Your Google Business Profile is the single most underrated free asset a small business has. It's the box that shows up on the right when someone Googles your name. It's what puts you on the map, literally. And for local businesses, it very often outperforms your website for actually getting the phone to ring. Here's what most people get wrong. - They claim it and never touch it again. Google rewards activity. A profile updated this month beats one updated in 2022. - They leave categories half-filled. Your primary category is one of the strongest signals you can send. - They ignore reviews, or they only ask for them when something goes well. Ask consistently, and respond to every one, including the bad ones. Especially the bad ones. - They never add photos. Profiles with photos get meaningfully more engagement. - They don't use Posts. It's a free content channel most businesses don't know exists. It costs nothing. Just a little time to get it up and running. And people can add Google Reviews which are GOLD! Do you have a Google Business Profile? If not, learn about how you can set it up here: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7039811?hl=en&ref_topic=4596754&sjid=4115015869556658600-NA (Note: it used to be called Google My Business. Same thing, new name.)

Be honest. We all have one. The email list you keep meaning to start. The website copy you wrote in 2019. The social account you post to twice a month and feel guilty about. The thing you know matters but you've never had a straight answer on. Tell me what yours is. I'm asking for a real reason. What you all say here is going to shape what I post, what I build, and what I dig up for you. So don't give me the polished version. Give me the one that actually nags at you.

Welcome in. I'm glad you're here. (Embed your Loom welcome video right here, at the top.) I'm Andrea Bacchi. I'm the Marketing Consultant for the Vermont Small Business Development Center, Chair of the Vermont Rehabilitation Council, owner of Think Dynamic Digital, and a member of the Vermont Technology Alliance. I've spent years helping small businesses, freelancers, and solopreneurs sort out their digital marketing, and pointing them toward resources most people never find. Here's what this room is for. You're running a business and doing your own marketing, which means you're making a lot of decisions alone. Should you post more or email more? Is your website costing you leads? Is this tool worth the money? Most of the time you don't need to hire a consultant. You need someone who has seen it before to tell you which way to go, and a room of people figuring out the same things. That's this. Three things to do right now. 1. Introduce yourself below. What's your business, and what's the one thing you're stuck on this month? 2. Post your stuck thing as its own question in Ask Andrea. Don't sit on it. That's what you're paying for. 3. Answer someone else's question. You know more than you think you do. A few house rules. Promotion happens on Wednesdays, in the Promo Wednesday thread. Nowhere else. No cold DMs, ever. No approaching members to sell them your services. That rule is what keeps this room safe enough to be honest in. A note on where you are. The agency, funding, and vocational rehabilitation resources I share are United States programs, and some are Vermont-specific. I want to be upfront about that. But the digital marketing and business solutions side of this works anywhere in the world. Getting found, getting reviews, building an email list, writing an offer people say yes to. That's the same job in every country. One more thing. Everyone is welcome here. If you have a disability, I want you to know there are real resources built for you, including free business advising and self-employment support, and I will point you to them. I'm a disability advocate and that isn't a side note for me. It's part of the work.