# advertising in the yellow pages



## tahufford61 (Jul 29, 2006)

This year I started running an ad in the yellow pages, can anyone tell me if this kind of advertising pays off or is it a waste of good money. I also have lawn care that I am advertising.


Thank you
Tim


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## Farmer Ferd (Jul 29, 2006)

Youll wonder how you lived without it. Make sure your add is also availible to the yellow pages online. good luck


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## TXtreeman (Dec 27, 2006)

my ad really didn't. I have alot of online users and word of mouth, I solicit door-to-door business cards. Survey yourself with custumers. Ask where they heard about you, and you'll realize what works and what doesn't.


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## TXtreeman (Dec 27, 2006)

I meant to finish... mine really didn't work in the yellow pages but it's good to have your name on there for reference and recognition.


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## John464 (Dec 27, 2006)

It is a must IMO. We only have a small ad because most people know us in the area. I pay about $300 a month for it. I have a friend who is just starting out 2 years now. Needs to form a customer base. Running him about $3,000 per month for a half page ad in the Yellow Pages in two counties in NJ and a half page ad in two counties in the Yellow Book. He is getting a lot of work from it, but I dont know if its necessary.


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## M.D. Vaden (Dec 28, 2006)

You will find out within the year whether you could have lived without it or not.

For some people, it was a waste of money. For others, it was good.

I very little from the ad - it was a loss.

For me, the paper ads were good.

It all depends on where you live and the size and position of the ad.

I think the Yellow pages is going to be hurting bunch of organizations in about 20 years as more homes get computers and more companies get websites.

And computer screens don't display ads nearly as well as two open pages in a book.

So the transition to internet for Yellow Pages is fairly lame for what they are doing right now to scamble and adapt.


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## rfwoodvt (Jan 5, 2007)

*Its all in the ad copy*

Hi!

I know this is gonna be a longwinded response, but stick with me as it might prove helpful.

I've been using the yellow pages for almost 10 years now and for the first 9 it was a waste of money. I kinda thought if it as an unfortunate yet required tax. Useless, a drain on my resources and just plain highway robbery.

Its not that I wasn't getting calls, heck I would get up to 20 a day peak season and averaged 5 or 6 the rest of the time.

Problem was that I was closing less than 10% of my YP calls and nearly 80% of my WOM, Newsprint and Direct sales calls.

I was spending almost 90% of my time estimating the yp calls that weren't pannning out.

I ran some numbers and presented a cost per sale analysis to my YP guy and told him to give me a better rate...he laughed and said no-go.

Anyhow, I did some research to see if I needed the YP and discoverd that those customers who did not personally know me or did not have a recommendation from a current customer would invariably check to see if I were in the Yellow Pages. (my yp ad also has my web page and most of my customers check that too) 

Seems that for most folks finding my add in the YP made them feel that I was at least legit and likely to be good.

I also learned from a great number of folks on this site and other chat sites that Advertising "Free Estimates" is tantamout to selling yourself short. All of our time is worthwhile so if I was spending 18 out or every 20 hours giving "free" estimates then I wasn't paying the bills.

From that concept I decided to remove the "Free Estimates" from my YP Ads.

An interesting thing happened. First, my incoming calls from the YP ad dropped by about 2/3rds. Thats around 60 out of 100 calls that I used to get were no longer ringing in. At first I panicked.

Then I realized that it also meant that I was not going to have to spend 60 hours chasing leads that would never pan out. In fact I discovered that everyone calling me now was serious about getting some work done.

The next interesting thing that happened was that my closure rate on sales exploded. For the first month after the new ad came out I was closing nearly all my sales.

I started raising my bid rates until my closure rate dropped to just above 52% I would have liked more sales, but didn't have the crew/equipment capacity.

So, now with fewer calls I was making more sales.

Our estimate dollar amounts fell 66% but our total revenues went UP 53% this year. Much better use of our time, more predictable hours for the crew and the longest season we've had in our history.

I've concluded that by removing the Freebie reference, I've eliminated most of the "tire kickers" from our phones. 

