Is Your Outdated Google Profile Killing Your Sales?

Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking about why you should take your Google My Business profile a lot more seriously than you actually do. That's for those of you who even know about it. Yeah, today's podcast episode is about why you should take this thing seriously. Now the reason why is this, for those of you who've been listening to the podcast for a while, you are aware that I'm currently in Makudi in Benoit State for the Christmas holidays here with my kids, wifey, you know, to come and stay with mom,

see play with my uncles and aunties, you know, cousins, you know, every, every. And of course, you know, when you travel like that now, whether big travel, you know, UK or without small travel, you know, Niger local for those of us who have kids, you know, you look for stuff to do or maybe you're used to certain things, your normal lifestyle at home, but then you go to a place for halls and so you're looking for certain things.

Now there are lots of us who are business owners who lose head of the fact that nowadays when people are looking for things, they don't just ask around anymore. It's easy to just pull up your phone and then type, you know, cool places to hang out in Makodi or cool places to take your kids in Makodi or nice romantic places, you know, for a date in Macadi. You know those kinds of things because of course you know, you come, you know it's holiday, you know, things like that, but you don't know how know how for those of us who are married, you know, you suppose carry wifey and you know, enjoy yourself before you go back home, you know, to normal hustle and bustle.

And it's the same thing whether people are traveling, you know, to Ghana or to Republic of Benin or to Toronto or to Paris or to New York or Brazil or whatever. There are lots of us who are traveling up and down, going here and there, and we're using Google to find interesting places to hang out, places to go, you know, things like that. Now, unfortunately, in Nigeria, there are still lots of business owners who have lost sight of this simple fact of everyday life for the average Nigerian.

And I realized that when I was on my radio show, which is the business booster show on Radio Maria 91.3 FM. So apart from this podcast, I also have a radio show and I was talking about Google My Business and WhatsApp business profile. And then somebody called in to say which one is Google My Business? That's our shock. Like so in 2025, there are Nigerian business owners who do not know what the Google My Business profile is.

So I took my time to explain, but as I was explaining now from the kind of phone calls that are coming in, I said ha, now wow. As I said, people don't really get like they don't understand this thing. So on the radio show I dedicated I think must have been like 3 or 4 weeks just on this simple topic, Google My Business. And, you know, yeah, people are happy and, you know, I did what I did and I just left it. But then now I'm with the fam also at 1 moment.

OK, Sorry about that. You know, I just set an alarm so I can turn off the solar system. Yeah. Before going to bed. All right. Oh, sorry. I'm making today's podcast recording late at night. Of course, it's at home, still in the villa. Everybody has gone to bed. So I'm trying not to shout. So that's why I'm sounding mellow. It's nice if I'm trying to sound sexy for you guys. I'm just, you know, I don't want people to come outside.

And then they'll see uncle just talking into a microphone, into the phone. And they'll be saying that what's this strange uncle doing? You know, all these city dwellers that, you know, they have some very strange habits. Anyway, where was I? Gosh, I've lost my train of thought. So on the radio show now, after I did that 3-4 week stint about Google My Business, I figured, you know, all is well, I'll put some truth out into the world,

all is well. But then we came to Markudi now and I was just thinking, especially since this is a working holiday for me because we're currently taking candidates for the series of trainings that are coming up on the 12th of January to the 23rd of January 2026. I've been talking about it on the podcast because my business partners and I have put together a training where we're going to talk you guys through the rudiments of selling over the phone.

How do you prospect over the phone? How do you look for people who might be interested in your product or your service? How do you do that over the phone? How do you start conversations with people over the phone? How do you do need analysis over the phone? How do you figure out what they need over the phone? How do you build relationships over the phone? How do you schedule advancements? How do you get meetings? How do you get bookings?

How do you do all that over the phone? How do you negotiate over the phone? How do you hack all over the phone? How do you price over the phone? When people complain, when people have objections and they don't want to move forward, you know, with your agenda, with the relationship, with the engagement, with whatever, you know, how do you handle that? How do you close the deal over the phone? How do you make proposals and presentations over the phone?

So these are the sorts of things that the training is going to cover. Now because of that, even though on holiday, I have been speaking to people who have been applying for the program. So this has sort of been like a working holiday. So excuse me, you know, initially my wife was angry, but I told her, look big. You understand now like this is what I do, you know, I gas. I gas also. So yeah, we're in the villa for holidays, but still having conversations with you guys every single day.

And the reason why is because for those of you who are going to register to be a part of the program, I need to be able to know who you are, what you do, the business that you run, the problems that you're faced with, your businesses, the goals that you have for 2026, the things that are hindering you. Just so that when we do this training, all the things we talk about, the ideas, the principles, the content that we go through is going to be instrumental to help you to get where you need to be in 2026

with your business. So because of that, this has been a working holiday for me. Now, how did I get to this? Anyway, Sha, if you're interested in being a part of the program, then you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm the host of the podcast. Well, by the way, if you like all the things we're talking about so far, please subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple or any player of your choice.

