I’d never heard of LocalEdge until a recent phone call where someone mentioned the Hearst-owned business unit. The company says that it “services over 80,000 customers [advertisers] nationwide.”
LocalEdge is partly affiliated with White Directories, owned by Hearst, but it also seems to cross over into the newspaper and other local media properties. I’m not sure how it organizationally relates to these other entities and the larger Hearst organization. (Fill me in if you know.) It mainly appears to be a sales organization, very much like Yodle or ReachLocal.
However, there’s an online and mobile consumer angle here too:
Otherwise there a range of products and services similar to other full-service SMB marketing programs in the industry being sold at the local level:
There are other products as well: direct mail, video display ads on Yahoo . . . Who knows anything about these guys and how they compare?
December 30th, 2010 at 12:17 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Greg Sterling, UBLorg. UBLorg said: Great Local Post! Hearst’s LocalEdge Has 80K Advertisers – I'd never heard of LocalEdge until a recent phone call wh… http://ow.ly/1aEyhP [...]
December 30th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
This is just my review of LocalEdge: The products LocalEdge offers are the worst. And they don’t let you cancel the contract when this becomes painfully clear. They gave me nothing that my nephew couldn’t do after he was done with his homework. About $300 a month (and a contarct) for what I could have had done for a $50 one time fee. The worst! My salesperson wasn’t an idiot but he had no idea what was going on with the products.
December 30th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Don:
Thanks for the feedback this is the first direct information I’ve heard about them.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Greg – Isn’t this the former Metrix4Media? I know awhile back they were doing all of the SEM for White.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Jim:
You win the prize. Good memory. I think you’re right. I had completely forgotten . . .
January 4th, 2011 at 4:00 am
LocalEdge is a division of Hearst Media Services. Hearst publishs the Hearst Newspapers, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Oprah’s O Magazine etc. They purchased White Directory Publishing in 2004 which published The Talking Phonebook, a 40 year old company. Hearst has invested millions into the digital space including purchasing iCrossing, one of the largest independant internet marketing companies in the nation. While Metrix4Media does some work for the company, LocalEdge is a division of Hearst. Currently its a digital company that also offers direct mail, yellow pages (in many markets) video, text advertising, Yahoo! Behaviorial Targeting Display advertising and more.—
Not sure what Don thought he bought,but the SEO, SEM and Social Media integrated programs and optimized Landing Pages compete aggressively in the market. It’s not about website building, it’s about being found on the web.
January 4th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
LocalEdge is a digital company, they have done very well versus others in the space. Strong in SEO, SEM, SMM and Video.
January 4th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Don:
Please contact us, we are eager to address your concerns.
digitalcustomercare@localedge.com — Attn: Anna Olson.
Customer Service, LocalEdge
January 6th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Wow, LocalEdge is trying to help Don quickly……….
January 11th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Don, reading your comments almost knocked me off my seat. It was like looking in a mirror.When I looked up local edge and saw it was part of Hearst,I expected a lot more. Like you said, it was like a kid was doing it. It is now going on the second month and I have nothing. I kept telling them the information was wrong and they didn’t change it.
I was sent from one person to another and still have nothing.
I have the same thing with the “contract”. If you get nothing, what is the contract worth? Every day I am losing the potential for new customers.
January 28th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
I am so MAD & FURIOUS about Local Edge! What a bunch of ROOKIES! I probably know more than them. Their affiliation with HEARST is a DREAM THEY MUST BE HAVING! LATE SERVICE, THEY USED FAKE PHOTO’S, COPIED TEXTS WRITING. There “LANDING PAGE MANUAL” they give you for editing is useless- as they don’t let anyone edit anymore with it (I really didn’t want to edit anyway, AS I THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE DOING ALL THE WORK.) You have to send on the photos and texts or email them (what if you didn’t know how to do send PDF’S or pictures) IT’S LIKE THEY HIRED ME TO DO ALL THE WORK FOR THEM AND THEY BILL ME FOR IT? I CALLED MY BANK AND CANCELED MY DEBIT CARD, SO THEY COULDN’T BILL ME. WROTE E-MAILS TO THEM ABOUT RELEASING ME FROM A STUPID VERBAL CONTRACT OVER THE PHONE THAT GAVE YOU NO IDEA WHAT YOU WERE GETTING. STILL NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THEM–AWFUL THE WORST PRODUCT I EVER BOUGHT!
February 9th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
[...] not clear whether this is based on Hearst’s LocalEdge platform or another back end. I know that Yahoo is in the mix here (behavioral targeting) too. Does anyone [...]
February 26th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
The only way Yahoo is in the mix is that they do what they call Behavior Targeting I think. Hearst Communications owns White Directory, White Directory published Talking Phone Book, then they decided to change the name to Local Edge. They aren’t doing anything a 10 year old couldn’t do. The SEO is automated. They will let you out of the contract if you don’t pay it. I’d look into what they say they are doing and what they really are doing. Deceptive advertising. Unfulfilled contract obligations. Fraudulent products, etc. A lot of their stuff is just that, stuff. If you want real digital marketing, better call Yodel!
March 19th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
I’m not sure about all your experiences, but mine have been fantastic. I’ve been with LocalEdge for a few months and my landing page is at the top of the Google and Yahoo searches in my coverage area. I only do SEO and SMM with them. But from what I’m seeing, it works. Ive never had a problem editing my landing page or updating Facebook.
March 21st, 2011 at 1:36 pm
[...] says that it “services over 80,000 customers [...]
May 4th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Look I’ve seen no results whatsover other than on their paper stats sheet. But let’s go with their stats: 12 phone calls in 3 months!!! 12 potential customers? Not really. 6 of them were not even from the area! I’ve got a lawyer looking into the contract now. They have lied and not delivered!
May 10th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
I am reading about the trouble other people had like myself with local edge. I put in a complaint to the BBB and Attorney General Schneiderman (new york). One complaint doesn’t seem to go far.If everyone would send in their trouble it would wake them up.
YOU’RE NOT ALONE! LET THEM KNOW IT!
May 31st, 2011 at 7:57 pm
I also wrote the Better Business Bureau,The Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. Local Edge engaged me in a recorded contract for services they did not provide. My business was listed by zipcode making it almost invisible to the public. I never saw any pay per click ads that they promised, and they launched a video on youtube without notifying me. Of course the video has hardly been seen. In the beginning these amatures ,listed my businees as a Security Firm which I am not, never returned my calls, had some empioyee who could not spell “Atlanta:” correctly. Worthless source!
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Localedge is part of Hearst Media. Just like the SanFrisco Chronical, Road and Track Magazine and about 100 other companies. My experience was very good and professoional. Had an excellent sales person and they had my web site optimized on Google, Yahoo and Bing within 30 days. Sounds like Gregg and Don need to do their homework before doing business.
