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Do The Yellow Pages Really Benefit You?
photo credit: How can I recycle this
I recently came across an article posted on Small Biz Survival suggesting that the yellow pages really don’t serve as much of a purpose for small businesses as they used to. The days of people relying on the yellow pages to find a company or service are coming to an end. This I would have to agree with. While every now and then I will open up the phone book to search for something, more times than not I remember from memory, call information, or look on the Internet because it’s faster and easier.
The yellow pages are becoming more of a way for the yellow book to make money off of small businesses advertising with them rather than a way for companies to bring in more customers. It’s a small expense to advertise in the yellow book which is why most companies still do, they figure it’s no big deal to spend that little of money.
There is also the guilt of knowing that your competitors are listed in the yellow book, so you almost feel obligated to do the same in order to meet the competition. But, when you think about it, how often do you go get that yellow book yourself and look something up? Mine are crammed in a cupboard somewhere collecting dust and usually only get moved when the new one comes in and I throw out the old one.
You’ll get next to nothing for your money, if you bite. The directory may or may not even be printed! These are so common, you can read about them at the Federal Trade Commission. You have to catch and eliminate them, and be sure they don’t make it into your regular bill-paying process.
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Sulumits Retsambew on August 12th, 2009 12:38 pm
The Yellow pages as we know it will soon be history replace by online directorys. The cost to produces these monsters is too great and return on a add is going down make sure you get a online listing if you get a add with a link to your web site. Google local ads are Free!!!!
Adam Wallenstein on December 21st, 2009 9:49 am
I completely agree. Not to mention the fact that when a potential customer turns to the Yellow Pages, they not only see your ad, but all of your competitions’ ads. However, if that customer is turning to the phone book in the first place and you’re nowhere to be found, you’ve definitely lost a sale. We are a local plumbing company, and one approach we’ve taken is to promote our vanity number: 1-800-PLUMBING. Our goal is to get the potential customer to remember us and our number so that they don’t have to turn to the yellow pages and won’t have an opportunity to see all of our competition. Whether it is a vanity number, a jingle, or another method, I think the key is to be top of mind and give the customer an easy way of contacting you.
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