Mike Clark's Business Bites: How visible is your business?

What could you do today to make it easier for potential customers to find you? Photo/ Unsplash

Who knows about you? If I was looking for what you offer, would I find you? Do you promote yourself where your potential clients look?

I looked for a local Google specialist this week and couldn't find one. I wanted someone who I could talk to, who could put tech speak into layperson's terms and could get a result. When I was searching I wanted a solution NOW and was very willing to pay for it.

I ran a website audit on thinkright.co.nz using one of the online tools. I find it is a useful way to keep a finger on the pulse of our website effectiveness. Our Google My Business (GMB) page result was inconsistent again. I say again as this inconsistency has been coming up for a couple of years.

My internal niggle that something was broken reached the point of wanting to give our website a through going over. This is not my skill set. This is also not the first time I have gone down this road. Previously though, it all just gets too hard and I park the whole exercise, convincing myself it is really not that bad.

How often does the urgent drown out the important? What challenge do you have in your business at the moment you know you are avoiding?

Writing this column I knew this was an experience worth sharing. I realised that herein lay a great opportunity to learn from both sides of the experience. "How would someone find us if we did not come up on Google when they searched for business training?"

My next step was to call CEDA. The reference I was given did not answer their phone and their website chat said they would respond in 24 hours. By then I was sure something else would have taken my attention.

A quick search through the Manawatū Chamber of Commerce website brought up a couple of options - the blurb under the few I looked at did not instil confidence they were GMB specialists. I realised our blurb needed updating.

My next thought was to call some of my contacts and ask them for references. As I started to look up people I trust and respect for their knowledge in their field I realised that many people go through the cycle I was experiencing.

Have you ever wanted a solution, been ready to make a decision and just not found someone you were confident could help? Does the same thing happen to your potential customers?

What could you do today that would help you be more visible, easier to find and the first person/company to contact? The easier you make it to do anything the more likely you are to get a response.

• Mike Clark is director and lead trainer and facilitator at Think Right business training company.