Jon Clayton:

What if I told you that one of the simplest tools you might

Jon Clayton:

be overlooking could drastically transform how your architecture

Jon Clayton:

business gets found online.

Jon Clayton:

I'm joined by Melanie Boyland to help you make the best use

Jon Clayton:

of Google business profiles.

Jon Clayton:

In this episode of architecture business club, the weekly podcast for solo

Jon Clayton:

and small firm architecture practice owners, just like you who want to build

Jon Clayton:

a profitable future-proof architecture business that fits around their life.

Jon Clayton:

I'm John Clayton, your host, if you're a small practice leader or sole

Jon Clayton:

practitioner in architecture, struggling to find clarity or reach your goals.

Jon Clayton:

Consider working with me.

Jon Clayton:

I offer personalized one-to-one support through coaching consulting or mentoring,

Jon Clayton:

and this tailored approach helps you navigate your unique path to success.

Jon Clayton:

Whether it's growing your practice, working few hours or building

Jon Clayton:

your team, I've got you covered.

Jon Clayton:

Just click the link in the show notes to book a call with me to discuss

Jon Clayton:

your options or email Jon that's J O n@architecturebusinessclub.com.

Jon Clayton:

For more information.

Jon Clayton:

Now let's talk about Google business profiles.

Jon Clayton:

Melanie Boylan is an award winning social media trainer, digital marketer, speaker,

Jon Clayton:

journalist, and award winning podcaster with the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast,

Jon Clayton:

and has been training and managing social media accounts for business since 2013.

Jon Clayton:

Melanie is also a Google Business Profile Specialist.

Jon Clayton:

To learn more about how Melanie Can help you in your business.

Jon Clayton:

Head over to stomp.

Jon Clayton:

ie forward slash services.

Jon Clayton:

Melanie, welcome to Architecture Business Club.

Melanie Boylan:

Hi, thanks for having me.

Jon Clayton:

No, it's a pleasure to have you here.

Jon Clayton:

I believe that outside of work, you're, um, you're quite into space and science as

Jon Clayton:

one of your areas of interest, aren't you?

Jon Clayton:

Could we, could we talk a little bit about that?

Melanie Boylan:

Um, I've always had a personal interest as a child.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and then when I had my first child, I had the opportunity

Melanie Boylan:

to share that passion with her.

Melanie Boylan:

And we, we, we're based in, um, the Republic of Ireland.

Melanie Boylan:

And from a very early age, her and her younger sister were being dragged up to

Melanie Boylan:

Burr Castle, which is an old observatory.

Melanie Boylan:

We've got Dunsink Observatory over here in the Republic.

Melanie Boylan:

And then up in Northern Ireland, we've got Armagh Planetarium.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and then when my daughter was nine years old, she approached me and said,

Melanie Boylan:

I'd like to, to do something like you do.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, I'd like to write a blog or have a website or something like that.

Melanie Boylan:

And we're talking a nine year old here.

Melanie Boylan:

But we thought, let's explore this.

Melanie Boylan:

And she came back to us and said, I'd really like to

Melanie Boylan:

talk about space and science.

Melanie Boylan:

So we set up a website.

Melanie Boylan:

And she started a YouTube channel and she started talking as about,

Melanie Boylan:

um, STEM and space and science.

Melanie Boylan:

And over the course of about three years, using my connections as a journalist

Melanie Boylan:

and my passion in space and science, we managed to meet astronauts, Nora

Melanie Boylan:

Patton and the, the Mars scientists.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, we went over to the jet propulsion laboratory in California, um, and Um,

Melanie Boylan:

we, we just did a lot of space and sciency related things and she actually

Melanie Boylan:

wrote blogs for the Arma planetarium and did reviews and yeah, she did really,

Melanie Boylan:

really well for about three years.

Melanie Boylan:

And then sadly she started secondary school and that was

Melanie Boylan:

also the same time as COVID hit.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so that kind of all came to a standstill, but the

Melanie Boylan:

interest is still there,

Jon Clayton:

Oh, that sounds absolutely amazing.

Jon Clayton:

My, um, my son, my, my 12 year old son, he he's really into

Jon Clayton:

space and science as well.

Jon Clayton:

Actually.

Jon Clayton:

Uh, he's got a telescope.

Jon Clayton:

He doesn't have a YouTube channel or anything like that, but it's

Jon Clayton:

definitely one of his keen interests.

Jon Clayton:

Actually it's a really.

Jon Clayton:

I guess it's a really exciting time at the moment, isn't it?

Jon Clayton:

Space travel.

Jon Clayton:

You've got like Blue Origin and, um, see, you've got Virgin, Richard

Jon Clayton:

Branson and Virgin Galactic.

Jon Clayton:

And what's the other big, the big one as well?

Jon Clayton:

Because you've got Jeff SpaceX.

Jon Clayton:

That's the other one I'm thinking of.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

Some really exciting stuff going on in the world of space travel at the minute.