Now, how did I get here? I've really lost my train of thought. So yeah, so basically I just picked up my phone and I googled, you know, cool places to hang out with kids in marketing. And then a couple of places came out. I wrote down the 1st 5 or 6 and I figured what we'll do is we'll just take one every single day. So that was my plan. You know, on day one, me and wifey couples night, just date then, you know, day 2, the kids,

day three, wifey day 4, the kids, day five, you know, understand just the alternate like that so that even though I'm working during the day, at least evening time with the Flex. And then something really interesting happened on that day one. Now the number one on the list, a punch up into Google Maps. I hit direction. Lo and behold, direction is not correct, location is not correct, the pictures not correct, menu not correct, phone number not updated.

As in nothing was correct that first night. But luckily now my wife is a very I'm lucky you, my wife is a very calm babe, very cool babe. So me I was panicking like hey see as I planned romantic evening. Meanwhile nothing they said as in nothing the you understand nothing was clicking. So more I said like babies is OK like I understand. She told me that the thing that tripped her is not that whether they think click or they think no click was that I even thought about doing something in the 1st place.

And so we found one nice place and we just chilled there. It turned out to be a very local spot. You know, if you come from these places, you know, Ben Wayne, NASA, our Plateau state, you understand the kind of joints I'm talking about. So was very nice. Local sports. We are playing FIFA, so I got some Origin bitters. Then for how we got some vodka, we got catfish, pepper soup. What do we have again? Pepper, chicken, pepper, goat meat.

Then what do we have again? You understand, Just generally just, you know, relaxing FIFA, catfish, chicken, pepper goats, Origin Vitas, you know, very nice, simple romantic evening. Then I went back home and then I was wondering in a place like Makudi, is it possible that people don't know about Google My Business profile and they don't take advantage of a Google My Business profile? So that if anybody should make a simple search about something like Best Taylor in Makudi, your name will show up, your business address will show up, you know,

your location will show up, Google map will take you there. The phone number is updated, people can call you, people can leave review, people can send you e-mail. I was wondering in 2025, is it possible and this is the case? I said, you know what, it must be a one off. So I just flash it. Then day two time to take the kids out. We punch in everything. Pope Pope address came up. I was just in one of my cousins. I told her this where I'm going.

She said, hey, where is it? I sent her the location. She wrote me back. She said, bro, this location. No, you know Jive, you know jive how what do you mean? She said I know the business 1 and the guy been telling me say like he's in a new location. Something, something, something Basha, don't just go there in case my information is wrong. So I told her, OK, yeah, Mimi, thanks No Allah. And then my mom overheard the whole thing.

And so that's how mom, she was saying that. Look, Tereshima, before you go, just call that number. Just verify. So that's OK. No problem. So now I called the number and guess what, Popo, the thing ring. No answer. Anyway, later on, somebody else called me back. I said, who is this? The guy said Moses. I said, who is Moses? They said, well, I don't know. Somebody called me from this number. So now I put two and two together.

I said, oh, is this so, so, so, so children's Park? The guy said, Oh yes, around the place. So I told the guy that look, guy, I've been trying to look at your establishment. The team that show up on Google is one thing, but my cousin is telling me that this is another thing. The guys say, Oh yeah, the business has moved. So next thing I told the guy that see guy, there's something that we call Google My Business profile.

I'm telling you this one for free because I'm a business consultant from out of state. I'm just looking for a cool place where I can handle my kids and it doesn't matter how many businesses I'm checking so far not in their line. The information is not accurate, the phone number is not accurate. The pictures are out of date. The address is, you know, like nothing. So I told him this is what you do, Google the name of your business and then you see a lot of information on it.

All you have to do, my brother, is go and click on claim this profile. That's all. Now when you click on claim this profile, Google is going to send you a link over the phone. Well, you can select how you want it done so that you can verify that you are who you say you are so that they can give you access to this profile. And then when they do that, go and upload up to date pictures about this your kiddies pack. Put up to date pictures there.

Go and put an accurate phone number that you answer. Then what else did I tell him again? Then go and drop a pin in Google on that location so that anybody that is looking for that kiddies pack, once they click on that thing, Google will take them straight to your location. So that's why I told the guy and he was like, oh, thank you very much. And he asked me, oh by the way, what's your name? I told him my name is Tarishman,

said no, allow save it. And after the holidays when I get back to Abuja, I'll call him and I'll tell him, look bro, I hope you took that advice. Bottom line, what I'm trying to say is this, maybe it's because you know, my people, you know, we know to go school because like people in Lagos, people in Ogun, people in a Kitty, like even in the the Midwest, you know, like Benin, you know all those places, you know, they've been going to school since.

