STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Whether a Staten Islander is looking for a tailor to hem a pair of pants, or a nearby place to grab a slice of pizza, or someone to do their taxes, they're fairly likely to do the same thing: Google it.
And yesterday, the Internet search giant came to the borough to help Staten Island small businesses build websites and grow their online presence so they're not left out when that happens.
"Ninety-seven percent of people shop online," Susan Molinari, the former congresswoman and current vice president of public policy and government relations for Google told a crowd yesterday. "They don't necessarily buy online."
But they do start their search for local products and services by hitting the web, she said -- and in New York, 53 percent of small businesses don't have websites, which means those consumers searching online can't find out more about them. Google sought to change that with its "New York Get Your Business Online" event, held Tuesday at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield.
Mrs. Molinari told the crowd about what was once a small company in Vermont making whole wheat flour. Years ago, King Arthur Flour set up a website to begin exploring shipping outside their state.
"Now they're actually shipping to Katmandu," she told the crowd.
Small businesses also grow twice as fast if they have a website, compared to those that do not, Mrs. Molinari said.
"Those are statistics you can't argue with in this day and age," she said.
Many businesses without websites cite the complexity or the cost of building them -- but Google sought to remove those obstacles Tuesday. Over the course of the day, 200 Staten Island small business got help from Google and their partners -- including Intuit, which helped business owners create their own websites, which the Intuit will host for free for a year.
Business owners also received customized domain names for their sites, local business listings on Google Maps, free tools, training and other resources. During the first session Tuesday, about 100 people sat in front of laptops, either their own or provided by Google, setting up their sites and listings. Google employees were on hand, walking around the room to lend extra help.
Mrs. Molinari said Google was a small business itself 14 years ago, and revels in helping others.
"I know it seems a little hokey, but in many ways Google still considers themselves a small start-up," she said.
Rebecca Ginsberg, a Google spokeswoman, said that the more businesses have websites and Google listings online, the more vibrant the Web is -- and the better for a company like Google.
Local small business owners were eager to use the tools Google was providing.
"Today, if you don't have a website for a brick and mortar store, you're out of business," Kathleen Sforza, who co-owns Town and Country Gifts in West Brighton with her sister, Lorraine Razzano, said.
While Ms. Sforza and Ms. Razzano have several blogs about Town and Country Gifts, and have separate online shops where they sell items, they don't have a website just for Town and Country. So despite their already strong web presence, they turned out to grow it even further, Ms. Sforza said. They also wanted to explore options for putting ads on their sites, and the business applications Google offers.
"We wanted to see if it pays for us, the advertising part of it," Ms. Sforza.
</sub>HELP FOR FLEET WEEK
Vito Giobbe was hoping to update his website for Staten Island Fleet Week. He said the program was extremely helpful.
"It's very, very informative," he said. "It's a good way to get some extra attention."
The five-day, five-borough event comes as the city -- and particularly Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- have pushed to lure more high-tech start-ups here, in an attempt to compete with Silicon Valley for technology jobs. At the event yesterday, Rep. Michael Grimm told the crowd he had visited the tech Mecca in California twice.
"The one thing that I noticed almost immediately is that we can certainly be doing this in New York," he said, adding the city has the tenacity, work ethic and talent to rival Silicon Valley.
Grimm said there's no question growth in technology jobs will help get the country through a difficult economic time -- and that the small business owners in the audience would, too.
"You are the answer to the difficult challenges this country is facing," he told the crowd.
Grimm said the event showed that Google has stayed humble, despite their massive success.
"I like Google's approach, that they really want to forge a partnership," he said.
Also on hand yesterday was former congressman and borough president, Guy Molinari.
"For Google to come to Staten Island is a big day for us," he said.
Source: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/google_helps_staten_island_bus_1.html
railgun jk rowling new book between two ferns ihop statins chardon sean young
No comments:
Post a Comment