Local traders website

[Billy]

I got a clal fromthese guys last week, checked out their site since which seems quite genuine, their price was extremely low consideringt he potential amount of leads it could generate, has anyone else been using them and how's it worked out?

[onetruth]

I've not heard of them. What were they offering, and why do you think it would generate leads?

 

It looks like "customers" give their mobile number to receive free quotes from subscribers. I'd never give my mobile number to a website for that reason (ie. asking for spam) - who would? How would they find that website in the first place?

 

Have they offered something else? Such as a first-page listing on Google for just £99 / £150 / £300 etc. If so, I suggest you stay well clear. There seem to be lots of firms offering this kind of thing, quite often with terrible reputations for being scammers.

Edited May 18, 2011 by onetruth

[Billy68]

get about half a dozen calls like this a week had them over to the off depo

[redmoosefaction]

Steer clear.... ranking on google is probably the only way!

[Johny Walker]

I got a clal fromthese guys last week, checked out their site since which seems quite genuine, their price was extremely low consideringt he potential amount of leads it could generate, has anyone else been using them and how's it worked out?

 

its called sales patter probaly used to work for THE yellow pages

[Billy]

well left it in the end, everyone hates on yellow pages on here, but everyone i know in it, including myself, finds it quite useful... my advertising with them has paid for itself alreayd and they've only taken one payment!

[Bennie]

hi all ,i have just started a tree team for a landscape firm and have lots of work in the already won contracts but want to get more demestic work in , where is a good place to get our name about and advertise.

[JamesMio]

hi all ,i have just started a tree team for a landscape firm and have lots of work in the already won contracts but want to get more demestic work in , where is a good place to get our name about and advertise.

 

Probably either here, and/or here if you've not got a presence there already?

[bigpants]

Hiya guys i use the tree contractors directory who are also part of local traders....i get messages sent to my mobile phone for the area that i am registered in. it works well for me!!!! they even set me up a one page website and host it for 2 years for free because i didnt have one. i even been giving afew jobs away in slough on here that they send me that i cant cover. ive had 5 enquiries and got 3 jobs from it....granted two small removals of small conifers but one oak full dismantle aswell. for £150 for six months its paid for itself already and ive only been with them about 8 weeks. Tree Contractors Directory - Tree surgeons, Tree service, Tree care, tree surgery and arborists

[County4x4]

I've just had a look at the website and using the search facility at the bottom of the page, rather than sticking my mobile number in, it seems that they're listing a lot of people. However, either I've been missing something or there are a lot more chimney sweeps around than I thought - about five listed for Coniston for instance - not a chance! It looks like pages thrown together covering every possible keyword combination rather than links to actual people! "Coniston chimney blockage remover" for instance - who is ever going to use a search term like that?! Likewise, the various pages just seem to be collections of keywords and phrases.

 

I get quite a few calls from directories like these - and they all seem to say "we're currently getting 1200 enquiries a month for *insert your trade here* and we have one space left" etc etc. Most of our business probably comes from our listing on google places - which doesn't cost a bean, and which always appears right near the top of any google search results - the little map with the pushpins.

 

I have to say I wonder how many people (ie customers) actually use these directories? Had another one offering leads at a fiver a go - but they'd send me them without contact details for a while so I could see "what a benefit it would be to my business". I think I had one over the course of a couple of months, and that was miles outside my area. I did eventually manage to find my listing with them via a google search for a chimney sweep in my area - somewhere near the bottom of the third page of results. Do many people get that far do you think? Or do they just call the people at the top of the first page - which is where I already am with google places?!

 

I guess the thing to do is to do what a customer would probably do - get on google and search for a tradesman near you, or anywhere else for that matter. Then start scanning the results to see if you can find a listing from this outfit. I found local traders near the bottom of page 2 in my case.

 

It may work for some I guess, but I won't be signing up any time soon!

 

Andy