Want a simple way to market your business? Start looking into technology avenues. Mobile apps, mobile payments, mobile websites – anything mobile will do the trick. In addition, take advantage of the many business-centric technologies available. One such technology is the Google Maps Business Photos program. This program connects professional photographers with business owners in order to display the inside and outside of a business via Google Maps.

There are many reasons why the Google Maps Business Photos program is ideal for any business large or small. For starters, consumers who search for a business using Google will see a Google Map pop up during that search. A business that has taken the time to hire a Google approved photographer will be able to showcase photos of that business to prospective customers. In addition, adding a photo of your business to Google Maps provides a level of comfort for some timid consumers.

Making It Easy

Let’s say, for example, that you run a posh salon. Your salon has been getting great word-of-mouth marketing, but you want more clients (as you should). Were you to hire a Google approved photographer (Google provides a list of photographers in 14 U.S. cities, New Zealand, France, the UK, and Australia), you could show prospective clients that your salon is warm and inviting despite its haute reputation. What would be the benefit in this marketing strategy? Customers who have never been to your salon before (but want to try it out) would begin to feel comfortable with the salon’s dГ©cor and overall appearance.

While simple, this form of marketing is priceless and its one that Google is betting on. Business owners don’t need to pay Google to publish interior and panoramic photos. All pricing is arranged between a business owner and a selected photographer, so you can decide which photographer will suit your budget best. Google has told press that each photo shoot takes approximately one hour to complete, and most photographers that Google has approved have backed up this statement.

How to Sign Up

If the new Google Maps Business Photos venture sounds like a good idea to you (and it should), you can check out the photographers available in your area by heading to the Google Maps Business Photos website. While visiting the site, you’ll see examples of photographs that have already been snapped (quite impressive, really). You’ll also see a list of photographers in your area that you can contact (Google prefers to stick to these lists, since the photographers that Google has approved are capable of taking quality photographs and abiding by Google Maps photo rules).

If you don’t see any photographers listed for your area or country, sources say that Google will be expanding its list of photographers worldwide within the near future. If you happen to be a photographer, you might want to contact Google to get on the Maps list. For those Canadians out there, the Business Photos section of Google Maps isn’t available in Canada yet, though this reviewer has crossed fingers that Canada will pop up on the “map” soon.