Use maps to become the hero destination and generate revenue from affiliate venues

Hello and welcome to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur with me, Jim James. And today I'm joined by Chelsea Roney, who is the co-founder and COO of a company called Proxy. And we're going to talk about maps and how you can use them in your business. Chelsea, coming from Seattle, welcome to the show.

Well, thanks for having me on the show. I really appreciate you having me.

You're more than welcome, Chelsea. So tell us about maps. Most people use Google Maps. How does Proxy help a business owner to get noticed?

Exactly. So Proxy enables a business to become the hero destination in an ecosystem of like-minded partners, and it allows them to showcase other local businesses and local recommendations in a way that helps their customers navigate the world around them and understand what's close in proximity to them and therefore make decisions about where to go and what to do.

I think that's wonderful, Chelsea, because now people are using mobile especially, aren't they, when they're going to some location or destination for business or for leisure. Give us a guide then. How does Proxy work and how does a business owner use it in their company?

Yeah, so a business owner would go to Proxy, they would create a custom brandable map. They can add points to this map and they can share it in a matter of minutes. So it's very simple to use. They would use this map to showcase local recommendations in their ecosystem. So if you're a manager of a tourism organization, you may showcase businesses in the area. That guests in your city may want to go to. Then in action, you would take the proxy map and you could embed it in your website. You could have it printed as a QR code for guests to access. Once the guests have a proxy map in their phone, it'll just be on their mobile. And this map where it shows you amongst all of these local recommendations that your business has provided. So the customer can understand exactly where they are in proximity to those locations and get there really easily.

So, Josie, that sounds great, but how and why would this be different to, let's say, a Google or an Apple Maps? Because that's the current go-to, isn't it, for people?

Yeah, that's exactly right. So we're different in several ways, the first of which is customization and branding. So you can customize this map to have your logo, you can customize the categories, you can put these icons. As symbols for the map categories. You can brand map background, so it really looks like an in-house experience for your customers. So that's one of the main ways that it's really different from Google My Maps. The second way is that we are crowdsourcable, so you can engage your audience with one of our maps and ask them to add points to the map. That's one way to use our maps. And the final way that we're really different from Google My Maps is that we have analytics. So as a business owner, you need to know the conversion rates of the people, of the recommendations that you make on your map. And we'll help you understand that via our insights tool. And so you'll be able to understand how many people actually went to those places that you recommended. So you can build relationships those businesses and perhaps monetize your map as well.

Well, I was going to say, it sounds as though you're starting to build a really nice ecosystem, as I think you've called it, of one destination with a number of trusted destinations and service providers. Let's say even, for example, at a trade show convention center or a, let's say, a theme park. If you are running the hero destination, let's call it, how would you monetize Proxy, and that's P-R-O-X-I, isn't it? Not P-R-O-X-Y.

You got it, Jim. And it's proxie.co, not com. Yeah. So monetization is really important when a business is building relationships with other local businesses, or if you're a content creator building relationships with local businesses. So the main thing to monetize those recommendations is understanding how many people actually go to the destination that you recommend. Recommend. So what you can do as a proxy map creator is publish your map. You'll have map points on that map, and you'll be able to see how many people actually went to those map points, how many people clicked on each map point. You'll be able to provide that data to the businesses on the map, and you can perhaps say something like, hey, look, we've got thousands of views on this point, we have X number of conversions on this point. Let's set up perhaps an affiliate partnership in this situation or have a discount code or something like this, and then do a revenue share based on the map.

Yeah, I love that. Now you did say that you can tell how many people have gone to the location. Just to clarify that for us, are you saying that if someone has a hero destination and someone that has used their proxy map goes to, let's say, a restaurant, Are you saying that you can track that they've just looked at that on their mobile device or that they've actually traveled to that destination and gone into the building, for example?

So right now, the way that proxy works is that we turn over information to you on how many people have clicked on that map point. Now, shortly we will be providing businesses information on how many people actually went to that destination based on location information that we receive. Now this, just for privacy purposes, if people are concerned about this, this would be aggregated information. This would not be like this individual went to this one place. It would be this number of individuals went to this place. Does that make sense?