Melanie Boylan:

What makes it more, um, exciting right now though is

Melanie Boylan:

because we're heading back to the Moon and now we've got Gateway coming, um,

Melanie Boylan:

along which is going to be incredible.

Melanie Boylan:

It's, that's going to then be a jumping zone from the Moon to directly to Mars.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, wow.

Jon Clayton:

Do you know when the They're scheduled to get to the moon then, what

Jon Clayton:

year is it that they're planning?

Melanie Boylan:

Yeah, it was initially scheduled for 2025 but

Melanie Boylan:

it keeps on getting pushed out.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so it may still be 2025, but honestly, most people think it's going to be 26.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, that's going to be so exciting.

Jon Clayton:

We're going to talk today though.

Jon Clayton:

We could talk about that for a while.

Jon Clayton:

Cause I'm like sort of nerd out a bit, get onto the subject of space.

Jon Clayton:

But we're going to talk about Google business profiles so that

Jon Clayton:

architecture firm owners can learn.

Jon Clayton:

Why they're so important and how they can make best use of them as

Jon Clayton:

part of their marketing strategy.

Jon Clayton:

So I think a really good place to start would just be with the basics.

Jon Clayton:

So could you, could you tell me what is a Google business profile?

Melanie Boylan:

It's a product of Google.

Melanie Boylan:

So any product of Google will always get found in search first.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, as you know, YouTube is also a Google product as well.

Melanie Boylan:

So that gets found in search as well.

Melanie Boylan:

And.

Melanie Boylan:

It's, I mean, it used to be called Google my business, um, but due to a

Melanie Boylan:

massive safety issue, um, about five, six years ago, it's unsurprisingly

Melanie Boylan:

got sunsetted and replaced a year later by Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, what it does is it helps.

Melanie Boylan:

Build an online presence for you, even if you don't have a website.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, now I personally have the standpoint that you should always have a website

Melanie Boylan:

first anyway, but if you don't have one, certainly at the beginning, um, Google

Melanie Boylan:

business profile is a fantastic secondary place to put your business online.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, it can be discoverable, um, Using lots of different search terms, as

Melanie Boylan:

long as you fully optimize the profile, and it helps you get found, um, using

Melanie Boylan:

images, using links, because you can also put your social links up there.

Melanie Boylan:

It can also help you get found using blogs, and obviously you've got the calls

Melanie Boylan:

and directions as well available there.

Jon Clayton:

Cool.

Jon Clayton:

So, so basically when we, when we use Google to search for something, um, The

Jon Clayton:

Google business profile is like when we go on maps and we're searching for say a

Jon Clayton:

local business, that the Google business profile is that listing that comes up

Jon Clayton:

that features in Google search results.

Jon Clayton:

And often the stacked right at the top, you mentioned they get prioritized.

Jon Clayton:

They can be right at the top of the page.

Jon Clayton:

And then also, if we're looking on Google maps.

Jon Clayton:

Those business listings that come up, if we were looking for like a

Jon Clayton:

coffee shop or a plumber or, or an architects, then, um, that's, it's the

Melanie Boylan:

That's referred to as the map pack.

Melanie Boylan:

The one you're talking about there, it's normally in the collection of three.

Melanie Boylan:

And that's referred to as the map pack.

Jon Clayton:

The map pack.

Jon Clayton:

Okay.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

Which I guess if you're, um, a local business, you want to be, you want to

Jon Clayton:

be appearing in that map pack in those search results at the top of the page.

Jon Clayton:

Don't you?

Jon Clayton:

Cool.

Jon Clayton:

So what are the, what are the common myths around?

Jon Clayton:

Google business profiles.

Jon Clayton:

Are there some misconceptions about them?

Melanie Boylan:

Most people don't realize that it's actually

Melanie Boylan:

another social platform.

Melanie Boylan:

They think it's just a static sort of, um, thing you must do when

Melanie Boylan:

you add a map to your website.

Melanie Boylan:

Now that's only because it's.

Melanie Boylan:

Usually added or created by a website designer.

Melanie Boylan:

And when you've, when they've gone to the trouble of actually setting

Melanie Boylan:

it up, they've claimed the account.

Melanie Boylan:

They've, you know, if you've got a business address, your business

Melanie Boylan:

address goes in there, but it doesn't matter if you don't have a business

Melanie Boylan:

address, a lot of us have cottage.

Melanie Boylan:

Businesses or cottage industries that work from home.

Melanie Boylan:

So you can just select a service area when you first register your business.

Melanie Boylan:

And then as you go further on, you do have to put an address in because

Melanie Boylan:

it's a privacy and security issue.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but.

Melanie Boylan:

You can select a service area.

Melanie Boylan:

And I think some people think that you A, have to put your

Melanie Boylan:

address in, um, for it to work.

Melanie Boylan:

Yes.

Melanie Boylan:

And no, you don't have to put your address in publicly.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and some people think that once you've created the Google business profile,

Melanie Boylan:

that's all you need to do to a point.

