yellowbook online....anyone use it?

toyotaguy · 06-06-08, 09:45

just curious if anyone advertises in yellowbook ONLINE. I am supposed to have a meeting with a guy next week to set it up, 40 per month for an ad, rotation to the top of searches, yada yada, but I want to know if anyone has any results with it?

I have an ad in a yellow pages book for the last 5 months and have recieved.....ZERO phone calls from it...huge waste of money in my eyes, but I am wondering if the online deal might be better????

ADHD · 06-06-08, 11:24

Honestly IMO its a waste of money.. I placed a free ad on yellow pages.com about this time last year and its gotten me a couple clients but not enough to justify the 40$ a month they want for the premier listing. I personally dont see how the premier listing will do anything better either for I know my listing pops right up when u search for a detailer in my area and Im right on Top of the list every time. Ya i dont live in central Los angeles. Orange county where there is lots of you guys but there is about 7 or 8 of us mobile guys here in Lancaster, Antelope Valley and my company always seems to be right there on top of the search results and I never paid a penny for it. Dont get me wrong I got calls for a good 3 months of there personnal trying to get me to upgrade to the premier listing and yada yada but i always declined and finally stopped answering there calls.
Id tell the guy that your not intrested at the time and place the free ad and see how that works for you before you shell out 40$ a month.. I mean with gas prices so high that could be gas money right know! lol..

Jimmy Buffit · 06-07-08, 01:58

Google Adwords.

Spectacular.

$100 per month is my selected cost. I will not renew the Yellow pages print or electronic.

Austin M detail · 06-08-08, 06:01

Yeah and it's a waste of money!!!

I pay $102 a month to be at the top, with a logo and some basic info.

I get a few details from it a month, but not enough to justify having it.

Not to mention the fact that if you make someone mad, and it could be anyone, they can go in and psot a negative on you and you're screwed!

A customer and I had a misunderstanding on a scheduling issue, and he put a negative feedback, and it ain't going NO WHERE!

No I cancelled my contract with them!

Good Luck!

ATX-M.D.

Jakerooni · 06-10-08, 01:43

No need for the priemer package at all. Usually they'll come in with a printed off page of detail shops that pop up in your area. Unless there are pages of detail shop listed you're always going to be right there on the top page anyways. (I think there were about 10 listings when they showed me)

However... I'm going to stray from what these guys are saying. I'd say at least 80% of my business has came from the yellowbook online listings. (I always ask when they call so I know where to put my advertising dollars) I'm a 2 bay shop and I brought in just shy of $150,000 last year. Most of that being from the yellowbook.com page. So for me anyways.. It worked out quite well. I think it all comes down to what do the customers in your area use to search out business? Newspapers are all but dead. Phonebooks are obsolete in most areas. everyday more and more people turn to the internet. I would think if you have to sink in any sort of real dollar investment that would be the first area to look into.

Holden_C04 · 06-10-08, 01:50

I wouldn't want price-shoppers wasting my time and I think that's what you would find with these people. For a shop, it may be good. But the average Autopian would probably not.

It's gotten to the point where I refuse to give a price of any kind over the phone or through email. Want a quote? I have to see the car.

toyotaguy · 06-10-08, 03:10

holden - not everyone wants autopian perfection...and to turn away business just because they dont want perfection would be the wrong move IMO...there is money in a lot of aspects of detailing, the pay rate stays the same, just the time and amount change...

but i canceled my appointment and did a free yellowpages ad...we will see how it goes...

lecchilo · 06-10-08, 03:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyotaguy

holden - not everyone wants autopian perfection...and to turn away business just because they dont want perfection would be the wrong move IMO...there is money in a lot of aspects of detailing, the pay rate stays the same, just the time and amount change...

but i canceled my appointment and did a free yellowpages ad...we will see how it goes...

As true as that sounds, you have to think about the future. Word of mouth advertising travels FAST, and before you know it, you'll have tons of people coming to you for a price, not a service. When you quote them something else, they'll be upset. Why? Because as Holden mentioned, they're price shoppers (some are just people who don't know squat about detailing and don't feel it's worth much) and they don't care for understanding the concept of a proper detail. Then you also have to account for those people who will recommend their friends, etc. and when their friends' cars turn out nearly perfect, your services will be questionable.

