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Dick Larkin's World Famous
Small Business Commando News
"You can't be serious!"
September 22, 2006
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in this issue
-- "You Can't Be Serious!"
-- Today's Hot Local Online Marketing Tip
-- Answer to the Last Redneck Riddle
-- "For" or "Against" Yellow Pages? -- This Week in Pictures -- Drink the water . . . join our club -- 8 Yellow Pages Blunders -- Peanut Butter, Jelly, and a Cold Coors Light -- Announcements -- This Week's Redneck Riddle -- Quote of the Week
A big ol' Commando Salute to you,
Note: I merged two of my mailing lists, so if you
received duplicate copies of this newsletter please
let me know and I'll take care of it.
If someone has forwarded this email to you, send
them a dozen roses and subscribe yourself.
Sign up for this
Email Newsletter and receive an exclusive report
on advertising, "13 Easy Tips PROVEN to Boost
Yellow Pages Advertising Success" (a $19.95 value)
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"You Can't Be Serious!"
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I received this note in response to my
newsletter "This
Yellow Pages Ad Blew Me Away"
Hi Dick,
Just read your latest e-letter about Captain
Electric (and in my best John McEnroe voice) . . .
"You can't be serious!"
From what I've learned reading your plumbing
yellow pages ad design contest e-book, your
buddy Dennis
Fromholzer would give the Captain Electric ad a
"frowning face" based on his metered call study of
70,000 plus yellow pages ads. None of the advertorial
type yellow pages ads in the contest got a "smiley
face."
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Wishing you the best of health.
Vic-
P.S. I love your e-letter. It's always a fast
interesting read.
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Here's how I responded . . .
Hi Vic,
This ad's success surprised me as well.
The studies showed that this type of ad in general
didn't perform well.
I based the newsletter article on actual call
results from a business owner who was spending
significant sums of his own money to run the ads.
It just goes to show you that execution makes all
the difference.
I do wonder how well this exact ad would have
performed in my study, because
it is much higher quality than most of the "story"
ads that were submitted.
Thanks for your honest feedback.
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Today's Hot Local Online Marketing Tip
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Put a map link on your website.
Both Yahoo! and Google make it easy (and free) to
put a map link on your website.
Use a map image on your website that links over to
Google
or Yahoo's map system allowing your customers to
print driving directions to your business.
Always look for opportunities to make it easier for
people to do business with you.
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Answer to the Last Redneck Riddle
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Buford has six pairs of black gloves and six pairs
of brown gloves in a pile under his bed.
In complete darkness (because his power has been cut
off again), how many gloves must he take from the
pile in order to be sure to get a matching pair
(i.e. left hand and right hand gloves of the same
color)?
Think carefully!!
See the answer and the Redneck Riddles celebrity winner
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"For" or "Against" Yellow Pages?
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I received this note the other day . . .
Dear Dick,
Are you "for" or "against" yellow pages?
I am a CMR* and I like your newsletter, but I
am not
sure where you stand.
Brenda L. Hudson
Hudson-Gillmor
Associates
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Hi Brenda,
Hmmm . . . "for" or "against" Yellow Pages?
I represent the small business owner, so I'm for
whatever provides good Return on Investment for the
advertiser and against anything that doesn't provide
value.
Print Yellow Pages advertising used to be the
undisputed best medium for a local business to
attract customers.
Print Yellow Pages can still occasionally
provide good
value, but consumers (and advertisers) are
fed up and confused by unnecessary multiple competitive
directories. I receive SIX directories at my house.
Ugh!
I personally am much more interested in smart
online
advertising, because it offers accountability,
immediacy and flexibility.
Print Yellow Pages is not dead, but it's
getting harder for it to buy health insurance.
Dick
*CMR stands for Certified Marketing
Representative.
They are companies that assist national and
regional advertisers in placing their Yellow Pages
Advertising.
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This Week in Pictures
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Drink the water . . . join our club
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I saw this sign in Ajijic, Mexico.
I wonder what Melba did during her life to
be honored into perpetuity like this.
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8 Yellow Pages Blunders
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Here's an article written by John Morana of Max
Effect, a Yellow Pages ad design firm.
He does a nice job of identifying very common
mistakes and is kind enough to offer his design
services to correct the problems.
I'm a big fan of professional YP design, and Max
Effect is a quality firm.
Read the article here
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Peanut Butter, Jelly, and a Cold Coors Light
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Now that's what I call a great school lunch
program.
A couple of 44's are way cheaper than Ritalin, and
probably more effective.
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Announcements
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Dude, be glad you aren't riding the bus.
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This Week's Redneck Riddle
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Buford shares his waterbed with his pets.
All but two are hound dawgs.
All but two are racoons.
All but two are possum.
How many critters sleep in Buford's bed with him?
Email your answer to
bed@redneckriddles.com
One
lucky winner
will receive 15 minutes of uninterrupted fame and a
Starbucks Gift Card compliments of SendOutCards.com,
where you can send beautiful, personalized greeting
cards in your own handwriting as easily as sending
an email. Now you can also include gift cards from a
variety of national merchants including Starbucks and
Barnes & Nobel.
If you've ever forgotten to send a birthday card, SendOutCards.com
allows you to prepare the card months in advance and
have it automatically mailed to arrive just in time.
To improve your random chances of winning,
please include your name, company name, and mailing
address (because I can't email the prize to you).
I draw the winner the day before I send the
following newsletter, so keep voting until the polls
close.
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Quote of the Week
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"There is nothing in your
business or personal life that outweighs the
negative consequence of sacrificing your
integrity."
- David Cottrell
Sent in by Chad Smith of JobPlex. He's an
amazing recruiter if you need to find top sales talent.
Got a good quote? Send it my way, and I'll give you
15 minutes of uninterrupted fame.
Call my feedback hot line leave a
message with your thoughts, tips and news.
1-888-334-8891
Feedback hot line sponsored by VoiceStar. Need
call measurement? Contact VoiceStar for
outstanding service to measure your advertising
effectiveness.
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Contact Information
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phone:
(760) 579-1005
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I've been bragging about Kerry Randall's book on Yellow Pages Advertising for Lawyers as being simply the best book I've read for Yellow Pages advertisers. The problem was that it was targeted toward lawyers and didn't address other business types.
Wisely, Kerry updated the wonderful tips and marketing plans for any business that advertises in the Yellow Pages.
He sent me a copy for review, and I liked it so much that I bought the exclusive rights to market the electronic version.
His book is loaded with very specific examples and exercises that are easy to follow. I can honestly say that every advertiser (even a guy with a little in-column ad) will benefit by reading this book.
I've seen, and even promoted other very good YP books that sell for $50 - $150, but nothing cuts to the chase like Winning the Yellow Pages War. Kerry focuses on the critical issues that will have the biggest impact. He uses solid examples and shows ads created using his techniques.
I'm selling copies of Winning the Yellow Pages War for only $14.99. That price is far too little for the value the book contains.
However, my mission as the Yellow Pages Commando has always been to help more people be successful with their Yellow Pages advertising rather than to get rich off a few that can afford a higher price.
I'll email the book to you as a PDF document that can be read and printed using the free Adobe Acrobat reader.
I offer a 100% money back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied with your investment. You have nothing to lose.
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