Opinions Wanted Yellow Pages???

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RParrish

RParrish

PFG, Picture Framing God
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Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Posts
7,548
Loc
A2 Michigan
So my yellow pages rep is coming in an hour, do I ...

1. Renew my ad?

2. Make it smaller?

or

3. Loose it completely?

I need opinions ASAP................:shutup:
 
Haven't had a yp ad in years. When asking new customers how they found me, the say the yp listings, they don't look at the ads. You could consider doing an "in column" ad...smaller less info but still stands out in the crowd. I went to this type of ad after the big ads price was increased way out of sight. After of few years it quit that too and just do the free listing in all of the telephone books they send out.
 
Ylva stole my answer.

Just a lisiting no add.


Bob
 
Last year I spent $1k a month on display ads.

This year, I'm paying for bold listings.

I have been doing fine this year. :)

(as long as you have a website that people can find you)
 
Unless you've diversified into pizza delivery, Randy, drop the display advertising ad.

Sometimes I think an in-column small box ad looks more classy and professional or ...even just a bold listing.
 
I cut my ad way back, no Internet listing, no extra bold white pages w/cheesy illustration.

Dave how where those ribs this year???? mnnnn ribs time for a Great Lakes PPFA picnic :beer:
 
RParrish said:
I cut my ad way back, no Internet listing, no extra bold white pages w/cheesy illustration.

Dave how where those ribs this year???? mnnnn ribs time for a Great Lakes PPFA picnic :beer:
Click to expand...

Well... I fixed them the last two weekends, Randy.

People complained because they said they were broken ...they fell off the bone.

:beer:
 
We downgraded this year from a display ad to a simple in-column bold listing, as did all but one of our competitors. (it went from 3 pages of framing display ads, to just a single ad - which I assume will be gone next year) The shop's YTD Gross receipts for 2009 are about 20% above 2008, so I'm no longer concerned that it was a bad decision. Last year, we pulled out of YELLOWBOOK completely, with no regrets. (just a free listing)

We ask every new customer how they found us, and less than 1% say the yellow pages. 8 out of 10, however, mention the website.

Just like newspapers, I think it has become obsolete. Our primary YP provider is currently in receivership

In some markets and demographics, I imagine they still carry weight.

Personally, when I see a big flashy display ad that costs 1-4k per month, I assume the advertiser will be overcharging me to cover these expenses. But that's me :)

For our first year (7 years ago), we had a small display ad with a white background at about $900/month. We have scaled back slightly each year since, due to weak results.

There are a LOT of big boxes in our market area that offer framing, but I've never seen an ad for any of them in the YP. That alone, says a lot to me :)

Investing in a web site, like others suggested, is probably a good choice.

Mike
 
So did you dump them? Did you tell them you were gonna dump them? Did rthey counter with a "better ad at a better price"? My YP rep did. Since i moved to a new location I ddi a new YP ad. Next year I'll dump them....
 
In the last year I downsized my display ad from 1/8 page to 1/16 page in three directories and saved a bundle.

But, especially in this economy, it is impossible to determine what effect that has on new customers.

I am reluctant to go to a simple line or bold listing since because our logo is on everything. Especially if you’re found on TV and other media, I believe that people will remember the logo before they remember your name or phone number, so you need to keep it in the yellow pages.

Keep in mind that if you downsize, your ad will lose its place on the page and get bumped to the back of the pack. No big deal if there is only one page of picture framers in your directory, but people may not find you if you are on a subsequent page.

Like Bob mentioned, you might be able to bargain a little, but the only deals that I was offered was a color ad (which I don’t like) OR some presence in a web search engine that nobody has ever heard of.
 
There's definitely a trend going here, and I've been doing the same.

We still have a display ad, but its now down to a "double quarter-column". Two years ago (previous owner) have a full 1/4-page in process color. Our main competitors have also downgraded to the same size. Don't know about next year. In the other book, I've dropped all display ads, now just paying for an extra line for our website.

As a result, our current phone book is a full 1/8-inch thinner than last years (and Napa isn't all that big to begin with!). Smartly, AT&T greatly increased the rate for the on-line advertising...but to me, this is money better spent.

Hope it went well with your sales rep!
 
Whatever you do, be careful.

When I decided not to renew my yellow page ad, the 'free' ad was also deleted. What a way to try and strong arm someone ...\

I was better off never adding any advertising.
 
I just cancelled my yp ad.

Since I am an att customer, I keep my free listing. I have the paperwork to show it.

It was weird. I got a phone call two months ago telling me that there were no longer reps in the area and all sales were done over the phone.

Then got the hard sell for increasing my ad AND paying for online advertising. I said no way. That I was even canceling my ad and just going with the free listing. He would not take NO for an answer. Then got the "my supervisor has to call to make the change."

Got emails from him regarding how the economy is turning around and how advertising helps with sales. yada, yada.

Then, nothing. Three weeks ago get a call starting the sell all over again. It was the hardest hard sell I've gotten in quite a while. For $300/ mo for a 1/16" ad. FInally the darn supervisor got on (recording the conversation, of course.) I gave her an ear full. I'd rather spend the money on my website.
 
auntiesarahjayne said:
I got a phone call two months ago telling me that there were no longer reps in the area ...
Click to expand...


That's curious, I got the same sales call... three times. The second one (really from AT&T) started off with "I see you don't have any advertising with us". Say what?!?!

I made the kid go do some research. In my case, at least, the first call came from AT&T as well, just a different office. But that guy never put the paperwork through (?) so it was pretty easy to negotiate the contract with the second caller. I told the third one to bugger off.

Me thinks the ol' Bell boys have a problem with their filing system.
Btw, the same thing is going on with the DSL department, one has no idea what the other is doing.
 
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