About Us
Pocket Books is the best local directory for regional areas in Australia. It is available online, on mobile devices and in print. It provides comprehensive local business and other community information. Its printed directories are produced for parts of Queensland and Victoria. Online directories and advertising can reach any area in Australia.
The business was founded in 1990 by Gerard and Nevenka Clarke.
Gerard (usually called Gerry) used to work in his early years in father's well known real estate company in Kew in Melbourne CC Clarke & Sons. As part of his work he organised advertising and later also worked in advertising for cinemas, calendars and other directories. He saw a need for a far better directory for regional cities than the larger companies could provide.
His wife Nevenka used to be a computer analyst and programmer when they started the business together. She used her expertise to develop initial digital system for the business. She said to her husband in those early days of their business that one day we would be able to read the books on a mobile device in the hand - in addition to the printed books. This was well before internet and mobile phone connectivity was ubiquitous. In years that has become true. Due to new expertise required with the rise of the digital era Nevenka also obtained additional university degree in Master of Cyber Security Operation.
The books focus on regions with a population base of some 30,000 to 150,000 residents in 12,000 to 50,000 homes and often upto 5,000 businesses. In country areas this might include some 6,000 farms or acreage properties. The online internet searches enable cross searches amongst various regions with exposure to international and out-of-area buyers interested in a particular local area, which is of particular interest to investors.
The books are close to A6 and A5 in size, being 95mm x 155mm, and also 180mm x 155mm. The smaller books, and nowadays the mobile phones, fit comfortably into a shirt or jacket pocket, thus the name of the company. The slightly larger books, and nowadays the tablets of comparatively the same size, easily slip into a handbag, glove box and brief case, and often in the CD compartment between car seats.
In addition to the phone numbers, the books include a detailed local street directory drawn by Pocket Books and regularly updated. The maps often include streets that a user would not be able to find on Google maps. The books include also extensive clubs listings and activities, a compilation of governments listings in its own section, emergency listings section, calendars, lunar cycles and rain charts and even a section where a user can record his own rain chart. In rural areas we also list properties by name as a separate section. The books can also be read in a book form online on our website at www.pocketbooks.com.au (see Our Books). This distinguishes us from most other directories, which do not offer this facility. However, Pocket Books online offers much more than just reading the books online. It provides a 'just so complete'® instant search of entries in the local areas on mobile devices and on computers. Online business profiles allow for extensive contents with images and video promotions and links to social media and clients' websites. Our online searches have been designed to be 'ezy' and user-focused. For this reason we call searches on the Pocket Books website 'PBezy searches' (Pocket Book Ezy Searches) and users can reach the Pocket Books website either through www.pocketbooks.com.au or through www.pbezy.com.au.
Businesses are arranged in the book within their relevant classifications in the Business Pages, within the Maps sections and within the Alphabetical Pages. Pocket Books®' Alphabetical Pages go considerably further than just displaying listings alphabetically. We have developed a totally original cross-referencing system. With this, almost every firm listed in Alphabetical Pages has a reference in the phone number column telling you in which classification in Business Pages of the book you will find that firm. The book businesses are transposed online by intertwining them with purely web advertisers in a unique way, so that a client can choose only print, only web or combined advertising without losing its advantage of each of the platforms. PBezy Pocket Books is the leader in innovative combining of both, digital and print, platform in directories.
The main areas with printed directories are currently Caboolture - Wamuran - Morayfield - Elimbah - Bellmere, Bribie Island, Redcliffe Peninsula, Gladstone - Boyne Tannum, Hervey Bay - Fraser Island, Goondiwindi - Mungindi, Southern Darling Downs - Warwick - Stanthorpe - Texas - Inglewood and Morabool - Bacchus Marsh - Ballan.
Pocket Books website includes advertising of the books regions, however it expands to any wider area in Australia for which the books are not produced. Businesses from out of the 'book' zones can easily promote themselves through PBezy online directory. PBezy online provides cost effective online advertising offering a dedicated online page to your business (no other advertising on it, so users can focus on your information), where you can have photos, videos, links to your facebook pages and links to your website. If you do not have a website, PBezy online page can work in lieu of your own website, with the advantage that searches are done through Pocket Books' search engine optimisation (SEO) process.
PBezy Pocket Books has in mind users, as well as businesses. We aim to provide a website with easy navigation and no distraction (no blinking, popping up images in front of users covering a 'quarter' of the screen found on many advertising websites). We believe users should get the most relevant result first. If a user looks for, e.g. plumber in Caboolture, then the top result should be the plumbers that are in Caboolture, not in Brisbane, Maroochydore or Sydney, contrary to results many times on Google searches and in some other directories. We always give locality as a preference because we believe that people who search for a particular product or service do like obtaining that service in their local area if they can.
Together with the expertise of Gerry and Nevenka and with the expertise of their dedicated staff they bring to you these unique Pocket Books printed directories and unique PBezy online directory.