Melanie Boylan:

Yes.

Melanie Boylan:

But to make it more effective, you need to then post to it and get people

Melanie Boylan:

to put Google Business Reviews on it.

Melanie Boylan:

And the more Google Business Reviews you get on it, the

Melanie Boylan:

faster you're found in search.

Jon Clayton:

Cool.

Jon Clayton:

I like that.

Jon Clayton:

I, I was going to, that, that point you made, um, about the address thing.

Jon Clayton:

I think that's worth just reiterating that, that there's going to be

Jon Clayton:

a lot of the listeners that are thinking, I, I, I work from home.

Jon Clayton:

So, you know, can I, can I have a Google business profile?

Jon Clayton:

Should I have a business profile?

Jon Clayton:

The fears of like, Oh, well, I don't want like customers turning up on my doorstep.

Jon Clayton:

But you, you just explained there that there's a way that you can set

Jon Clayton:

this up so that you don't necessarily have to share your address publicly.

Jon Clayton:

You can have, you called it, was it a service area that you mentioned?

Melanie Boylan:

So when you're first going into setting up the accounts,

Melanie Boylan:

you put in your business name, then it will ask for your address.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but you can then.

Melanie Boylan:

Skip that and, and go to a service area.

Melanie Boylan:

And then you can put in, um, a lot of people put in towns, but you can also

Melanie Boylan:

put in counties as well, if you prefer.

Melanie Boylan:

Google business profile is optimized for local search.

Melanie Boylan:

So you can't put the whole of the UK or the whole of Ireland, because

Melanie Boylan:

that's, it doesn't work like that.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, There are ways around it.

Melanie Boylan:

So you can develop locations.

Melanie Boylan:

So let's say you have multiple offices, um, or multiple service areas potentially.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so then you, you have to opt to put in extra locations, but then I will

Melanie Boylan:

be honest with you, you are creating a bit of extra work for yourself.

Melanie Boylan:

Unless you've got somebody who's actually going to be managing

Melanie Boylan:

those multiple locations.

Jon Clayton:

Got it.

Jon Clayton:

Got it.

Jon Clayton:

But for the.

Jon Clayton:

For the average service business, that's, you know, and in the case

Jon Clayton:

of our listeners, they're generally architects, architectural designers,

Jon Clayton:

architectural technologists that are generally, uh, a service business serving

Jon Clayton:

a relatively local geographic area.

Jon Clayton:

Most of the customers tend to gravitate to working with somebody local.

Jon Clayton:

So Google.

Jon Clayton:

Google business profiles are ideal for this, aren't they?

Jon Clayton:

If it's a business that you're serving, uh, around a radius around your local

Jon Clayton:

town or city, then if, if you don't have one of these set up, then you're

Jon Clayton:

really missing a trick by the sounds of things from what you're telling us.

Jon Clayton:

Could we run through some of the benefits for the average architecture practice

Jon Clayton:

owner or service business owner, um, of developing their Google business

Jon Clayton:

profile, we've, we've touched upon some of those already, I think, but could we,

Jon Clayton:

could we elaborate on that a bit more?

Melanie Boylan:

well, one of the massive benefits is how easy it makes to contact

Melanie Boylan:

you because it's normally multiple clicks when people do a Google search.

Melanie Boylan:

If you haven't optimized your Google business profile in the first place,

Melanie Boylan:

then you'll be found in a Google search.

Melanie Boylan:

And if your details aren't.

Melanie Boylan:

In the Google business profile to call you.

Melanie Boylan:

They'll have to go to one of your other social platforms or to

Melanie Boylan:

your website, then go to contact now, then to find your details.

Melanie Boylan:

Whereas if you do a Google search, get found in a, a local search, it just says

Melanie Boylan:

Call now , or send email, or send message.

Melanie Boylan:

And so there's the instant gratification of being able to actually reach

Melanie Boylan:

somebody immediately from the search.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

And I, I've had that experience where, um, when I've been practicing architecture,

Jon Clayton:

that sometimes people would get in touch, they, they wouldn't necessarily

Jon Clayton:

even get to the website because they would discover, they'd discover me

Jon Clayton:

through Google search and then they'd find the, the Google business profile

Jon Clayton:

and, uh, They'd just see the reviews and the call now or contact now, and

Jon Clayton:

then they'd just get straight in touch.

Jon Clayton:

If somebody's like looking for somebody and trying to get in touch with the

Jon Clayton:

right person and your profile pops up there and there's some good reviews,

Jon Clayton:

then, uh, yeah, it can really fast track, people getting into contact with

Jon Clayton:

you and remove some of that friction that might be in the way otherwise.

Melanie Boylan:

There's a couple of other things that you can get from it.

Melanie Boylan:

Cause as you pointed out, there is the Google reviews that people can,

Melanie Boylan:

can check through first, but there's also FAQs frequently asked questions

Melanie Boylan:

and that can actually streamline somebody contacting you even better.

