Celebrating Twenty Rock-Solid Years in Business

ANNOUNCING THE CELEBRATION OF OUR 20^th ANNIVERSARY!

At Pinnacle, our goal is to provide products that help local businesses promote and market themselves amidst the changing trends in technology and meet the needs of businesses who want to strengthen their print and online presence. Most of you have heard or maybe even believe that printed telephone books are dead, and while we agree that some are certainly in a decline, there is still abundant data to prove otherwise. *35% of consumers find that print yellow pages are convenient to use and the most accurate for finding local business information. Due to our excellence in sales, production, and customer service, we have only experienced modest declines in print products which leads the industry. In addition to our continued focus on our print products, we have spent a considerable amount of time, talent and resources to build and grow our digital suite of products. In fact, during 2012, sales of our digital products grew by over 45%.

SHELLY GEERDES CEO/GM

Our core products and services have changed during our first 20 years and will likely continue to change during our next 20. We look forward to working with you — our valued business partners, our board members, and our staff — as we continue to transform our legacy products into our digital ones. We thank you for your continued support and loyalty and wish you the very best in 2013.

*Source: Local Search Association, 2011 Survey Data

LOOKING BACK AT 20 YEARS

Pinnacle Publishing started doing business twenty years ago when Paul Ledbury set out to publish telephone directories for independent telephone companies.

Pinnacle published its first directories – Faulkton, SD and Ogden-Boone, IA in 1993 – with the help of just a few employees and quickly grew to publish 27 directories by the time Shelly Geerdes was named as General Manager in October of 2000.

Soon after, Pinnacle merged with Independent Information Services Corporation of St. Cloud, MN, becoming Independent Pinnacle Services, LLC. As the number of directories increased, so did the number of employees which led to a larger office building. Ledbury retired in 2002, but continued to be a valuable resource. That same year internet directories began to be offered, and Pinnacle started production on university directories and association guides.

In 2005, Pinnacle celebrated the signing of its 100th directory with publications in 14 states and over 90 employees. The increasing number of employees led Pinnacle to renovate the second floor of their current location and relocated employees to fit their growth. Shortly after in 2006, the company made another name change back to Pinnacle Publishing, LLC.

Two thousand nine was another big year for Pinnacle as they held the first Directory Contacts Meeting and launched the online local search site: localsolution.com.

Increased business in 2010 led to 47 new employees, a Business of the Year Award from the Bemidji Area Chamber, and ownership changes.

Pinnacle launched into the world of social media and mobile apps in 2011, held a second Directory Contacts Meeting, and celebrated printing their 200th directory. The sale of coupons and website design to advertisers was initiated.

Today, Pinnacle Publishing does business as Pinnacle and has over 110 employees publishing 252 telephone directories for over 145 telephone companies throughout 35 states.

DOING BUSINESS AS (DBA) PINNACLE

Over the course of the years, we have changed company names from Pinnacle Publishing to Independent Pinnacle Services and back again to Pinnacle Publishing. Our legal name is, and will continue to be, Pinnacle Publishing, LLC; but because it can allude to offering just a publishing service, we will now be doing business as Pinnacle to better encompass the variety of products and services we offer telephone companies, advertising customers and end users.

ROCK SOLID!

Pinnacle celebrates the success of being a ROCK-SOLID business for the past twenty years. Celebrations are being planned, customized rock candy gifts to employees, business partners and owners are being packaged, and many thanks are being given for the confidence and support that has been received over the last 20 years.

SPECIAL EDITION NEWSLETTER

We’re celebrating twenty ROCK-SOLID years in business in 2013, and by doing so we’re making some changes in and around the office, including this newsletter. You are looking at the final &#8220Special Edition&#8221 newsletter. Important information, as well as news and events, will now be available on the News & Events section of our redesigned website.

A FRESH, NEW LOOK! WEBSITE ANNOUNCEMENT

The Marketing Department has spent many hours preparing and redesigning a new look for the Pinnacle website. We wanted our site to represent the ROCK-SOLID success we’ve had over the past twenty years with a clean look and easy to follow navigation.

