Yellow Pages

[sparky76]

I'm being recruited by the Verizon yellow pages to make the latest version of the book. I'm not sold on it being a worthwhile investment. Any opinons for or against?

 

[barbeer]

A friend of mine, an old electrician/new EC, believes whole heartedly in the pages. Every time we talk of it I tell him he is nuts spending $3000 a month to advertise, he still does it.

 

[jimmyglen]

this is an age old question and I look forward to the responses

big ads cost big money

the biggest ads here have been a flat rate guy (who charges double what we do) *not that theres anything wrong with that*

I have seen and talked to tons of contractors when I was a supply house salesman - some guys have the money to do it and they just spend the money but they dont depend on it to generate a majority of their revenue.

there are some guys who do real well with it

you would need to be set up to deal with it - here we get lots of people shopping "free estimates" etc and we are set up to bid all of these jobs with full time estimator etc

 

[jimmyglen]

oh and some times they cut you a deal on the first ad to get you hooked

might be worth going big ???????

 

[satcom]

A friend of mine, an old electrician/new EC, believes whole heartedly in the pages. Every time we talk of it I tell him he is nuts spending $3000 a month to advertise, he still does it.

your not spending money when you run an ad in the yellow pages, your investing in the ad, to produce more income. Spending is when you buy something that does not produce a return.

 

[growler]

I'm being recruited by the Verizon yellow pages to make the latest version of the book. I'm not sold on it being a worthwhile investment. Any opinons for or against?

What type of work are you looking for? If you are set up to do a lot of service calls then you will need to advertise to get the customers.

If you are doing new construction then advertising in the yellow pages is pretty much a waste of money. Builders don't look in the yellow pages. You would need to contact them.

If your normal customers are homeowners or even small business owners then the yellow pages are a must Or some form of advertising that reaches home and business owners ( news papers, radio, TV, local publications )

 

[s.sparkomatic.r09]

Don't do it. I did the 3000 a month shuffle for two years. Never again. Don't do it, not even a little ad. I don't like to deal with the ?public? because most of the leads you get off this are one time deals. No on going relationship.

I didn?t like the monthly payment. I didn?t like the jobs I got off the adds. No permit here, small job there, house flipper here, service change there, call you thousand times to ask about dimmers, dealing with home owners.

Oh ya, some months you don?t get calls and you still pay the 3000 bucks. So write that in your business plan: have men and supplies on hand to do work on short order if you get calls, if not find something for your crew to do in the mean time. And make enough extra money to pay for the ad????..

 

[growler]

I didn?t like the monthly payment. I didn?t like the jobs I got off the adds. No permit here, small job there, house flipper here, service change there, call you thousand times to ask about dimmers, dealing with home owners.

That's true, if you don't want to deal with homeowners then don't advertise in the yellow pages. Mr. Sparky and Mr. Electric know how to deal with those pesky homeowners.

But there is gold in them there dimmers and switches if you know how to mine it. Just remember there may be small jobs but there are no small bills.

 

[brantmacga]

Don't do it. I did the 3000 a month shuffle for two years. Never again. Don't do it, not even a little ad. I don't like to deal with the ?public? because most of the leads you get off this are one time deals. No on going relationship.

I didn?t like the monthly payment. I didn?t like the jobs I got off the adds. No permit here, small job there, house flipper here, service change there, call you thousand times to ask about dimmers, dealing with home owners.

Oh ya, some months you don?t get calls and you still pay the 3000 bucks. So write that in your business plan: have men and supplies on hand to do work on short order if you get calls, if not find something for your crew to do in the mean time. And make enough extra money to pay for the ad????..

I get SO many phone calls from homeowners because of attitudes like this from another EC. I'm not putting you down; if you don't want to do it that's fine, but there is money to be made there if you want it.

 

[s.sparkomatic.r09]

Brantmacga,

If you make money off of it that is all that matters. I am sure you make a good living and are a good man. You must know what you are doing.

