# Golden Pages: Questions



## Bill Shatner (26 Mar 2007)

Ok so Ive decided to take the plunge with my business and take out an Ad in this years edition. I was wondering if many self employed or owners of SME's here advertise with them and if the feedback is good? It'll vary from business type type to business type obviously. Ive been told to avoid the Independent Directory as the feedback is small in comparison.

Another question I was wondering about: Im registered under my own name as a sole trader but I want to use another name in the Golden Pages thats starts with an A to have as many first time callers as possible, from what Ive heard from people in my sector this is generally how it works with Joe Public, they start with "A" and work there way down or go for the biggest Ad on the page. Will I need to go through the hassle of registering another company name and have to pay some sort of double tax or can I just write it off as an expense under my my existing (own) sole trader name? Hope that makes sense.

The deadline is approaching so Id like to hear as much feedback as possible, thanks


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## Vanilla (26 Mar 2007)

You should register any new business name with the CRO. Then you will be Joe Bloggs T/A  AA bloggs. 

I am in Golden pages- I have highlighted the town I work in as I feel people look for their own *area *before anything else.  I suspect I get very little work through golden pages, more through word of mouth. But if nothing else those people who have been recommended to come to me will be able to look up my contact details there too.


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## ClubMan (26 Mar 2007)

Bear in mind that the GoldenPages online search is practically useless as far as I can see!


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## Bill Shatner (26 Mar 2007)

Vanilla said:


> You should register any new business name with the CRO. Then you will be Joe Bloggs T/A  AA bloggs.



Wont I get 2 Vat Return requests in the post every 2 months then?


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## BetterBiz (26 Mar 2007)

Hi, You can simply register another business name with the CRO, if you do this online it will only cost you €20. You will find details here: [broken link removed]

You want form RBN1 for an individual.

I would advise you against letting the golden pages staff design your advert for you, they are trained to sell the biggest ad space not get you the best results. Some things to consider are incorporating some kind of tracking mechanism so you can monitor how much business you are getting from the Golden pages, this will help you measure its performance and let you decide if it is cost effective to continue using in the future.

www.BetterBusinessResults.com


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## BetterBiz (26 Mar 2007)

No you won't have to pay two lots of VAT you can have as many trading names as you like linked to one business entity.


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## Bill Shatner (26 Mar 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Bear in mind that the GoldenPages online search is practically useless as far as I can see!



I just typed in my business sector there and found what I wanted in seconds, it even breaks down the sector in areas and further categories for you. Easy!


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## ClubMan (26 Mar 2007)

I tried searching for several business than I know exist and could not find them. It insisted that I enter a category and area first which is not much use if you are looking for details of a company but don't know these details offhand.


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## Bill Shatner (28 Mar 2007)

ClubMan said:


> I tried searching for several business than I know exist and could not find them. It insisted that I enter a category and area first which is not much use if you are looking for details of a company but don't know these details offhand.



Thats the the complete opposte as to how the average customer uses the Golden Pages IMHO, 90% if not all would pick up the book/log onto the site and search for a service they're looking for. If they know the company name then they'd have dealt with them before and would either be ringing them again direct if the service was good in the past or not if it wasnt.

Thats my take anyhoo! 

Ive been onto them there and just to let anyone here thats thinking about advertising in this years edition that the cutoff point for placing an Ad is next Tuesday.


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## Carpenter (28 Mar 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Bear in mind that the GoldenPages online search is practically useless as far as I can see!


I concur with Clubman- the Golden Pages was always the first point of call when I started in the construction sector and back then the paper (only) copy was a well thumbed resource.  In more recent times when I've attempted to use the online facility I've rarely had a useful response.  It's a choice between the hardcopy and google for me.


