Patch Helps Businesses Connect Online

Irmo-Seven Oaks and St. Andrews Patch are happy to announce that Jeremy Mims of Own Local, who currently advises five startups including Perpetually.com, has graciously agreed to participate in three educational seminars designed to teach business owners how to improve their connection to the community online.

Business owners can learn about how to take better advantage of sites such as Facebook and Twitter. There will also be mini workshops on how to use Patch and how to add your own content to the online conversation.

Seminars will be held July 18 at the South Carolina Hospital Association's William Yates Conference Center. We’ll give out cool Patchy swag.

Seminars included:

Social Media & Your Business — 8 a.m. — Did you know that one out of every eight minutes spent on the Internet is on Facebook?

• How to make the most of your business’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest presences.
• The difference between using social media for personal and for business use.
• Why e-mail may be your most potent social media tool.
• Optimizing your Facebook page.

Get Discovered in Search Engines — 11 a.m. — Did you know that the first link in a Google search is clicked on 44% of the time?

• Google Killed the Phone Book
• How Search Engines Rank Content
• The 10 Must-Haves for Search Engine Optimization
• Content Rules the Roost
• What’s the deal with directories?

Secrets to a Great Website — 4 p.m. — 60% of Small Business Website Homepages can’t generate calls from mobile phones because they’re missing phone numbers.

• How to convert people who come to a website into leads
• Why a Blog is so important
• The 5 things every website needs on the homepage.
• Writing for people & Google
• How to incorporate social media into your website

Register today to secure your spot. Just add your contact information to the comments section below or email patricia@ownlocal.com.

We’ll be helping business owners claim their Patch Directory business page on our site, a free service that you can use to better promote your business. And if you’re already an active Patch user, we’d still like you to come and help your fellow business owners and the Patch team learn more about what works when it comes to navigating the web.

If you want to claim your listing NOW, here are some super easy instructions for businesses in and .

If you're a new business that needs a listing created, click the green "Add it" button at the bottom of the Directory search results page and fill out the form. Our directory team will get in touch with you in a couple of days when your listing is ready.

We hope you learn something, and we hope it makes Patch a better website.

Connect with Irmo-Seven Oaks Patch:
Twitter: @IrmoPatch
Claim your business listing: irmo.patch.com/directory
Facebook: www.facebook.com/irmosevenoakspatch
Sign up for our newsletter: irmo.patch.com/newsletters

Connect with St. Andrews Patch:
Twitter: @StAndrewsPatch
Claim your business listing: standrews.patch.com/directory
Facebook: www.facebook.com/standrewspatch
Sign up for our newsletter: standrews.patch.com/newsletters

For businesses in St. Andrews, contact editor Tiffany Barkley at tiffany.barkley@patch.com.