Advertising in church guidebooks

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jeff43222

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Minneapolis, Minnesota
Someone from one of the local churches has been trying to get me to advertise in their guidebook. I'm not a member of the church. I'm wondering if anyone has had experiences, good or bad, from advertising like this.
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

GREAT experiences. As a kicker, offer a donation back to the church in THEIR name if they spend $XXX.XX or more. ;) People are extremely loyal to their church.
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

I don't wire churches. I stick to single-family and duplex jobs. But considering that the church is in my neighborhood, and presumably so are many of the members, I figure it might be a worthwhile market to target.

Then again, I am usually suspicious of advertisers who contact me. I generally have no way of knowing whether advertising with unfamiliar publications is worthwhile. I've been burned before.

[ November 03, 2005, 05:13 PM: Message edited by: jeff43222 ]
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

I have friends who are in the Real Estate business as a married couple. For several years, they have advertised in the local church bulletin and in the newsletter of an associated charitable service organization. In the newsletter, they state that they will make a donation to that particular service organization, when any of its members use their services. They seem happy with the results, for they continue to pay for the ads. I do not recall seeing any trade advertisements, but then I had not been looking for them.
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

i suspect that church members think that someone who advertises in a church directory is less likely to cheat them, so it might be a little easier to sell them.
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

Isn't that in conflict with the separation of work and church policy :D

[ November 03, 2005, 06:00 PM: Message edited by: Jhr ]
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

Ask how the Books will be distributed. I did this once and was told (by the publisher's sales person) they would be mailed out to each parishioner. If I remember right the ad was $500 - $600 at the time. (early 90s)

What really happened was they were left on a table after services one Sunday and I have no idea who ended up with them. I'm guessing that most went to the kids that were there that day, because to my knowledge I never got one call from that ad.

Bill
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

Bill as the saying goes, give a kid a book and he will read for a day, teach a kid to write and he will read for a lifetime, a noble deed I must say or better yet he will end up on this forum writing stale jokes :p

[ November 03, 2005, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Jhr ]
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

Bill as the saying goes, give a kid a book and he will read for a day, teach a kid to write and he will read for a lifetime
Click to expand...
Jhr,

I certainly agree there. I don't know if it's the same as jeff's, but the Books I was involved with weren't the kind of books anyone read. They were mostly blank for people to use as personal telephone directories and for contact info, etc. They also had Calendars and other assorted references with all the Church-related info and contacts in the front. If the kids took all of them that means the Adults never saw the ads. :(

Bill

[ November 04, 2005, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: bill addiss ]
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

So the ad rep just stopped by my house and gave me her spiel. She said the book is direct-mailed to all 525 households in the church, plus they'll have another 100 on hand for new members. Cheapest ad is $325. Most expensive is $750. The directory is published once a year.
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

Jeff I get solicitations from civic groups, community news papers, and all sorts of other sales oriented groups all the time, there is even one that sends you a confirmation letter that looks a lot like my SBC yellow pages add wanting me to verify that the info is correct for my upcoming add in the phone book, but its the other book, now I think that is unethical, what if in a rush I never bother to really look into said letter and I sign off on this letter I could get stuck with an add I never intended to pay for, and as Bill says, and what happens to a lot of phone books, and so much more would happen to a church adds book or mag. and the like, they either become trash, sit under some ones desk, etc and never get used, we get flyers and add magazines left on our front door all the time, I never bother to even look at these, so the decision is up to you if the church add feels right to you go for it, but don't do it just because its a/your church, you also have to ask yourself is it going to work for me, because if you are investing money from your business I would bet you expect a return on your money, the church sure is looking to do that, because they are investing time and money into this also,,and its not just to break even or to make some one happy. And also keep in mind that more and more people are going online to find a service provider, now that would seem like a better investment to me, I know I have a simple, but perked up add online and I get more and more calls from this online add day after day, just remember these can be pricey.

[ November 04, 2005, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: Jhr ]
 
Re: Advertising in church guidebooks

Yeah, I get stuff like this from time to time, too, but I think a lot of it is just a waste. The advertiser makes money, but I don't.

The more I think about it, it seems to me that the church directory is probably not a lot of bang for the buck. I pay about the same amount for an ad in a neighborhood newspaper that is delivered to over 20,000 houses once a month. That's a lot more than the purported 525 households listed as church members. Since I'm not a member of the church, I have no real interest in their membership vs the average homeowner who wants work done.

I'm actually thinking about cutting back on my advertising budget because a significant and increasing percentage of my work is coming in via referrals.
 
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