| If you are reading this article, chances are you | | | | someone that sells what they need. |
| could use a little extra money. With the advent of | | | | So, am I telling you to advertise in the yellow |
| the internet and the migration of advertising | | | | pages?,,, Not so fast Skippy...First, let's look at the |
| dollars from print to electronic (and this time, it's | | | | cost of the yellow pages,...You want the phone to |
| the real thing, I swear! Not one of those 1999 | | | | ring in Miami, and you're a plumber? Better be |
| tech busts!...Seriously!) If you own a small business | | | | ready to pony up some serious cash...say $3-4k |
| today, you look at many advertising mediums. | | | | per month. In Miami, the average cost of a |
| The majority of these mediums lump themselves | | | | service call could be around $65. If you don't have |
| into 2 categories, creative or direct. | | | | a crew, that ad needs to generate 61 calls to |
| Creative has always been the crapshoot for the | | | | break even, not including the employee cost, |
| small business owner. A sales rep walks into your | | | | travel costs etc. Not so bad? How many calls did |
| business, espousing the greater good of television | | | | you need to generate those 61 service calls? Did |
| or radio advertising, quickly moves past the | | | | you go see everyone that called you? I would |
| ratings, viewers etc and into the sexiness of | | | | guess, for a contractor, you might get lucky and |
| hearing your name at 6:57am Monday, Thursday | | | | have a 50% close rate...122 calls...to break even. |
| and Saturday if you are watching station X or | | | | Don't forget to pay yourself...200 calls. Depressed? |
| listening to station Y. If this product didn't work, a | | | | Better be glad you don't sell shoes. The same ad |
| Super Bowl commercial price tag wouldn't make | | | | would generate a much lower close rate, and you |
| headlines every December (for how much Geico | | | | need to sell an dump truck of shoes every |
| paid) or late February (to hear which is most | | | | month! |
| memorable). The key with creative is frequency. | | | | What's my point? Enter the ELECTRONIC yellow |
| If you have realistic budget for frequency, you | | | | pages...No print bill, real time changes, and guess |
| can make the phone ring with a creative | | | | where all those print yellow pages are putting |
| campaign. If you have that budget you probably | | | | their money these days? BellSouth and SBC just |
| aren't reading this article. Realistically speaking, you | | | | paid $100M (you know, $100,000,000) for a new |
| don't have a ton of money to risk on creative | | | | domain name, and combined their "competing" |
| advertising effectiveness, haven't backed it up | | | | forces to make a better entry in the fray, |
| with a call to action, and you need, pound for | | | | thinking that you might remember better than or |
| pound, the least amount of advertising money | | | | (Makes you wonder where Google fits into the old |
| possible, with the most phone calls... | | | | branding and name recognition game.) Verizon |
| Enter direct advertising. Classified sections in | | | | seemed to get the concept a little better with by |
| newspapers, they make your phone ring, if you're | | | | aligning with Mr. Gates over at MSN right around |
| selling something people want. (For the record, | | | | the time Al Gore was inventing the internet. |
| advertising in the sports section of your local | | | | Getting back to the point, the internet yellow |
| paper is creative advertising (people don't go to | | | | pages are going to do to print yellow pages what |
| page 5 of the sports to regularly check out the | | | | EBay and Craigslist have done to the newspaper |
| latest prices on used cars.) Classified advertising is | | | | companies. No paper, no ink, usage climbing (for |
| in the process of going from the newspaper | | | | electronic yellow pages, usage is climbing to as |
| industry's cash cow to taking it on the chin from | | | | high as 70% of online searching, and buying) and |
| EBay (ever heard of it?) and even more | | | | real-time, do-it-yourself advertising. Advents such |
| attractive small town slugger, Craigslist (you go | | | | as community ranking, mini-sites, toolbars, pay per |
| Craig!). If you're business pumps out used cars by | | | | click, pay per call, and just about every way |
| the pound, chances are you, or your salesmen | | | | possible to pay for performance, track |
| are using these two websites to start realizing | | | | performance, and see what other buyers of your |
| savings from Rupert Murdoch and his | | | | goods or services thought of your business. Due |
| yacht-owning cronies. Even the best of EBay or | | | | to the ever changing, "who's in first place" of the |
| Craigslist, however, doesn't put much of a dent in | | | | internet, there has yet to be determined if there |
| your P&L statement if you are service | | | | is a Lance Armstrong in this race. Our own |
| based like a contractor, or general retail, like a | | | | company USdirectory.com, via its partnerships, |
| bookstore. | | | | and investment into technology, is looking to |
| Enter the yellow pages...Pound for pound, no other | | | | become a late entry, blue-ribbon bearer. At this |
| medium makes the phone ring at your business | | | | point, it's too early to clearly point out which one, |
| like the good old fashioned yellow pages. Throw | | | | or all, or none, of these companies will do to |
| down your money, and answer the phone. You | | | | yellow pages what Google did to global search. |
| already know that. So do all the TV stations, radio | | | | That being said, even Google doesn't reflect |
| stations, and newspapers in the country. The best | | | | enough tenure to ensure its own top position. |
| protected advertising budget in any small business | | | | Who wins?? You do, the business owner. |
| is the yellow page budget. Yellow pages are the | | | | Technology is about to reduce your advertising |
| scourge of the other guys. How many radio sales | | | | budget the way Southwest and JetBlue changed |
| reps will walk into your store after you started | | | | the airline industry. Your customer base, as they |
| your advertising campaign and say, "Tom, your | | | | migrate to the internet as vehicle of choice, will |
| $1,000 invested with my station this week got | | | | reach you at lower price points, and in greater |
| you 48 phone calls?" (If you find a station like that | | | | volume, then ever before. Your mission, should |
| please send me the phone number, and I retract | | | | you choose to accept, in investing in the right mix, |
| everything I said earlier) When someone wants a | | | | at the right point, and try to cater not only to |
| plumber, a pool boy, a new pool, or a divorce | | | | your existing radius of business, but around the |
| attorney for getting the new pool without his | | | | planet with new and specialized niches...but that's |
| wife's approval, they pick up the weathered old | | | | another story. |
| yellow pages, leaf through a few adverts, and call | | | | |