Melanie Boylan:

So those are frequently asked questions that either other people can ask you

Melanie Boylan:

or you can actually put up your own.

Melanie Boylan:

Frequently asked questions and answer them.

Melanie Boylan:

And that can actually help get rid of the tire kickers, if you know what I mean, who

Melanie Boylan:

aren't entirely sure what you're covering.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, I mean, stomp doesn't tell you what I do, whereas my business

Melanie Boylan:

is actually stump social media training, but the website is stomp.

Melanie Boylan:

ie.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so.

Melanie Boylan:

Just having a fuller understanding of what you do just by using those frequently

Melanie Boylan:

asked questions can actually help eliminate that to ing and fro ing and

Melanie Boylan:

that time wasting that you get with people who are just wanting to clarify stuff.

Jon Clayton:

That's a brilliant idea.

Jon Clayton:

So, and I love that you.

Jon Clayton:

Well, you, you mentioned there that not only can you answer questions

Jon Clayton:

on your Google business profile, but you can ask the questions as well.

Jon Clayton:

So rather than, I mean, you could take your, uh, FAQ FAQs that you, you get,

Jon Clayton:

maybe you've got some on your website already, but you could, you can put

Jon Clayton:

those on that Google Business profile.

Jon Clayton:

You can ask the question and answer it.

Jon Clayton:

So the common, uh, and actually thinking about, I guess.

Jon Clayton:

Those common questions that people need answering when they get in touch.

Jon Clayton:

Things like, for the case of architects, it could be, what is your service area?

Jon Clayton:

What services do you offer?

Jon Clayton:

What's your, your pricing format?

Jon Clayton:

How much does it, the prices start from?

Jon Clayton:

What's the price banding?

Jon Clayton:

Can you help us get planning permission?

Jon Clayton:

How does the process work?

Jon Clayton:

Like there's, there's so many questions and.

Jon Clayton:

I mean, even just that one thing, if people did that, that's, that

Jon Clayton:

would be an amazing way to, um, save time when, well, to answer people's

Jon Clayton:

questions and help them in the first instance, you repel the tire kickers.

Jon Clayton:

And then the people that are a good fit are the ones that are

Jon Clayton:

then going to hit the, the call now button and, and, and get in touch.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

That's a really good idea.

Melanie Boylan:

And I have one more thing that, so I'm sorry, I'm trying

Melanie Boylan:

to give you all the bonuses here

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Melanie Boylan:

GCP account, um, is you can also attach, um, like a Calendly

Melanie Boylan:

or an iCal or something like that.

Melanie Boylan:

So again, you don't have to go to somebody's website with all the

Melanie Boylan:

multiple clicks that that will take.

Melanie Boylan:

You can actually book to speak to somebody directly from the Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

So it really is So much faster, um, less clicks and it all simply

Melanie Boylan:

gets found in a Google search.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

So there's a couple of different tools you mentioned there.

Jon Clayton:

So these are like calendar booking tools.

Jon Clayton:

If, if people are listening and are not familiar, there are, there

Jon Clayton:

are tools available as Calendly.

Jon Clayton:

Was it iCal was under the one

Melanie Boylan:

I Cal's another one.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but there are paid and free versions that you can do.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, I've never tried putting in Google, um, bookings.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so I'm not sure if that can go in or not.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but those, Calendly and I Cal are the ones I see most frequently,

Melanie Boylan:

but there will be others, um, that will have an API there.

Melanie Boylan:

Yeah,

Jon Clayton:

There's another one I can throw in the mix that I recently

Jon Clayton:

discovered called TidyCal, which, at the moment, you can buy it, you have

Jon Clayton:

to pay for it, but it's a one time fee of like 29 or something at the

Jon Clayton:

moment, um, rather than a monthly subscription based fee, like some of them.

Jon Clayton:

So if you're a small business, um, that might be a good, a good one

Jon Clayton:

to check out and take a look at.

Jon Clayton:

But they're all very similar, aren't they, in how they work.

Jon Clayton:

Basically you can link it to your calendar and you know, you can set the.

Jon Clayton:

Time slots that are available, um, but for people to be able to literally

Jon Clayton:

just go straight from seeing your profile in Google search or on Google

Jon Clayton:

maps, seeing your, hopefully your five star reviews and then going,

Jon Clayton:

wow, this company looks amazing.

Jon Clayton:

I want to talk to these people to just be able to click a button and book straight

Jon Clayton:

into your calendar for a conversation or a discovery call, something

Jon Clayton:

like that, that's really powerful.

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

So was there any other, um, features on Google business profiles that you

Jon Clayton:

think are worth mentioning, Melanie, to, to be able to run through?

Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Don't forget to download the architecture business, blueprint the

Jon Clayton:

step by step formula to freedom for architects, architecture, technologists,

Jon Clayton:

and architecture designers.

Jon Clayton:

You can grab the blueprint without any charge@architecturebusinessclub.com

Jon Clayton:

forward slash blueprint.

