True Local is Hopeless
Originally uploaded by bigmick
Every once in a while I think that in-house marketing teams at the big companies are getting their act together with web applications and that my services will no longer be required.
Then I come across something like TrueLocal.com.au and think - wow, they are light years behind.
I Googled Hornsby Paint and got a little map and a map promo to a Hornsby based paint store - awesome - no surprises that Google works well.
Then I noticed a listing for Paint in Hornsby from Truelocal, a website that offers local directory listings in Australia. They did a whole lot of ads a while back bragging about how there is no use looking for plumbers in one town when you’re in another. In reality they are just as bad as Yellow Pages is in Australia. Just useless. Look for one thing and they give you someone in a different town.
But my click through gave me people in a different state. Truelocal? Huh? WTF? It just comes across like they’ve never actually used the product.
So there is plenty more room for web application strategists like me to ply our trade. :-)
Popularity: 13% [?]
5 responses so far ↓
1 Lachlan Hardy // Jan 5, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Actually, mate, I’d suggest that this is not a technical issue, but one of sales. If they don’t have the listings…
2 Lachlan Hardy // Jan 5, 2008 at 12:22 pm
BTW, that CAPTCHA is utter bollocks! When are you moving to Wordpress? (you can use OpenID!)
I know nothing about Wordpress, but I’ll help in any way I can
3 Mick Liubinskas // Jan 6, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Oh, come on? Did you work on that one Lachlan Hardy?
If there are no listings, don’t show me any. Or offer to look in another area? Or say, these are from another area?
No?
As with word press, yeah, I hear you, but I’m now 5 years gone on Typepad and have 10 blogs here - inertia is hard!
4 Lachlan Hardy // Jan 7, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Nah, I didn’t work on it, I don’t actually know, and I’m not defending it. But you know as well as I that if that were the case, management would never accept delivering a “sorry, we can’t help you”. Which is still utter bollocks, but it is a feasible explanation for lameness :)
Inertia does suck, badly. It’s all about ripping the bandage off in one quick smooth motion. Would you rather wait until you have 12 blogs? I guess it all depends on a brutal assessment of whether TypePad is still the platform for you. If it’s not, then you’re best to move on as soon as you can.
(says the guy who had to be given a blog and still hasn’t customised it anywhere near enough and struggles to get his ideas in order for publication)
5 clickfind // Feb 27, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Give http://www.clickfind.com.au business directory a go, love to get any feedback, even if it’s bad feedback ;-)
If you do a business search in a radius and there is no listing (whihc is quite likely since we’re 3 months old) you get presented with other options, i.e. browse or widen your radius etc. give it a go and let me know…
cheers.
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