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Cause you've got a whole data privacy issue, haven't you? But on the other hand, to be really valuable. You've got that, but presumably if someone was to travel, let's say to that restaurant from the hero destination and they had, let's say a partnership program and a QRC that would activate, wouldn't it? You'd actually have a number of clicks counted that way. Is that possible through proxy?

That's true too. So that will be another piece of analytics that we will be turning over to businesses in the near-term future is how many people actually clicked on the URL, the custom URLs.

Right. So at the moment, people may be using something like Foursquare or Google Maps. What about people having enough destinations on their Proxy map to make it valuable? Because presumably there's a critical mass of other service providers and venues and locations on a map to make the user want to download the app and to use Proxy.

Yeah, exactly. So right now we find that about 5 map providers points or more is the magic number to have on your map. So whenever you do create that map, you'll want to at least come up with enough content to put about 5 points on that map or greater to make it compelling enough to where people will come back to that map time and time again, as they're navigating the destination. Okay.

Now, a couple of questions there. One is, Let's just look at first of all, the range of a proxy map, shall we? I mean, are you talking about within a mile or a kilometer square area, for example, of a venue or hero destination, or is it further than that? Because that obviously increases the number of points and you said you've got to have a minimum of 5 for it to get sort of critical value.

Yeah, exactly. That's a great question. So the map scale can be adjusted. After you've created your initial map, and it should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. So for instance, if you're hosting a conference in a large hotel, you will want to have the map scale be very zoomed in because most people will be on foot and you'll want to provide recommendations in a few blocks radius. Now, if you are visiting a different country, for instance, you may want to zoom out to a larger area. And we make that very easy to do in the map. So you'll set that default setting whenever you create your map.

Well, right. So geography is entirely scalable. That's wonderful. And this sort of wonderful affiliate program that you can build out. What about The reviews that might start to come up? Because obviously some people use Trustpilot, for example, or Fifo to do a review. So if you created this affiliate network of destinations and service providers, what about the response that people might have to them?

So here's our unique take on this. We are not providing a comments or a review section on the places that are on a map. Now, the reason for this is that these reviews and comments can be stale. There's a huge moderation component to those aspects of the business. And we feel like that's our differentiator from Google and Yelp is that you're seeking out, when you come to Proxy, you're seeking out maps based on the map creator. So you'll be able to see all the maps that one map creator has made. And so you are really trusting that map creator's recommendations rather than like crowdsourced verification of that. So it's a different take on trust, if that makes sense. So like the end user is putting trust in the map creator, not in other people's reviews.

Right. And I think considering the amount of fake reviews that we're seeing a curated, credible list that's put together by the hotel network or the destination will have a lot more security and peace of mind, especially for people traveling maybe to places they haven't been before, Chelsea. So there's a security aspect as well, maybe.

That's exactly it.

Yeah. So with proxy, from an implementation point of view, just tell us how it works. Do you have to be like a programmer? Do you have to use Fancy Unity software for those of us that aren't.

No, we call ourselves the technology for casual cartographers. So we don't want anyone to have to be a developer. We don't need anyone to be, you know, some computer savant. You just need to go to our website. You quickly click the Create a Map button. You just put in your email address so that we can send you all of your information. And the map is created right then. And then to embed it, all you have to do is click a button and you'll see the embed code right there. You copy and paste it into your website, or you can share the map via a link and you can display that link anywhere you wish. So in a social media link in bio, via text message, which is a way that a lot of businesses use it. Very easy to use.

Right. That's wonderful. Yeah. So very easy to use and very democratic, if you like. Is there a mobile app or are people just accessing a web browser version on their mobile phones? Yeah.

So we always want to make sure that Proxy is web first so that no one ever has to have an app in order to use Proxy. That's one of our values that we will continue to stand by as we move into the future. You know, we don't want anyone to have to make an extra download. However, we are creating an app where people can go, they can download it if they so choose. They can discover maps from many map creators in all different areas of the world. So that is coming down the pipeline, but to use proxy, you will never have to have an app.