Jon Clayton:

And if you enjoy this episode, then please leave a five star review or

Jon Clayton:

rating wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jon Clayton:

Now, back to the show.

Melanie Boylan:

One of the, I think, most interesting features, although it can be

Melanie Boylan:

a little challenging in the same breath, is over time, once you've set up and fully

Melanie Boylan:

filled out and optimized, and I'm sure your listeners are slowly understanding

Melanie Boylan:

I'm saying, Fully optimize your profile.

Melanie Boylan:

As you start to post onto this profile, all you need to do is post

Melanie Boylan:

once a week to make it effective.

Melanie Boylan:

I mean, if you want to post more, absolutely, please do.

Melanie Boylan:

But, um, if you're posting on your Google business profile once a week, I can almost

Melanie Boylan:

guarantee you that you're doing more than your competitor is because most of

Melanie Boylan:

them just create it and just leave it.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so that's one thing.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but.

Melanie Boylan:

As you're posting Google kind of monitor the, the topics that you're covering.

Melanie Boylan:

So obviously as a social media trainer, I know my audience is also

Melanie Boylan:

interested in websites and graphic design, um, conferences, events, other

Melanie Boylan:

people's blogs, that sort of stuff.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so I share other people's content as well.

Melanie Boylan:

And.

Melanie Boylan:

Over time, it will slowly add other areas that you show interest in.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, or it might assume that you have an interest in.

Melanie Boylan:

So every sort of four to six months, I go back into my, um, fully

Melanie Boylan:

optimized Google business profile and it says, um, website designer.

Melanie Boylan:

No, I'm not a website designer, so I removed that.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, life coach, I'm not a life coach, so that comes out.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but then other times it will give you, because let's say,

Melanie Boylan:

um, I say social media training.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and then it will see that I've also posted about social media management.

Melanie Boylan:

And I was, Oh, I hadn't put that in, I'll leave that in, um, or managing

Melanie Boylan:

Facebook or it will find the, you know, the same topic written in different ways

Melanie Boylan:

that it will slowly add in by itself and you have to go in and make sure that

Melanie Boylan:

it's still current and, and up to date.

Melanie Boylan:

And each of those subcategories are helping you get found in search.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but you do have to go in and kind of police it because otherwise you're not

Melanie Boylan:

managing potential customers expectations because they'll expect you'll be a life

Melanie Boylan:

coach, a website designer, and a social media trainer, and you're not, so.

Jon Clayton:

Okay.

Jon Clayton:

So, so what happens when we set our profile up?

Jon Clayton:

There's, we have to choose a category.

Melanie Boylan:

Yeah,

Jon Clayton:

So, so we would say the category might be,

Jon Clayton:

for example, architects.

Jon Clayton:

That could be the main category, but then Google over time, depending on what

Jon Clayton:

we're posting on our profile, will make, does it's making suggestions for all the

Jon Clayton:

categories that we could also fit into.

Jon Clayton:

Hmm.

Melanie Boylan:

So it will, it will suggest other products and services.

Melanie Boylan:

So your category itself, you, you have a primary category that you set.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and then you can have two or three other secondary categories.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but then when you go into your products and services, you can, um, add

Melanie Boylan:

your own products and services, but then Google over time will say what, and I

Melanie Boylan:

think it's also populated by the fact that how people find you in a search.

Melanie Boylan:

Yeah.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so it's not just, they're just flinging these, these topics at you.

Melanie Boylan:

I think if people found you in a search whilst you were doing, whilst

Melanie Boylan:

they were looking up website design or something like that, um, I'm only

Melanie Boylan:

talking about mine here cause I don't want to throw people off saying the

Melanie Boylan:

wrong thing about your industry.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so that's why, um, that category is sort of allocated to your product or

Melanie Boylan:

services, even though it's not accurate.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so.

Melanie Boylan:

Be careful, once you've fully optimised it, Maybe diary it for four months,

Melanie Boylan:

every four months and go back in and just make sure that you're still managing

Melanie Boylan:

potential customers expectations.

Melanie Boylan:

Cause the last thing you want is to say, Oh no, I don't do that.

Melanie Boylan:

Cause that, that disappoints people.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, absolutely.

Jon Clayton:

So just going back to the posting thing, like what can, when we talk

Jon Clayton:

about posting to a Google business profile, what can we actually post?

Jon Clayton:

Like, can we post anything that we would post on Instagram or LinkedIn?

Jon Clayton:

Like, could we put a, a text post or a graphic or photos or videos?

Jon Clayton:

Like, can we literally post any, any type of media to our Google business profile?

Melanie Boylan:

I haven't found a media that you can't post.

Melanie Boylan:

You can put podcasts, video, audio, graphics, photos, or text.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, wow.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, that's really cool.

Jon Clayton:

So it's very flexible.

Melanie Boylan:

Yes.