August 31st, 2011 at 2:35 am
Tom, I am a former employee of Local Edge and I can tell you that the products don’t work. They use Hearst Media to look like a legitimate company, but I can assure you they are not. I have sold search engine optimization packages that aren’t even up and running for 5 or 6 months because the company is so disorganized and uses old school techniques. The worst part is the customer still paid for theses months becuase Local Edge is a ripoff company that will do anything to reach their sales numbers. Internally, everything is done on paper, which is ironic because they are supposed to be a cutting edge multimedia company. Not to mention, they work their employees long hours with no extra compensation, and they find ways to take their employee’s commission away ALL the time. The Folkimer family only looks after themselves. Don’t do business with Local Edge and definitely don’t work there.
September 1st, 2011 at 5:11 pm
LocalEdge is by far the worst choice for handling social media of any kind. Not only do they do an awful (read: non-existent) job of managing your online exposure, but their customer service is an absolute joke. If you call and ask simple, direct questions, you will get a different answer every time.
What’s more, if you allow them to create social media profiles on your behalf, you will never get access to the credentials. This means that if you choose to leave their service you still won’t get your Twitter handle etc….(thank God that Facebook lets you merge pages now).
Do yourself a favor and AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!!!
September 1st, 2011 at 5:13 pm
@Former Local Edge Employee,
Is there any way to recover a Twitter handle created by them?
September 1st, 2011 at 5:17 pm
They will probably make you by it. If you buy a URL from them the only way to own it after you stop advertising is pay a high fee to get it back.
September 6th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Local Edge is horrible. They won’t let me get out of the contract so I’m still getting bent over every month. They have me listed in a city that’s close to an hour away from me, and that city’s not calling me either. Probably 4 breaches in the contact on their end and they won’t let me settle. How are they still in business? Why should we pay for nothing in return?
January 10th, 2012 at 11:26 am
Localedge and Hearst have some very competitive prices and products. The unique partnership they have with Google, Yahoo and Bing sets them apart from their rivals.
January 25th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
^^Unique Google, Yahoo, and Bing partnership my ass. I worked for this sham of a company and was embarrassed to meet with customers everyday. Their “partnership” with Google is laughable. Google has no clue who LocalEdge is, nor would they care even if they did. Anyone can become Google AdWords certified by taking a simple test online. Believe me, had you met some of the clowns I worked with, you would know that ANYONE can pass the test. Their Social Media Marketing campaign is humorous. Basically you pay them to “manage” you social media presence through Facebook and Twitter. By “manage” what I really mean is, they will wait for you to write the biography for the business, send pictures to them to upload, and keep current blog posts on your page….sound familiar??? THAT’S BECAUSE YOU CAN ALREADY DO ALL OF THIS FOR FREE THROUGH TWITTER AND FACEBOOK!!! The only thing their managing affords you is, they will call and annoy the piss out of you every 2 weeks if you don’t update your Twitter or Facebook page on a regular basis. It is true as stated above…employees work on paper contracts and then have to mail the contracts to Buffalo, New York for approval at the head office. Half of the time those clowns get the copy wrong and the sales rep has to resend it. And if there is a problem with anything…go ahead and do yourself a favor and find the nearest 12 story building and jump off of it. Don’t even get me started on their SEM marketing that is normally Geo Targeted to the wrong zip code or has keywords that don’t even relate to the business at hand. Also, If you ever hear the word ProAd dribble out of a salesman’s mouth go ahead and do yourself a favor and escort the salesman out of your establishment by any means necessary. This company is a joke. The employees know it, the managers know it, the CEO knows it, and hopefully soon the public will know it too. Oh, and the Hearst affiliation is a joke as well. It was pretty clear Hearst knows little about the company they purchased. I sometimes would wonder if Hearst even realized they had purchased the company at all. Luckily LocalEdge had the Hearst name tied to them (no matter how loosely), otherwise they would have had no credibility at all. This company did use to be called The Talking Phone Book lest we forget. A company that has been confirmed to throwing phone books in a river in South Carolina and storing an additional 20K books in a warehouse. Google it and you will see the lawsuit. Buyer Beware!!!!
February 2nd, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Listen to the above negative comments which are all TRUE! LocalEdge is a joke and takes advantage of its customers in overcharging their clients, not following up with them and signing their customers for unnecessary digital products in which the customer could do themselves. You’re being scammed! If you’re looking for a job, look elsewhere… This is a very, very bad place to work! AND, to potential clients, please don’t allow this company to take your money and receive nothing in return! F.Y.I. This company is formally known as ‘The Talking Phone Book’. The only thing that’s changed with them is the name. They still have the same old school management from years ago and I must say, I know more disgruntled ex employees of LocalEdge then new ones. And why do you ask? The sales quotas are unrealistic, employees are treated poorly and training is a joke. If you last more than three months, I’d be very, very surprised because you’re either fired or you quit because you became acquainated with LocalEdge/Hearst Corporation and their immoral disgusting ethics.
February 2nd, 2012 at 7:44 pm
Oh… And while I’m on my negative rant about this company, I’m sure the positive comments you see listed above are written by LocalEdge managers. Very, very few customers are satisfied with their contract, customer service, rediculous, expensive fees and non-exisistent performing products. ProAd? Ha-Ha-Ha! This is a very unprofessional webpage they call a website! Check it out. Go to localedge.com and pull up some customers and check out their webpages. What a disgrace.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:26 am
As a former local edge employee I can tell you that this company is in over its head. They mass produce mediocre looking websites that look like they’re made by 10 year olds. Do they rank well? About 50 percent of the time they’re in the top ten, but think about it. If you go to a website that looks like total crap are you going to utilize their services? I don’t think so. I’m wondering how long it is before people start to realize that they’ve ordered crap and begin going with other companies for their SEO needs. This company also promotes people without college education and practical experience over people who have it.
February 3rd, 2012 at 4:12 pm
So true Mike… I wish more people would look at this site before they invest their money in a product, or products that don’t work with reps. that are so burnt out with the company politics, they just don’t care anymore. And, it’s ironic that the people they fire are usually the employees with the most intelligence and college degrees, etc. There are some good people working for LocalEdge though, but let me tell you, they’ve been looking for jobs for a long time. LocalEdge used to be on a ‘Draw’ system, if you’re familiar with that. So, what happened was when a new employee was hired, he/she was given an ex employee’s revenue accounts that had maybe one or two decent accounts in the bunch of about 50 or so . Then, when the excited new rep. went out in the field to sign the client back up, the client usually wouldn’t agree to another year and in most cases the employee was yelled at, booted out the door, etc. So, I guess you see where I’m going with this… Each account that the new rep. had been assigned that discontinued their contract with LocalEdge was a red figure toward their commission draw. So for example, if a rep. lost an account for $5000 annually that he/she was assigned, it was added to their red figure draw commissions. Some of the reps. ended up $15,000 or so in the red which was no fault of their own even if they signed up 10 new accounts, they could never bounce back. LocalEdge was consistently assigning BAD, old accounts to reps. after a rep. resigned, instead of dropping the customers out of the system that had not paid their invoices for many months, even up to a year! Can you imagine that?? So, the poor new rep. was given bogus accounts in which the company was TOTALLY AWARE OF! The majority of people were NOT making commissions and working their butts off to keep their heads above water. It used to be that a rep. would be punished and made to work on Saturdays if they didn’t meet their quota and so on and so on. The company finally changed the draw to a base salary, but in doing so, also changed the commission structure; 1% commission for assigned accounts (still bad accounts, that didn’t change) and 6%, I think for new accounts. The managers also turned a cheek when new accounts were forged due to the reps. trying to keep their jobs and receive a commission, always paying out of their own pocket to add an account as a new one. That’s why, my friends that LocalEdge now requires a copy of your driver’s license so they can make sure that you are a legitmate account. Don’t be fooled by the rep telling you it’s all for your privacy protection, etc. That’s a scam. In the past, many employees filed class action suits against the company for misconduct of the company, sexual harrassment and unpaid commissions, but lost their cases and guess what? Yep… They were fired. This company needs to be investigated starting at the very top!!!!! Now… who wants to work for this immoral company, let alone invest their money in advertising?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 3rd, 2012 at 5:11 pm
The Fo-k–er family is Crooked! Local edge is going down because their products don’t work, their sales reps have no incentive to perform, and customers can smell the desperation. The Jax office went from having 25 reps to 5 in one year, and the regional manager is now nothing more than a rep (have fun prepping your 20 accounts a day:)! Take your tiny severance package and run!!