The home screen features three large navigation buttons, directing you to information about our Search (localsolution.com), Digital and Print products. The site is equipped with trouble-free, drop-down menus on the top of the page, as well as on the right side of the inside pages. Users will also be able to access localsolution.com throughout the website by the easy to use search box located in the masthead.

Are you as anxious to see it as we are to share it with you? We’ve been bursting at the seams with excitement for some time to share it with all of you. Check out our new site! We’d love to hear what you have to say about it!

We’d like to give the Web Designers at Paul Bunyan Communications a huge “thank you” and a round of applause for their hard work and commitment in helping us complete this large task.

SAVE THE DATE: DCM 2013

We invite you to join us as we celebrate our 20^th anniversary in 2013 at our third DCM, May 21-22, 2013. Find out what is available with our digital products and learn more about the directory process including: sales operations, production functions and innovative options for your print directory. Network with your colleagues and gather ROCK-SOLID ideas for marketing your directory products to boost your ROI.

Previous meetings have successfully captured the interest of individuals representing 31 Telephone Companies from 10 states.

Don’t miss this opportunity, or the ROCK-SOLID presentations by:
CEO/President of Nu-Telecom; Bill Otis
Marketing Manager of KanOkla Networks; Eric Eaton
CSP Speaker, Trainer, Humorist; Robin Getman

Questions? Contact Gini Holler at 800.343.8086 or email DCM@pinnaclepub.com for more information.

CLICK HERE to view pictures from the 2011 DCM.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

During 2012, we published 248 telephone directories, 2 university student/staff directories and 2 state association membership directories. A promise we make to each client is that their directory will be published on time. In order to achieve this, Pinnacle employees join together and work diligently throughout the year on each directory. We are pleased to announce that again in 2012 we shipped every directory to the printer on time. Our employees are proud of the work they do and will do whatever it takes to get the job done – and done right.

REACHING OUT

We take great pride in giving back to the community. With many opportunities available to raise money for local organizations, approximately 90 office employees were able to raise over $8,900 in 2012. With events such as bake sales, casual day stickers and silent auctions, we were able to help out the Bemidji Area United Way and United Way of Central Minnesota, Radio-thon to End Child Abuse, Beltrami Humane Society, March of Dimes, Susan G. Koman for the Cure, Northwoods Pregnancy Care Center, Kidney Foundation, Decker Family Fund, Tri-County Humane Society, St. Jude Hospital, and the American Cancer Society.

Localsolution.com app for Android ^TM – NOW AVAILABLE!

In addition to iPhone and iPad, a localsolution app is now available for Android. This app allows users to search on the go, with quick and easy access to localsolution.com. Users can search for businesses and people nationwide. Business listings include comprehensive information such as video, photos, maps, recommendations, company website and more. Users can also share this information with friends on Facebook and Google+, making this app a useful resource for your community.

To download these apps, click here.

Localsolution.com – Recent "Tweaks" to the Site

As you may have noticed, there have been some slight adjustments to the look of localsolution.com, specifically on the business profile pages. The elements within the profile pages such as business information, recommendations and listing enhancement icons for video, photo, etc., have been reorganized for more user-friendly navigation. Behind the scenes, the pages have been designed to be more search engine friendly to increase our visibility on Google. Check it out today and while you’re there, write a recommendation for one of your local businesses!  

Website Gallery

With the launch of our Website/Mobile site product in many of our areas, we have been busy working on new sites for our customers. To view the websites we’ve created, visit our Gallery.

We will be launching our website/mobile site package in all sales markets, and we will notify you before your sales campaign begins. We would request that you notify us if you intend to opt out of any local service areas where you may have a competing product.

Questions/More Information

Representatives from Pinnacle will be attending the following industry events this quarter:

MTA – Minnesota Telecom Alliance, Telco Marketing Peer Group Winter Conference; Minneapolis, MN: February 6-8

RIITA – Rural Iowa Independent Telephone Association, Annual Conference; Des Moines, IA: March 5-7

MTA – Minnesota Telecom Alliance, Annual Convention; Minneapolis, MN: March 25-27

We publish 252 publications in 35 states.
If you would like a copy of our current client list, please CONTACT US.