Hazelwood Patch Directory Gets a Makeover, Blogs Launch

There's been a few changes at Hazelwood Patch lately. You might have noticed it by glancing at our home page—there's suddenly a whole new column of blog posts in the center! Wondering what's up with that? Here's the scoop:

Local Voices: More Ideas, Topics and Thoughts to Share
You might have noticed a new section on our site recently. "Local Voices," a space for community members to blog about whatever they fancy, launched last week. It's been great to get the blogs up and running, and I've really enjoyed reading all our bloggers' posts. 

If you haven't checked them out yet, here's who is blogging so far:

• talks about being the ever moving multi-tasking triple threat: student, boss and mother.
• Breanna Rena will soon be giving a perspective on the teenage life.

We're always going to be looking for more bloggers. If you have something you want to talk about, let me know! Shoot me an email at .

Blogs aren't the only change we've had around here. This week, our business directory got a face lift.

Places: A Better Business Directory
Our business directory is now more aptly called "Places." It's still the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to restaurants, churches, boutiques and other businesses. That part hasn't changed and never will. 

The recent update includes some new features and a new layout for the Places section. If you click Places in the navigation bar at the top of the page, you'll find a more prominent search feature to find what you're looking for, along with a featured news article that highlights businesses in our community.

You'll also find that it's easy to browse through businesses on the Places home page. Businesses get a bolder, brighter treatment, and you can easily rate businesses you know by clicking the stars below each business. Addicted to rating? Click "Get More" to cycle through a new list of businesses and let them know what you think. Each rating you leave helps your neighbors out—it makes it easier for them to find the best stores, services and shops in the .

If you own or manage a business, it's easier than ever to claim your listing and keep us up-to-date. Click the easier-to-find link below the search bar, "Claim Your Listing." Give us some information to verify your ownership. Once your claim is verified, you can upload and feature photos, provide additional information and link to your own website. You can also change all of the information on your listing except existing photos, the objective description and the category. Owners and managers can link their listing to their Facebook pages, so they can broadcast updates to 'followers' and more. 

As always, if you have any questions, let me know! There are tons of ways to get in touch with me, and I'd love to hear from you.

• Send me an email at candace.jarrett@patch.com and I'll get back to you pretty quickly (For better or worse, I'm chronically chained to my inbox.) 
• Are you on Facebook all the time? You can find me there by liking the Hazelwood Patch page. Then just leave a comment to get my attention. 
• Is Twitter more your style? Catch me there @HazelwoodPatch. 
• Or, if you want to have a good old fashioned conversation, give me a call at 314-341-5417. We can chat on the phone or meet for coffee.