If You Do Business in RSM, You Should Read This

When Patch launched in Rancho Santa Margarita on Dec. 21, 2010, editors and contributors had ventured to local businesses to collect information for our directory. The result: Patch Places.

Patch Places is particularly important for local business owners and managers because they have an opportunity to claim a free marketing tool on Patch, but it's also important for residents who want to make sure that good service doesn't go unrewarded.

Patch Places is the spot to find descriptions, hours, accepted payment methods, available parking and more for spots around town. You can even see what your neighbors think of a business before you try it or write your own review.

• Some local businesses that have already claimed their listing include , , and , which not only posted a PDF of the menu but also photos of some of the food (not all of it donuts and bagels) that's available. 
•  added photos of students,  added pictures of its bowls of heaven,  added its logo and  added its logo and a photo. 
• added a video endorsement (very clever), and added a music video and photos of activities and parishioners.
• listing includes stories that appeared on Patch that included the dealership, such as the Marine carwash that ran out of water because it was so successful, and its role in the Run for Ruby. Those stories appear automatically when your business is highlighted in a story on Patch.

There's different ways to use the listing, but local businesses get extra bonuses when they "claim" a listing (and if you're not listed in the 92688 zip code, make a claim).

We at Patch want to aid those who make this a thriving community, so we're actually giving business owners and managers something for free. Hey, how often does that come around?

Owners or managers can sign into Patch and search for their business under Patch Places. Underneath the photos, there is a box with the question: "Do you own or manage this location? Claim it!" Just click "Claim it!" and a form will pop up asking for contact information and authorization to claim it.

Within a few days, someone from Patch will contact you to verify your authenticity. You'll then be approved as the business owner and will see a "Manage Your Listing" button.

From there, you have lots of options to add photos, see your statistics and edit the listing. Here are the tools you'll see and what they mean:

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 and Twitter accounts.

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, parking information and more.

Manage Photos & Media:

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

Reviews:

You can see what people have to say about your business and respond to reviews.

Free Tools:

This is an easy way to 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. You can learn more about these options and see how to get in touch with a sales team member.

Claim your listing today to help keep Patch users up to date with your company and keep your listing looking fresh.

Questions? Contact Rancho Santa Margarita Patch Advertising Manager Megan Silkman at (949) 241-7779 or megan.silkman@patch.com.