Author:

Rachel Blakely-Gray

As Patriot's Content Manager, Rachel is responsible for planning and creating useful, actionable content for Patriot’s marketing department.

6 Office Design Ideas [+ Tips] to Take Productivity Up a Notch

The key to productivity is engagement, consistency, focus, organization, and … design? Actually, yes. An employee’s happiness goes hand in hand with productivity. And as we all know, it’s the little things in life.

Patriot’s Picks: The Best Small Business Articles

Here are our top article picks for the month of April. We hope you find them as useful and interesting as we did.

Collage of Mississippi-based Tropical Envy's products

Be Your Best Vacation Self Year-round With Tropical Envy Boutique

Ashley LaBarre is the owner of Tropical Envy Boutique. From resort-style clothes to artisan jewelry, the boutique offers everything you need to feel like you’re on vacation year-round.

Patriot’s Picks: The Best Small Business Articles

Here are our top article picks from the month of January. We hope you find them as interesting and useful as we did.

Texas-based Heartisans Marketplace collage featuring the marketplace, Julee Rachels, and volunteers

Texas-based Heartisans Marketplace Is Where the Heart Is

Julee Rachels is the CEO and Founder of Heartisans Marketplace, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Longview, Texas. Heartisans provides underserved women with job-readiness training and essential skills through its Job-Readiness Program, which is funded by sales from the Marketplace and donations.

What Is SWOT Analysis? It’s Time to Get to Know Your Business

How well do you know your business’s strengths and weaknesses? What about your opportunities and threats? If you’re coming up short on answers, you need to conduct a SWOT analysis. So, what is SWOT analysis?

Collage of the Lavender Fields at Pumpkin Blossom Farm

Take Time to Stop and Smell the Lavender at Pumpkin Blossom Farm

Missy Biagiotti co-owns the Lavender Fields at Pumpkin Blossom Farm, a scenic place where visitors feel like they’re stepping into a Monet painting.

Music in the Workplace: Can it Help Productivity, or Is it Treble?

Do your employees like listening to music while they work? For many, music helps increase engagement, morale, and overall productivity. But, is music in the workplace actually beneficial to your business’s growth?

The Bad Review Blues: Do’s and Don’ts of Responding

Great. You got a negative online review that’s now readable by everyone—current and potential customers alike. Before hastily typing out a response you may regret later, learn how to respond to a bad review. You just may be able to turn the situation into a marketing opportunity and keep the disgruntled customer.

illustration of entrepreneurs sharing their tips for starting a business

8 Not-so-tricky Tips for Starting a Business, from Successful Small Business Owners

What’s the magic formula for business success? Well (cue incorrect buzzer noise from game show), there isn’t one. But there are tips for starting a business that you can use to reach your unique business success formula.