February 3rd, 2012 at 5:22 pm
Jeff Folkemer is a tyrant and a liar. The company might actually benefit if he was not in charge. I actually hope Karma takes a huge bite out of LocalEdge and Hearst! Yes… Customers are beginning to see the light in noting that LocalEdge is after all ‘The Talking Phone Book’. I would love to hear more replies from customers, employees, etc. The word needs to be out about this deceitful company.
Good riddance LocalEdge!
February 4th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Former Employee which office did you work in? I worked in their John Muir office. I actually know of a situation where one of the performance coaches in digital telesales sexually harassed an employee, then when he was going to complain she got him fired for not making enough phone calls in a day. That same manager also hit on me at an office get together.
I know some people who work at the 1945 Sheridan office too. Right now their situation is so bad that people are having to double park because the company is too cheap to move to a new location.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
It doesn’t matter where I worked Mike, not being rude… The company overall is just corrupt and I hope they end up getting sued with a huge class action law suit whether it be for sexual harassment or management misconduct.
February 6th, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Here is a true example of LE policy in the Jax, FL office. Management wouldn’t buy plastic cord covers to hide computer wires, and employees kept tripping. One lady was even taken to the hospital in an ambulance because she landed on her knee. No changes were made to improve the situation, and people continued to trip on cords…
February 7th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
So funny… This happened in our old office as well. It just so happened that no one was hurt, but nothing was done to alleviate the problem. Everything is business as usual in a LocalEdge office until an employee files a complaint aganist the company. Did you hear about the employee in the southeast office that was worked to death by an division manager until he died of a stroke? And guess where he had the stroke? Supposedly from what I’ve heard through the grapevine, in the office. The manager was later fired, but I think she was fired for sexual harrassment from a class action law suit. But before she was fired, everyone that was in the lawsuit was fired before she was let go. Great company to work for, eh? Stay clear of LocalEdge!!!!!
February 7th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
I can tell you without a doubt this is easily one of the worst companies I’ve ever worked for. If you don’t believe me, ask the 7 employees who’ve quit within the last 4 weeks from my office alone. They even hired a guy and made up a special position for him with much higher base pay than the rest of us, and he quit within a month! Management has no clue what they are doing because they’re all former sales reps from a time when the phone book was still relevant. There are probably 2 (out of 7!) intelligent and qualified managers in my office, and trust me, our regional VP is not one of them. He’s a man who has to be right all the time, so he’s surrounded himself with a bunch of group thinkers who agree with him on everything. Not to mention what a passive aggressive ass he is.
Not only this, but the new CEO we hired came from another failing phone book/SEO company. Why would anyone want to hire someone who helped drive a competing company into the ground?
Oh yeah, and any positive comments you see about Local Edge were likely put there by management. A bunch were put up a few weeks ago when LE had a conference in Buffalo, where everyone there was asked to go online and write something nice about us. Then they had the balls to come back and ask us to do the same. How about this, instead of writing fake comments, maybe we should invest a little more in fixing the products we sell? Nah, instead we’ll just make up new products and set totally unrealistic prices for them.
They tell us all the time “negativity breeds negativity”. Sad thing is we’re not being negative, we’re taking about reality here. The management lives in a fantasy world, not realizing the market has changed from 20 years ago when they were sales reps and people actually needed a phone book. The funniest part is that they keep this constant pressure on you like if you don’t perform they’re going to fire you, but what most don’t realize is that so many people quit within their first 6 months that they can’t afford to fire you! That’s pretty much the only reason I still have this job.
This place is a sinking ship, and anyone with a functioning brain (that hasn’t already been warped by the lies and cherry picked statistics) can see it.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:02 am
@ Current LE Employee… Get out of there now before LocalEdge/Hearst totally screws you. I know of at least 10 former employees who sold advertising products before coming to work for LocalEdge, and that’s always been their work related field! From what I’ve heard, LocalEdge tried to sue them for violating a non-compete contract, and at least three of them are still looking for work. Advertising companies that wish to hire them will not. As soon as the former LE employee tells them they’ve signed a non-compete, Hearst will follow through and intimidate the new employer, if it’s within a one year period from the time the employee quit . The contract states that you as an employee upon quitting CAN NOT go to work for ANY advertising company that LocalEdge/Hearst feels is competing against them!!!!!! Look at the non-compete contract you signed! You’ve just signed your soul to the devil. Good luck! Please get as many employees, former and present, along with unhappy LocalEdge clients to read these comments before they sign any contract! Maybe they will think twice before going to work for, or advertising with such a ‘Slimy’ company as LocalEdge.
February 8th, 2012 at 1:26 am
All the negative things (above) about LocalEdge are true. Prospective customers and job seekers deserve to know the truth. This company is run by greedy criminals and people need to stay away from LE.
February 8th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
It’s good to hear that information about LocalEdge/Hearst is finally coming out into the open! I feel so sorry for the clients or past clients that were swindled by this company. The truth is out there! Keep reading and go back to Google and read other threads about LocalEdge… All true, with the exception of comments made by staff that are bogus in stating what a wonderful company this is to work for and how advanced they are on digital products. B.S. and double B.S.!
February 8th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
When we sold the customer Social Media Management (Facebook) our office was forced to like the customer’s page. We were usually the only likes on their page. Also, we couldn’t sell direct mail without packaging in our useless Facebook product. What a joke…
February 8th, 2012 at 5:53 pm
And… What’s so bad, is that all the social media sites are free! LocalEdge tells the customer that they will manage everything for them, and DON’T! So, the new client is paying for a service which is already FREE, and paying to have it managed, WHICH, IT’S NOT! What a scam and joke this company is.