I would just hate to see anybody get ?sold? on advertizing that they were not set up for. If this guy has the resources, then ya you can print money.

But you can also print money doing other kinds of work.

You can beat the street and knock on doors for "free". When you have time.

If sparky76 knows what all of his costs are going to be then he can write it in a business plan and ?should? profit.

If he doesn?t know the cost then he is speculating on monthly payments?..large monthly payments.

But in my experience dealing with repeat customers has worked better. Along the lines of if I jumped off a bridge????.

 

[s.sparkomatic.r09]

I?m not trying to throw darts at people that work out of the yellow pages.

But I a saved my ?big? ad. It?s been a few years now. I still compare my ads to the new yellow pages. Very, very,very few of the same companies are still in the book?..

 

[ultramegabob]

I have a 2"x2" box add it has my logo and a list services available, I get some calls from it, but I dont think it pays for itself month to month. Most of my work is from just knowing contractors, word of mouth referals, and going out meeting the owners of businesses and introducing myself.

 

[iaov]

That's true, if you don't want to deal with homeowners then don't advertise in the yellow pages. Mr. Sparky and Mr. Electric know how to deal with those pesky homeowners.

But there is gold in them there dimmers and switches if you know how to mine it. Just remember there may be small jobs but there are no small bills.

That last sentence may become my new mantra!:grin:

 

[aline]

You can beat the street and knock on doors for "free". When you have time.

You don't pay yourself for doing this?

It would be nice to find someone willing to do this for free.
If I can't hire someone to do this for free why should I do this for free just because I'm the owner?

If your paying yourself for the time it takes to do this it's not free and you need to calculate the return on your investment just like you need to with any other form of advertising.

What's crazy is spending thousands of dollars on advertising and not tracking the results.

 

[barbeer]

your not spending money when you run an ad in the yellow pages, your investing in the ad, to produce more income. Spending is when you buy something that does not produce a return.

That said, I change not my chosen dialogue! He is definitely spending and not investing.

 

[growler]

That said, I change not my chosen dialogue! He is definitely spending and not investing.

What type of electrical business is your friend running? If he is not in the sevice industry then he may be throwing money away.

If he is trying to break into the service sector then the advertising cost can be really high to get started. It all works out in the end.

 

[barbeer]

If he is trying to break into the service sector then the advertising cost can be really high to get started. It all works out in the end.

This is his argument, but for me, a 1 man shop should not INVEST that much when the calls and subsequent jobs generated by said advertising do not add up to at least an equal sum. He is service and I know at some point to make money you have to spend money but IMHO now is not that time for him, so I just tell him that it is his money........or more likely credit!:smile:

 

[growler]

He is service and I know at some point to make money you have to spend money but IMHO now is not that time for him,

This is very true. You won't get near the bang for your buck now that consumer confidence is low.

IMHO, the best time to really go out on a limb with advertising is right at the end of a recession. This should give you a 4 to 5 year window of opportunity.

I'll wish him luck. :smile:

 

[adamants]

not me

not me

i have never gotten 1 job out of the yellow pages, i think i have had about 5 calls, which were all from about 40 miles away,waste of time, my local paper brings me most of my work, i missed advertising in it one week, and had very few jobs come in, ad in again next week and the phone started ringing again. if you are advertising, check to see if it is working!

 

[ultramegabob]

i have never gotten 1 job out of the yellow pages, i think i have had about 5 calls, which were all from about 40 miles away,waste of time, my local paper brings me most of my work, i missed advertising in it one week, and had very few jobs come in, ad in again next week and the phone started ringing again. if you are advertising, check to see if it is working!

I guess I just depends where you live, if I advertise in the local paper all I get are people who what some kind of flaky deal (renters that want you to bill the landlord, etc....), or they want you to come out and start a project on the weekend, but dont want to pay after normal business hours rates. I think the best advertising is on the side of my truck, lawn signs on site, and handing out buisness cards when I introduce myself.