Jon Clayton:

In terms of, um, frequency, because some of the, the social platforms

Jon Clayton:

like and Instagram, they can be very content hungry machines that like you, you

Jon Clayton:

have to keep feeding them and you could end up posting several times a day, even.

Jon Clayton:

Whereas you mentioned earlier with Google business profile that.

Jon Clayton:

You don't necessarily need to post anywhere near as frequently as that.

Jon Clayton:

So would you say that like once a week would be enough to kind

Jon Clayton:

of stay ahead of everybody else?

Melanie Boylan:

Pretty much.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, what I've said to people who come in to see me is, um, you know, whatever

Melanie Boylan:

you're putting up on your other social profiles, you can literally use that to

Melanie Boylan:

share onto your Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

It can be square.

Melanie Boylan:

It can be rectangular.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, obviously being, uh, YouTube is a product of theirs.

Melanie Boylan:

They're more than happy to share videos.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so there's really nothing that you can't put up there.

Melanie Boylan:

And what I like As well is it's not just putting up the images.

Melanie Boylan:

They also leave you with a call to action as well.

Melanie Boylan:

And you can put in links.

Melanie Boylan:

So the call to action could be buy now, learn more, call now, um, see

Melanie Boylan:

offer, read blog, so there's lots of options that you can put in as a, as

Melanie Boylan:

a call to action, and it's simply just by adding an update when you're going

Melanie Boylan:

into your Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

What I haven't made very clear yet is it's accessible.

Melanie Boylan:

Not just on your laptop, but also on your phone through Google Maps.

Melanie Boylan:

It can be found in Google Maps, or it can be found in a Google search.

Melanie Boylan:

So it really is extremely easy to access.

Jon Clayton:

You're making this sound like a no brainer that we should,

Jon Clayton:

we should just all be on that.

Melanie Boylan:

Pretty much.

Melanie Boylan:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

Could you share some recommendations for getting started or.

Jon Clayton:

It ought to improve an existing profile.

Jon Clayton:

What would be your top recommendations for somebody that thinks either, yeah,

Jon Clayton:

this sounds great, but I'm just not sure where to start or someone that's

Jon Clayton:

thinking, well, we have a Google business profile, but like we set it up five

Jon Clayton:

years ago and I've done nothing with it.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, my top recommendation would be everybody

Melanie Boylan:

wants to get found in search.

Melanie Boylan:

Everybody wants to have an improved their search engine optimization.

Melanie Boylan:

And it sounds like such a complicated thing to do.

Melanie Boylan:

Now, when you're doing a website in general, uh, you've got to have a good

Melanie Boylan:

understanding of keywords and focusing words and highlighting words and

Melanie Boylan:

bolding words and, you know, Metadata and it just, it goes on and on and on.

Melanie Boylan:

And it's all incredibly important and very, very useful to do on your website.

Melanie Boylan:

But if you don't have that sort of mindset or time by simply doing it on

Melanie Boylan:

Google business profile, you're already.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, probably doing it better on your Google business profile than you

Melanie Boylan:

would be doing on your own website, unless you had certain training.

Melanie Boylan:

Uh, so when I speak to customers, I suggest, please do get a website first.

Melanie Boylan:

A website is really important because it's the only place where

Melanie Boylan:

you own what you're putting up.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, because we don't, we're just renting space on all of these social

Melanie Boylan:

platforms at the end of the day.

Melanie Boylan:

And.

Melanie Boylan:

If you can have a Google business profile, it's just supporting what you've got

Melanie Boylan:

on your website, but it's more easy to find on search engine results pages.

Melanie Boylan:

It's almost better to find it in a Google business profile than in your website.

Melanie Boylan:

That's how effective it is.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

So first port of call, get the website sorted up and running

Jon Clayton:

if you don't have one already.

Jon Clayton:

And I, uh, I would encourage people to, it's better to have something

Jon Clayton:

than nothing, even if it's just a really simple brochure site

Jon Clayton:

that's just got one or two pages.

Jon Clayton:

Just you don't, I, I think the first website build that I did, or I worked

Jon Clayton:

with an agency that built it for me.

Jon Clayton:

I was so overly ambitious, like there were so many things I wanted

Jon Clayton:

to include, so many pages, and it took forever to get it done, and it

Jon Clayton:

was a bit of a beast to then to kind of keep on top of and, and maintain.

Jon Clayton:

And, It doesn't necessarily have to be that complicated.

Jon Clayton:

So particularly if you're just starting out, like simple and clear

Jon Clayton:

is better than, um, something that's, you know, a huge overstuffed site.

Jon Clayton:

You can build a lot.

Jon Clayton:

You can build from that.

Jon Clayton:

Can't you over time?

Melanie Boylan:

I've gotta agree with you.

Melanie Boylan:

I, I say to people, you do not need an All Bells singing and dancing

Melanie Boylan:

website at the beginning, unless you're an e-commerce website.

Melanie Boylan:

I agree.

Melanie Boylan:

You do need an all singing, all dancing if you're an, if you've got an online shop.

