Advertising yellow pages

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imported_turbomangt

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A friend of mine who owns a cleaning business advertises in the yellow pages and swears by it. I looked into it and have found it to be expensive. They have what they call a small yellow book in my area and breaks locations down into areas. example, one listings in one book for a small color ad is $1200. a black and white small ad is $575. he also does coupon magazines and gets lots of business from it. He his deeper pockets for his budget, unlike me. Just wondered who spends money on advertsing, what kind? what works and what doesn't? Thanks , Gary
 
I guess perception is everything. I plan on starting out with the black and white ad in 3 books to test the water. I have a meeting with the coupon book lady today to see what her ads cost. Its just that I have never spent a dime on advertising yet, so its a wake up call to what the real world is all about. Gary
 
There are so many 'yellow pages', 'real yellow pages','original yellow pages', etc. any more that the market is diluted. Chicago must have dozens of phone book publishers floating around.



You will find that their ad rates are dependent on distribution-the more they distribute, the more money you pay for your ad. Sounds simple? No. Just as an example, a 'yellow pages' type of publisher (don't even know who it was) just sent us copies of their '05 book. 15 Copies! Okay, I have 3 employees! All 15 of them went in the trash anyway. But, it allows them to claim 15X their actual distribution-bumping their ad rates tremendously. I'm in advertising, and I can't even keep straight who is legitimate anymore.



If you want to do YP, ask around and find out which ones your friends use when they need something-their will probably be a favorite that they trust.



As a side note, we stopped advertising in YP over 20 years ago. Why? Price shoppers. We found for our business that people would go down the category and call each listing to see who had the best price on something. Not the kind of business we like. Now they waste my competitor's time calling them, while I'm out finding the best clients.
 
I'm in three YP books (one metro, and 2 'localized), and I probably spend $1500 annually. Rates vary dramatically from market to market.



I can tell which calls are generated by the YP - price shoppers, as kompressornsc pointed out. Those folks will always find a lesser price; I attempt to sell my quality of service and expertise, but sometimes they just want price. That's ok, I don't seek that market segment.



I think the YPs are mandatory, but really just as an adjunct to my (most important) word of mouth, and my "Van on the Highway" sign.



I'm so small, I use a cell phone as the biz phone - you gotta get that number listed!



I think I've done a good job of getting the name 'out there', but they remember the name, not the number, so, I need the YP books.



I figure it is 7-8 cars per year; they bill monthly, so it shouldn't be a huge burden, at $150 per month.



I'm pleased to say that "I'm as busy as I wanna be", but I still keep my number as available as possible.



You have to spend money to make money.



Simple, but true.



Jim
 
Our yellow pages advertising has gotten completely out of control. This year the one is costing me around $600 a month and the other one is $175. I am definitely going to be scaling back the size of our ads next year because the sales tactics they use really piss me off. The salesperson basically told me how they work it:



- 4% increase for each ad every year (minimum)

- the salesperson is supposed to "lure" the client to a larger ad every year by giving a "special price". The next year if you don't increase your ad size then you pay "the regular price" which is basically the same price you would pay if they increased your ad size (because they give you a "deal" to upgrade). Next year - same BS and so on and so on

- threatens your business with being put "last" in your section if you are the smallest ad



This kind of thing is predatory and IMHO should be illegal. However, it isn't for the time being and we're playing their game so I guess I will have to play the game better.
 
To stay in budget, I started off this year for the first time with a small ad in two yellow pages (verizon) to see how it works. If it works then I'll upgrade to a much better ad and more books. I'm in two of the YB's of the two most business getting territories I operate my business in. I'm not going to speculate yet until the spring.
 
Jimmy Buffit said:
Scott:



Yeah, the sales tactics are shameful...

But you'll continue, iin some fashion, right?



Jim
Click to expand...



Nope. I kept the ad size the same this year and told the salesman that if it meant dropping in size to save money then that's what I was going to do. In the end they caved and I paid the same price for the same size without the increase. Next year the ad size will be going down a few sizes and the money saved will go to some other more productive forms of ads. After all, we have been open for almost 12 years now and most people in our city know who we are and where to find us. I actually have hired a marketing company to handle all our advertising from now on and it will hopefully pay off for us.
 
Scott-my experience was the same. I started off with a 3 line insert ad. Next year, they advised me to go with a column ad along with my listing for just 'a little more' but I stuck with the insert ad, which promptly went from $38 a month to $62 a month, only about $10 less than if I had upgraded. Next year, same thing and again, since I had only been getting about 6% of my new business out of the YP, I stuck with the insert ad and it increased to $85 a month. The next year, I dropped the insert ad and just went with the listing only....and I had my best year ever, again with 6% of my new business coming from the YP.