So maybe my people were still, you know, like were simple provincial folk, you know, we know to go school. But I'm shocked about how many businesses are not taking advantage of Google My Business profile. The idea behind the Google My Business profile is this. If your customers by any chance are looking for your product or your service online, you want to make sure that you are easy to be found there so that they consider you.

It's not as if they will pick you by force. By force because look at what I did. I just ran a simple search. Of course, lots of options came out. I just selected the first seven, the first eight. That's simple. And I said, we go to alternate day one, wifey, day two kids, day three wifey day 4 kids. So it's not as if you might be picked, but give yourself a chance of being in the running. I'm shocked that in 2025 I have to be saying something as basic as this.

If you are one of those people who have never heard of Google My Business, Google My Business profile, Google Business page, you know, whatever it is that is called after you're done listening to this podcast, please grab your phone, open your AI tool, whether it's Google Gemini or perplexity or pepsicosity or you know, whatever it is, it's called Autopilot, Type in there. What is a Google My Business profile? It will explain.

Ask it. How do I set up my Google business profile? It will explain, ask it, give me some tips about how to optimize my Google, Google My Business profile handle. It'll give you some tips. Follow these tips please and make sure that the next time somebody is in your city, somebody is in your town whether they are visiting or whether they are a regular person who lives there. Make sure that if they search best shawarma in Ojibo or best tailor in Kano or they search where to buy double namma in Abuja or they search best shortly stay short let stay apartment in Lekki.

Please give yourself a chance that you will show up on Google so that people will find you. My brothers and sisters, please, it is 2025. We all have smartphones. It's not like back in the day during military era where we all had to go to Cyber Cafe to do all these things. These tools work. They're in our pocket now. There is no excuse again in 2025. I beg, as we're heading into 2026, there is no excuse again. Go and set up a Google business profile for most of you that have been in business for a while.

Google has already compiled that information. So for like this fun pack that I was supposed to go to when I checked Google gave me some info. It is not the guy who put the info. I don't know how Google gets the info which are the info is there. If you're in business for a few years, 3-4 years, the information is already there. So just Google your business name. The profile will show up. Claim that profile, let people find you online, get reliable information and get reliable directions so that people can show up straight at your dormont straight at your studio,

straight at your park, at your office, at your salon, at your whatever. So that's the reason why I'm making today's podcast episode because as your people say, Otis, only that you're tired. I'm really tired and shocked. Tired and shocked that I have to be picking the microphone to be telling people about something as simple and as basic as a Google Business profile. I'm shocked. If you have your own profile, take it from me, there are lots of people who don't know.

The next time you're chilling with your guys, I beg mention it to them. Do you have Google Business profile? You'll be shocked about people in your crew nowadays in 20252026 who don't have it. So even if you have it, tell your boys, tell your girls, hook up your people. Let us all be going together. Let us all make progress together. It is not sweet when you're the only person in your crew who is enjoying, but if your business is popping off, everybody's business is popping off.

That's the best. We'll all flex together. Network dynamics. If I'm the only one in my group who's a billionaire, it's not really good. Well, let's say we have a crew. Eight of us are friends. Let's say three of us are billionaire. The remaining 2 millionaire, the other ones are on the come up. That is a very strong group. Strong. When we have things, we can support ourselves when we need to, we can mobilize. We'll be a strong force.

So don't just enjoy alone. Tell your people, tell your boys, tell your girls. Anyway, let me stop here. If I have any more adventures and of course some business lessons that we can learn from this, I'll let you know. By the way, remember I said even though I'm on holiday, I'm still talking to people? Because of the trainings that we have coming up on the 12th of January to the 23rd of January, it's a 10 day intensive Monday to Friday weekends off where we learn about how to sell effectively over the phone.

So that if you are like this business owner who was in Magody and some people are trying to look for him, look for his business, you will learn how to use the phone effectively, to have conversations with people to get them to take the next step, to bring them into your space, to bring them into your ecosystem so that they can become a potential customer. Sorry. So they can become an actual customer and you can retain them as customers for life.

If you're curious, you don't call or send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. So thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you on some other time. And sorry about the noise in the background. You know, the fan is on. Excuse me, Everything is on. And again, sorry I'm not my usual chatty Bobby self because it's nighttime and all my relatives, to think I've gone insane, that I'm sitting in the middle of a room and just talking into a microphone.

So yeah, that's it. And even if you don't want to be a part of the program, just reach out, say what's up. Tell me you like the show or tell me you don't like the show. You know, tell me questions that you wish I I would answer or questions you don't think I answered correctly. Yeah. So that's it. I'll catch you all some other time. For those of you who are listening late at night, have a good night. Talk to you later.