February 11th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
As someone who worked for TPB for many years when yellow pages were still relevant I knew in my last couple of years that the digital products were a complete scam. They would change the portfolio of products on a yearly basis and force the sales group to make them seem like the next best thing when they were generic and insignificant. The biggest scam of all by this company is the lack of pricing integrity, how this has never been investigated is amazing. For all of you advertisers out there why dont you ask each other what you are paying for the same exact ads. I would be willing to guarantee that there would be a major discrepancy across the board. All you have to do is complain, wait it out, and they will drop their drawers at the last hour. So therefore you good paying customers who dont complain about your yellow page pricing which is at full price is getting screwed by your neighbor who is getting it for a 50% or more discount because they complain.
It’s too bad because this company was a lucrative place to work and when they shifted to these ridiculous digital products and abandoned the yellow pages so quickly they destroyed the company and have seen nothing but losses every year since the sale to Hearst. Inturn they have lost or forced out many good employees that they perceived didn’t have value anymore. However, Local directory managers especially in Buffalo maintain their jobs while taking record losses. How does that happen?
February 11th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
i worked in buff for years, this was a great company when it was in the right hands, now it is unethical in the worst sense, just lies and smoke screens, they will work you to the bone and then outsource your job.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
Ex employee-4000 hit it right on the head, as a long time employee when Yellow pages were the major local marketing media this company ” White Directory Publishers
” had it down and offered an outstanding product. When the company was sold to The Hearst Corporation things really started to go down hill. The new managers especially the Folckemer’s never even finished high school. This is the greediest most deceptive bunch of idiots out there, if thier advertisers compared contracts you would find some people paying double for the same ad !
just tell them you want to CANCEL and watch the scramble begin, you will get a much better deal especially if you wait until the end. The Buffalo Managers are in way over thier heads and the internet products are terrible and do not work. This company is a complete scam and should be investigated, they are in desperate mode and will do anything they have to, including lie, cheat and steal ! All the long time reps have all quit because of what has become of this company. I would love to see some Lawyers get together and compare contracts, talk about class action lawsuit !!
February 12th, 2012 at 8:18 pm
All the negative comments above are true …………… no one in that organization knows whats going on, from department to department it’s a complete joke! The two people they have running the Buffalo office are a couple of intimidating, lying bumbling idots ! stay away from this company
February 12th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
It is sad that the company has fallen so fast. When I first started there it was a good company but the downward tailspin was just starting, I would say anybody who is offered a job there, think twice before taking it. They treat their managers better than the employees who actually do the work. Way too many managers in a ratio to employees. They work you hard without and show of appreciation of the amount of overtime hours for free and hard work that you put in. I agree with the poster above the lies and the non communication from managers is a joke.
February 12th, 2012 at 8:59 pm
It is sad that the company has fallen so fast. When I first started there it was a good company but the downward tailspin was just starting, I would say anybody who is offered a job there, think twice before taking it. They treat their managers better than the employees who actually do the work. Way too many managers in a ratio to employees. They work you hard without any show of appreciation. The amount of overtime hours for free and hard work that you put in is taken for granted. I agree with the poster above the lies and the non communication from managers is a joke.
February 12th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
As an employee, I can tell you right now that LocalEdge is not the company I thought it would be. I thought it strange that I was hired on my first interview, but needing the job, I accepted. I was surprised that the training was not more detailed and felt sorry for the people in the class that were not Internet savvy. Even though some people did not pass the course, they were still given a completion certificate which was a joke. We had to take a Google AdWords test to be able to sell Google Adwords and if you didn’t pass that, you still graduated. It seems that every advertising Internet company says they are adwords certified and this is such a joke, especially with LocalEdge. The first week went all right until I signed my first customer up for a $300 internet package. I sent the paperwork up to the corporate office in Buffalo only to have it sent back to me because the customer supposedlydid not fill in certain information which I thought was ridiculous. I had to go back to the client and have him sign a whole new contract. Then the corporate internet department got his webpage running and he called me and said the information was wrong along with everything being thrown together on the page in a sloppy manner and mispelled. I was told by my manager to have the client call Corporate and they would walk him through the changes. He never did, stating he did not have time because he had a business to run and thought this would be managed for him. Since our training class was not trained sufficiently in helping our new clients with their webpages, I was helpless to help my new client when he called me a second time. I went to my manager again and asked if I could try and help my client. She said not to worry about it, that corporate would take care of it and to get back out there and sell more accounts. Three weeks later my client called again and said nothing had been done to his page and he didn’t have time to work with it. He did say that the corporate office called him to help walk him through the process, but after 30 minutes of getting nowhere and wasting his vauable time, he got frustrated and hung up. I was told to tell the client that the corporate internet group would be managing his webpage along with his social media sites, but he said nothing has been done except receiving annoying voice mails on his cell phone about making changes to the sites. Six weeks later, my training class starting quitting or were fired for not meeting unrealistic goals. By then, my client told me he was not going to pay anymore bills for a service that he was not receiving and started screaming at me. By then, I had signed three other accounts and the same thing was happening to them. I was getting frustrated and on top of that, our office sales reps. were treated with mistrust and made to report back into the office at 4:00 everyday! Some of the reps. lived as far away as 20 miles or so, and this was a total waste of gas for them! And, LocalEdge does not pay but a very small percentage for our gas expenses, about $25 a week. That’s not enough to cover a huge territory, so my gas expenses are coming out of my pocket!!!! Everyone, including the old reps. are looking for jobs and it’s getting to the point, that most accounts I walk into, kick me out the door. What has LocalEdge done to their past clients that have made them so angry? I am sorry to say, I’m totally embarrassed to even be associated with this company!!!!! I was also told by management that since I signed a non-compete contract with them, I can not go to work for any company that may find to be competitive for a year! I’m screwed, because this is the only field of work I’m familiar with. Can someone please advise me what to do? From what the old employees have told me just recently, I’m shocked! Now I see why my manager told me to stay away from negativity. There is nothing but deception and negativity with this company!!!! HELP!
February 12th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
My manager texted and made personal calls about his direct mail/ graphic design company during work hours. Then he gave us “inspirational” speeches the next morning in our morning pep rallies. What a joke!
February 12th, 2012 at 9:20 pm
I think the non-compete clause in the contract is “vague” and you should quit and never look back. I have seen many coworkers quit and work for other real marketing companies. If you want to play it safe make an “appointment” with an attorney, mark it on the board, and see what he says about the non-compete clause. It’s probably just a scare tactic. As you quit say, “fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you’re cool, i’m out!”
February 12th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Thanks for the advice Former Jax! I’ve got to get out of here! I’ve only been here about three months or so, and the turnover is very high along with management micro managing us to death to the point I can’t do my job. The paperwork is ongoing and we’re told we can’t do it in the office because we need to be out in the field selling! And when we have to report back into the office every afternoon, we can’t complete our paperwork because our manager wants us on the phones until 5:30 calling potential customers. So, guess what? The majority of us work on weekends completing paperwork with NO PAY so we can stay caught up!!!!!! And what’s so funny, but not, is management gives us a list of pissed off ex clients to call to try and get back, in which I’m either laughed at or get a loud hang out. There are not too many college educated employees working here and their grammar is horrible! Who wants to be involved with an advertising company in which a sales rep. says, ‘Ain’t it’ all the time with a very limited vocabulary? I’ve got to find another job soon or I’m going to go crazy! I’ve heard some crazy stories about LocalEdge, formally Talking Phone Book. At first I thought it was just employees that weren’t doing their jobs and being reprimanded by management, but there are far too many employees that I see doing a great job and being fired, or quitting right and left. I’m out of here as soon as someone offers me a job. And, if management is reading this… Screw you and the Corporate office. I can’t wait to get out of here.
