How Someone Became a Millionaire Through Yellow Page Ads

12 years ago

Basically this was the old school version of site rental.

I had never heard of this before but it makes sense. The yellow pages likely didn't care as long as he was advertising and if his ads converted well he would get enough of the leads to make it work.

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bluecoyotemedia

12 years ago

seems like a huge initial expense.. how much are the ads??

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Jason_V 12 years ago

Originally Posted by bluecoyotemedia

seems like a huge initial expense.. how much are the ads??

Yeah, he started small, then he just scaled it up.

I've already broke down the costs of YP ads in an older thread here that I wrote 3 years ago, still relevant:

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ight-gold.html

Will be a good read for people in this forum, when dealing with a client who is objecting to price but advertises in YP, or a good confidence booster in asking for a large chunk of money from a client who advertises in YP. Some people here have problems asking for a large amount of money. Some people will fall for the client's "I don't have the money objection" However, if you read that above post will help you greatly.

Back to the point of the original post, that's why I said, it takes balls and it takes money if you want to try and mimic this business model.

I would even go so far as to hire a real proven print copywriter for the ad to ensure maximum success.

As I also said, there may be ways to twist it, adapt it, change it, etc...that you can come up with on your own.
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xichabodx

12 years ago

Maybe I'm missing something here, but...

How did he place bigger/better ads in already-printed yellow page books?

If he waited for the next issue/editions to come out, how was he able to see other ads ahead of time to know if his ads were better?

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Eddie Spangler

12 years ago

Originally Posted by xichabodx

Maybe I'm missing something here, but...

How did he place bigger/better ads in already-printed yellow page books?

If he waited for the next issue/editions to come out, how was he able to see other ads ahead of time to know if his ads were better?

Haha I wouldnt take it too literally. We are after all hearing it from a guy who heard about from some guys who were just telling a story about something they heard about.

Im sure some guys are still raking in the dough in certain niches.
Appliance repair and locksmiths are two that come to mind.

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Jason_V

12 years ago

Originally Posted by xichabodx

Maybe I'm missing something here, but...

How did he place bigger/better ads in already-printed yellow page books?

If he waited for the next issue/editions to come out, how was he able to see other ads ahead of time to know if his ads were better?

Because when you sit down with a yellow page rep, they're more than happy to tell you if someone is placing a bigger ad, because they want you to go bigger and better, better as in add color if the other person is only going with black and white.

People are lazy, they don't change their ad, so that's how he could count on no one changing the ad.

As far as the comment about I heard it from guys who heard it from guys. I should have clarified a bit. One of the reps in my office had him as a client for our books in the 3 cities we covered.

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Marty S

12 years ago

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SashaLee

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Marty S

Sounds like a massive outlay in cash with a relatively high risk. Since most users are searching online now, makes much more sense to create the highest ranking website instead to sell leads.

Hi there,

Not really. One of our clients in America did something similar to this but not on such a large scale and what they did simply go to the Yellow Pages folks and get on a payment plan with them.

Their initial outlay was a small percentage of the actual ad cost. They once ran a half page ad which cost them $8k per month. They only paid the first month up front to run the ad - which stayed in there for a full year, and who knows how many years the book lay around. Incidentally, they never paid the Yellow Pages for the rest of the payments. They bragged to us about this, and we dropped them as a client in that very conversation. We could see the same thing happening to us, potentially.

But, the point is you can start cheaply - by going on a payment plan. The key would be to make sure the lead revenue covered your monthly outlay, which might be tough in certain niches.

All the best,

Sasha.

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Jason_V

12 years ago

So many linear thinkers. I don't really know how much more clear I can be about the intention of this thread. I said, to mimic it (at least at the scale he got up to) would take a lot of balls and yes, cash.

However, as I also said, he started small. Quater page black and white ads for a few hundred dollars for the year. These were in books where the people in the categories had no display ads, so a quarter page ad, black and white, with some awesome copy was more than enough.

Back to the point:

If you have the balls and the money (because yellow page ads in medium to large cities aren't cheap) you can try this. However, I suggest you learn how to write an effective yellow page ad before you even think of trying it.

Or, twist it, adapt it, etc...to something you're already doing or can do.

Originally Posted by SashaLee

Hi there,

Not really. One of our clients in America did something similar to this but not on such a large scale and what they did simply go to the Yellow Pages folks and get on a payment plan with them.

Their initial outlay was a small percentage of the actual ad cost. They once ran a half page ad which cost them $8k per month. They only paid the first month up front to run the ad - which stayed in there for a full year, and who knows how many years the book lay around. Incidentally, they never paid the Yellow Pages for the rest of the payments. They bragged to us about this, and we dropped them as a client in that very conversation. We could see the same thing happening to us, potentially.

But, the point is you can start cheaply - by going on a payment plan. The key would be to make sure the lead revenue covered your monthly outlay, which might be tough in certain niches.

All the best,

Sasha.

Sasha,

You hit the nail on the head with this. Ads bigger than a quarter page were always broken down into monthly payments.

Also, that doesn't surprise me that they didn't pay. I had almost forgot about that, until you brought that up (I guess my mind wanted to block that pain out.) I'd say I had to devote a good 40% of my time trying to collect money that was due from businesses that took ads and didn't pay.

Yes, we had a central collections department at the corporate headquarters. However, because we were "in the areas" it was our job to also call or to stop in and harass the business owners for payments. Every rep was given a list of delinquent businesses that we were responsible for trying to make collections from. In fact one day per week if we had no appointments, that was our only job. We had to stop in or call these businesses and try to get the money.

