave comments. I also know if someone has a Facebook page for what they do, you can leave reviews there, or commenting and liking or sharing some of those posts. All of those things can be a great act of service for those of us that are content creators. That's what I consider myself, and my goal isn't really to be famous or to make a big name for myself. Really. My ultimate goal of this podcast is to create positive and uplifting content that can uplift and inspire others. And I don't really have a lot of money. I'm investing in those purposes. I'm just creating the content and doing a few things here and there to get it out there. And so anyone that leaves a review shares my posts or anything like that, it means a lot to me. And I know I'm not the only content creator that feels that way. So it can indeed be an act of service to take the time. If you have a favorite account that you follow, a favorite podcast you listen to, or a blog, even in this day and age that you read, take the time to do that. It really can be an act of service. So those are a few of my ideas on ways that you can leave a review. And hopefully I gave you some good examples there on why those are all acts of service. So number one, you can do it for a small business means a lot. Those Google reviews, especially, number two, leave a review on products you use that can be a service to others that are searching for similar things. And number three, to leave a review or share or like or comment on positive good content that you like to consume. So those are a few of my ideas on why leaving a review can be an act of service. Most of the time it really does just take a few minutes. And I know I've been grateful to read many of those reviews myself, and it's been a good experience to try and give back in that way as well. So leave a review, take a few minutes, and and serve in that way this holiday season. Thank you so much for being here. I'll see you next time.