This is why I always try to find some sort of middle ground. I offer 2 exterior services... 1-step polishing, which I make clear to the client will in most cases not make the paint perfect, but will significantly improve it no matter what, and multi-step polishing, which I explain as the 'as close to perfect as possible" service... this way everyone knows what to expect and what they have to pay for a certain service. I give an exact quote for 1-step over the phone because I know what I'll be doing, but require to see the car before an exact quote on multi-step (I give a range that's about $200 apart)

In short, I guess I'm just trying to warn you that your name is very important in the business, and people talk, A LOT. It might be in your best interest to start off very slow doing high paying high-quality details than being known as the guy who does great work for cheap. Hope all this makes sense

2k2blackWRX · 06-10-08, 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by lecchilo

As true as that sounds, you have to think about the future. Word of mouth advertising travels FAST, and before you know it, you'll have tons of people coming to you for a price, not a service. When you quote them something else, they'll be upset. Why? Because as Holden mentioned, they're price shoppers (some are just people who don't know squat about detailing and don't feel it's worth much) and they don't care for understanding the concept of a proper detail. Then you also have to account for those people who will recommend their friends, etc. and when their friends' cars turn out nearly perfect, your services will be questionable.

This is why I always try to find some sort of middle ground. I offer 2 exterior services... 1-step polishing, which I make clear to the client will in most cases not make the paint perfect, but will significantly improve it no matter what, and multi-step polishing, which I explain as the 'as close to perfect as possible" service... this way everyone knows what to expect and what they have to pay for a certain service. I give an exact quote for 1-step over the phone because I know what I'll be doing, but require to see the car before an exact quote on multi-step (I give a range that's about $200 apart)

In short, I guess I'm just trying to warn you that your name is very important in the business, and people talk, A LOT. It might be in your best interest to start off very slow doing high paying high-quality details than being known as the guy who does great work for cheap. Hope all this makes sense

While I appreciate your comments about word of mouth, you have to realize that it is a different world for those who are trying to make a living out of detailing. You don't have the luxury of turning away clients and you need as much business as you can handle.

I know from my experience that our shops "complete detail" which includes a 1-step polish and a full interior cleaning is MORE than enough for 99% of the population. This includes the soccer moms who bring their TRASHED minivans in to the lawyers and executives who bring in their BMW M6's, Ferrari's and Mercedes. In the span of one week we could detail anything from a sub $10,000 values 10 year old car to a $100,000 car and most of our customers purchase the same package.

In reality we do MORE than almost every other detailer in the area. Most shops don't even buff the cars, most shops don't have a top of the line hot water extractor (and most autopians don't have one either). If we don't work on volume then the owner can not live. We still only have 3 employees yet we have a very large garage that fits 5 cars comfortably as well as a show room, a parking lot, an LED sign and more. We spend about 4 man hours on each car we do and more on larger cars. Our customers are always more than satisfied and we ensure that.

Basically what it comes down to is the fact that if you are truly trying to run your shop as a career it is much different than just doing those autopian perfect details on cars. Heck, most people don't even care about the exterior as much as they care about me getting that coffee stain out of the carpet.

I hope you understand how it is different on the other side. We don't put out crap, we never would, but we need to make a living.

lecchilo · 06-10-08, 09:53

Sorry you misunderstood me... I completely understand your side... I've looked deeply into it and consulted with many pro detailers with shops, who detail for a living... so while I never experienced it personally, I believe I do understand it.

My post was simply meant to alert you that word of mouth spreads fast, and bad comments spread even faster. I guess all I wanted is to give you the advice that you must always ensure that the customers know what they're paying for and what results they can/should expect. You obviously already know that so please don't take anything I said the wrong way and keep doing the good job you're doing.

I'm not sure if advertising in yellow pages would be a great idea as I never tried it (especially from your position) but since detailing is somewhat on the rise, it might turn out good in the long run, such as people searching the net more and more for detailers, etc.

Best of luck man.

JonP · 06-10-08, 09:58

I'll have to agree with Austin M detail, it don't take much to get a negative feedback. I think it is a waste of money. Put your money in something more useful such as your local paper or radio advertisement.

2k2blackWRX · 06-11-08, 04:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by lecchilo

Sorry you misunderstood me... I completely understand your side... I've looked deeply into it and consulted with many pro detailers with shops, who detail for a living... so while I never experienced it personally, I believe I do understand it.

My post was simply meant to alert you that word of mouth spreads fast, and bad comments spread even faster. I guess all I wanted is to give you the advice that you must always ensure that the customers know what they're paying for and what results they can/should expect. You obviously already know that so please don't take anything I said the wrong way and keep doing the good job you're doing.

I'm not sure if advertising in yellow pages would be a great idea as I never tried it (especially from your position) but since detailing is somewhat on the rise, it might turn out good in the long run, such as people searching the net more and more for detailers, etc.

Best of luck man.

Thanks, sorry I got a little long winded, I don't know what came over me.

Anyhow, we gave up advertising in the yellow pages and now we use google adwords. It is much better and we can track how well we are doing, especially since I have added google analytics to our web site. We have recently learned that our biggest search and clickthroughs are for people looking for tinting (which we provide)