Small Business Commando News

I recorded an interview with Bobby Kalili, CEO of TollFreeYellowPages.com who owns a couple of interesting pieces of intellectual property.

Last week, TFYP announced that they had received an investment of $32.5 million from a Saudi Prince. Given that the company is a pure start up, this is a bold and audacious punch into the already crowded toll free directory asistance business.

One twist is that they also own comparison shopping sites of BidSell.com and DiscountMore.com. Bobby imagines the day that the voice activated shopping engine will put TFYP in the sweet spot between actively shopping consumers and online merchants.

Also, they own two numbers 1-877-YELLOW PAGES and 1-866-YELLOWPAGES as well as the trademark to “Toll Free Yellow Pages” which could be valuable to AT&T as they begin marketing their 1-800-YELLOW PAGES service.

Telephone services is a very tough business with many deep pocketed competitors (ever hear of Google?).

Nonetheless, raising this amount gives TFYP some oxygen to develop their niche.

Spend the money wisely, Bobby.

 Toll Free Yellow Pages Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Kelsey Group Blogs – Yellow Pages and Local Media:

One of the really interesting things I saw at the Drilling Down on Local 2007 conference was a private presentation of Yellowbot.com by Erron Silverstein.

Erron is justifiably exhuberent about his approach toward Internet Yellow Pages , social networking and web 2.0 (how’s that for a trifecta of buzzwords?)

I am one of the most jaded users of Internet Yellow pages (having run WorldPages.com for half a decade).

However, Yellowbot.com showed one of the most seamless integrations of easy consumer input with structured directory content.

Erron is (and I say this with much respect) a mega-geek.  He’s nitpicked pieces of various properties and layered the most interesting features on top of the Localeze enhanced local business database.

In a way, it reminds me of MojoPages.com, a San Diego based start up that hopes to accomplish much of the same. (fabulous user generated content with structured data).

YellowBot is more likely to be a technology provider to an existing sales force or media publisher.  Erron’s strength is not in creating a local sales force.

But if you want to see the future of IYP, take a look at yellowbot and mojopages.

This eMarketer survey looks at the multiple ways people communicate when they do more than email.

People who only used email were excluded.

According to the survey,

Response rates for marketers who do connect are compelling. A Dunkin’ Donuts-sponsored mobile campaign in downtown Boston used SMS mobile coupons for new latte drinks. Consumers got coupons through a geographically targeted WAP campaign on various Boston mobile Web sites. The campaign generated a 4% click-through rate that converted into a 21% increase in store traffic from customers redeeming their coupons.

I believe there is a future for text message advertising, but it will be a long while before it is embraced by local merchants.

eMarketer.com - Mobile Ads Crawling Along:

Small Business Commando News Podcast Issue #3

Marketing lessons from a pig-farming banker.

 Small Business Commando News #3 - A Pig Farming Banker [2:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ever wonder how Google decides  which sites get top billing across their various properties?

Yeah, me too.

This post on Small Business SEM does an excellent job of identifying several possible components tha affect positioning.

It’s mostly conjecture based upon observation, but I found it to be very helpful in clarifying my own thinking about local search engine optimization.

I should point out that relying on pure organic traffic from any search engine is a dangerous strategy, because a few minor tweaks in the rules can bump your from the top spot to the not spot.

I had a great conversation with Paul Youlten, founder of Yellowikis.org.

Yellowikis is to Yellow Pages what Wikipedia is to encyclopedias and what craigslist is to classified advertising.

It has the power to change the game forever, and to bring the open source movement to small business information.

 Small Business Commandos conversation with Paul Youlten, founder of Yellowikis: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

read the article

It’s heating up down under with Google and Sensis locked in an all out battle to control local search dominance in Australia.

My bet is on the team with the local sales channel, and that would be Sensis.

See, it comes down to human nature. Small businesses that advertise in the Yellow Pages do not BUY advertising. They are SOLD advertising, and there is a big difference.

Until Google has a way to reach the local advertisers and to sell them on the concept of local online advertising, the game will go to the sales team.

Here’s the deal.

As long as the Sensis product is good enough (and I understand that it is quite good), a better mousetrap won’t change the outcome.

You don’t need a better mousetrap if the first trap killed the mouse.

The Orange County (California) Register had a nice article on Irvine, CA Based, Local.com.

I’m a big fan of Local.com, and their approach to aggregating as much relevant information as they can into one single spot.

Local.com’s purchase of marketing firm soUno (so YOU know) shows that they understand the basics of the local advertising market.

Small businesses do not BUY advertising, small businesses are SOLD advertising.

Ignore this rule at your own peril.

Bravo to Businessweek for once again delivering an insightful piece on the growth of the local Internet and the firms making it happen.

Their story takes about surfing the internet on a television to find local information.  This concept is not new, and perhaps the technology will work this time.

However, they do casually note that the company does not have a well developed local sales plan for attracting advertisers.

One this is for certain.  When it comes to capturing local advertising dollars, if you build it, they will NOT come, you need to go and get them.

Special thanks to Randall Hilton for his recent series on Yellow Pages advertising for plumbers. Randall is a plumber’s plumber.

He has become a mouthpiece for the industry offering solid advice in a home-spun way.

I’ve learned a helluva lot about plumbing and the issues facing plumbers reading his newsletter, and I do a much better job for my plumber clients becuse of it.

He recently ran a series about Yellow Pages advertising that comes from the advertiser’s perspective.

Check it out at www.plumb-biz.com