February 14th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
This place is a JOKE!! First & foremost the ex owner of TPB who boasts about his boats, homes, trip, etc….who used to get up in front of the sales force and say how everyone was “taking food off my table” – what goes around comes around. You started all of this pathethic managing though fear and intimidation and created all the toxic environment. And yes, you’re the one who hired all of these people. You’re the one who never got rid of certain div mgrs, and continued to use it to manage (if that’s what you call it). You’ve ruined so many lives and so many managers kids lives. So sad to have reps on the phones on a call blitz and have a div mgr yelling at other reps to get on the phone, all while clients are listening to this unprofessional behavior. The constant badgering, harassing and yelling at reps to do their work is just crazy. Also, what company has mgmt standing in front of a sales force of 40 people grabbing and using the phrase,”You’sguys’”????? SERIOUSLY!!!!! Just saying…If you’re considering working here, DON’T!!!! You’re better off at Wegmans!!!
February 14th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Wow… Not one good comment about LocalEdge? Ha-Ha! LOL! There are some good people in this company, but they can’t leave because of their kids being in college, being older and afraid to find another job and just used to the bull crap that they’ve been putting up with for years. Then, there are the ‘Folkemer Clones’ who still think the way to run an efficient office is by intimidation and fear of losing your job. Let’s just hope that Jeff Folkemer has Karma knocking at his back door soon. Really, really bad company to work for and worse if you do business with them. Class action suit anyone? Attorneys would make a mint off of this company!
February 14th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Well, someone passed this site along to me and as a past customer with Talking Phone Book, I can rest assure you that everything that all comments above are true as far as I know. I have become friends with a couple of old reps. from TheTalking Phone Book right before they changed their name to Local Edge. I’ve heard that nothings changed and they still treat their customers the way they treated me. I paid a lot of money for a full page yellow page ad, and there was a huge error on my ad which they couldn’t change! WRONG PHONE NUMBER! I kept getting billed and they told me they were taking me to collections. DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THIS LYING, CHEATING company. I would have sued them, but decided it’d be better if I just bad mouthed them which seems to be keeping a lot of my small business owners staying clear of Local Edge. And, they just don’t care about you after they’ve gotten your money!
February 15th, 2012 at 1:35 am
Looks like Local Edge is finally getting what is deserves …… and yes they still have the same morons in charge, doing a great job folks lol, lets all sit back and enjoy the closing of the doors ….. should be soon
February 15th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
A friend of mine who is also an ex customer of Local Edge emailed me last night telling me about this page. I want everyone to know how bad this company really is. If you go to Google or Google Maps and type in Local Edge, you’ll see more nasty comments about this company on other complaint sites. Here’s what they did to me. I signed a one year contract and they wanted to make a copy of my drivers license?????? What???? That’s an invasion of privacy as far as I’m concerned and I said NO. I still was signed up. When I was a customer, my rep. promised me all these perks I never got. I can’t remember but I think it was about $249 a month? I put $249 down and never heard from my salesman again.I got a call six months later from a girl who said she was my new sales rep and said she’d be out to see me and scheduled an appt. Never saw her. When my contract was up I cancelled.Then the calls started coming in from Local Edge begging me to stay with more promises. I told them to take a long leap over the moon. Three months later I got a bill for something like $1249 for two months for another year of service! I never RENEWed!!!! I asked to see the contract adn finally after two more months I got a copy in the mail. My signautre had been forged!!!!! I told that stupid corporate office in Buffalo, NY that I was sueing for forgery and they stopped sending me bills. Then I got a call last november being solicited. Why is this company still in business??????????????!!!!!!!!!!! If there are other businesses that have had any bad experiences I should would like to hear!
February 15th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
So it looks like some of my co-workers have chimed in! I won’t ask who you are, but know that you aren’t alone in your misery! If you’re looking for a place to work, this is not it. Avoid LE like the plague. Same goes for advertisers. We’re micro managed almost down to the hour now. Oh, and to anyone that’s cancelled our services since 2008, get ready to be visited by one of our reps! Management has become desperate for sales, and is now forcing us to “drop-in” unannounced on former clients, hoping we’ll find someone to sign back up. The downside of this is when management doesn’t get enough sales, and they start cutting jobs. Not theirs though, they’re too important and clearly too skilled to lose. Maybe we should hire another VP? We’re obviously not top heavy enough. Or maybe we should give our current VP ANOTHER RAISE? He’s def doing an awesome job using scare tactics to drum up sales from employees so worried about their jobs they can’t sleep at night. I’m not kidding. I’ve heard that from more than a few coworkers here. This place is falling apart. Anyway, I must be going now, it’s 4:05 and haven’t done my hourly check-in with my manager yet, so I’m probably fired. Anyone else hiring?
February 16th, 2012 at 1:05 am
Dear HATE, your absolutely correct in everything you said, you should contact as many business owners as you can, have then compare contracts, none of you are paying the same, LE will take anything they can get and some people are paying double and triple for the same items ! and beware of the “package” price, they add things in you never even saw or ordered and tell you it’s included ………… crooked as hell, they deserve every negative comment they recieve !
February 16th, 2012 at 1:17 am
JFolck. VP of Hearst, LMFAO ……….not bad for an ex door to door vacuumn cleaner salesman !
February 16th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
I too, used to work at LocalEdge, formally Talking Phone Book and the only reason I stayed as long as I did was because we were told by Hearst there would be new, wondeful changes in the company pay structure, no more draw! Well, they did give us a base salary, but lowered our comission structure significantly. When I came to work for the Talking Phone Book I was given a bunch of customer accounts and so excited that I was starting out with established customers. Some of the accounts had customers that were paying over $12,000 annually for yellow page advertising. Little did I know that these accounts were non-paying customers that were DISATISFIED with customer service among other issues. Out of 45 accounts given to me, 3/4 dropped and I was stuck with the negative balance. So the negative balance was applied to my draw and soon I was in the red about $8,000. Once this happens, there is nothing you can do to get out because the company kept giving me bad accounts when the old reps. left. Management’s solution was getting new accounts but you’d have to get 10 new accounts a week to even start getting out of the hole. You can’t possibly find ANYONE ANYMORE that will do business with LocalEdge because of their bad reputation. If you’re an advertiser, please do not sign up with them!!!!! What a racket, and as far as Jeff Folkemer goes, who is the v.p. of White Publishing Company, NOT v.p. of Hearst as he claims to be, may Karma come and kick you in the butt so hard you’ll never know what hit you! I wish someone would make you a sales rep! We all know about your evil doings.
February 16th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Go to Google Maps and see negative reviews there as well, and add more! Just type in Local Edge and you will be directed to the office that screwed you or Corporate in Buffalo.
