Posted 15 August 2008 - 09:41 PM
Hi folks. We want to jump in here and set the record straight on a number of comments about our recent SEM list. It appears that there is some confusion in the marketplace regarding our company, our services and our business model.
We started Goldline Research more than four years ago to solve a simple problem: How do I find a dependable professional that I can trust to give me good service? The Internet is a great resource, but it’s not always easy to find “the” firm that you are looking for (especially with all the search engine jockeying going on out there). Industry associations are useful but not everyone joins the association, and not every industry has one. Friends and colleagues are great sources as well, but often they don’t have recommendations to offer. We realized that there were lots of people experiencing the same challenge, and we believed that there was a market need for a company that would help consumers identify third party-reviewed service professionals.
Our business model is similar to other companies such as J.D. Power, Good Housekeeping (and a whole bunch of others out there like them). We started researching service professionals in a variety of industries where consumers had a hard time finding a dependable provider. Our research process entails five broad steps, including determining industry-specific criteria, conducting detailed company interviews, talking with customer references, reviewing public records and quantitative analyses. Over the years we’ve expanded our industry coverage and strengthened our research process. To date, we have interviewed nearly 10K professionals in ten different industries. We don’t have any allusions that what we do is the be-all or end-all. We just think it’s a cool, helpful service to both consumers and to the companies we research and publish.
While I’m at it, there is another point of confusion that I want to clear up. We tell *everyone* that we speak to that we are not Inc. Magazine or Forbes or any other magazine. We don’t pretend to be working for any of those publications, nor do we pretend to be “Inc. Magazine editors”. We are also upfront that we do charge a fee for our work. We wish we didn’t have to charge fees, but, until Uncle Sam starts providing this service with our taxpayer dollars or subsidizing our business, we have to keep the lights on. We do our best to minimize our overhead expenses, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, Inc., Forbes, etc. cost more than $100K for a one-off advertising page, so promoting the companies that we think are dependable in those magazines isn’t cheap, and nearly all of the service fees that we charge go to pay for the publication. During our interview with a company, we tell them about our service fee. We only charge fees to the firms that make it to the final list. *Every company* that wants to be considered past the interview stage in our process signs a contract agreeing to the fees and the services we provide should they make it to the final list. There is no “bait and switch” going on here as was alluded to at some point in the thread. And, no, we do not discount our fees (or make our service free) to “bigger” players to make our list more credible or charge different fees to “smaller” players. Everybody pays the exact same fee no matter what.
The companies that receive our seal of approval see some useful benefits. Many of our clients have told us that our seal of approval helps provide them with credibility in the marketplace in that this helps them stand out above the fray. We also know that we help get them access to major local and national publications for promotional purposes that they would otherwise not be able to get to because it would be cost prohibitive. And, if that wasn’t enough, we do our best to help firms with their marketing. After all, many of small and medium-sized firms that we talking about (of which I’m guessing many of you on this thread are) are trying to grow and become more successful, and this has proven to help them with that.
Over the last four years, we have completed more than 100 research lists. People keep coming back to participate each year because they are getting value. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t exist. We really appreciate the lively discussion here, and, if you have suggestions for ways that we can improve our offering (useful suggestions, please; the flame messages aren’t very helpful), let us know or give us a call.
