Last week, local entrepreneurs from a variety of industries filled The Duncan Family Sky Room for an event titled, “Let’s Put Jersey City on the Map with Google.” This was a collaborative event between the Ignite Institute at Saint Peter’s University, Rising Tide Capital and Starfish Global. The conference marked the Ignite Institute’s first bilingual digital marketing event for entrepreneurs, students and the community.
The Ignite Institute, a center of excellence at Saint Peter’s University, was developed through a partnership with Rising Tide Capital, a non-profit organization based in Jersey City, which is dedicated to transforming lives and communities through entrepreneurship. Ignite provides thought leadership, academic research and direct educational service for local entrepreneurs. This event was an ideal representation of what Ignite seeks to accomplish as the local community was welcomed to campus and left with actionable advice that would help their businesses grow.
According to the keynote speaker and small business advocate, Luis De La Hoz, 92 percent of businesses are microbusinesses and as such, this group has the potential to make a tremendous impact on the overall economy. The focus of the conference was on the importance of being found in a Google search and according to De La Hoz, “If your business doesn’t exist online, then your business doesn’t exist.”
Get Your Business Online (GYBO) with Google, is movement dedicated to making it fast, easy and free to get businesses online. According to GYBO, only 37 percent of businesses have claimed a local business listing and therefore entrepreneurs are not taking advantage of all of the opportunities that are available to them online. During the conference, Starfish Global gave an in-depth presentation on how entrepreneurs can identify and claim their businesses online and how to build out their listings once they do so by adding photos, responding to reviews and more. As a Trusted Verifier through Google, Starfish Global was also available on-site to claim unclaimed listings for business owners.
Additional workshops included a presentation from Bonnie Kantor of Constant Contact, who shared the basics on email marketing and a workshop on digital and social media marketing presented by Christine Hamilton, digital media coordinator at The Provident Bank. Similar workshops were presented simultaneously in Spanish by Reina Valenzuela, CEO of Starfish Global, and Vicky Llarena of Social Vibes Media.
The event was made possible through support from the Provident Bank Foundation, SILVERMAN and Goya. Click here for further information about upcoming Ignite Institute events.
