Small Business Commando News

“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

This is from a New Yorker cartoon published July 5, 1993 created by Peter Steiner.

Perhaps that’s why the good old printed Yellow Pages still ranks as one of the most trusted sources of local advertising.

A report published by the Yellow Pages Association from Forrester Research found that Americans trust printed Yellow Pages above all other local media.

It also found that Yellow Pages advertising is nearly as trustworthy as user reviews.

I get asked all the time by clients if they should totally withdraw from the phone book. I always recommend that they DO NOT CANCEL their Yellow Pages advertising unless they’ve done the following:

1. Hire a great ad designer. Do not rely on the publisher’s art team to create your ad. Ad designers are increasingly stressed, and many of them work in India and Pakistan. A great Yellow Pages ad designer is worth ten times the cost of the ad production. I have links to several on my website, but I consider Robert Gould of ImageOne (a link to his children’s book site) to be without peer.

2. Track your ads using call measurement services. The cost is negligible and it’s the only way to truly tell how well your ads are performing. If you can’t find a call measurement service provider, email me, and I’ll hook you up. To learn more about these services, watch this free recorded webinar with CallSource.
3. Negotiate like hell. The Yellow Pages publishers are under extreme pressure to deliver revenue, and there has never been a better time to negotiate rates. For practice negotiating, stand in front of a mirror and say, “No” until your tongue bleeds. I think Harvey McKay came up with that line.

The Canadian Press: AT&T looks to deliver White Pages online, save millions in waste:

AT&T Inc. said Friday it wants to try delivering its White Pages online rather than on front porches, noting the effort could save about two million kilograms of paper per year in two North Carolina test cities.

The San Antonio-based telecommunications provider petitioned the North Carolina Utilities Commission on Friday to allow the company to test the web-based phone listings in Raleigh and Charlotte. Under the proposal, customers will still get the Yellow Pages - which AT&T says remains a much-used tool - and can request to get a hard copy or a CD-ROM of the residential White Pages.

In the US, the utility phone company is required to publish residential and business phone listings.

However, times are changing, and with the rise in cell phones, internet services such as skype and competitive local phone services such as cable and power companies, the white pages just aren’t what they used to be.

It makes total sense to move to a standardized online directory for phone numbers that the owner of the phone number could decide whether or not the number is published.

For example, I want my buusiness number published, but I certainly don’t want my cell phone number in public view.

If we band together, we could do away with the printed white pages in just a few years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating the demise of the Yellow Pages. The content in there is far more unique, valuable and necessary than the line listings in the white pages.

Salt Lake Tribune - Directories turn a new page:

Here’s an interesting story (translation: slow news day) about a plumber in Salt Lake City who decided to advertise his business in a directory targeted at Gays and Lesbians.

(insert tasteless plumber’s crack joke here)

The point the story makes is two fold.

1.  There are WAY too many general purpose yellow page directories out there for a consumer or advertiser to consider

2.  Targeted advertising that appeals to a niche group can be highly effective.

The point is that targeted niche directories have value.  I wouldn’t want to gamble my entire advertising budget there, but I’d trade $800 for the profit on an $8000 sale all day long.

The Praized Blog » Blog Archive » Bill Gates: Print Yellow Pages Will be Dead in Five Years:

Sebastien over at the Praized blog wrote today about Bill Gate’s comments on the 5 year death rattle of the print yellow pages.

It’s not the first time Gates has taken on the YP industry (can anyone say “Sidewalk?”), but clearly the winds of change are blowing.

What Microsoft fails to recognize is that local advertisers are a tough bunch, and having a better mousetrap (phone trap?) is not the answer to success.

The companies who provide a comprehensive solution for delivering leads to the local advertiser will be in the driver’s seat.

Hey, I still use wooden #2 pencils when better technology (ball point pens, computers, etc.) are available.

It reminds me of 1988 when I was managing a small department store in Loogootee, Indiana. Wal-Mart put three massive stores within a 35 mile radius.

Despite our 109 year history, we closed the store.

Wal-Mart simply diverted enough revenue that it was no longer profitable to operate.

Publishers will need to employ their sales teams to provide multiple products to remain relevant to the advertiser.

Microsoft will need to learn local sales.

Call Genie received $20 million investment from Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Call Genie is a behind-the-scenes technology provider who powers many of the up and coming free directory assistance companies.

I’ve continued to be impressed with Call Genie’s technology. They seem to understand how dense and impatient the average consumer (especially me) is regarding voice response.

The challenge, of course is to SELL advertising to companies and make these services viable. That’s not call Genie’s game. They give publishers te tools, the publishers have to make the sales.

Consumers seem to love saving a buck or two on directory assistance, and will tolerate a small amount of advertising. They’ll tolerate even more if the advertising is targeted and beneficial.

Superpages announced a serious upgrade to their ad serving that takes a lesson from Google.

Basically, Superpages is now positioning advertisers based on a score that evaluates relevancy, performance and their bidding structure.

Superpages, which was recently spun off from Verizon, is the hands-down leader in Internet Yellow Pages. Having been an IYP publisher myself of Worldpages.com, I have long admired the progressive movement of Superpages.

I can’t say that I agree with the ads they show that often seem unrelated to the search, but they continually challenge the status quo.

Superpages was an innovator in performance-based IYP advertising, and this is a step in the right direction. Their challenge, as many local sites have found, is remaining relevant in a world where Google is the source for so much of their traffic.

This is a bizarre story of a New Zealand Yellow Pages ad that was placed for a business as a prank (or worse).

Ray Parker was shocked to open the Auckland Yellow Pages to find an ad for his gym tagging it as a homosexual fitness center.

There was a bogus phone number placed in the ad.

I don’t see how this could have been perpretrated without the cooperation of someone inside the Yellow Pages publisher.

Either the sales rep knew it was a scam, or someone in publishing was playing around and forgot to remove the ad before the directory went to the press.

On the bright side, Ray might have stumbled onto an unmet market demand for a gay friendly health club.

There are several “gay friendly” Yellow Pages published that identify businesses that are committed to providing high levels of service to gay and lesbian clients.

Several times a week, I receive email questions from small businesses around the US who ask my opinion if it’s time for them to drop their print Yellow Pages advertising.

Many of these advertisers are experiencing success with Internet advertising and other direct marketing techniques, but rarely have these channels totally replaced the value delivered by print Yellow Pages.

Here’s the simple decision point.

If your advertising (in any media) is generating more business than it costs, you should keep doing it.

When pressed, these advertisers usually still receive some benefit from print Yellow Pages, although there is a perception that the performance and return on investment has decreased.

Folks, if it’s dropping, make alterations to your program, hire a real ad designer, read a good book on Yellow Pages advertising, but don’t be stupid.

That being said, it’s important to pay attention to your customers. If they’re using the Internet, then you owe it to your business to market your business there.

Perry Evans, CEO of Local Matters (and one of the most knowledgeable guys regarding local online advertising) has begun blogging and putting his insights online.

Perry pioneered online maps and directions with the creation of MapQuest.

Check out his blog at www.evansink.com

evans ink:

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