Dumping the yellow pages - not enough bang for the buck?

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
mysoulishome

mysoulishome

DJ
Aug 11, 2006
722
14
Tehachapi, Californiaa
www.aaronsdjservices.com
Like many I am questioning the value of the yellow pages for advertising these days. It seems to me the value has been going down while prices continue to go up. Also, it seems there are more and more Phone Books being put out all the time...not to mention hundreds of wedding sites (but that's another topic). Is it worth the cost to be in all of the yellow page directories? Or any of them?

Last year I made a mistake on my yellow page listing that will probably end up teaching me a good lesson in the long run. This gal came into my store and spent an hour or so putting an ad together at a "promotional rate." I really didn't want to spend a lot of money so she cut me a "deal" that would keep it around $60. Now, I am used to my small town yellow pages and getting quotes for the whole year. I eventually realized it was $60 a month and it's been a reminder every time I write that check each month.

It was a good experiment though because I paid for the ad and was able to see the response. All I've gotten is a few price checkers, I can tell when they are calling from the yellow pages because they're just going down a list writing down prices from every DJ. Not worth $60 a month. Not worth $60 period. I could take that $60 a month and get a lot more bang with a google ad-words promo or many other things...

So I talk to the gal and ask what a basic yellow page listing would cost...under DJ's and wedding vendors. $9 a month each. $108 a year. Worth it? Heck no.

She asks me "But where are people going to hear about you?"

I tell her I get all my clients from the internet, word of mouth, and the bridal association. All I get from the yellow pages are price checkers.

So I dumped them. I will be taking the yellow pages on a case by case basis as I renew them for the next year. I would like to have a basic listing in all of the books at least but $100 is absolutely not worth it to be in one directory when there are dozens of phone books in my county.
 
I'm thinking of dumping the Yellow Pages also. They're not worth the money. Most calls are from "shoppers" looking for the lowest price. Is there some place better to put our advertising dollars? I started calling them in January 2008 for an ad copy change, and they finally got it right a week before the dateline in the fall of 2008. I'm tired of their bull and attitude. Do they real care about the small guy? If I do anything with them for next year I'm only going with one line for the name. Where else can we go?
 
Better advertising for the $$ than yellow pages:

1. Get a website and pay google to direct traffic to it
2. Buy booth space at a bridal show, county fair, or swap meet
3. Pay to get some leads from wedding websites or buys lists of newly engaged couples from marketing companies. Send flyers and brochures.
4. Give pens away with your name on them?
5. Mail flyers to schools
6. Pay a teenager to stand on the corner wearing a sandwich board
7. Newspaper, TV, Radio, Magazine advertising
8. Post free ads on Craigslist, MySpace, Facebook, and all the free classified ads sites
9. Join the Chamber of Commerce
10. Invite locals to a free wedding/party planning seminar

Add your own!
 
Put your business cards everywhere,,, go out to a meal, leave a card with the bill, see a bullitin board, put them up there.... shop somewhere? leave one or two on the counter.

Cards are cheap, and when you get a deal why not use them up?

I get new cards every two years and I always have old ones left over.... why not...
 
Aaron.....welcome to the YP Free club......I've been a member for over 15 years.

Also, I've not done a bridal fair in just about the same number of years.
 
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson. I'm going to be re-reading the volume I have and looking into his newer books. Time to change up the game plan.
 
Well I guess we all have different methods.....

Now I pay considerably more for YP advertising than Aaron but I get results from it. There is only one YP here but I have ads in my market and the next one to me. All in all it's just under $500/month and due to some changes in my business I plan to cut that in at least half this year

Chuck The DJ said:
Put your business cards everywhere,,, go out to a meal, leave a card with the bill, see a bullitin board, put them up there.... shop somewhere? leave one or two on the counter.
...
Click to expand...

LOL I call that the three foot rule. If someone speaks to me randomly and comes within 3 feet of me they get a business card. I also leave them on tables, counters etc. I used to do this all the time but just started again recently
 
A YP ad will pay for itself if you're one of three DJ companies listed 'way out in the sticks. Otherwise, it's an expensive way to get price shoppers to call and waste your time as well.

I agree ~ the cost of a YP ad has increased by leaps and bounds. Yet, the YP is losing market share as more and more shoppers research online. Printing and distributing all those books is very expensive. That's why Sears did away with their catalogs.

In time to come I look for print versions of the YP to disappear altogether. Technology is available for people to use their landlines to access numbers and services, much the way the Internet is searched. The telcos will get on board eventually.
 
Fred Wright said:
A YP ad will pay for itself if you're one of three DJ companies listed 'way out in the sticks. Otherwise, it's an expensive way to get price shoppers to call and waste your time as well.

I agree ~ the cost of a YP ad has increased by leaps and bounds. Yet, the YP is losing market share as more and more shoppers research online. Printing and distributing all those books is very expensive. That's why Sears did away with their catalogs.

In time to come I look for print versions of the YP to disappear altogether. Technology is available for people to use their landlines to access numbers and services, much the way the Internet is searched. The telcos will get on board eventually.
Click to expand...

While I agree that fewer people use the Yellow Pages, you need to make sure that you're still able to be found using directory assistance if you cut off your YP advertising. Believe it or not, not everyone uses the internet to find local services.

My YP listings cost me $60 per month. That gets me in two phone books with a one-line listing plus my website address highlighted in blue. The phone rarely rings as a result of the listing, but at least people who start with the yellow pages and then take their search online will already know where to find me.
 
Already doing most of the ideas above. Handing out business cards all the time.

Haven't been happy with YP for a long time and keep searching for the "better idea".

Unfortunately not getting many contacts from the net. Most people here still using the YP.
 
I'd love to help you make the most out of limited resources.

Dave

ps. See below.
 
I only have the single line in the YP that comes with my business line and business white page listing.
 
Abbey Lane said:
Already doing most of the ideas above. Handing out business cards all the time.

Haven't been happy with YP for a long time and keep searching for the "better idea".

Unfortunately not getting many contacts from the net. Most people here still using the YP.
Click to expand...

Then why would you spend money trying to find other ways? Change your YP ad and see if that helps.
 
newspaper? yellow pages? magazines?
(that's what my kids would say)
see what happens when you grow up connected to a computer, and Ipod, a cell phone!
I'm surprised that ANY paper-based business is still printing anything!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back