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Why The Yellow Pages Is Your Best Friend

by electronik69
17 replies
There is probably a thread on this but I am going to address it again if you flick through the YP and make a criteria you can make a ton of money today I was looking for some plumbers with poor yp ads and I just happen to find a gold mine, now this gold mine I would have never thought about it is Tree Felling and Stump Removal, now this just might be my area but in my YP 80% of the Ads relating to tree removal are full size over 70% do not even have a website and 50% are not advertising their email and if they do a lot of them are using free email addresses I am sure there a lot of others of these goldmines you just need to know where to look.
#friend #pages #yellow
  • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
    The Yellow Pages are a great reference. Like you say, just flip through it and you'll find a lot of great opportunities. I like to find businesses with high ASP sales and weak competition, especially as it pertains to the quality of their web sites. It's a real treasure trove.
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  • Profile picture of the author Doran Peck
    For finding leads yes. But then you will often find that these business don't have any money left to pay you cuz the YP is sucking up their marketing budget like a sponge.

    In the big picture the YP is really not your friend. It's not a friend to these businesses either. It's sucking the life out of alot of small businesses.

    IMO
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    • Profile picture of the author Bennette
      Originally Posted by Doran Peck View Post

      For finding leads yes. But then you will often find that these business don't have any money left to pay you cuz the YP is sucking up their marketing budget like a sponge.

      In the big picture the YP is really not your friend. It's not a friend to these businesses either. It's sucking the life out of alot of small businesses.

      IMO
      I agree Doran. Also what I've found is they're locked into a contract and if they just signed up, you may have to put them in a follow up system until their contract ends.

      Yellow pages also came out with a new lead service where they charge you monthly for leads.

      This is how it works: The owner must go through a credit verification and get approved 1st before they will create you an online ad and place it in the sponsor results section. There is no charge upfront for the design work and set up. They track and forward the calls from the ad to the business owner. The cost per lead is $15 and then they send you a bill monthly.
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    • Profile picture of the author electronik69
      Originally Posted by Doran Peck View Post

      For finding leads yes. But then you will often find that these business don't have any money left to pay you cuz the YP is sucking up their marketing budget like a sponge.

      In the big picture the YP is really not your friend. It's not a friend to these businesses either. It's sucking the life out of alot of small businesses.

      IMO
      Yes I agree with that but if you can keep your business in their TOMA (top of mind awareness) when their contract is finished with YP you will hopefully be the first business they think of when it comes to marketing.
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      If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative - David Ogilvy
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  • Profile picture of the author redcell1
    I agree that yes it can be great to find leads but then again these leads might not want to do business since they just burned their marketing budget on YP
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    Just here to see the shenanigans.

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  • Profile picture of the author TWalker
    Originally Posted by electronik69 View Post

    There is probably a thread on this but I am going to address it again if you flick through the YP and make a criteria you can make a ton of money today I was looking for some plumbers with poor yp ads and I just happen to find a gold mine, now this gold mine I would have never thought about it is Tree Felling and Stump Removal, now this just might be my area but in my YP 80% of the Ads relating to tree removal are full size over 70% do not even have a website and 50% are not advertising their email and if they do a lot of them are using free email addresses I am sure there a lot of others of these goldmines you just need to know where to look.
    Hey great!

    This is big business where I live. Thanks. I just happen to have inside track on these guys as I am a forestry student.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Peters Benn
    I've had fantastic success doing this. In fact, for a lot of categories, whilst browsing is down, so is competition and conversions is up.
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  • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
    A lot of times businesses simply don't realize there are other viable options for their money. They use the YP simply because they have been for years. And when they cancel or reduce the service they will have a nice chunk of change that might be spent for YOUR services.

    It's an interesting point not to bother with YP advertisers but if sales people and marketers all took that approach nothing much would happen in business. The fact is the YP is a rich source of leads and many of these businesses would LOVE to get out of spending that money and do something with some actual ROI!
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  • Profile picture of the author Staktdex
    I love WF! You guys are an awesome community and anyone with the moxie to take action can just follow threads like this one step by step to success.
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    Aspiring Marketer.

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  • Profile picture of the author roypreece
    As a fan of the Yellow Pages, do you advertise your own services in them, and have you had any success from that ad?

    Or do use just use them to cruise for leads?
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  • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
    Roy, I don't think we are fans of the YP. They are good as booster seats for kids at the adult table though! Of course they are still useful for many segments of the population. Some seniors and certain geographic areas of the country still use them. Here in Seattle the YP are dead, the city council is trying to make receiving the YP an opt-in thing so they don't dump them on your door stop unsolicited.

    As far as an effective marketing strategy I think they are virtually dead. If every business who had a large ad too that money and used it for online marketing the would be thrilled with the results. So yes, I just use it for leads and as an occasional doorstop.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bruce99
      Originally Posted by redlegrich View Post

      Roy, I don't think we are fans of the YP. They are good as booster seats for kids at the adult table though! Of course they are still useful for many segments of the population. Some seniors and certain geographic areas of the country still use them. Here in Seattle the YP are dead, the city council is trying to make receiving the YP an opt-in thing so they don't dump them on your door stop unsolicited.

      As far as an effective marketing strategy I think they are virtually dead. If every business who had a large ad too that money and used it for online marketing the would be thrilled with the results. So yes, I just use it for leads and as an occasional doorstop.
      the original thread posters Idea is great. The only thing I have found limiting it, is if they are not internet savvy enough to have a website or email, and come from a trade background, you usually have such an uphill battle explaining about it and how it can help them.

      On the YP side of things, in our country the public utility is half privatized and split off a high-tech company that pursues all the website marketing side of things. They have even launched a campaign this month explaining how THEY can help your website get up in the rankings etc - I doubt anyone in here really believes that, but hey they can afford TV ads to inform people not in the know. YP is fighting back.
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      just a dog guy.

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  • Profile picture of the author SEOLady
    Hmmm...I never thought YP can still be of big use though not on its intended use...
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    • Profile picture of the author want2knowhow
      Originally Posted by SEOLady View Post

      Hmmm...I never thought YP can still be of big use though not on its intended use...
      Yeah, when I was little, ours never had front of back covers...because my mother was using them to pick up swept trash! Same with album covers! Now, I use them as personal fans...when it's hot inside & there's no air conditioner!
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  • Profile picture of the author herb44
    Yes the yellow pages have helped me immensely.
    first before I could afford a list. From a broker. The up was and us the place to find the best prospects on first pass. I have a tiered criteria but advertising in up can give me a little picture about their budget E-mail and local market perspective!
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    Helping your site explode with traffic
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  • Profile picture of the author MKBridge
    Yellow pages are a great way to see if a business has mobile optimized websites. I put the site into my Iphone and see what it looks like. Then I do a quick mock up, go in and show them the difference between theirs and the one I have made.
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  • Profile picture of the author phaproduction
    For someone outside of the US, is there any way to find out who is advertising in YP?
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