NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Internet search giant Google spent Thursday meeting with area business owners and entrepreneurs, helping them build a presence on the Internet and making sure customers can locate them.
Google's "Get Your Business Online" tour is making stops in all 50 states with the goal of equipping business owners for the age of the Internet search.
Tennessee congressman Jim Cooper, a self-admitted computer nerd, spoke about the importance of being online and near the top of Google's page listings.
"Ninety-five percent of folks who do a Google search only look at the first page," Coopers said. "The entry cost to get into business today is almost nothing. You can do it in your back bedroom in your house. You can do it with a laptop, you can do it with a dial up phone connection if you need to."
Paul Lebovitz was among the dozens who attended Thursday's conference and workshop to learn how to a build a Web site for his new business.
He lost his job two days before Thanksgiving in 2007 when his company closed its Nashville office.
"January 1, I just bought a computer and opened my own office," he told Nashville's News 2. "I've never actually started one but we're at a time and place where people will look not at a phone book but they'll look at a computer. To find who they want to work with."
Google is visiting all 50 states and has launched a Web site geared to small business owners.
For more information visit GYBO.com.
