Google Business Profile Workshop Melbourne – a Game Changer

I want to tell you about something that happened in a room full of small businesses in Braeside recently. And why I’m convinced that the Google Business Profile might be the most unloved, forgotten money making machine in Australian small business right now.

But first, let me tell you why I ran a small business workshop on Google Business profiles in the first place.

The Workshop Started with an Epiphany

I didn’t plan this workshop. Melina from Events on Citrus did.

I’d been talking about Google Business Profiles for a while – at BNI, in conversations with clients, to anyone who would listen. I had also recently given Melina a few tips and they worked on her profile and website, so she knew that i wasn’t whistling dixie. I knew what I was talking about.

One night she had an epiphany. Melina is a Champion for small businesses, and uses her event space to help them often. She couldn’t sleep and dreamed up a Small Business Workshop at her event space, and she wanted to focus on Google Business Profiles as the first session.

And she decided that I needed to teach it.

The next morning at BNI she marched straight up to me.

‘We need to do this,’ she said. ‘We need to run a workshop.’ It didn’t take much convincing, because I love her work, her energy and passion to help small businesses. So I was in.

And the event was up online and getting orders within a couple of days.

The Problem We Wanted to Solve

The Google Business profile is a no-brainer for any small business. Social media is sexier, and businesses pile into that, thinking it can help their business. But I tell people, Social media is great for visibility but you are using a “spray and pray” marketing methodology.

The Google Business Profile is a secret weapon for small business. There are high intent customers, looking for a “plumber near me” or “nail saloon near me”. And you want to appear in that search for the “zero-click” search. It is a fantastic tool – and serious businesses take it seriously.

I wanted to level up local businesses. Give them the knowledge and confidence to understand their profile. And the power of their profile in getting them real customers. That is real business walking through the door. Online invisibility is a problem and I knew how to solve it.

These businesses just needed to use that free tool that Google built specifically for local businesses – the Google Business Profile. They just needed to claim it, optimise it, nurture it then profit from it.

In a slowing economy, that’s not just a missed opportunity. It’s costing them customers every single day.

And that was why I spent 5 hours helping a room of local business owners.

The Room in Braeside

I put together 90+ slides for the Small Business Workshop focused entirely on Google Business Profiles. It started at Ground Zero, and I started with basics, and went deep on updating, optimising and I even threw in a few SEO tips and tricks to help maximise the benefits. We even jumped into Bing for Business,

And it was all possible for Business Owners with limited or no real technical skills.

The room was full with engaged, energised business owners. And they all got involved and worked hard knowing the benefit for their business by doing so. And it was a lot of fun, learning a new tool that some first used 10 years ago and hadn’t touched since.

The value of the business profile was not apparent, so it was never touched. That was why I started with some basic data, to not just explain the “What” and “How” – I needed to explain the “Why”. Because the data I went through was compelling.

What Most Small Business Owners Don’t Realise

Here’s the thing I opened the workshop with – and it’s the stat that tends to stop people in their tracks.

According to RedSearch and LocalDigital, 46% of all Google searches in Australia have local intent. Nearly half of all Google searches are people looking for a product or service near them, right now, ready to spend money.

And Google doesn’t show websites first for those searches. It shows a map with three local businesses at the top of the results. That’s called the Local Pack. Getting into it is free. It just requires a properly set up Google Business Profile.

Research from Similarweb confirms that 70 to 85% of local searches are resolved directly within Google Maps and the Business Profile – without the customer ever clicking through to a website. They get the phone number, the address, the hours, the reviews. They get everything they need to make a decision – right there on Google.

That’s why I call it’s called a zero-click storefront. It’s your business, open for customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – for free.

What We Covered on the Day

We spent the workshop going deep on everything that actually moves the needle for a local business on Google:

• What a Google Business Profile actually is: Why it’s more important than a website for local search
• The zero-click storefront: How customers find and choose a business without ever visiting a website
• Google’s three core ranking factors: Relevance, Distance, and Prominence, explained in plain English
• Photos, posts, and reviews: What Google rewards, how often to update, and what not to do
• The Performance dashboard: How to read your data and what the numbers actually mean
• Bing Places for Business: The overlooked platform that also feeds Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT search results – one free listing, five platforms

By the end of the day, attendees had updated their profiles, understood their data for the first time, and left with a clear action plan they could start on immediately.

“This Is a Game-Changer”

Being the first time to present to Small Businesses in such an environment, a paid workshop. I didn’t know what to expect from the local business owners. And to be honest, the reaction in the room was way beyond what I expected.

These were business owners dealing with real pressure. A slowing economy. Rising costs. Increasing competition. They came in looking for practical help and left with something they hadn’t expected – confidence.

The feedback on the day used one phrase more than any other.

Game-changer.

Not my word. Theirs.

And that’s what a properly optimised Google Business Profile can be for a small business. Not a nice-to-have. Not a technical afterthought. A genuine game-changer in how customers find you, trust you, and choose you over a competitor.

What Happened After the Workshop

Within days of the workshop wrapping up, something unexpected happened.

Business owners who had seen coverage on social media – or heard about the day from someone who attended – started reaching out. They wanted to know when the next one was being held.

By the time I sat down to write this, 11 business owners had already added their names to a waitlist for the next Google Business Profile workshop.

Eleven people who weren’t even in the room – convinced by what they heard from the people who were.

Dates for the next workshop are being confirmed now. If you want to be first to know, get in touch and I’ll add you to the list.

Is Your Profile One of the Forgotten Ones?

If you’re reading this and thinking — I haven’t looked at my Google Business Profile in a while — you’re probably not alone.

Most small business owners set it up once and never go back. Meanwhile, their competitors are updating their photos, collecting reviews, posting weekly, and slowly climbing past them in local search results.

The good news is it’s fixable. And it doesn’t cost anything.

If you’d like me to take a look at your Google Business Profile and tell you exactly what to fix first, I offer a free audit. No obligation. Just practical advice you can action straight away.

Or if you’d like to join the next Small Business Workshop and work through your profile in a room full of like-minded local business owners — get your name on the list now.

Because in a slowing economy, the businesses that get found are the ones that win.

Want to Book a free GBP audit?

Sources: RedSearch / LocalDigital (localdigital.com.au); Similarweb via click-vision.com; Google Business Profile Help (support.google.com/business/answer/7091)