Those that are calling us now already have decided that they want the work done so half the sale is already completed. I just need to encourage them, help them discover thier options and give them assurance that I am the one they want to do the work.

Its old fashioned pre-qualifying of your prospects. Help them identify thier needs and then talk only with those who have the authority to make the decision. Since they already contacted me with a need the rest is academic. 

I still get asked if we do "Free Estimates."

If I get that question my first response is to let the caller know that that if the work is known and obvious we'd provide an estimate at no charge. But, if we need to do any diagnostics, planning or evaluations then that is a billable service. But we'll let them know before we cross that line so they can decide whether to continue meeting.

Then I ask "is the work we're looking at something that you have already decided that you want done and are planning to complete within the next month or so, or is the work something you're just exploring or trying to build a budget for?"

If they answer by saying they intend to have the work done then their question is more one of thrift, or being prepared to pay for a service they are requesting. For these folks I immediately schedule the estimate. 

If they answer in any other way then it usually means we have weeded out a tirekicker. These folks usually try to run me around in circles asking a bunch inapplicable questions. Once I've decided they are likely a tire kicker I give them a quick range of prices. Usually way to both high and low extremes.

Kinda like, "well we've had Pine tree take downs that were very simple and ran as little as $100. But recently we did a 25 incher like you are describing that had to be parted out and rigged to the ground. That one ran over $850. If it is highly technical to take down it could run a couple grand. 

"But we'd really have to look at your tree to give you a better idea. If you are serious about getting the work done within the next month or so I'd be happy to run some tighter numbers for you. otherwise, once you have made a firm decision to do the work I'd be happy to run out and work up some more solid numbers for you."

Most of the tirekickers pass on having me come out and never call back but every once in a while one does.

For now, the YP is a major factor in our ad program and until we reach our prduction capacity we may even upsize our ad. Even when we hit capacity, I don't think we'd ever eliminate it completely.


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## Xtra (Jan 6, 2007)

I agree with John.
You need a fairly large sized ad for a few years to gain a customer base, then down size the ad. Unfortunately a lot of people relate the size of a YP ad as how your business is doing as well as how professional it is.


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## ATH (Jan 6, 2007)

Yeah, but those who know how much good YP ads cost might also be thinking about how much extra you are charging them to afford the YP ads...


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## rfwoodvt (Jan 7, 2007)

ATH said:


> Yeah, but those who know how much good YP ads cost might also be thinking about how much extra you are charging them to afford the YP ads...



I don't believe people actually think that way. I believe they'd be more inclined to think that a company willing to shell out that kind of money is taking this business seriously.

Nobdy shies away from a company because they advertise on TV and TV is big $$$$. So is Radio.

No, I think that if someone reading our ad is worried about how much I spent on it and how it might affects thier price, then they are probably going to be looking for all the ways that we are trying to put the screws to them.

This is certainly not the qualified type of customer that we can serve well and make happy. In fact, that type of person is likely to be a perpetual headache. 

There are plenty of folks who want Wal-Mart Cheap and might think a big ad means big bucks and a small ad means small bucks. Then again, even wal-mart probably spends a large percentage of its buget on ads, yet the bargain hunters don't shy away.

You have to keep in mind that you have to decide what your market is and what client base you want to serve then you need to tailor your ads accordingly.

We don't want everyone to call us because we won't be able to serve all of them. At the same time, not everyone who calls is someone we want or will be able to satisfactorily serve. 

Just my 2 cents....earned from years of headaches.


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## Xtra (Jan 7, 2007)

It really depends on the location and type of clients.
In affluent areas clients like it if you show up in a lot of new shiny well maintained trucks with a large crew . . . it's kinda like a status symbol to their neighbors.

If someone doesn't pick my company becuase of the size of my ad or the equipment I have, I'd rather not do work for them. They can keep the hacks and underbidders busy while I go after larger more profitable accounts.


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## Timberhauler (Jan 20, 2007)

I've tried the yellow pages twice,and neither time did the ad even pay for itself.I found that when I did get calls from it,it was mostly people looking for the cheapest price.The only work I ever gained from it was from people who wanted quality work.I won't do it again


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