February 17th, 2012 at 2:49 am
More than half of the information that I just read here is incorrect. These ex-employees seem to have way too much extra time in their new positions (not working there either). Funny how many people who have left this company come begging for their jobs back when they realize what the business world really is about… And those who say this is the “worst job they have ever had” Really? McDonalds is probably less pressure than digital sales. My favorite’s are those (and who you know who you are) who have failed in all there endeavors after leaving the company and then crawl back because they realize that they actually have to work everywhere… This is all rediculous !
February 17th, 2012 at 3:12 am
LMFAO!!!! If more than half the info was incorrect this company is still a scam…..thanks for the comment LE manager LOL. Have fun ripping people off ’til you go out of business. The fact that you have to stoop to McDonalds to feel better about yourself says a lot about this company. Just read the consistent negative comments and do the math. I just served you like a quarter pounder bitch! Enjoy.
February 17th, 2012 at 3:40 am
To 100% Wrong… Well, at least you agree that half is wrong which is maybe 2% written by management like you that knows the company is going down, and going down fast. Extra time on our hands? No… Just upset that the majority of employees and CLIENTS have been treated so poorly and still are. I can’t say I know anyone that has come crawling back for their shitty jobs at Local Edge. And, as far as digital sales products, the company is attempting to peddle is such a joke. Because you know why? There is no management of the products whatsoever, and the customer service is unprofessional and horrible, along with very, very poor management, mostly without college degrees. Who are we disgruntled employees, 100% Wrong Manager? There must be hundreds who were treated unfairly and not paid for their hard work and overtime hours while being micro managed at that. You give it a break, and come to realization that this company is going down fast, and not because of negative comments, but because of the lack of professional leadership on all levels! Whoever 100% Correct is, hats off to you! McDonalds is a decent, reputable company compared to Local Edge and 100% Wrong Manager has just insulted many, many employees that work for this chain, McDonalds. Go eat another quarter pounder and choke on it.
February 17th, 2012 at 8:36 am
Sorry LE manager (100 % wrong info) your an idiot just like MOST of your management at this company, they pay you a lot of money to execute their bullshit, lies, deception, and rediculous treatment of employees and customers! I hope this site provides insight for other companies that interview you when LE closes it’s doors and your looking for a job ! all these posts are not wrong, that is why there is so many of them, so really? give it up already……….
February 17th, 2012 at 9:29 am
I worked in the Digital Telesales Unit, 100% wrong. They fired like 80% of the people there. They had nearly 100 employees and no one could get a sale because the products were terrible. Remember that at all? Even the VP of Marketing saw the writing was on the wall and fled the company to go to Manta.
February 17th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
A friend of mine told me about this site and I’m so glad to see there are actually people that are able to express their opionions about this despicable company that calls itself Local Edge. Hearst bought it when it was folding into itself in 2006 hoping to make a huge profit in turning it into a digital products sales company. They overcharged and still do to new clients experimenting on them with these products and call a webpage template a website. As far as search engine optimization goes, anyone can do this and they also charge up to $175 a month for that. I don’t know if they still practice this, but they used to ask the new client for a copy of their driver’s license with the signed contract. And why? My guess is because of all the forged contracts the sales reps turned in back in the past because they were in fear of their jobs in not meeting their numbers. So, Corporate made sure these contracts were legitimate with the new client’s copy of their driver’s license with a signed contract. Isn’t that illegal? Local Edge also goes by another name, ‘White Directory Publishers’. I too am going to pass this site to as many LE ex and current employees along with LE’s past customers and present. People DESERVE TO KNOW!
February 17th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Things have gotten a bit out of control with this post/string. I’m going to allow comments for a few more days and then I’m going to close comments.
February 17th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
I used to be a customer with Talking Phone Book and was scammed and I’m still trying to get this mess cleaned up with no help from the corporate office. Here is an article I found on Google that tells the TRUTH about the company that now calls itself Local Edge. I’ve been told by a business owner whose a friend of mine that this jerk is still heading up the company. See link:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/internet-fraud/jeff-folckemer-local/jeff-folckemer-local-edge-loc-2cf75.htm
February 18th, 2012 at 1:07 am
NO Greg !! you would be doing a great injustice ! people deserve to know the truth!
February 18th, 2012 at 1:09 am
I’m not saying I’m going to delete this discussion, just not going to let it continue indefintiely. I think a critical mass of opinions about LocalEdge have been expressed.
February 18th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
This has been fun, I have been able to be anyone I want and make up bad things, and lie and it gets posted! I am former jax, I am Don, I am David, I am 100% correct, and I am Lewiston who will remain forever the Yellow Page man, who thinks digital is a complete waste and I just proved it!!!!!!
February 18th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
To Dick Lewiston… Dude, you’ve got a problem. Get some help. There’s a place for Internet ‘Trolls’ like you! And Greg, as far as closing comments, there are always idiots like Dick who apparently are always seeking attention on numerous websites. I happen to have been in contact with three people who have posted on this site. We past employees that have been treated poorly are just glad we are getting our opinions about Local Edge’s horrible reputation out in the open. Thank you!
February 18th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
This is great, let’s see how long we can talk smack about LocalEdge before someone notices! The Internet is a waste! We need yellow pages back! Love this site, I have posted on ripoff, glass etc. I will continue to spread the negative, who will join us 99%’s. we must screw the 1%’s and we must screw Local Edge. We want Lewiston!
February 18th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Oh… And by the way DICK, Former Jax, whatever your name is… If you said you made up lies, etc. about the company, how did you know about the extension cords in all the offices that were such a problem when the company needed more outlets for computers? I think you may be an ex-employee, but with some serious mental health issues.
February 18th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Dick Gman, piano man, Carl and Frank. I am on your side, we need to go after Hearst, Swartz, Folckemer. If Sterling takes this post down we hit him with Smack on ripoff etc for violating first amendment.
February 18th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Troll you know nothing. I started yellow pages and have many loyalists to the cause.
February 18th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Troll I am on your side.I started yellow pages and have many loyalists to the cause.
February 18th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Localedge and Hearst has a product set that continues to grow. Their behind the scene SEO and SEM teams have a great relationship with GOOGLE, Yahoo! and Bing.
February 18th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Fake Localedge has no relationship with google, prove it.
February 18th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
First of all Lewiston… Why would you even state you posted as many different people on this site? You started yellow pages? That’s crazy. This is supposed to be a serious, constructive site for people to share their bad experiences with Local Edge, formally Talking Phone Book. If you’re going to make negative comments, at least make mature statements. I do agree with you though, Local Edge needs to have a class action suit brought against them for numerous unethical violations placed upon employees and clients from the past and continuing with ALL the Local Edge offices.
February 18th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Ex this is constructive, as 99%’s we need to stick together. Requiring us to sell digital should be a violation of some labor law. Having quotas should never be tolerated. Having to post results weekly is a corporate demand that should be looked at as corporate greed.
