Yellow Page Extortion

YP if done right costs about 2500 a month in my market - along with the other 6 companies who have also done it right - NO THANKS!

What I can't believe this topic is almost over a year old.

I have a one liner in the yellowpages this year... Like I said last year go big or go home...LOL

not one call from the YP..

I have a friend that pays 200 bucks a month for a small ad...books at least 1 call a week...go figure

Well I'm not going to argue with you because it sounds like you've got this marketing thing down to a science.  Thats one reason that I dont like to post very often is because usually someone wants to argue with you on this board.  Hey!  my wife would love this.  I'm not trying to sell you something, I'm not Ken Harris, I was just trying to point out some basic things.

Not enough to cover the cost of your ad

YP is and always has been a rip off. Mostly price shoppers

Hey wait just a minute here, I am a carpet & Duct cleaner but I also am a sales rep for Verizon Yellow Pages.  I agree that the price has been steep in the past but with the influx of other books coming into the market, Verizon has made alot of adjustments with the rate structure.  Make sure that your ad answers some basic questions such as, Who you are, what you offer, your number, obviously, what makes you better than the others at what you do.  Come up with a headline at the top of the ad for example, "Atlanta's Best Carpet & Duct Cleaning"  Some businesses make the mistake of having the business name really big at the top.  Catch the customers attention with good ad copy and they will read the ad.  Nightrider mentioned adding the prices to the ad and this is something that I'm considering. 

I got the call from the yellow pages today.  "I don't suppose you could use more business yada yada yada".  I told him I would not be interested. 

Sending a customer to the Yellow Pages is like going to a Speed Dating event.  Your customer gets to find out about all your competition.  Unless your ad is doing something that makes it jump off the page you are one of many.  I would prefer the customer is focused on only me.  That is not going to happen when I am grouped with all the me-toos out there.

Face it.  The only company guaranteed to make money off your ad in the yellow pages is the publisher of the yellow pages directory.

Try this.  Ask the salesman if he/she would sell  the advertising space to you for a percentage of the business you GET from the ad?  Whatever the answer is, that is your answer too. 

Doorhangers do well because - your ad has the exclusive attention of the prospect and I get at least 2 sales per hundred.  If the phone book did that good .... yeah, right.