5 min read
Nine photos, and why they’re worth more than your last $2,000 of ads
The nine photos every local business should have on its Google Business Profile, why they beat a lot of paid advertising, and how to take them on a phone this week.
Resources
Plain-spoken writing on getting found.
We write the things we wish more local business owners had read before their last agency call. No hype, no jargon. Just what works and why.
7 min read
How to get ChatGPT to recommend your business
People are asking AI who to hire instead of searching Google. Here’s what decides which local businesses get named, and what you can actually do about it.
7 min read
Google Ads or Facebook Ads? For a local business, the answer isn’t close.
Which one should a local service business run first? The honest answer, the one exception, and why running both badly is worse than running one well.
6 min read
The jobs you didn’t lose. You just never followed them up.
Most local businesses quote, send it, and wait. The work you think you lost is usually just sitting there unclaimed. Here’s the follow-up system and the exact words to send.
6 min read
Seven questions to ask a marketing agency before you pay them a cent
Seven questions that separate a marketing agency worth paying from one that will take your money and send you a report. Ask them before you sign anything.
9 min read
What should a website actually cost in New Zealand?
Real price ranges for a New Zealand small business website in 2026, what you get at each level, what the hidden costs are, and how to tell if you’re being overcharged.
6 min read
You show up in your suburb. Three suburbs over, you don’t exist.
Why your business ranks well close to home and vanishes a few suburbs away, and what you can honestly do about it without faking an address.
8 min read
How to get 50 Google reviews without being weird about it
Most local businesses have a handful of reviews and no system for getting more. Here’s how to ask without cringing, what to say, and what to do about the bad ones.
7 min read
The five-minute rule: why the business that answers first wins the job
The business that replies first wins the job about half the time, regardless of price, reviews or reputation. Here’s the five-minute rule and how to actually run it.
5 min read
Do you actually know what a customer costs you?
Most local business owners can’t say what they pay to win one new customer. Not because they’re not smart. Because nobody’s ever added it up. Here’s how to.
8 min read
The year your customers stopped clicking
Why local service businesses are seeing traffic fall while their Google rankings hold steady, and the diagnostic that explains where their customers actually went.
7 min read
Should you run Google Ads? A framework for service businesses
When ads make sense, when they don’t, and the structure that keeps the spend honest. Written for owners, not marketers.
8 min read
Google Business Profile: the 15-minute task that doubles your calls
Your Google Business Profile is not a side note. For service businesses, it is the strategy. Here’s exactly how to optimise it.
5 min read
The 6 things that decide where you show up on Google
The six actual ranking factors that decide whether your business shows up in local search. Almost nobody gets all six right.
7 min read
5 reasons your business isn’t showing up on Google
Five very fixable mistakes that keep local service businesses invisible on Google, and the simple fixes that change everything.
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