Right. And so do you have, for example, a case study, Chelsea, an existing user that you can just share how they're Implementing proxy?

Yeah, I sure can. So in the States, there is a concept called Restaurant Week, and this is a concept where an organization in a city brings together restaurants of that city to benefit a cause via deals at that restaurant. So it'll be a week-long event where the restaurant is offering like a 3-course deal for X number of dollars. Well, these organizations that run these Restaurant Week events are now turning to proxy maps. So what's happening is that all of these restaurants are putting themselves on the map, they're listing their deals, and we have actually partnered with OpenTable to do restaurant bookings. So there's a book button as well. Then these Restaurant Week organizations host the map on their sites and they've gotten hundreds of thousands of views for several of the maps. So it's people really, the end user really enjoys understanding proximity when it comes to restaurants around them.

That's a wonderful user case and replaces the old printed maps where you're wandering around trying to find them as well, Chelsea. And as you say, you've got the interactivity as well.

That's right.

And is this being used mainly by consumer-related marketing or do you have any B2B cases as well?

Yeah, well, we're mostly B2C. So one business, the hero destination, will feature the ecosystem of businesses around them. And then all of those businesses will feature the map to their customers and their audiences in Their audience can enjoy this one map that features this network of businesses.

Yeah, that's fantastic. And I think there are lots of different applications here, but presumably when people look at the map, can they then subscribe, for example, to updates from the people that are within that proxy?

Exactly. That's not in product today, but you're exactly right. That's a feature that's in the pipeline. You can subscribe to see updates to that one map. you can subscribe to see updates from that map creator in case they're creating a number of different maps that you may be interested in moving forward.

Wow. I love it. And I love the idea of the casual cartographer with a commercial bent. Chelsea, you're plainly a talented entrepreneur. It's your third business, if I'm understanding correctly. How have you been getting Proxy noticed as an entrepreneur?

Yeah, several different ways. I think our most effective way is social media. So we're on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. We're soon to be adding Pinterest and TikTok. We are noticed via organic posts. We are noticed via paid advertising. We are also working with a PR firm to help us get our message out into the world. And we also produce relevant content for Search engines. Now, one way that we're getting noticed is via viral maps. And so these are maps that hundreds of thousands of people might want to see. Many times they correspond to different large events in a certain area or a holiday or something like this. But media organizations use our maps to spread the word about local events, and those tend to go viral, which gets the word out about our business.

Yeah, I can imagine fantastic things like spring break, for example. I can imagine all these seasonal events as well.

Yeah.

That people are using.

Yes, exactly.

Now, Chelsea, I haven't asked you the question yet, but is this super expensive? You said it's for the casual cartographer, but what are the price points for using Proxy?

So right now Proxy is free and it will remain that way for a little while and it will always remain free for the individual user. In the future, we will have some advanced features rolling out for an enterprise use case that we will charge for, but right now it's free.

Yes, it'll be a freemium model, you know, essential services for free, and then you can upgrade further. So it'll be the best PR in a way of all, won't it, is the user experiences and sharing those. That's wonderful. So Chelsea Roni joining me from Seattle, Washington on the wet and windy side of America, I think, isn't it, Seattle?

It is. It's very wet and windy.

I'm sure that you're putting Seattle on the map. I think there's a small aero engineering company and somebody else in Seattle, isn't there? But I think Proxy is going to be on the map. Tell us if people want to find out more about you, Chelsea, and Proxy, where can they go?

Sure. I'd encourage anyone to navigate to proxie.co. to find out more about Proxy. We're at some variation of Proxy Co across the web, and we would love to have you using our maps, and we'd love to hear from you.

Chelsea, thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing with me and my fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs all about getting ourselves on the map. It's been wonderful. Thank you.

Very nice. Thanks, Jim.

You've been listening to Chelsea Roni, and of course, as always, I'll put all of their details as my guest on the show notes. Thank you for listening, and until we meet again, I wish you to keep communicating and maybe creating your own map, go to Proxy and check it out.

Thank you.