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## ClubMan (28 Mar 2007)

Bill Shatner said:


> Thats the the complete opposte as to how the average customer uses the Golden Pages IMHO


I *am *an average customer. For example* - I know that there is an appliance spare parts place on _North Frederick Street _but don't recall the name and want to find the phone number. I was able to do this with the _GP _online a few weeks ago. But not now for some reason. Their search interface seems to have changed. For the worse.


* Illustrative example - I do know the name and phone number now.


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## A-Z Safety (4 Apr 2007)

hi all

i don know from experience that its difficult to get the GP to accept a business name which starts with an A, my company is a registered limited company and it was still very hard to get it under A, even thought its called A-Z Safety Statement Limited!


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## Bill Shatner (30 Apr 2007)

BetterBiz said:


> Hi, You can simply register another business name with the CRO, if you do this online it will only cost you €20. You will find details here: [broken link removed]
> 
> You want form RBN1 for an individual.



Filled out that form and was then asked to *post* it with 20 euros to the CRO?!

Surely in this day and age there should be a way to do this by credit card online?


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## A-Z Safety (1 May 2007)

Following on from the above I wondered if anyone had feedback on the golden pages, online customer service? I took out a contract with them back in November and have found them awful i am unable to get the feedback/figures I was promised when i took out the contract ... I just wondered if i was alone with this..

Thanks in advance


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## dockingtrade (1 May 2007)

A-Z Safety said:


> Following on from the above I wondered if anyone had feedback on the golden pages, online customer service? I took out a contract with them back in November and have found them awful i am unable to get the feedback/figures I was promised when i took out the contract ... I just wondered if i was alone with this..
> 
> Thanks in advance


 

how much did you pay for this service,  was a listing or more?
I think the brand is really carrying them through its not great. People just beleive the need to be on it


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## RedStix (1 May 2007)

> Filled out that form and was then asked to *post* it with 20 euros to the CRO?!
> 
> Surely in this day and age there should be a way to do this by credit card online?


 
Nope, for sole trader applications etc, CRO insist on sending them a cheque / postal order in the amount of €20. They do not accept credit cards online for these type of transactions. 
Although you're right. You'd think they'd have some type of online payment facility for such transactions.


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## Guest118 (1 May 2007)

Much better options than the Golden Pages.  Its way too overrated


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## A-Z Safety (1 May 2007)

> how much did you pay for this service, was a listing or more?


 
hiya, no its the online golden pages im talking about, i find the physical pages quite good.
Im paying 300 a month (before vat for my listing in a few counties, at the end of each month im meant to get a breakdown of hits, per county as well as hits that went onto link into my actual site.

its like pulling teeth each month since november trying to get them, ive actually only received once and it took almost 2 months of chasing them!!!


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## Tangerine (1 May 2007)

ClubMan said:


> I tried searching for several business than I know exist and could not find them. It insisted that I enter a category and area first which is not much use if you are looking for details of a company but don't know these details offhand.


 
Ditto, me too.


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## bond-007 (2 May 2007)

Don't you get a free entry in golden pages if you are a business?


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## blacknight (2 May 2007)

All business phone numbers are listed for free.

We've paid for listings in the past, but it was a waste of money.

Apart from anything else the categories haven't been updated in years.

They lump hosting and domain registration in with web design and development, so if you do get any calls (don't hold your breath!) they're probably looking for the wrong kind of service anyway.

It's like lumping plumbers in with carpenters!


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## Fintan (2 May 2007)

A-Z Safety said:


> Following on from the above I wondered if anyone had feedback on the golden pages, online customer service? I took out a contract with them back in November and have found them awful i am unable to get the feedback/figures I was promised when i took out the contract ... I just wondered if i was alone with this..
> 
> Thanks in advance




One of the companies I look after had a small ad in the book and on the website, customer service during the sales process was great, but once they got the money *bamm* they were gone. 

I asked for statistics for ad views / click throughs to website etc, I only got them as they wanted me to renew the add, when I did get the results they were insanely overstated. 

According to them 1,112 people clicked the link on their site to the website, my google analytics package has it as 1 person clicked through to the site. 

