This year I decided to pony up $400 for a small add in the yellow book (even though all the advice I had gotten told me not to). Well, I just wanted to reaffirm for those considering this form if advertisement that it is not money well spent, not at all. The only calls I ever get are price shoppers wanting and interior detail...and I don't even get many of those. BAD Experiment on my part...and it wont happen again.
Yellow Pages are worthless
- Thread starter RAG
- Start date
Superior Shine
New member
$400!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is that monthly?
My yellow page ad cost me almost $600 a month. I figure if I get 2 or three details a month from it it will pay for it self.
My yellow page ad cost me almost $600 a month. I figure if I get 2 or three details a month from it it will pay for it self.
brwill2005
New member
Try a smaller community based book; one that targets a smaller area. I do not know if it is the same out there, but mine is the Community Phone Book. Data National publishes it.
:LOLOL Exactly what my experience has been the last few years. Price shoppers and interior details. No more landline, no more yellow pages.
When I first got a small insert ad in the yellow pages (mid 90s), it worked well but in the past few years, it seems only bargain hunters use the yellow pages. Quality minded shoppers are using the internet.
When I first got a small insert ad in the yellow pages (mid 90s), it worked well but in the past few years, it seems only bargain hunters use the yellow pages. Quality minded shoppers are using the internet.
imported_ajbarnes
New member
Scottwax said:
Totally agree.
I have received plenty of very good customer's from the internet.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
I got the basic free Yellow Page ad that was a 1 liner with my name and # and it worked great for me. I realize that alot of people are just shopping price, but if you have a solid sales technique and get them in the door, price won't matter then. Give them a competitive price up front and up-sell them. I gave tons of people $100 complete detail quotes, and they ended up spending $200-$250 by the time it was said and done. If we are 1/2 as good at selling our services as we are at detailing, it's bound to improve sales/profits.
Superior Shine
New member
David Fermani said:
That was so well put I have goose pimples!!!
My YP ad I hope says "money". We don't put just stock pictures of ferraris and other exotics like every other detailer in the worls does (and most have never touched one) We actually have pics of us working on the cars. My ads have us working on an MBZ SLR, BLK FERRARI, BLK LAMBORGHINI. Then it says -PRETTY GOOD ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!
I am hoping price shoppers look at my add and say to themselves, "this guy isnt cheap".
I want it to send a message to the people that really care about quality and will pay for it.
Time will tell if I am right or not.
This may sound rash at first but please read the entire thought. Answer the following questions and you are well on your way to updating your advertising budget business plan for 2007.
Who is your target client?
When was the last time you even opened the YP other than to see your advertisement?
Questions to ask yourself and your friends before spending $$$ with YP.
Do you or your friends even use the YP?
How often and what were you/they looking for?
Price shoppers use YP for just that purpose to shop by price. Lowballers and time wasters for me unless you can really up sell on the phone.
Now IMHO Google is the new YP and we must cater to where the mass market goes to find information and if you are targeting upscale clients they may use the internet but my clients come from word of mouth.
Now if I could schedule the time to make my website I would be set but these pesky word of mouth clients have just slammed my scheduling. :hifive:
Let the debate continue!
Al.
Who is your target client?
When was the last time you even opened the YP other than to see your advertisement?
Questions to ask yourself and your friends before spending $$$ with YP.
Do you or your friends even use the YP?
How often and what were you/they looking for?
Price shoppers use YP for just that purpose to shop by price. Lowballers and time wasters for me unless you can really up sell on the phone.
Now IMHO Google is the new YP and we must cater to where the mass market goes to find information and if you are targeting upscale clients they may use the internet but my clients come from word of mouth.
Now if I could schedule the time to make my website I would be set but these pesky word of mouth clients have just slammed my scheduling. :hifive:
Let the debate continue!
Al.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
ibstoney1 said:
I opened up the yellow pages yesterday after the gun on my pressure washer broke. I looked up Car Wash Equipment Suppiers and found what I was looking for in my area. I did a Google search just now and couldn't find anything within 150 miles. In this case, I needed a replacement today, and I wasn't about to drive that far and didn't want to order one off the net. In this particular case the Yellow Pages prevailed. It was the easiest way to get what I was looking for. I'm not saying that the Yellow Pages are the best way to obtain info, it's just one of the many tools out there.
Superior Shine
New member
I also have a google ad. It is dialed in perfect. I have had one for the last 4 months. I booked one $500 job from it and no other (I track where my customers find me very closely). I am going to let it run a year then decide if I should continue with it or not.
David Fermani said:
Good point bud. But you run a different kind of operation (large scale) than me too. My people and sales skills are undoubtably one of my strenghts, but I can tell you that there was no way that I was upselling any of the people that have yet called from the yellow pages...it's been "interior detail and that's it" so far.
Superior Fine said:
No. $400 a year. They tried to get me to pay for en expensive add, but I told them I'm already booked a week out pretty much all the time, so why would I pay for something like that. So I comprimised and got a really small add for a promotional offer.
But even if the add generates me $1000 in work, I have then esentially done $ 1000 in work and only netted $600 for it...that's nearly a 50% discount on my time...and I cringe at giving anybody more than 15% cause I already feel my services are unvalued/priced. So in order for me to call it a good investment, it'd have to generate about $4000 in work...and it aint' gonna happen.
I agree with most others on this board...the Internet is a much more valuable tool.
brwill2005
New member
You still will have gained new customers, correct? Those few new customers can turn into lots of money over the years as they give you repeat business and tell friends etc. I paid aprox. $350 for my two small ads last year. They more than paid for themselves. This year I increased the size of one ad, and left the other the same. It cost me about $150 extra. I would like to put another small ad in the other 'book' in my area, but am trying to budget out the additional money. If I could afford it, I would have full page ads in several different books
I would think the internet is a much better way of advertising. I rarely us the YP anymore unless I can't find something local on the internet. I would think that most people that use a detailer are people that have little extra time for things like searching through the YP to find a detailer. Not only that, but finding a good detailer isn't like looking through the YP for a local appliance store. Just like most people aren't going to find a mechanic in the YP either. They will ask around for the best recommendations. If they don't find one through their contacts, I'm sure a quick trip to Google or Yahoo would be the next step while they have a quick minute at work. So I would think a well laid out website with quality photos of your work, along with all the proper "key words" and such to make your site come up at the top of searches at the various search engines will yield better results than a YP ad.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
RAG said:
I've got plenty of those!! I always charged them lots of $$$.
brwill2005
New member
I have had some of those too (not puke), but people selling a car that has not been maintained correctly. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to be too selective about the type of work I do. I would love to have nothing but regular customers who have me detail their cars once a month. At this point the YP is providing me with a decent revenue stream.
brwill2005 said:
Early on, that was the same for me. Once you have a good customer base established, I think you will find the Yellow Pages aren't a necessity.
I tell you, RAG's experience exactly mirrors mine over the past 3-4 years. Crappy, trashed cars and cheap people expecting a miracle for $75 for a full detail. Ugh.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
RAG said:
RAG - You're right about being in a different market. In the Michigan market there's virtually no mobile detailers. It's too seasonal. I've seen a few try to stay in business, but it gets too cold 4-5 months a year.
I really never did any advertising other than the 1 liner I had for free in the yellow pages. I tried mailers a few times, but it gave me no return on the investment. As far as the puke clean-up goes, I never turned down any nasty job,(blood, puke, flood) it just had to be worthwhile. Please explain the differences between mobil/fixed in respect to getting and doing disgusting jobs? I'm trying to understand that part of your comment. Thanks.....