It's Your Business ... So Why Not Claim It?

When Southwest Minneapolis Patch launched in November of 2010, you and your workers may remember myself, or other local editors and freelancers wondering into your small business to create a listing of your business for our super-comprehensive directory, called Patch Places.

Now, more than a year later, Patch Places is thriving. Each month, crazy-large numbers of people from all over the metro area visit our directory, and your business listings, to find out addresses, hours of operation, descriptions, and even contact information for hundreds of Southwest Minneapolis businesses.

Patch users can add events taking place at local spots, can rate the business on a scale of one to five stars, and can add a review.

But did you know you can actually claim your Patch business listing? And get extra bonuses when you do it?

Best of all: IT'S FREE. Yes. Free.

Owners or managers should search for their business listing and select "claim your listing" in order to make updates to the page. A form will pop up asking for your name, contact information, and proof of ownership.

Within a few days, someone from Patch should contact you to verify your authenticity, and then you'll be approved as the business owner of the listing. Once approved, you'll have a "Manage Your Listing" button on the top of your Places page. Click the button to be taken to your dashboard.

From the dashboard, you can make changes and updates to your listing. On the left side of the dashboard you have several options: Your Stats, Edit listing, Manage Photos & Media, Reviews, Free Tools, Paid Tools, and Contact Sales.

Your Stats:

Here you can see how many users have rated, reviewed or follow your listing. You can e-mail your customers to seek out more reviews, and link the Patch Place to your Facebook or Twitter account.

Edit Listing:

Add photos, website information, hours of operation, contact information and more under the "basic info" tab. Some of this information cannot be changed, but you can request a new description if you think your business is inaccurately described.

Choose "extra info" to add information like the founding date of your business, what kinds of payments you accept, if there's street parking or a lot, and much more.

Manage Photos & Media:

Here you can add and edit photos and choose which image is featured. If you have video or PDFs, you would add that here too.

Reviews:

You can see what people have to say about your business, and reply to them.

Free Tools:

Post events and add job openings to our classifieds section, also known as the Marketplace.

Paid Tools:

You can upgrade your listing with a video profile, add a message from the owner and become a featured business on the Places page for a fee. Learn more about these options and how to get in touch with our ad manager at Mike.Anselmo@Patch.com.

So claim your listing today to help keep Patch users up to date with your company and keep your listing looking fresh. If you don't see your business listed, e-mail James.Sanna@Patch.com.