February 18th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
@ Sam… Again, another management comment. I agree with Lewiston. There is no relationship with Google, Yahoo! or Bing. The Local Edge employees are given a certification test that they do not even study for and at any event, they fail, they still receive their certifications. Google Adwords certifications are a joke. Anyone can be certified and the majority of these certifications are also used by many other advertising/media companies. Let me ask you, SAM… With a Google, Yahoo! or Bing certification, have you, and are you able to talk to anyone with these companies in regard to having a working business relationship? NO! Why? They don’t even know who in the heck you are, that’s why!!!! These certifications are just something to tag on to an employee’s business card to make the company look legitmate. SEO and SEM ARE NOT MANAGED and you know it! People… Stay away from LocalEdge, formally TheTalking Phone Book! They’re all crooks, starting with Jeff Folkemer!
February 18th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Ex Employee is the Man. We are better off getting unemployment. Google Ha, they have probably never met google. Hearst has never met google. Thanks piano man!
February 18th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Very, very true Lewiston… All true.
February 18th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
These people are evil. I do not agree about the comments regarding the Folkimer family as they are not the problem but are whipping boys for what is a declining industry. What declining business does is reveal the true character of the management people that run the business. Some managers are so horrible, they spend all day long trying to justify their pathetic existence but badgering their employees, breaking dozens of laws in the process.
February 18th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Bring back former CEO……
February 18th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
@TPB/LE… Have you ever met Jeff Folkemer? I have, and he’s not a pleasant person, nor is the way he treats all his employees. I really feel sorry for a few of the area managers because they really try, the good ones anyway… But the more they try and bring their team together in brainstorming and working together to improve the office, upper management slams them down and tells them to micro-manage or be fired! With Local Edge, it’s all a numbers’ game. The employees being numbers and getting as many new accounts as they can (numbers), but not taking care of the customer once they have the account! The bad thing is, Local Edge loses good employees and tells everyone that they were not performing adequately. That’s bulls*^t. AND… It’s just numbers, man… Just numbers.
February 18th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Yeah! He smokes, drinks and never works!
February 19th, 2012 at 12:24 am
@Greg,
I agree the world has a right to know what is going on with a company whether it’s good or bad, but I am a current and somewhat new employee at LE and this negativity is simply off the mark in my view. I’m sure some of what has been expressed is legit, but I for one have not experienced anything like what some of the more hateful comments claim. Sour grapes are clearly at play here. One thing I did observe when I was hired is that on the DMC side there were a lot of young and very inexperienced employees. The LinkedIn page of one RVP even expresses an interest in hiring folks right out of college who were interested in getting some sales experience. The idea must have been to hire young people who were web savvy and also resilient should things not work out – and of course they were only paid entry level wages. That idea failed because in this business you NEED sales experience to be successful. Product knowledge is also important and frankly – challenging. You have to work hard to master some of this stuff and to understand the many different kinds of businesses you’re presenting to. It’s no wonder these kids, fresh out on their own, could not handle the pressure and therefore, by hook or by crook found the door.
The majority of these posts are childish at best and they do not serve a worthwhile purpose other than to let some folks who failed (or who are failing) at there jobs vent.
I’m not saying you should delete the stream, but I’m all for your disabling further spread of hate and revenge.
February 19th, 2012 at 12:52 am
I am a current LocalEdge employee, not management, I assure you – I am just an average working stiff.
I have read all the above posts and disagree with most of them. Upper management has always treated me very well, I am a hard working employee and feel that I have a home at LocalEdge. In the 10 plus years that I have worked for this company I have probably spoken to 99% of the sales staff (including managers – I will agree that some of the sales managers are useless) and also speak to A LOT of satisfied customers! It’s funny reading through the above posts I can tell that there are a very small handful of our customers posting. The majority of the posts are from the reps. These are probably the same reps that have been fired for forging the contracts, which lead us to require “verification” (driver’s lisc, payment, etc). These are probably the same reps that have been fired for going out on sales calls and being caught at the local mall’s. These are probably even some of the same reps that do come begging for their jobs back when they fail at another company. Someone posted about the employees coming back after seeing what else is out there and this is 100% TRUE – I see so many reps names go into the system, term out and go back in! I have one last comment – Dear Sales Reps, submit your paperwork and uploads correctly and we will have more satisifed customers. Their products they purchase will look great and get good results! As for the websites looking crappy, the product is only as good as what is given to work with! Oh and by the way Jeff dosn’t smoke – he is vey anti smoking – often offering employees he comes across that do smoke – cash from his pocket to quit!
February 19th, 2012 at 1:47 am
“The product is only as good as what is given to work with!” Every landing page is a banal colorless, boring website with no features that contains comedically bad youtube videos that play obnoxious stock music along with a corny voice overs. It has nothing to do with what you’re given to work with.
February 19th, 2012 at 2:53 am
Only time stock anything is used is when the rep dosn’t supply what is needed to make it. The youtube videos that are used are from the customer and many customers provide what music is played. Corny voiceovers – cant argue that…but what is being said is supplied by the rep via customer.
February 19th, 2012 at 5:09 am
Customers can’t provide copyright protected music, it’s common sense. LE could be sued for that. Therefore LE uses stock music and stock sounding VO talent.
February 19th, 2012 at 10:12 am
I’ve been following this post for the last couple of weeks..and all I can say is that I went to work for LocalEdge with the best intentions and made an honest effort to make the job work…and wound up deeply shaken. I thought ” Hearst..Digital Media.. Great fit!” i started questioning the comapny in training, when i realized that they hired a group of people with very little tech knowledge or digital experience…and were making us memorize a “pitch” instead of giving us any practical working knowledge of Digital Media… “LocalEdge is A Division of the Hearst Corporation etc..” I then started questioning the products and policies which contradicted everything I had been reading in published Digital Marketing Books…all LocalEdge Digital Contracts are Evergreen…meaning they continue FOREVER…with a year out.. .a company that stands by it’s products does not need a full year to show results!~ Then they had us selling on a bogus ROI calculation…not to mention the “PROADS”…which are the foundation of the company..looked like a high schooler designed them.. Even the trainer, who kept pounding it into our heads that “they don’t look great…but are built for conversion” couldn’t help from laughing… This was supposed to be a high-tech digital company, but all contracts and paperwork were handwritten..hmmm?
Sales is a hard profession..cold calling on businesses who are not expecting you.. and convincing them that they need something that they don’t understand is even more difficult…calling on businesses who are not expecting you and convincing them that they need something that they don’t understand and that you and the company KNOWS doesn’t work…is what is happening at LocalEdge and that is the problem. They are not bad people…LocalEdge was the Talking Phone Book..but are in way over their heads…they are a telephone book sales company that is trying to use the same methods for digital technology…but without a product.. and a management team that understands the media. A telephone book is only a big list of numbers with a ton of advertising around it…and now localEdge is trying to replace that with templated junk digital products… In the office I worked at, all the managers were making high salaries in comparison to the regional average…all of them built their careers in the Yellowpages industree and have lifestyles (mortgages, schools etc..) built on an Industry that is no longer relevant… and will do ANYTHING to survive…and maintain that lifestyle….a very, very scary place…
February 19th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Clearly this is folks that have been fired, or quite when confronted with serious issues- Schindlerslist would be my first guess.Always coming to work in a wasted state, probably one of the worst hires by Lewis. Now they have nothing better to do then cry and complain. The marketing department is now the best without these folks. I speak to Greg often, and he has nothing but good things to say. He left on great terms with all of us. To bad these clowns don’t have any sense of professionalism. Wonder why Karl has had like 9 jobs since. Probably because he is so good, NOT. Stop calling us looking for gossip Karl? Get a life!
