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Poll: Do you get business from your listing in the business phone book? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you get business from your listing in the business phone book?".
This poll was originally submitted by Oliver Lawrence. View the poll results »
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| When I registered in the UK phone book in 2008, | Jul 5, 2013 |
the only enquiries I received were from people trying to sell things to me. Still, at least I got a free pen out of it with my name on .
But after hearing recently that a colleague in the Netherlands had much more luck with a telephone directory listing, I wondered if it varies a lot from country to country.
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DianeGM 
Local time: 18:56
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
I have been listed for almost 10 years now but I don't remember a single occassion on which a potential client contacted me and said 'I got your contact details from the phone book' - it was all via word of mouth. Proz, other online listings, etc.
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 18:56
Turkish to English
+ ...
| I am not listed nowadays, but ... | Jul 5, 2013 |
... about a decade ago I was freelancing in London and bought small display ads in a number of local yellow pages directories. This only every brought in one small job, worth twenty pounds, a tiny fraction of the cost of these insertions!
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 17:56
Spanish to English
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| I'm not in the business telephone directory | Jul 5, 2013 |
(AFAIK)...
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I am no longer listed. Just like Diane, I can't remember a single occasion on which a potential client contacted me saying that he/she got my contact details from the phone book - it was all via word of mouth, Portuguese Embassy in Brussels, Proz, other online listings, etc. Yellow pages advertisement seems rather expensive for what it brings...
[Edited at 2013-07-05 09:01 GMT]
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Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 00:56
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Intentionally... | Jul 5, 2013 |
Not in the business phone book any more
I used to be, and because the name of my company begins with "A" and I was at the top of the list. I used to get lots of inquiries along the lines of:
"I need you to translate a wedding certificate by lunchtime" (phone call at 1o a.m.)
"I'm having a meeting this afternoon and I want you to be there to translate (sic) for me." -- You need an intrepreter, mate!
You get the gist -- just the type of inquiries for jo... See more Not in the business phone book any more
I used to be, and because the name of my company begins with "A" and I was at the top of the list. I used to get lots of inquiries along the lines of:
"I need you to translate a wedding certificate by lunchtime" (phone call at 1o a.m.)
"I'm having a meeting this afternoon and I want you to be there to translate (sic) for me." -- You need an intrepreter, mate!
You get the gist -- just the type of inquiries for jobs I didn't need. Grrrrr
I got a lot more peace and quiet by being off-radar.  ▲ Collapse
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Nigel Greenwood (X)
Spain
Local time: 17:56
Spanish to English
+ ...
| No I am not listed, thank-you | Jul 5, 2013 |
After my many years as a consultant for SMEs I learnt that listings in Business Directories are expensive and practically useless. Since I joined ProZ, I have had sufficient work from the 8-10 clients I have obtained and maintained. I do no publicity and no marketing, and I still work a good 8-10 hours a day.
Regards,
Nigel
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Anna Wiman
Sweden
Local time: 17:56
Member
German to Swedish
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| When about 95% of clients are abroad... | Jul 5, 2013 |
...I don't see the reason why I should have my company in the business phone book, especially not when I live in a really small place.
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My answer varies between "very little" and "a significant amount" - about 45% of my customers are local, direct clients; some of whom I've gained through word of mouth, the others from Yellow Pages.
There are about 10 translators listed in YP locally, and I pay extra to make sure I'm always in the top 2 results when YP is checked online. It costs about €33/month but I consider the investment has been worth it given the business it's earned me. It's the only advertising I pay for.
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Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:56
Russian to English
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In memoriam | It wasn't much use to me personally. | Jul 5, 2013 |
Yellow Pages offered me free listing for the West Country with a limited number of words, but their version listed me as a translator without mentioning my language, Russian - so I occasionally got requests for other languages - Spanish-English mostly - for which I gave them details of someone appropriate from the local ITI group I belonged to. So it was of more help to other people than to me.
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I swapped my budget assignation from Yellow Pages to my website for my language school business a few years ago which was a huge saving and has brought me far more traffic.
If I had ever advertised my translation services on the Yellow Pages I would imagine I would have done the same, but I don't see any point in using the Yellow Pages, even the digital version, for this kind of advertising. The digital version is particularly unprofessional looking imo. And I prefer to use Proz an... See more I swapped my budget assignation from Yellow Pages to my website for my language school business a few years ago which was a huge saving and has brought me far more traffic.
If I had ever advertised my translation services on the Yellow Pages I would imagine I would have done the same, but I don't see any point in using the Yellow Pages, even the digital version, for this kind of advertising. The digital version is particularly unprofessional looking imo. And I prefer to use Proz and word of mouth. ▲ Collapse
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Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 21:26
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | The phone book has gone the dinosaur way here! | Jul 5, 2013 |
Nobody uses the phone in India now (I means the landline connected to an exchange). It is all mobiles, operated by a dozen telecom companies. Phone books are no longer published nor are yellow pages. They are available on the internet though. And it is pointless to list your name in the phonebook because most people now use their cell phones and only government offices have landline phones (which most of the time don't function!).
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Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 17:56
Member (2006)
German to English
Thank goodness there is theinternet.
I have not had / had to look in a phone book for about 15 years now
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Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 11:56
English to Spanish
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| Off the radar | Jul 5, 2013 |
Julian Holmes wrote: Not in the business phone book any more I used to be, and because the name of my company begins with "A" and I was at the top of the list. I used to get lots of inquiries along the lines of: "I need you to translate a wedding certificate by lunchtime" (phone call at 1o a.m.) "I'm having a meeting this afternoon and I want you to be there to translate (sic) for me." -- You need an intrepreter, mate! You get the gist -- just the type of inquiries for jobs I didn't need. Grrrrr I got a lot more peace and quiet by being off-radar.
Good examples, mate! Who uses phonebooks these days? My local phone company (AT&T) still sends free, bulky phone books to my condo building. Sometimes they're useful if I'm looking for a quick piece of info, such as local bookbinders.
Other than that, they make a great doorstop. I also read that some sculptors buy books to sandblast them into works of art. Who knew?
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