Its Christmas Break so a little house keeping is in order: looked up my Dex Knows yellow page subscription - low and behold** IT’S NOT THERE!!!** So what am I paying for? In fact when we search for Window Cleaning NO local window cleaners appear. What does appear are these companies I call Collectives that purchase blanket advertising for multiple regions. Than some of them try to contact me telling me they have customers for me…
We advertise in Dex Knows $45 per month and Yellow Pages $25 per month, including the Dex incredible shrinking phone book which seems to be dissolving over past several years. In fact I heard a recent news report that telephone landline companies have shrunk to 20% of there customer base, how true that is I do not know. We still maintain a land line and there are many of our older generation that also have a land line and some don’t even have a computer in there home. Therefore we continue to advertise with the yellow pages and yes we do have a website which is discussion for another time.
We were in the Yellow pages once. think we had one 1/4 size page add, and 2 business card size one’s in different service sections.
Got 1 call that year from 2 hours south and 1 call 3 years after.
I know a few who do well with it and those area’s seem to be populated by older generations. For myself, the only reason I keep a phone book is incase I wake up and I am walking in sewage, find an uncaged lion in on the couch or something else major I can not dream of. Anything else, I use the internet.
Whatever works to bring in $$
Full disclosure: Yellow Pages is the reason I got into gutter cleaning.
Well not how I got into it, but more like how I realized their was a demand.
- they were doing some "thank you"promotion and offered me a free ad.
The only reason I have any Yellow Pages around these days is in case there is somekind of crazy stuff like the Blackout of 2013
Same reason I keep a landline.
I swear to god, I was calling my buddy in California to tell me what the news was saying about MY area.
- the radio stations were out
- tv was out
- electricity was out
- the roads were littered with cars out of gas
My neighbors were having ‘fun’ with it, but I was freaking out.
The ATM’s didn’t work and I had very little cash.
Thanks to my local party store who extended me credit (in the dark) to get me through (beer, smokes, etc…)
I forgot what I was even talking about…
Oh yeah, the importance of Yellow Pages.
As I have that exact “D” on my back I feel like you stole my booze tonight.
If Christmas was meant to be celebrated sober, they wouldn’t have invented Egg Nog…
Here’s a little Life Hack…
I don’t know about Dex, but regular Yellow Pages will put a listing for your company in their book whether you pay or not.
If you have a yp.com listing, you’re in. No fancy ad, but a listing. I guess they’re struggling to make the thing look bigger than 20 pages lol.
Hehe… Blackout of 2013… thats cute…
Try Sandy 3 years ago. The worst I heard about was 60 days without power. We were out for 2 weeks.
Eh, I’m not claiming it was worse or better…
Typo on my part 2003 not 2013.
55 million lost power, pretty much all at once.
By loss, I mean complete- no radio stations could broadcast,
no tv news could tell people what was happening.
55 million in the dark, literally.
Two years removed from 9/11 it was pretty freaky stuff.
Point was, that’s why I kept my landline.
Looking back the “beer images” was another defining memory of it all.
“Might as well, we ain’t DRIVING nowhere.”
I think the yellow pages r about as effective as a town crier. Even the old people who do use a phone book in my experience r so old that they think window cleaning should only cost $5.00. And they are also so old house maintenance has gone by the way side. They r doing all they can tjust to stay in their home and not go to assisted living. I know we’re going to get some on here who say we get $35,000 a year from it. But it by no means is the norm and the reason the yellow pages book has shrunk to a phamplet is because it simply does not work anymore.
we are thinking about dropping our YP advertising. People over 60 still look to it as a credible source. We are currently spending $33 a month.
Great comments from all of you, including Diamond Squeegee who drifted off the farm a bit- welcome back:grinning:, I think Yogi drank your Egg Nog he has a very large milk stash.
This does give me some direction, thanks for your input guys.
When I first started a business in about 1984, I got a business telephone which included a free listing in the Yellow Pages. Over the years, the most I paid for was just a bold listing. And, most of the time, I just had the free listing.
I have found that to be the best advertising next to referrals from my customers. But, now days, it seems that most new customers that have not gotten a referral get my contact information off whatever free listings I am on in the the internet world of cyberspace.
Whenever someone calls and wants to sell my a listing or a web site, I just ask them to keep my listed in their free list. Seems to work for me but I have a pretty full schedule and no employees except my wife.
Happy winter to all.
From this day forward, I will be known as “Mr Diamond Squeegee.”
Or “DfromtheSQUEEGE” if you are a friend.
He who has a thing to sell
and goes and whispers in a well
Is not so apt to get the dollars
As one who climbs a tree and hollers.
In California it’s all about Yelp.
