I'm beginning to feel like a whipping boy for advertiser backlash against the Yellow Pages industry.

Every week, I receive nearly a dozen emails from advertisers complaining about being bullied, lied to, mislead or pressured by their Yellow Pages publishers.

Is it just me? Are there ANY raving Yellow Pages fans out there?

Tell me YOUR experience (good or bad). I'll post it on my blog for all to share.

The annual dance was on again as the directory is preparing to go to press. Tom is threatening to bail, but he will probably renew.

Tom is afraid to lose the seniority position at the front of the section, but he knows that his ads are not as effective as they once were.

Sparking his outrage, his first position double-truck ad has been pushed back by a page of leader ads. It's been obscured by a tab, and the price has gone up consistently while usage drops.

His fear of loss is much stronger than his anticipated return on investment.

In this sense, the Yellow Pages model of "substantial penalty for early withdrawal" is amazingly powerful in keeping dissatisfied customers from leaving.

A few independent publishers have taken market share, and Tom has ads in them all, but he continues to put most of his investment in the major utility directory.

Tom's comment to me was, "I can't wait for the Internet to put these Yellow Pages guys out of business."

What concerns me is that everywhere I turn, I hear similar comments from other business owners.

Why is this? It makes no sense for a $25 billion advertising medium to have legions of unhappy clients. I must be speaking to the few disgruntled ones.

Or am I?

Send me your stories (both good and bad) about how the Yellow Pages has helped or hurt a business. I'll post them on my website for all to see.

Send to stories@ypcommando.com

Unless you indicate otherwise, I'll post them as written.

There's never been a side-by-side comparison of 38 full page Yellow Pages ads with a complete analysis of why one ad will generate thousands of times more calls than another ad.

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Download an electronic copy of "Ringing Up Profits" BEFORE you advertise in the Yellow Pages

The winner receives an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Didn't win? You can still get the CD here.

See the answer and the Redneck Riddles celebrity winner

Special thanks to Randall Hilton, publisher of the excellent e-zine, "Plumb-Biz."

His weekly discussions of issues facing plumbing contractors are valuable lessons for all business people.

Even if you are not involved in the plumbing business, Randall's newsletter hits right at the core of running a local service business.

Check out "Plumb-Biz"

I've known Michael for years, and I've finally been able to convince him to reveal the strategies that he charges his clients tens of thousands of dollars to implement.

Michael has agreed to go through "real life" examples of three businesses that have gone from barely breaking even to outrageous success.

This isn't one of those 50-minute "pitches" to buy his books or tapes.

This teleseminar will cover actual strategies that you can put into action by yourself.

I consider myself to be a very savvy marketer, but I have continually been humbled by Michael's ability to cut through the BS, identify the key issue, and turn a struggling business into the dominant competitor.

Since we aren't charging for this uniquely valuable information, we have to limit the number of phone lines.

You MUST register early to guarantee your seat. We are allocating seats on a first-come, first-served basis, so don't come whining to me if you can't get in.

Register now before all seats are taken.

Let's see . . .

• old man
• child
• temporary family

you sure can drink a lot of soda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So many people have asked about the greeting card system that our clients are using to build their word-of-mouth marketing business.

It makes sending hand-written greeting cards as easy as sending an email.

I'll walk you through the system and show you how to systematically build your referral business with greeting cards to your existing customers.

It only costs $1.01 which includes a beautiful card, hand addressed envelope and first class postage.

You gotta email me if you want to try this system.

cards@ypcommando.com

Check out SendOutCards.cc

Lots of people fell for it. Sorry for any heart attacks.

Here is the April Fools joke in case you missed it.

Email your answer to gottago@redneckriddles.com

Every correct answer will receive a gift account allowing them to send two personalized greeting cards (including envelope and first class postage) compliments of www.SendOutCards.cc

One lucky winner will receive 15 minutes of uninterrupted fame and an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Stumped? You can get the CD here.

To improve your random chances of winning, please include your name, company name, and mailing address.

I draw the winner the day before I send the following newsletter, so keep voting until the polls close.

More Redneck Riddles

Got a good quote? Send it my way, and I'll give you the credit.