Finding Michigan Businesses Online
Whether you are looking for a place to eat, an apartment to rent, or something to do for the day, a quick search on your computer or smartphone shows what businesses are in your area. Businesses without an online presence will not show up in these searches, causing valuable customers to overlook them. Businesses in Sault Ste. Marie, MI—located in the Northeast corner of Michigan's Upper Peninsula—are now becoming part of the search.
With wide, open acres of forest, beautiful sights, and events throughout the year, the Upper Peninsula (UP) draws thousands of visitors annually. Tourism is a large part of the UP economy, including Sault Ste. Marie. The ability for visitors to find businesses online when they vacation to the UP can make a considerable impact, especially during peak seasonal times.
The Sault Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Google, the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Eastern UP Regional Planning, and Michigan Works! Association is hosting the Michigan Grow Your Business Online workshops to help area businesses start or expand their online presence. The workshops, held at the SmartZone in Sault Ste. Marie, will take place the second Wednesday of each month, with different instruction offered on each day. Business owners will learn how visitors find their pages online, how to rise to the top of search results, how to get on Google Maps, how to connect with customers through Google Apps, how and where to advertise online, and more.
“We're mostly targeting small and mid-sized businesses,” said Jeff Hagan, EUP Regional Planning and Michigan Works! Director. “As we look across the region, we're not seeing a great web presence for small businesses.”
The workshops are a part of the Chippewa County Technology Action Plan developed through Connect Michigan.
“One of our strategies was to do more outreach with local business and local government to get them to enhance their online presence,” said Hagan.
Similar classes conducted through the SBDC and the regional Intermediate School District revealed what subjects business owners were most interested in. Using this information, courses were tailored to provide the most valuable instruction. If certain subjects prove to be more popular than others, the lessons may be repeated or topics may be covered in more detail.
To learn more about Google business workshops in Sault Ste. Marie and to register, visit http://www.sbdcmichigan.org/. To find out about upcoming workshops in your area, stay in touch with us at http://www.connectmi.org/blog.
With wide, open acres of forest, beautiful sights, and events throughout the year, the Upper Peninsula (UP) draws thousands of visitors annually. Tourism is a large part of the UP economy, including Sault Ste. Marie. The ability for visitors to find businesses online when they vacation to the UP can make a considerable impact, especially during peak seasonal times.
The Sault Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Google, the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Eastern UP Regional Planning, and Michigan Works! Association is hosting the Michigan Grow Your Business Online workshops to help area businesses start or expand their online presence. The workshops, held at the SmartZone in Sault Ste. Marie, will take place the second Wednesday of each month, with different instruction offered on each day. Business owners will learn how visitors find their pages online, how to rise to the top of search results, how to get on Google Maps, how to connect with customers through Google Apps, how and where to advertise online, and more.
“We're mostly targeting small and mid-sized businesses,” said Jeff Hagan, EUP Regional Planning and Michigan Works! Director. “As we look across the region, we're not seeing a great web presence for small businesses.”
The workshops are a part of the Chippewa County Technology Action Plan developed through Connect Michigan.
“One of our strategies was to do more outreach with local business and local government to get them to enhance their online presence,” said Hagan.
Similar classes conducted through the SBDC and the regional Intermediate School District revealed what subjects business owners were most interested in. Using this information, courses were tailored to provide the most valuable instruction. If certain subjects prove to be more popular than others, the lessons may be repeated or topics may be covered in more detail.
To learn more about Google business workshops in Sault Ste. Marie and to register, visit http://www.sbdcmichigan.org/. To find out about upcoming workshops in your area, stay in touch with us at http://www.connectmi.org/blog.