I suspect that one one person was me checking the link worked. 

I would rather spend advertising money else where.


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## SineWave (2 May 2007)

> I would rather spend advertising money else where.



Fair point but try telling that to a Locksmith.

It really depends on the type of goods/service you are offering. A little bit of "market research" along the lines of ".......if you were looking for XYZ, where would be your first port of call?"

As per Blacknight's post, I would imagine that somebody who would be IT savvy enough to be at the point of sourcing hosting services, would not be searching through a paper medium?


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## dublinsense (4 May 2007)

The Problem with the Golden pages is that people ring a selection of the listings and in my experience usually go with the cheapest, even if they are comparing apples with oranges. So unless your going for the lowest cost customer then its more hassle than its worth, at least in my experience.


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## Fintan (5 May 2007)

SineWave said:


> Fair point but try telling that to a Locksmith.
> 
> It really depends on the type of goods/service you are offering. A little bit of "market research" along the lines of ".......if you were looking for XYZ, where would be your first port of call?"
> 
> As per Blacknight's post, I would imagine that somebody who would be IT savvy enough to be at the point of sourcing hosting services, would not be searching through a paper medium?



Obviously it depends on the type of business, locksmith, plumber, electrician etc However, Goldenpage ads are extremely expensive and I do feel there is better value to be found else where. 

However, my point was customer service was non-existant after they got paid for the ad and when they did supply what I asked for it was clearly over-stated and if I did not have other systems in place would have tricked me into renewing the ad.


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## Gordanus (5 May 2007)

I had an ad in the Golden Pages, but also routinely ask all new customers how they heard of me.  There would be about 12 responses through GP, and none of them followed through most years, so I dropped the ad.  It's important to do this kind of research, to know if the money you spend is worthwhile. (depends on your business of course, whether you get business through them.)


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## bond-007 (8 May 2007)

Is it possible for a private person to get a private number (being used as a business number) listed in goldenpages for a fee?


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## dockingtrade (11 May 2007)

ive tried recently to get a price for a listing in the goldenpages.ie with a link to a website. They said listing is free and someone would ring back about it. No one rang back. Anyways how much is it to to list name number address plus a weblink? (online only). Thanks


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## A-Z Safety (24 May 2007)

to update you all on my progress with golden pages .ie

I logged a Formal Complaint against their Customer services, and their failure to provide me with information as I am paying for under my package (about 300  amonth), this was logged back in mid April with a 'Senior sales person'

Having tried to get in contact with this person for the last few weeks i finally tracked him down today, he confirmed nothing has been done with my complaint and he is too busy to do anything about it at the moment, i have now not received my statistics since last November when I initially took out the ad, I would advise anyone considering taking out this package and spending  alot of money on this service, DONT BOTHER!


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## Megan (9 Aug 2007)

A rep from Golden Pages called to our offices today. He said he was selling adverts for online listing and that he had no link with the GP Book? Two options one advert costs €750 and the other one costs €450 per year. There is a one of charge of €250 for setting it up. The company I work for allready pay €418 plus VAT for their advert in the GP book. Is there such a thing as a free advert in the GP? Any advise if the online one is worth taking out. My gut feeling is it isn't.


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## BetterBiz (9 Aug 2007)

You can get a free basic text entry in the GP for free and I think this is online and offline. I personally wouldn't waste my time with a paid for online entry in the GP. You will be better off spending the money on your own web site and search engine advertising or optimisation.

Matt

Marketing Ireland


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## bizz1 (10 Aug 2007)

We negiotated a free month from the GP Online and only upon its success (i.e provide the return rate as indicated by the salesman) would we take up the yearly contract.

It didn't work (no clicks) and we walked away..so my advice is to get a anticipated level of return from their sales and thereafter request a free trial month to allow them to prove it to you.

However as indicated by a previous post you do need to have analytics on your site to determine the true level of impact the campaign is providing.


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