Media, the Internet, Yellow Pages, and Your Business
If you are reading this article, chances are you could use a little extra money. With the advent of the internet and the migration of advertising dollars from print to electronic (and this time, it's the real thing, I swear! Not one of those 1999 tech busts!...Seriously!) If you own a small business today, you look at many advertising mediums. The majority of these mediums lump themselves into 2 categories, creative or direct.
Creative has always been the crapshoot for the small business owner. A sales rep walks into your business, espousing the greater good of television or radio advertising, quickly moves past the ratings, viewers etc and into the sexiness of hearing your name at 6:57am Monday, Thursday and Saturday if you are watching station X or listening to station Y. If this product didn't work, a Super Bowl commercial price tag wouldn't make headlines every December (for how much Geico paid) or late February (to hear which is most memorable). The key with creative is frequency. If you have realistic budget for frequency, you can make the phone ring with a creative campaign. If you have that budget you probably aren't reading this article. Realistically speaking, you don't have a ton of money to risk on creative advertising effectiveness, haven't backed it up with a call to action, and you need, pound for pound, the least amount of advertising money possible, with the most phone calls?
Enter direct advertising. Classified sections in newspapers, they make your phone ring, if you're selling something people want. (For the record, advertising in the sports section of your local paper is creative advertising (people don't go to page 5 of the sports to regularly check out the latest prices on used cars.) Classified advertising is in the process of going from the newspaper industry's cash cow to taking it on the chin from EBay (ever heard of it?) and even more attractive small town slugger, Craigslist (you go Craig!). If you're business pumps out used cars by the pound, chances are you, or your salesmen are using these two websites to start realizing savings from Rupert Murdoch and his yacht-owning cronies. Even the best of EBay or Craigslist, however, doesn't put much of a dent in your P&L statement if you are service based like a contractor, or general retail, like a bookstore.
Enter the yellow pages?Pound for pound, no other medium makes the phone ring at your business like the good old fashioned yellow pages. Throw down your money, and answer the phone. You already know that. So do all the TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers in the country. The best protected advertising budget in any small business is the yellow page budget. Yellow pages are the scourge of the other guys. How many radio sales reps will walk into your store after you started your advertising campaign and say, "Tom, your $1,000 invested with my station this week got you 48 phone calls?" (If you find a station like that please send me the phone number, and I retract everything I said earlier) When someone wants a plumber, a pool boy, a new pool, or a divorce attorney for getting the new pool without his wife's approval, they pick up the weathered old yellow pages, leaf through a few adverts, and call someone that sells what they need.
So, am I telling you to advertise in the yellow pages?,,, Not so fast Skippy?First, let's look at the cost of the yellow pages,?You want the phone to ring in Miami, and you're a plumber? Better be ready to pony up some serious cash?say $3-4k per month. In Miami, the average cost of a service call could be around $65. If you don't have a crew, that ad needs to generate 61 calls to break even, not including the employee cost, travel costs etc. Not so bad? How many calls did you need to generate those 61 service calls? Did you go see everyone that called you? I would guess, for a contractor, you might get lucky and have a 50% close rate?122 calls?to break even. Don't forget to pay yourself?200 calls. Depressed? Better be glad you don't sell shoes. The same ad would generate a much lower close rate, and you need to sell an dump truck of shoes every month!
What's my point? Enter the ELECTRONIC yellow pages?No print bill, real time changes, and guess where all those print yellow pages are putting their money these days? BellSouth and SBC just paid $100M (you know, $100,000,000) for a new domain name, and combined their "competing" forces to make a better entry in the fray, thinking that you might remember yellowpages.com better than smartpages.com or realpages.com. (Makes you wonder where Google fits into the old branding and name recognition game.) Verizon seemed to get the concept a little better with superpages.com by aligning with Mr. Gates over at MSN right around the time Al Gore was inventing the internet. Getting back to the point, the internet yellow pages are going to do to print yellow pages what EBay and Craigslist have done to the newspaper companies. No paper, no ink, usage climbing (for electronic yellow pages, usage is climbing to as high as 70% of online searching, and buying) and real-time, do-it-yourself advertising. Advents such as community ranking, mini-sites, toolbars, pay per click, pay per call, and just about every way possible to pay for performance, track performance, and see what other buyers of your goods or services thought of your business. Due to the ever changing, "who's in first place" of the internet, there has yet to be determined if there is a Lance Armstrong in this race. Our own company USdirectory.com, via its partnerships, and investment into technology, is looking to become a late entry, blue-ribbon bearer. At this point, it's too early to clearly point out which one, or all, or none, of these companies will do to yellow pages what Google did to global search. That being said, even Google doesn't reflect enough tenure to ensure its own top position.
Who wins?? You do, the business owner. Technology is about to reduce your advertising budget the way Southwest and JetBlue changed the airline industry. Your customer base, as they migrate to the internet as vehicle of choice, will reach you at lower price points, and in greater volume, then ever before. Your mission, should you choose to accept, in investing in the right mix, at the right point, and try to cater not only to your existing radius of business, but around the planet with new and specialized niches?but that's another story.
Skip Middleton
Boca Raton, FL USA
USdirectory.com
Search. Find. Buy.
