Yellow Page Ad

[oakwood]

How many of you guys did or didn't advertise in YP your first year in business. Did you have good response or was it a waste.m Thanks

[packerbacker]

I never have. Its a ripoff. Try advertising in your local church newspaper.

[tacoma200]

How many of you guys did or didn't advertise in YP your first year in business. Did you have good response or was it a waste.m Thanks

I have made enough in one mowing to pay the ad cost for the year. I don't get alot of calls but I have had several accounts that turned out to be good ones. Don't buy the most expensive add, just a basic add and try it for a year. What would you have to loose exept a few dollars.

[Mo Green]

I've never used the yellow pages. I just put a small week long add in the "Services" section in the classifieds of the local paper. Seemed to work fairly well. I picked up 3 good accoutns from it. Not bad for $60.

[AaronO]

Yellow page advertisements can be a tremendous asset to your business or they can be one of the most expensive mistakes you’ll ever make. It’s also hard to get the truth from some yellow page advertising because rate structures are complicated; the market research they quote to you will only contain information that the Yellow Pages wants quoted.

Be very careful about setting up your ad. If you make a mistake, its not like you can change it. And you are stuck with the ad for a year.

[j fisher]

If your only doing mowing, I'd advise against it. If you offer other services such as chemical apps, landscaping, Sod installs etc., then it is a valuable advertising tool. I'm running in both local Ph. Books this year.

[kc2006]

I put one in this year, I wanted something out there for incase customers forget my number or loose my card and I figured it wouldn't hurt to have it in all the houses in the area. It was 150 for the year for a pretty big add, some special they had going. I couldn't pass for that cheap.

[dmc337]

Excellent response. It's the only place I advertise my website right now and I get at least 5 hits a day and have also gained a significant amount of business from it.

[mtdman]

THe yellow pages are my number 1 source of advertising, and despite trying different methods each year, the phone book always produces for me and always gets me new customers. I can't say that about any other method, especially the newspaper.

:D

[CoastalGreenscapes]

My Dad sold advertising for SW Bell Yellow Pages and then went onto Directory Manager for all of SW Bell. Yellow Pages were drilled into me. What the sales people never tell you is that the best money spent is on a standard one inch ad or the free listing. Nothing else. Dad always told me not to waste my money on anything else. Know what. It works. After 42 years I think he might have know what he was talking about.

Just my 2 cents.

[walker-talker]

After reading many threads on the subject here on LS, my conclusion is.....it works for some and not for others. Without a doubt, be in there. As to how much to spend is the hard part. I have seen one guy here that has advertised for the last 4 years and always go big. It might be part of his long-term agenda, but he is there and big...year after year. For mowing...no...unless you come from a small town and can service all areas. I would get calls from all around. On the other hand, 50% of my calls are from my area that recognize my phone number's prefix. When I call around for a speciality service I do the same. I was considering going with a 1/4 page this year, but just cant bring myself to fork over $4500. Well, forking that kind of money out doesn't bother me so much, but with YP it's more of a gamble. I would rather spend that money with postcards. This year I went 2", white lettering on black background. It will run aorund $1100 on one phonebook and probably around $700 in the other. Bottom line is at least get in there. People might see and recognize your name and logo on your truck, but will likely not to remember your phone number.

Keep us informed!
Matt

[toac]

i am a sales rep for the regional yellow pages in dayton, oh. i've been through all the training that says the biggest ad wins......that's not always true. i think that being in the yellow pages could be an essential part of advertising for your business, but you don't have to spend thousands so that you are the biggest ad. most importantly you have to be represented in the phone book. now, i read earlier that you should only need a listing or a bold listing. that may be correct if your name is already out there and people know who you are. if you are just starting, a bold listing simply won't work. now i myself am trying to start a lawn and landscape co. i know i don't have 5000 to pay for an ad. what i do have is $250 to put a 1 inch ad that tells my potential customers my story....what i do, years experience, my coverage area. i know i won't get as much busniess as a full page ad, but i do know that i will get more business that the bold listing.

i have all sorts of crazy stats about who uses the yellow pages, what percentages and all that crap. i won't bore you with that. i just know that yellow pages do work and can help out your business.

personally i would suggest handing out flyers or putting an ad in the newspaper first.

[Team Gopher]

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Hi CoastalGreenscapes,

Thanks to you for sharing with us your dad's insight. Very powerful information there.

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[TJLANDS]

I advertise in the yellow pages because of two reasons,
first and most important was to be in the phone book and 411 when the people see your truck and are not able to catch the number or just don't have a pen, but they see the name.
second, many people might give out your name in conversation with neighbors and friends and don't remember or know your number, they can then just call information. No big ad, just the number and the area.