February 19th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
@ Four months and Rhino… I was not fired from LocalEdge. I left after being with the company for over five years and grew tired of the new digital products that LE kept rolling out for us to sell when they couldn’t even get the old ones to work sufficiently. Yes, the ProAds (Webpages) are something a grammar school student could produce and the videos are made with voice overs which sound cheap and unprofessional. I too, thought I could make a difference. I finally became discouraged and quit. @ four months… give it time and you too, will see what is really going on with the company. And to Rhino… I’m insulted with your comment and clearly you are not a professional, or you would not be slandering Karl, who ever that is. People need to be made aware of this joke of a company that attempst to sell digital products like they are yellow page ads, along with having overpaid management that believes the only way to motivate their employees is to intimidate micro-manage. @ Rhino… You know the majority of comments above are true facts, so you too, quit lying about how wonderful LocalEdge is.
February 20th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Hi Bob… You say you worked for The Talking Phone Book, or LocalEdge? Well, it really doesn’t matter because it’s still being run the same way by the same people, as that’s what I’ve been told. And what I see and have seen makes me believe the stories to be true. High turnover, low commission structure, backstabbing and poor management is what I see. I don’t know how long you’ve been away, but as a rep., I am very disappointed in the company, the negativity and management’s micro-management. I’ve been here almost a year, not quite, but coming close to it, and I’ve been looking for another job now for at least 7 months as many of the majority of the other reps are. The digital products are a nothing compared to what we’re told to tell potential customers (THEY STINK) and highly overpriced. Bob – Did I hear you right? Class and professionalism? HA! I’ve never, never, never worked for a company like this before, it’s horrible! Man up and say who I am? What do you think I am, a fool? I still have a job, you idiot.
February 20th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Lying coward!
February 20th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
The comments are taking a personal and even defamatory turn. You guys may find yourselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit if this continues. In 24 hours I will disable further comments accordingly.
February 20th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Thank you Greg. I find the last comment very offensive. I will not stoop so low as to even comment to Bob’s statement, whoever Bob is. Lawsuit… And how so? The majority of the statements I’ve read are in fact true as far as I know.
February 20th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
When people start using names and characterizing individuals in ways that could harm them professionally or their reputations that enters the realm of defamation. This blog is not the LocalEdge complaint forum. I’ve been happy to allow people to discuss their “issues” with the company and so on. But I will be disabling further comments tomorrow morning.
February 20th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
First, I am not up to trash talking but let’s deal with facts. FACT 1:This company has had more people have strokes during working hours than any other place. FACT 2: The sales floor had employment histories of 10, 15 and 20 yrs. NOT anymore. FACT 3: I don’t know Rick Lewis however let’s deal with the facts he ran a company that grew and grew to the point of Hearst buying it. Since then directories no longer printing, full office closures and an increase law suits filed against the company have taken place. Good manager, bad manager doesn’t matter the company at one time was successful reps made 6 figures now the company is so far in the red and reps are making just over proverty. FACT 4: I am a top producer in digital sales however I do not have control over the performance (I can’t remember the exact number but it was something like 75 SEO’s that never launched but it was the sales reps fault…please) I refuse to sell digital products now, so I will be fired soon. The reason for the high turnover in the sales force is because of reps like “4months”. They come in with hopes and dreams to help SMB be successful and find out what they are selling has no support and doesn’t work… they get frustrated.. stop selling to fix their customers issues and then lose their job for not selling… we have lost great people, I have seen well over 42 reps leave in my office alone since I have been with LE. FYI “4months” you are still a newbe and you will join the “this is insane club” like the rest of us… if you are a sales rep it will happen. FACT 4: To be successful in yellow page it requires 10-12 hour days this has not stopped now add in 4-5 hours to research and design one internet program for a company that has nothing, that is the time required to do it right. This does not include finding time to stay abreast of the industry changes so you are working 80 hour weeks for what breaks down to $15 an hour and that’s if you are able to produce 300,000 in annual billing digital dollars. NO ONE has maintained that so your hourly is more like $9, oh wait one rep did sell over 300 HOWEVER he did not get the full 12 month commission less than 40% stayed billing and he jumped at the chance to move to management to avoid charge backs. For the person that posted about MCDONALD’S I could make more at McDonald’s with less headaches and not to mention have a life outside of work FYI they are hiring I will be applying for anywhere is better then staying with LE. You also remark about the pressure of digital sales… if LE products worked as well as those that drank the kool aid said they do, there would be no PRESSURE… customers would order it like a Big Mac… all day long. FACT 5: AS FOR DISATIFIED CUSTOMERS NOT POSTING they don’t have to they just stop paying their bills, cancel their contracts and tell other business owners at chamber events to stay away from LE. These are the fact and if you disagree you may want to attend an AA meeting to get off the kool aid or tap another keg
February 20th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
BRAVO, BRAVO! @ OMG Wake Up… So very well written and true. I for one salute you, and to all the reps working for Local Edge, we are all hoping life gets better for you.
February 21st, 2012 at 1:18 am
Well, everything I said is false!
February 21st, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Wow. Lots of things being said. I am sure most is false, but love to see the energy. I have been selling for yellowbook seems like forever. In the good olds days when it was just print, we pretty much dominated what is now localedge. Our troubles came when localedge launched its suite of products in the digital side. We just couldnt compete on price or quality. We countered with 360, but our skill sets remained in selling print. If you haven’t figured it out, print is on the decline in 50-60% range and has been for the last few years. This leads me to think some of the folks havent worked in the industry for a lonng time. We have closed many books, layed off many people, and we arent done. Scary industry for sure. Your localedge products are beating us in every market we compete. We are trying to go after your markets with lower prices to keep from losing the print. If we had your products we probably would be still beating you in the field. That is my reality check. We use to focus on AT&T and Supermedia. Now we need to focus on your localedge and about 4 other strong players. For now, I am thankful I have a job. Good luck to you folks, but I tell you from experience the grass is not greener on the otherside.
February 21st, 2012 at 1:51 pm
All I can say about Local Edge is:
1. The products do not work, well let me take that back. They do if managed by the rep., but the social media products are way too expensive and if the customer needs help with his digital products, it’s almost impossible to reach a rep. or a manager for help because, honestly, they just don’t care or don’t have the time. 2. Morale in the office is so low that you don’t want to go back in when you have to double report because management doesn’t trust you to be in the field selling all day. 3. They’re in over their heads with digital product that they should resolve in fixing before attempting to sell them. The yellow page industry used to be pretty good a few years ago for The Talking Phone Book and reps. did make money. Although the print industry is declining, people still use the yellow pages.
February 21st, 2012 at 4:22 pm
I hope unemployment extends to two years. Don’t really want to work that hard!