Powered by Feedzilla
Contact Us Today For Ad Information... Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... I caught myself wracking my brain over what kind of... Read More More about advertising by BIG Mike McDanielAdvertising is not a... Read More Each year there is a Yellow Pages arms race where... Read More Product publicity is the "secret pathway" to business success... Read More To promote the audience, staff, customers and other people the... Read More Question: What do you think the most important part of... Read More Advertising on humans using tattoos is rapidly kind of freak... Read More 1. Place copies of your circular on bulletin... Read More Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertising medium by 99.4% of... Read More Probably the most interesting thing about brochures and leaflets is... Read More Your marketing and advertising won't be effective if your potential... Read More The big news on Wall Street last year was the... Read More 1) Include a coupon in your large ads. This can... Read More Well, Super Bowl XXXIX is history. Too bad for the... Read More What is it about magnets that draw people to leave... Read More This article will show you how to cut your printing... Read More 1. Spend money on decent quality business cards. Home made... Read More Moving Message Signs are a unique, attention-grabbing way to communicate... Read More All sales begin with some form of advertising. To build... Read More The Pundits say the economy is slowly, but surely, recovering.... Read More So you spent good money on an ad, put it... Read More What is the golden rule of internet advertising?Give, so you... Read More One of the best and easiest ways to advertise without... Read More MANY INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS COME INTO PLAY MAKING A SUCCESSFUL AD:... Read More Yellow Pages Ads - Buying SecretsOK- let's agree that many... Read More
Cheap Domain Names
How to Write Ads that Increase Your Business
Ads Dont Sell - People Do !
Seven Ways to Waste Your Money on Yellow Pages Advertising
The Inside Secrets Of Free Publicity For Your Business
Indoor LED Displays
Why Most Advertisements Stink!
The First UK Man To Become a Human Billboard an Interview
16 Methods for Getting Free Advertising
What the Newspaper Ad Person Won?t Tell You
How To Write More Powerful Brochures, Leaflets, And Catalogues
Prove It! - Give Your Marketing and Advertising More Credibility
Advertising Agency In Boston: Tips and Tricks
10 Ways To Improve Your Print Ads
2005 Super Bowl Ads... Winners and Losers
Magnetic Business Cards: Make Your Marketing Message Stick
Print Your Marketing Postcards For A Penny, Address Them For Free, and Automate the Whole Process
11 Ways To Make Your Business Cards Work For You
Moving message Sign
How To Write Really Good Ads
When Times Get Tough... or When to Really Advertise
Why Your Ad Failed
Internet Advertising: How To Use The Golden Rule To Enrich Yourself.
Advertising Inserts
What Makes Advertising Successful?
Yellow Pages Ads - Buying Secrets
Contact Us Today For Ad Information... The single easiest way to increase sales is to look... Read More Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertising medium by 99.4% of... Read More Ever hear the term 'sexy' advertising? It's not necessarily what... Read More To promote the audience, staff, customers and other people the... Read More Are you confused by all the information you receive from... Read More I have been reading articles on increasing sales using search... Read More Depending on whom you ask, you will get told many... Read More Here are a couple of tips for creating an eye... Read More Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if... Read More Here's a great lesson that applies to direct mail. Ready?... Read More We all are looking for ways to market our businesses... Read More Most small businesses don't have a high powered advertising agency... Read More Remember, as a child lying in bed and listening to... Read More When, some little time ago now, I first descended upon... Read More Classified ads do not have the big market appeal that... Read More Research would indicate that consumers don't know what they're thinking.... Read More Push vs. Pull Advertising - Understand the Consequences for your... Read More Have you ever had to distribute door-hanger advertisements for your... Read More Every community has 'em. Fast talkers who roll into town... Read More Do you send email to your Online audience to let... Read More What is the golden rule of internet advertising?Give, so you... Read More Electronic reader boards are the most efficient way to convey... Read More In part one of this article we discussed the importance... Read More When you hear claims like??Best Lawnmower in the country?Absolute Lowest... Read More It is very important to realize that persons buy from... Read More
Affordable and Reliable Web
Hosting Starting
Small Business Image
What the Newspaper Ad Person Won?t Tell You
Is Your Advertising... Sexy?
Indoor LED Displays
How Can All the Radio Stations Be #1?
Increase Business By Being Nice
The Only Bad Advertising Is No Advertising - Or Is It?
Do Your Business Cards Say Who You REALLY Are?
Marketing Tips - Advertising
How to Know if Direct Mail Will Work for Your Business
8 Low Cost Ways To Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business
Do Your Radio Ads Work?
If You Want To Get More Customers, Heres 10 Powerful Stories To Improve Your Ads
What Is Most Important ? Copy Or Pic?
Classified Ads That Get Results
Just What Are Consumers Thinking?
Push vs Pull Advertising
Localized Advertising ? Door-to-Door Ad Distribution on the Fly!
Books, Bibles and Fast-Talkers
Power Headlines for Promotion Success
Internet Advertising: How To Use The Golden Rule To Enrich Yourself.
Electronic Reader Board
Does Your Brochure Pass the Test - Or is It Headed for the Trash? Part Two
How to Make Your Claims Believable
Science of Advertising and How to Benefit From It
Advertising |