A new business almost always has the same shape of problem. The work is good, the profile is set up, and where the stars should be there is nothing at all.
That blank spot is a trust problem before it is a ranking problem. Someone finds you, sees no reviews, and keeps scrolling to the shop with forty. The first ten reviews are the hardest ones you will ever get, and nearly all of them come from people who already know you.
Start with the jobs you have already done
You do not need a campaign. You need a list. Open your phone and your email and write down every person you have done work for, including the small favors and the friends of friends. If you have been open two weeks, that list might be six people. Six is fine.
Then go one at a time. Not a blast. A real message to a real person who remembers the job. In our experience across 2,300+ profiles, a short personal text gets a review far more often than a mass email ever does, because the customer can picture exactly what you are talking about.
Mention the job in the first line. "Hey Dana, that kitchen faucet still holding up?" earns a reply. "We value your feedback" does not.
Ask while you are still standing there
The best moment to ask is the moment the customer is happiest, and that is almost never three days later. It is when the water is running again, when they are holding the box, when they say thank you at the door.
Say something plain. Tell them you are new on Google, that reviews are how people find you, and ask if they would leave one while you pack up. Then hand them your phone or send the link right then. Most people mean to do it later. Later rarely happens.
Make it take under a minute
Google gives you a review link and a QR code for exactly this. You create them inside your Business Profile and share them by text, email, receipt, or a small sign on the counter. Google's own help page says you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code to leave a review.
Save that link in your phone as a text shortcut. Print the QR code and tape it by the register or inside the van door. Every step you remove is a review you get to keep.
Never trade anything for a review
This is where new owners get themselves in trouble. Google's review policy is clear. A business may not offer incentives such as payment, discounts, or free goods and services in exchange for posting a review, revising one, or removing a negative one. Content posted because of an incentive is not allowed either.
What you are allowed to do, in Google's own words, is encourage reviews that represent a genuine experience, without offering incentives and without trying to influence the rating or the contents. So ask everyone, ask openly, and keep the discount out of it.
Give the work away to build proof, not to buy reviews
Here is the move that works when you have nothing at all to show. Do a few jobs free or at cost, on purpose, early. Not as a trade for a review. As a way to create real customers with a real experience worth writing about.
One owner I heard talk about this ran his first two classes free because he had no photos, no video, and nothing that would make a stranger comfortable booking him. Those two free sessions produced pictures, word of mouth, and paying work the next month.
Photograph everything you do. Then ask those people for a review afterward with no strings attached. The free work bought you proof. The review is a separate, honest ask, and keeping the two apart is what keeps you inside the rules.
What the first thirty days look like
- Week one: build your list of everyone you have served, and set up your Google review link and QR code.
- Week one: send five personal messages. Not fifty. Five you can actually follow up on.
- Week two: ask every new customer in person, at the moment the job ends.
- Week three: reply to every review you get, by name, in a sentence or two.
- Week four: count them. Five or more means keep doing exactly this. Zero means your ask is happening too late.
This is the Local Guide Method in miniature. You are not stuffing keywords into a website and hoping. You are letting your customers do your SEO for you, one honest review at a time.
If you want to see where your profile stands before the first reviews land, run a free audit of your Google Business Profile and fix the blank spots while you ask.
Idea spark: Chris Koerner and guest Mike Herod on The Koerner Office podcast.
Quick answers
- How many Google reviews do I need to get started?
- Ten honest reviews puts you in the conversation with established shops. Getting there quickly matters more than the exact number.
- Can I ask friends and family for a review?
- Only if they were real customers. A review has to describe a genuine experience with your business.
- Can I offer a discount in exchange for a review?
- No. Google does not allow payment, discounts, or free goods and services in exchange for posting, revising, or removing a review.
- What if I get a bad review before I have any good ones?
- Reply calmly and publicly, then keep asking everyone else. A steady flow of honest reviews is the fix.