Melanie Boylan:

It's got to be secure and it's got to be user friendly.

Melanie Boylan:

But if you are just a services, which a lot of you are, um, you just need

Melanie Boylan:

something that's functional that.

Melanie Boylan:

You know, maybe costs under a thousand or something like that.

Melanie Boylan:

And then once you've got some money in the bank, then you can get somebody

Melanie Boylan:

to update it, um, make it more, you know, give it a bit more swagger, a bit

Melanie Boylan:

more personalization, customization.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, cause it's normally the largest amount of money that you spend is your website.

Melanie Boylan:

And if that's, if you spend all that money at the very beginning of your business

Melanie Boylan:

and you struggle to go in the black after that, it can, it can close your business.

Jon Clayton:

yeah, absolutely.

Jon Clayton:

I think though that, The idea that with Google business profiles, that it's

Jon Clayton:

potentially a really easy win for people that once, once you've got the website set

Jon Clayton:

up, and then if you set up your Google, business profile, which you can do.

Jon Clayton:

Like it's not, it's not hugely complex.

Jon Clayton:

Like I think originally I set mine up myself.

Jon Clayton:

Obviously you can get somebody to help you to do it if you don't have the time

Jon Clayton:

or you'd prefer to get some support.

Jon Clayton:

So listeners feel free to contact Melanie about that.

Jon Clayton:

Um, but if you did want to try and do it yourself, you can do.

Jon Clayton:

And as you mentioned that once you've got it up and running, that it's not

Jon Clayton:

something you're having to pour like hours into every week, like potentially

Jon Clayton:

some of the social platforms, A little bit, just a little bit of consistency

Jon Clayton:

with it could really be really powerful and really increase the, the reach.

Jon Clayton:

And I, I can speak from firsthand experience when I've like over the

Jon Clayton:

years, um, hazard loads of inquiries that have come in from architectural

Jon Clayton:

clients, and I would say probably more than 75 percent of them came

Jon Clayton:

via that Google business profile.

Jon Clayton:

There was some that were referrals, but then even those would then when

Jon Clayton:

they search for me online, they would often come via that profile and some of

Jon Clayton:

them wouldn't even get to the website because they would just get in touch.

Jon Clayton:

They'd see the reviews and were like, wow, this guy sounds

Jon Clayton:

like he knows what he's doing.

Jon Clayton:

Let's, let's just contact him.

Jon Clayton:

And they just get straight in touch from the Google business profile.

Jon Clayton:

So incredibly powerful thing that people could do for free.

Melanie Boylan:

Oh yeah.

Melanie Boylan:

It's completely free.

Jon Clayton:

yeah, yeah.

Jon Clayton:

It's just a no brainer.

Jon Clayton:

Like if they haven't got it set up, like they need to just

Jon Clayton:

go and set it up like today.

Jon Clayton:

Melanie, is there anything else about the topic that you wanted to

Jon Clayton:

add that we haven't already covered?

Melanie Boylan:

Yes.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, unfortunately it's not possible to at the moment currently schedule for

Melanie Boylan:

free using Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

However, there are paid for platforms that you can, you can use.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, you can use a tool called plannable, um, which is free.

Melanie Boylan:

actually has an API that goes to Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, but as far as I know, that's the only tool that I'm aware of that's free.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, that will schedule to all of your standard ones, Facebook, Instagram,

Melanie Boylan:

X, LinkedIn, but it will also.

Melanie Boylan:

Schedule to Google business profile.

Melanie Boylan:

But then if you, um, recollect John LinkedIn didn't have scheduling for

Melanie Boylan:

years and years and years and years and years, um, of their own, uh, then

Melanie Boylan:

they gave the API to everybody else.

Melanie Boylan:

And then only very recently they started allowing scheduling direct

Jon Clayton:

That's right.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

The scheduling thing.

Jon Clayton:

I mean, that can be really.

Jon Clayton:

Important to think about using scheduling because if you're relying on just

Jon Clayton:

remembering to post things, you could be really busy working on delivering

Jon Clayton:

results for your client or other things, or got meetings and things.

Jon Clayton:

And, um, by scheduling things in advance, you can, you can

Jon Clayton:

be so much more consistent.

Jon Clayton:

At that tool you mentioned, plannable.

Jon Clayton:

I'm going to go and check that out because, um, That sounds

Jon Clayton:

like a really cool tool.

Jon Clayton:

And the fact that there's a free tier of it, a free version,

Jon Clayton:

definitely sounds worth checking out.

Jon Clayton:

I've previously used a paid tool called, um, SmarterQ, which did allow

Jon Clayton:

you to schedule to the Google business profile, but that was a paid tool.

Jon Clayton:

And as far as I know, they don't have a free version.

Jon Clayton:

So, um, yeah, if you're a small business, if you're a business of one or a micro

Jon Clayton:

sized business, The, these tools can start to add up these different paid tools.

Jon Clayton:

So definitely check out some of the, the free alternatives.

