Help/Advise/Opinions Please! Everyone's opinion is appreciated!

F

forester sti

Guest
Lads/Ladies,
Some of you may know that I am a builder, I do Attic Conversions and Extensions, (Shameless Plug :icon_biggrin:) A Cut Above Construction Ltd. :thumbsup:
Any way, It's GoldenPages renewel time, And I had the Rep around this week! I have advertised in GP for 5 years now and it does work, but it's expensive
Would you beleive that there prices have gone UP by 5%  :cuckoo: for the same Adds as last year! quarter page in 01 and half page in 04 book!
So my payments would be nearly €12K a year (up from just over €10K)
This is hard to swallow concidering everyone else in the country is having to drop prices by at least 10% a lot of the time a lot more than 10%
Hence my frustration!
I tackled the rep on this and there was no movement! He said  he  might be able to convince his boss let me keep the price the same as last year!
Which is still out of order really!
A lad from the independent directory met me today, He says he can offer the same size adds as goldenpages but in full colour and a premium internet listing on yourlocal.ie  For €6K  there is €6K in the difference, but If the Independent Directory isn't widely used then it's €6K wasted and I'm screwed with no/bad advertising!
It sounds like a no brainer, but I don't know if the Independent directory is as visible as Goldenpages
So please give your opinions on which book you would use if you were looking for builder!
Thanks
Dan
 
Dan,

TBH I always use the Independant Directory first and with those prices I would say alot more companies will move as well :thumbsup:

Alan
 
Dan you are right Golden Pages are good there's no
doubt about it !!!!!!

But like you we had the exact same issue , So i told them to fook
off.......

We kept a very small add , little box a few lines , but did sign up for the
online Golden Pages , every week we get inquiry's from Golden Pages online.
So far so good .

Hope this helps.

Niall.
 
Theres no way other business's will pay these prices. I'd tell him to get back to you if they drop their prices. Tell them there is a recession going on
 
[quote author=AndyC link=topic=13332.msg164802#msg164802 date=1236203655]
Golden Pages Dan...sorry.

12K in advertising! :eek7:
[/quote]

the money in advertising is crazy, work in the industry,
for an A5 ad, (half the size of an A4 page) in the Times for one day only is about €24,000..... :wazzup:
hard to believe eh
 
12k into your skyline plaster it with stickers and hope that everyone who goes to mondello wants building work done.problem solved.
 
For 200e we'll let you advertise on here Dan, even give you a flashing, colour ad on top of the board :icon_grin:

Crazy prices alright. I don't think I've ever let a tradesman near my house that wasn't recommended by word of mouth. Not sure if that helps you at all.
 
Their price has gone up to meet demand. With the amount of builder looking for work and the Yellow pages been the first place most people look for anything out side of 11850 which I think uses Yellow pages as a platform and the web I'd say they know how valuable they are in todays market hence the 5% rise in the price.

I'd think long and hard before I'd give up the spot you have.

Look at last year and then add up how much work came your way from it. Did you make a profit after the add was paid for etc.
 
Golden pages is what I grab first to be honest Dan :thumbsup:
What about sponsoring a set of Jerseys?? it's €750 and a few little jobs will pay for them :thumbsup:
Cheers
John
 
Internet advertising is working out pretty feckin expensive as well! I'm doing that also
It works out that I get, about a third of my work from GP, a third from the Net and a third form referals!
It's very difficult to make any profit at all at the moment, I'd be happy just to sty ticking over untill things get better,
I'm just about ticking over at the moment, (on three cylinders) If I got rid of a few lads then I'd be comfortble, but I have all my lads more or less for 5-6years!
And they wont get another job if I let them go!

Can someone add a poll to this thread, I can't because my '09 full membership hasn't kicked in yet! Poll would be 1: 01 GP 2: 01 Indo 3: 04 GP 4: 04 Indo
And thanks everyone for your input, It is a great help!
I perticularly like Dagnuts Idea, I mentioned it to my Wifey, and she said NO :dontknow: I thought it was a good idea!
 
I only ever use word of mouth, do you post anything through the doors??
In this market people arent moving house but upgrading there own, look at area's/housing estates most likley to do this.
 
right who'd look up the golden pages for a garage or mechanic to service there car ring them up and drop the car off the next day to get it done without asking someone about them word of mouth is ten times better imho.that's crazy money Dan for an add you'd do alot of building work to make 12k clear profit .the way things are gone people are going to be getting a few prices so they'll be asking more than one builder to price it so better chance offhaving a chance .
 
Our company left the golden pages too. Its just too expensive, but a lot of work does come from it so its a hard decision. If i was looking for a builder id go word of mouth Dan, may be try local papers? Advertising is a lot cheaper there, combine that with a maybe JohnMs idea with a local sports club and it could be the way to go to keep ticking over :dontknow:

Or as above with the skyline :thumbsup:
 
Leaflet drops are a waste of time for something that costs €12K-€20K because it just puts the idea into peoples heads!
When they go on the internet or open a book or ask a friend, then they are actually looking for a builder,
It has been a long time since I got a "simple" job, ie. A job that any cowboy can do!
Most jobs I get to do are the awkward ones that cowboys have been to and can't figure out how to do it!
So many unemployed builders out there at the moment, and it seems half of them are chancing there arm at attics!
Most not paying Tax or insurance,
Rant over!
Dan
 
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