It was probably worth it for the first 2 years to get my name out but since I was 1 of 2 mobile detailers and 'mobile' is in my business name, someone looking through the phone book would see the name and know I am mobile without me spending anything extra.



I got called this year from an SBC sales rep for the first time in about 3-4 years and when I didn't call back, she sent me an e-mail (my website is given on my answering machine). This time it was not only YP advertising but also an internet directory.



This is the e-mail she sent me:



Hey Scott. I work for SBC Yellow Pages, and I took a look at your web site. Great job!! I see that you have had a lot of visitors. That's awesome. I'd like to talk to you about advertising your business on our internet directory. It's a great way to promote your website, and put your business name out there even more. Please give me a call, I only want to ask you for about 5-10 minutes of your time. This is a great opportunity for you to increase your productivity and an awesome way to get name

awareness!!! Give me a call, I hope to hear from you soon!!!



Thank You,



Tina XXXXX

Media Consultant



And my response:



Tina,



I dropped my 3 line insert ad in the SBC Yellow Pages years ago and my business continues to increase. The percentage of new customers I'm getting from the Yellow Pages is at around 6%, regardless of whether I have a simple listing or an insert ad. In fact, I am booked up 1-2 weeks in advance all the time.



Right now I have no interest in spending money on any advertising. My customers do that for me for free. Currently, 94% of my business is repeat or referral and that isn't costing me anything other than doing excellent work.



Thank-you for your interest and the nice comments on my website. If for some reason I decide to advertise in next year's book, I will get in touch with you.



Scott Hair

Owner, Scott's Mobile Auto Detailing



She then called me back and said to keep in mind the deadline for next year is February 1st...and that she may call this spring to get her Jeep Cherokee detailed!
 
In terms of Yellow Pages this is how it works (I used to be a sales rep for transwestern yellow pages a.k.a most hated person on earth). They'll start you off deeply discounted just to get you in and jack the price up as previously mentioned just to get you to the point they think you should be paying. In terms of what ads to get, don't bother with any in column ads. If you are serious about advertising via yellow pages, it would be in your best interest to get the largest ad in your particular heading to maximize your profits. Of course all of this depends on your budget. To be perfectly honest with you I feel the best advertising there is would be word of mouth or referalls. These are people that have already seen your work and know what is it like. Just my .02 cents.
 
Advirtising in the yellow pages is a horrible idea...I have not yet got a "good" customer from this source.
 
This year I purchased $7000+ in yellow page advertising in a number of books in my area.

It is going to take a at least a month full of details to pay for but -NO GUTS NO GLORY!



I will let you know how it goes.
 
I've let my clients do all the talking for me. I have a guy in Houston who's already gotten me 4 more jobs, and another who's gotten me 4-5 more cars......and those are the out-of-towner's.



It helps when you can get club owners or restuarant owners or the suchlike's cars to detail, they quickly spread the word. :xyxthumbs

I also like to think saying a prayer or two never hurts.:grinno:



I think most of the time, just excellent work does more talking then any ad agency.:tribe:
 
Superior Fine said:
This year I purchased $7000+ in yellow page advertising in a number of books in my area.

It is going to take a at least a month full of details to pay for but -NO GUTS NO GLORY!



I will let you know how it goes.
Click to expand...



Ouch. Big ouch.



I look at it like this: if I were to spend $1000 in advirtising and get $2000 of work from it, I just performed $2000 in detailing for a 50% discount, only my customers did not benefit from this discount. I've had much better luck giving my existing customers slight discounts on upgraded services, and in return, encourage them to tell their friends about you - as I'm sure you (Joe) know, referrals are where it's at!



I got 2 calls from my yellow page ad last week (the most so far), but they were the usual price shoppers. Yellow page shoppers are "price shoppers" and people who want a detail immediately...so if you're booked out at all, this isn't your customer base anyway.
 
RAG said:
Yellow page shoppers are "price shoppers" and people who want a detail immediately...so if you're booked out at all, this isn't your customer base anyway.
Click to expand...



Ditto! Internet and referrals are where it is at now.
 
I did get four YP price shoppers today too!!



One had a 2006 range rover, you'd think he would go fo rit.



Well I have all year to make my $$$ back. Time will tell if I threw $$$ away.
 
I bit the bullet and had a dollar bill size, full color ad placed in the Sprint/Embarq yellow pages. Going to run me $206 and some change per month. We'l see how it goes when the book comes out. If it doesn't bring me any, or enough work, I will drop it when the year is up.
 
I am of the opinion that if it brings in additional revenue, it is worth it. I do agree that many are price shoppers, but in that case try to meet their needs and give them a price both parties can live with.
 
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