![]() (I’m starting to sound like Maesz on a rant here, but I do object to slimy business practices! OK, deep breath, and onward to… )ĭecide if yellow pages ads are right for your business at all. Make sure that everyone who answers your business phone knows it. You have to catch and eliminate them, and be sure they don’t make it into your regular bill-paying process.ĭid I mention all the scammy phone calls for inclusion in internet yellow page directories? Ignore them, too. The directory may or may not even be printed! These are so common, you can read about them at the Federal Trade Commission. You’ll get next to nothing for your money, if you bite. How’s the ROI on those full page, full color ads? How many oilfield roustabouts really need a big display ad, and how many just feel pressured because all the other roustabouts are in there, too? (Yes, we really do have roustabouts, and some of them do advertise in the phone book.)Īnd that doesn’t count these scammy solicitations you’ll get in the mail, designed to look as much like yellow pages invoices as possible. Glance through the attorneys section, or the physicians. If your competitor is advertising, you feel like you have to, too. There’s a second habit they are relying on, too: competition. (If you think measuring social media Return On Investment is tough, try figuring out whether anyone actually used your yellow pages ad, even if you use tricks like “mention this ad” or include a special code.) It’s so easy to let a relatively small expenditure roll over just one more year, especially when you think some business might have come from there. I think directory publishers are coasting along on small businesses’ habit of advertising they way they always have. Louis columnist kicked a flaming debate when he said AT&T makes millions from the yellow pages and then suggested that there is little benefit for advertisers any more. But of course, they are keeping the yellow pages. ![]() As few as 1% of customers bother to request a copy, according to this news report. People’s Exhibit #1: AT&T has been on a campaign to eliminate the printed white pages in as many markets as they can, offering them on request only. They exist to make money for their publisher. I want to let you in on a little secret: The directories don’t exist to benefit your business. And I don’t even have a copy of the City Directory, so that makes seven. In an era when we all look up phone numbers online or even using our cell phone, why so many paper phone books? Alva, Oklahoma, population around 5000, is included in all six of these directories.
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