# Speaking of Yellow pages...



## Toddppm (Mar 20, 2009)

I am reducing the size of most of my ads for the next renewal. I'm paying some big bucks and keep track of my calls, it works but I am not a big company and can't keep doing it. It's hard to measure the recognition you get from those ads too but at the price I'm paying it's not enough.

I'm thinking of telling them the amount I want to pay each month and go from there. I've got several different sizes and kinds of ads and know what each type costs. 
Has anybody had any luck beating them down on price? 

Hopefully I can keep some of the display ads but the prices are too high, will they make a deal and come down in your experience?


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## ATH (Mar 20, 2009)

Depends on the company. ATT and Haines wouldn't budge.

Ogden did discount the last 2 years, then billed me for the "non discounted" price this year -- without contacting me first, or getting a contract from me. I think I'll sit on the bill for a while and wait it out... Best I can tell they should be happy if I send a thank you card, let alone paying the same thing I paid last year. They certainly aren't getting the full amount.

The YPs are foolish if they don't negotiate as they are becoming more irrelevant year by year plus right now many companies are cutting back hard on marketing.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.


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## Toddppm (Apr 3, 2009)

Well, I'll try to splain again. I think the beating them down on price sounds a little harsh but they play these games like:

This is the amount you would be paying if you paid full price= $$$$
But because you are advertising alot with us we give you this much discount=-$$$$
And each year it will go up a little bit until you reach full price.

Then, each year if I add an area or place a bigger ad, we'll keep your price at this rate, blah, blah, blah......

I hate this chit, as bad as buying a freaking car.


I'm going to downgrade big time but I still cannot see paying what they say these BS rate they make up are.
I've seen guys say that if you wait them out, they'll come down substantially? 

True?


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## Away Marketing (Apr 4, 2009)

*Yellow Pages? Probably not such a good idea.*

Nowadays, most people go to their favorite search engine to find the service they are looking for. I recommend search engine ads. Yellow Pages companies will lock you into long contracts, use such tactics as bait and switch on you, overbill you, and take you to court over bills that you thought you wouldn't have to pay because you thought you had canceled. Then they tell you that it's all your fault and you should have had your lawyer examine their contract more closely. Display ads online in the home and garden section of your local newspaper may be a good option as well. I've had a lot of success marketing some local tree companies in Phoenix, so feel free to contact me if you want any ideas, or clarification.


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## ponderosatree (Apr 9, 2009)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Yellowpage just aren't worth it.


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## Bowhunter01 (Apr 9, 2009)

I tried some big ads a few years ago. They made it seem like they'd throw in a smaller ad in a different section of the book for free if you paid for the big one, but that didn't do much for me. They don't usually make any deals. 

I got a lot of price shoppers from the big ads, but wasted a lot of time looking and giving written estimates to people, and never heard back. Your best bet is to run a few smaller ads, and try to build your client base through word of mouth referals. Much much better that way. It takes a couple years though. 

Guess I didn't really answer your question much, but thought I'd share my personal experiences with the yellow pages. Now I just run a simple bold listing in a couple phone books so that people who know about me can find my number. Good luck!


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## bclure (Apr 17, 2009)

*No yellow pages for me..*

In my experience...

When a new customers calls, I say "how did you hear about us?". Invariably, if they say "yellow pages", I get to the bid site and see the other 32 trees companies are there doing the same bid. Then the homeowner generally chooses the lowest bid regardless of any other factors OR the tree remains standing because they don't have any money to spare. 

Word of mouth has been my best friend.

Brendan


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## extremewoodwork (May 3, 2009)

*yellow pages*

Having experienced results and customer service from three separate phone book printers in my area i can honestly say that i will only put ads in the "talking phone book" or the "yellow book". Even if "the real yellow pages" offered me a full page ad for 5 bucks a year i would still not allow this company to put my ad in their book.


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## MonkeyMan_812 (May 4, 2009)

You want to have ads in there but dont spend more than 85 bucks a month. That should get you an ad about the size of a business card with color. Well not in the ATT book. They want $400 a month for a full color business card sized ad in my area. Do not get a huge ad they are a waste of money!!


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## ponderosatree (May 4, 2009)

MonkeyMan_812 said:


> You want to have ads in there but dont spend more than 85 bucks a month. That should get you an ad about the size of a business card with color. Well not in the ATT book. They want $400 a month for a full color business card sized ad in my area. Do not get a huge ad they are a waste of money!!



My instinct is to say that advertising in any phonebook other than the AT&T is just throwing your money away but even competing phonebooks look exactly the same as AT&T ones. I don't think clients would make a distinction between a generic book and the official AT&T one and would be apt to throw whichever in their cabinet. 

I'm negotiating with my AT&T Yellowpages rep now. I'm going to try and hardball him and see where it gets me. I suspect that AT&T won't negotiate much so I doubt I'll get much savings. May just be my year to dump our ad all together. Good riddance.


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