There's another lesson for offliners though. If you make monthly payment arrangements, expect to get burned at least once. You would be shocked at the type of businesses that were delinquent. I'm talking about businesses that easily pulled in millions of dollars of revenue.

So, yeah, instead of trying to focus so much on the method exactly as I presented it, think about what you can do to twist it, change it, adapt it. I already have some ideas that I am going to implement by twisting this method around.

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Marty S

12 years ago

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Jason_V

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Marty S

Oh I was thinking about monthly payments as a huge outlay. I don't know about US cities, but here in Canada those YP ads have always been outrageously expensive and the only way they could get clients is to offer a monthly plan.

The only example of this (working?) you came up with is someone who walked away from the payments? I rest my case.

Wow! Being accused of linear thinking for NOT using the Yellow Pages! There is something different!

Here is some critical thinking for you.... Owning the bigeest adv in the YP will probably cost you at least $300+ per month, some cities like Toronto this could be ($700-$1,000). Add administration and phone service at another $50-$100 per month...... Now what do you think you could achieve with this same budget every month online? Myself, I could absolutely OWN page one.

Sorry but I just don't see it. But I do see how someone with big balls and money to burn might think it could work. If you do find this actual person, can you tell him I have some pay phones for sale?

I guess I'll just keep repeating myself, so it can sink in for you Marty:

However, as I also said, he started small. Quater page black and white ads for a few hundred dollars for the year. These were in books where the people in the categories had no display ads, so a quarter page ad, black and white, with some awesome copy was more than enough.

Back to the point:

If you have the balls and the money (because yellow page ads in medium to large cities aren't cheap) you can try this. However, I suggest you learn how to write an effective yellow page ad before you even think of trying it.

Or, twist it, adapt it, etc...to something you're already doing or can do.

Then at the end of the same post that you conveniently quoted above, but yet didn't read that part red text and all, I even added this:

So, yeah, instead of trying to focus so much on the method exactly as I presented it, think about what you can do to twist it, change it, adapt it. I already have some ideas that I am going to implement by twisting this method around.

Want to keep beating the horse Marty about the actual method? Or do you have anything of actual substance and value to add to the discussion or just more negativity to someone with no agenda, sharing how a guy thought outside the box in the offline marketing arena and became a millionaire?

Thanks

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Marty S

12 years ago

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Jason_V

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Marty S

Wow, no need to get defensive my man. I suppose I can just wait for the movie of this incredible story though...

Pssst... and I do think my post was very pertinent in comparing the actual method... if it ever existed.

Marty,

Who's being defensive?

Are you forgetting you're the one who initially got your panties in a knot because I said "so many linear thinkers in this thread?"

I don't give a shit what you believe or don't believe.

Believe it or not, this world is bigger than you brother. People make stacks of cash every day, by doing things you and other so called "experts" in this forum say can't be done.

I was trying to do people a favor and just give an example of what one man did and made millions for doing it.

I posted this for only two reasons:

One to serve as an inspirational story that you can think outside the box when it comes to lead generation for businesses and be very well paid for it.

Two, to get people's minds turning to think about what they can do to mimic this even if they don't want to or can't do the actual method. As I said, I've already come up with a few ideas I will be implementing.

So what other gem of value and inspiration do you have to post in this thread? My guess is nothing. But have a great day anyway

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Marty S

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Jason_V

I don't give a shit what you believe or don't believe.

Believe it or not, this world is bigger than you brother. People make stacks of cash every day, by doing things you and other so called "experts" in this forum say can't be done.

I was trying to do people a favor and just give an example of what one man did and made millions for doing it....

So what other gem of value and inspiration do you have to post in this thread?

I guess my gem for you would be to calm down, eat a cannoli, and converse in a professional manner as best you can.

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Mr. Subtle

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Marty S

Here is some critical thinking for you.... Owning the bigeest adv in the YP will probably cost you at least $300+ per month, some cities like Toronto this could be ($700-$1,000). Add administration and phone service at another $50-$100 per month...... Now what do you think you could achieve with this same budget every month online? Myself, I could absolutely OWN page one.

What would OWNing page one get you in ROI? Here are some Yellow Pages stats:

There were almost 200,000 display ads tracked in 2010 and 2011 directories.They typical local display ad cost the advertiser roughly $4,485 for the year and generated $60,085 in sales for a Sales ROI of 14.2 to 1. The cost per call (lead) was $42 while the average amount spent by consumers per purchase was $879.

The typical local space ad (a 3HS or 4HS ad generally) cost the advertiser $830 and generated $26,936 in sales. This resulted in an Sales ROI of 34 to 1. The cost per call (lead) was $17 while the average purchase amount per customer was $887.

Local listings cost advertisers about $216, yet generated $33,632 in sales. This resulted in a Sales ROI of 124 to 1! The cost per call for purchased listings was only $3.

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Marty S 12 years ago

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- Mr. Subtle 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Marty S
  
  For any given niche, I say it would range from $0 to unlimited, so hard to say.
  
  And yet it wasn't hard for me to say. Cold hard facts always trump BS posts.
  
  Which one of your page one listings has generated the Yellow Pages ROI I posted above? And what was that ROI? With all this traffic/searches the Internet is getting it should be easy for you to beat those numbers generated by ancient offline Yellow Pages books.
  
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Anthem40

12 years ago

Take it from a former all star yellowpage salesman, the medium is dead.

You are so much better off spending your $3k per month for a full page ad anywhere else. Literally. Doing the attach a dollar to your business card thing will get you better results than this dinosaur.

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wlasikiewicz

12 years ago

I sent out 20 sales letters last month to businesses from my local yellow pages and not a single reply back..