Do you guys think that a big yellow page add is worth the monthly risk? We're about 50/50 resi/comm. Goal is 100% resi. service. Had a small ad the first couple of years but i'm not sure that was worth the money. Now all we have is the free listing. Our shop is near a significant amout of neighborhoods, so that gives us right much service, but we need about twice that amount to be able to go 100% resi. and dump the gc's.
Yellow Pages
- Thread starter kiddrock
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jmellc
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
1st off, why are you wanting to go 100% resi? Do you love torture? I am nearly 100% resi & would gladly give up 90% of it if I had more decent commercial work. Resi is generally the most undesirable & least profitable work.
Anyway, I do keep a yellow page ad and will keep it. I am dropping all other print ads I've had. They are nearly useless. I do get some calls from yellow pages. People over 50 still use it a fair amount & it's a validation to be listed there. Check the cost of a larger one. If you have a free one now, maybe the cheapest paid one would be good. Helps you stand out some. Not sure the huge ads are a good return, they are a fortune.
If I don't shut down, I will likely get a website soon. I have found an economical provider, I think. More on that later.
Anyway, I do keep a yellow page ad and will keep it. I am dropping all other print ads I've had. They are nearly useless. I do get some calls from yellow pages. People over 50 still use it a fair amount & it's a validation to be listed there. Check the cost of a larger one. If you have a free one now, maybe the cheapest paid one would be good. Helps you stand out some. Not sure the huge ads are a good return, they are a fortune.
If I don't shut down, I will likely get a website soon. I have found an economical provider, I think. More on that later.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
All I can offer is this:
(1) Whenever the phone directories show up on my porch, I immediately take them, unopened, to the recycle bin, and
(2) I am not alone in this practice.
There is a legal battle going on in the Seattle area, over the city's attempt to create a "do not give me any phone directory" list. They want to fine the advertising company $125 for any book delivered to a person who put their address on the "opt out" list. The advertisement companies are fighting it as a violation of their first ammendment rights. The latest I heard was that a judge ruled in favor of the city, stating that there is an overriding consideration over the waste of natural resources and the costs of recycling unwanted paper. The legal battle is not yet over.
(1) Whenever the phone directories show up on my porch, I immediately take them, unopened, to the recycle bin, and
(2) I am not alone in this practice.
There is a legal battle going on in the Seattle area, over the city's attempt to create a "do not give me any phone directory" list. They want to fine the advertising company $125 for any book delivered to a person who put their address on the "opt out" list. The advertisement companies are fighting it as a violation of their first ammendment rights. The latest I heard was that a judge ruled in favor of the city, stating that there is an overriding consideration over the waste of natural resources and the costs of recycling unwanted paper. The legal battle is not yet over.
We've had pretty good luck with resi service for six years. Most of our customers are repeat, and our turnover is much faster. Don't get me wrong we still want to do commercial service too, but straight for the customer.
jmellc
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I'm glad you have a stable resi market. I get a few decent jobs but it's mostly junk that BIL's have worked on over the years until the cousin out of rehab finally messed it up for good.
I price a lot of jobs that either don't get done or someone else, usually an illegal, winds up getting. I try to fend that off by not telling my exact methods, materials, etc. I learned years ago the customer will repeat that to the next bidder.
bullheimer
Senior Member
- Location
- WA
BOY i couldnt agree more with the above. don't ever explain exactly how to do the job to joeblow home owner!
right now half of my jobs are coming from the world wide interweb and the other half from an upstart phonie book. i used to get one third my biz from the book that came out for the hard wired local phone co, but that got screwed up.
so i think first off you want to be on the first page of a google search, then you want an ad to stand out in the phone book, that means bigger. and it is a good question as to whether it's going to pay for itself!! a smaller more affordable ad at least DOLLAR bill sized!!! or save your money!! have some color that stands out and have "emergency service" or 24 hour service and you will get calls because there still are virtually no one who has that, but there have been more every year because you have to say something different or offer something the others don't. i am currently going to collections for one or two phone books because they did not produce enuf to pay for themselves a year or two (or both) ago.
right now half of my jobs are coming from the world wide interweb and the other half from an upstart phonie book. i used to get one third my biz from the book that came out for the hard wired local phone co, but that got screwed up.
so i think first off you want to be on the first page of a google search, then you want an ad to stand out in the phone book, that means bigger. and it is a good question as to whether it's going to pay for itself!! a smaller more affordable ad at least DOLLAR bill sized!!! or save your money!! have some color that stands out and have "emergency service" or 24 hour service and you will get calls because there still are virtually no one who has that, but there have been more every year because you have to say something different or offer something the others don't. i am currently going to collections for one or two phone books because they did not produce enuf to pay for themselves a year or two (or both) ago.
I put up a couple informal internet polls on this and determined that most people have long ago abandoned the YP as a resource. I was a big YP user until the internet took over. Now with most people having mobile internet access, the YP are on life support.
The people that do use the YP seem to be in more rural areas. People in the cities toss them directly in the recycle bin.
My business hasn't had a paid listing in many years.
The people that do use the YP seem to be in more rural areas. People in the cities toss them directly in the recycle bin.
My business hasn't had a paid listing in many years.
jmellc
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I have the smallest display ad I could buy. It stands out enough to be seen, not enough to grab you by the collar. I get enough calls from it to justify keeping it. But I only keep the 1 in the standard community phone book, Frontier in our town. Real Yellow Pages, Talking Phone Book, etc. are not worth the paper they are printed on. I did have 1 for a year in the phone book of a town near us. I got 3-4 calls from it the 1st 3 months or so, then it dried up so I did not keep it. I still get an occasional call from a reference by 1 of those customers.
mtfallsmikey
Senior Member
There still is, in my area, and even here in The Big City where I work, a need for resi service contractors, all kinds. People constantly ask who they can get for small repairs/wiring jobs, and are willing to pay. I've been out of the mech. contracting biz for 13 yrs. now, still get calls to do "side" work, but won't do it. Lots of older folks still use YP, but our publisher is going to stop printing them.
jmellc
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Wow; first I've heard of a phone provider halting Yellow Pages. But it makes sense if no one uses it there. I'm sure they cost a fortune to print.
kwb
Member
- Location
- Salt Lake City
IMO, the only thing I ever got out of the yellowpages or phonebook ads are customers I didn't want.
People think electrical contractors are like some huge fire station with guys just sitting around waiting to be sent out the minute you receive a call. If you can't be there NOW or TODAY they'll just either call someone else or let you work it into your schedule only to find out they've already called someone else who could be there sooner.
I avoid the yellowpages like the plague.
People think electrical contractors are like some huge fire station with guys just sitting around waiting to be sent out the minute you receive a call. If you can't be there NOW or TODAY they'll just either call someone else or let you work it into your schedule only to find out they've already called someone else who could be there sooner.
I avoid the yellowpages like the plague.
sd4524
Senior Member
- Location
- Southern California
Take the money you might use on the yellow pages and try google or yahoo advertising. My guess is that you would get more calls.
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