Jon Clayton:

Um, when you decide in what to use, that's been really helpful.

Jon Clayton:

I've got one other question.

Jon Clayton:

It's nothing to do with Google business profiles.

Jon Clayton:

I just like to ask all of the guests on the show.

Jon Clayton:

Uh, I love travel and discovering new places.

Jon Clayton:

I was just wondering if you could.

Jon Clayton:

Share one of your favorite places and what you love about it.

Melanie Boylan:

Mm, Rome,

Jon Clayton:

Rome.

Melanie Boylan:

Rome.

Melanie Boylan:

I've been to Rome so many times.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, you can go on your own, which I have frequently.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and I've gone with friends and family and I just love the vibe there.

Melanie Boylan:

It's so, it's so nice to be there.

Melanie Boylan:

I normally go in September or October.

Melanie Boylan:

So, so warm, but it's not so warm that you sort of melt in bed at night.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and they just know how to have a good time in the evenings.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, everywhere is open.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, the food is incredible.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and it's not a very long flight.

Melanie Boylan:

It's only a couple of hours.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, so yeah, I love Rome.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, Rome.

Jon Clayton:

What a place.

Jon Clayton:

This, this actually, this came up actually recently.

Jon Clayton:

There was another guest on the show and their favorite place was Rome as well.

Jon Clayton:

With, with good reason.

Jon Clayton:

It's an absolutely amazing city.

Jon Clayton:

Um, and I, I have been to Rome a long time ago, uh, but it was in my

Jon Clayton:

backpacking days in my early twenties.

Jon Clayton:

And my trip to Rome was, uh, It was a very boozy week in Rome, which it

Jon Clayton:

did, like you mentioned about the, uh, they know how to enjoy themselves.

Jon Clayton:

We certainly enjoyed ourselves that week.

Jon Clayton:

We, my friend and I, we had an amazing time and we met loads of really friendly

Jon Clayton:

locals and, um, in fact, actually that was the problem why we couldn't leave.

Jon Clayton:

Funnily enough, we, uh, we, uh, We stumbled across a bar while we were there

Jon Clayton:

and the bar staff, they were so friendly.

Jon Clayton:

We, we were only meant to be there about three days and we ended up trapped in

Jon Clayton:

Rome for a whole week because every day we went back to this bar and they

Jon Clayton:

kept playing us with, um, free booze.

Jon Clayton:

And, uh, every day we woke up and we're like, Oh, can't face getting

Jon Clayton:

that train to the next place.

Jon Clayton:

Should we stay here another day?

Jon Clayton:

And then we ended up going back to the same bar and then getting

Jon Clayton:

stuck there for another day.

Jon Clayton:

And this happens a number of days in a row.

Jon Clayton:

And then after a while, they, the bar staff are like, you guys aren't leaving.

Jon Clayton:

Are you like, you said you were leaving like three days ago.

Jon Clayton:

And like, you, you know, you're, you're actually not being

Jon Clayton:

truthful here with us, are you?

Jon Clayton:

Do you like live in Rome or something?

Jon Clayton:

Uh, so it was pretty funny.

Jon Clayton:

We did eventually escape Rome, but, um, I'm probably due another

Jon Clayton:

trip back there to actually do a more grown up trip to Rome.

Jon Clayton:

It's a story for another podcast, I guess.

Jon Clayton:

So Melanie, thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your expertise.

Jon Clayton:

I'm really grateful for you joining me today.

Jon Clayton:

Where is the best place online for people to connect with you?

Melanie Boylan:

it would definitely be my website.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, Every single problem that anybody is experiencing in social media is

Melanie Boylan:

answered on my website, which is why you should have a website, because when

Melanie Boylan:

you're sharing posts on social, all you're doing is sharing small little

Melanie Boylan:

excerpts of a problem or, um, sharing a post, um, with a small call to action.

Melanie Boylan:

But if I get people to go to stomp.

Melanie Boylan:

ie forward slash services, um, that's Sierra, Tango, Oscar, Mike, Papa.

Melanie Boylan:

It's like stomp your feet.

Melanie Boylan:

ie cause I'm based in a, in Republic.

Melanie Boylan:

Um, and you'll see a list of all my services there and just

Melanie Boylan:

contact me directly from there.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, that's fantastic.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks so much, Melanie.

Melanie Boylan:

Thank you for having me.

Jon Clayton:

Next time I'm joined by award-winning business coach.

Jon Clayton:

Sigrun to talk about how you can use launches to scale and grow your business.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

If you liked this episode, think other people might enjoy it.

Jon Clayton:

Or just want to show your support for the show.

Jon Clayton:

Then please leave a glowing five-star review or rating wherever you listen

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

And if you haven't already done, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

Jon Clayton:

So you never miss another episode.

Jon Clayton:

If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media

Jon Clayton:

platforms, just search for at Mr.

Jon Clayton:

John Clayton.

Jon Clayton:

The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Running your architecture business.

Jon Clayton:

Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

This is architecture business club.