Four years ago, I naively believed that emailing businesses and offering to optimize their Google My Business profiles would be a simple task. However, I quickly learned that this was not the case, despite it being the most crucial aspect of SEO for businesses. So can you make money with Google Business Profile, lets find out.
Two Initial Strategies To Make Money
In 2019, I decided to explore two strategies that I will share with you today. These strategies will equip you with everything you need to build a successful business using Google My Business. However, to fully comprehend what you need to do, it is essential to understand my journey, as you may face similar challenges.
In 2019, there was a significant shift in web design, with platforms such as WIX, Shopify, and Squarespace gaining popularity and reducing the need for my services. Consequently, my new clients were less willing to spend money, and I found myself in a bit of a crisis.
However, as every business professional knows, a crisis can lead to transformation and new possibilities. Thus, I decided to focus on marketing myself, starting with blogging and adding video content to my website, which eventually led to the creation of a YouTube channel.
Interestingly, my first videos were not related to Google My Business or SEO but focused on topics such as branding with gold and yellow, why green is not suitable for business, and how to design a logo. However, by chance, one of my GMB videos gained traction on YouTube, and I produced more videos related to the topic. Soon, I became an authority in this niche.
The Lesson So Far
So if you want to build a successful business using Google My Business, my journey has taught me that embracing change and experimenting with marketing strategies can lead to new opportunities and a thriving business.
Mistake #1
Let’s discuss the first mistake I made when trying to build my business. To illustrate my point, let me ask you a quick question. If a doctor were to call you and offer to put a plaster on your broken arm or perform an operation on your appendix, which would you choose? Obviously, you would choose the latter because the doctor has credibility, trust, authority, and a positive perception due to their position.
However, when I tried to reach out to local businesses via cold emails, I made the mistake of not having these essential elements. I lacked credibility, trust, and authority, and my emails did not create the ideal perception.
This approach was too random and ultimately felt desperate as I sent 300 emails and received not a single reply. But I did learn a valuable lesson – I needed credibility, trust, and authority to succeed.
Mistake #2
For the second approach, I did things with real purpose and focus, targeting those without a website, reviews, or a high rank as they would benefit the most from my services. I also targeted businesses with budgets, such as doctors, dentists, construction companies, solicitors, and estate agents.
I thought this would surely work, but unfortunately, it resulted in a grand total of zero responses. So, to avoid the same mistakes I made, remember that credibility, trust, authority, and perception are crucial elements to building a successful business.
How You Can Make Money with Google Business Profile
Option 1
(A) Build yourself up as an expert
How – you need some examples to show to gain credibility
So optimize a few local businesses, (for free) they may well pay you based on results, but you are getting something more valuable, credibility, trust, and experience. With a few under your belt, you have a portfolio.
Now you are ready to Show business owners how you use local SEO strategies to drive more online traffic to their Google My Business listing and get more leads and revenue for their business.
Now you are in a position to meet other business owners for networking
Think of where the ideal customers go:
- Trade shows
- Co-working spaces
- industry conferences
- Local Chamber of Commerce
- Local events
Face-to-face makes a massive difference – show them on your phone or tablet the ranking of your GMB profiles
I have several tools to help you get that done and understand the local SEO algorithm
Option 2
Offering various monthly services for those that have a marketing budget
It could be using areas and services supporting GMB for example a 360-degree street view camera
You can charge $495.00 for a normal size business.
The equipment costs from $300.00 to $1,100
Another service is just specializing in using free tools to audit customers’ profiles. Or help them build a brand with consistency
There are at least 10 ideas that come to mind
Including:
- Check NAP for consistency
- How to build a Google website
- How you can use tools to stop duplicate content
- How you can use a tool for citation building
- Free tools for keyword research
- Branding audit
- Page speed optimization
- you could offer posts and regular content
In my free 30-day course, I show you how there are several services that business owners don’t understand. Each one of these could be chargeable work…you can
For each one of these, you could charge anything from $200 to $500 per client
Conclusion
To summarize, there are two main options to make money from Google My Business. The first option is to build yourself up as an expert by optimizing a few local businesses for free to gain credibility and experience. With a portfolio of successful optimizations, you can network with business owners at events and offer your services to drive more online traffic to their Google My Business listings. The second option is to offer various monthly services to those that have a marketing budget, such as using tools to audit NAP consistency, building a Google website, or optimizing page speed. These services can be charged anywhere from $200 to $500 per client. The videos provided here give a long-term way to rank, which is slower but safer than quick optimization methods that may be less effective as Google spam improves. Ultimately, the key to success is building credibility, trust, authority, and perception.
So now for Day 1 of that free course is right here and you are ready to go