Is anyone willing to give their opinion on dealing with Yellowbook? How about Yellowbook.com? I am seven months into my first year of advertising with them in the Chicago NW suburbs and I have mixed feelings. Has anybody thats been with them for a number of years noticed a falloff in the number/percentage of service calls received through them? I realize that this probably varies by region, but I'm curious. Thanks for any insight.
Yellowbook ads
- Thread starter tmbrk
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mdshunk
Senior Member
- Location
- Right here.
In my area, an ad in the local yellow pages is pretty much the only way to reach people. We're fairly rural. I mean the "real" yellow pages, and not the knockoff's that nobody seems to use.
Thanks for your reply Marc. I'm actually based in what would be called a "collar county" of the Chicago area. Some of it's rural, but alot is growing and fast. I get the feeling more and more people moving into the area are using the web to find things and wonder if the actual book itself is taking a hit.
"give their opinion on dealing with Yellowbook"
Worst investment i ever made, it only produces about 17% of the calls a Yellow Page Ad does, and to make matters worse, last year, i noticed what anothe contractor was telling me, he said go around and see how many people throw out the book when it is delivered, so on the paper recycle day just after the books were delivered, i took a ride around town, and found the book on the recycle pile, at a good number of homes, i stopped at two homes where they were taking out recycles, and asked why they throw the book out, the answere was the same at both homes, it's just advertising, there are no phone numbers in it, so i went back, and checked our call book, to see how we did with it for the year to date, and it just did not pay it's keep, the calls we did get were from customers looking for bottom pricing.
The Yellow Pages, with the phone numbers, does very well, it produces calls, and a better level of customers, on the internet ad's, it's true more are beginning to use it, but they also look at more options before they buy, so you may need to support your web ad's with a professional touch, in order to make it produce, the ready buyers.
Worst investment i ever made, it only produces about 17% of the calls a Yellow Page Ad does, and to make matters worse, last year, i noticed what anothe contractor was telling me, he said go around and see how many people throw out the book when it is delivered, so on the paper recycle day just after the books were delivered, i took a ride around town, and found the book on the recycle pile, at a good number of homes, i stopped at two homes where they were taking out recycles, and asked why they throw the book out, the answere was the same at both homes, it's just advertising, there are no phone numbers in it, so i went back, and checked our call book, to see how we did with it for the year to date, and it just did not pay it's keep, the calls we did get were from customers looking for bottom pricing.
The Yellow Pages, with the phone numbers, does very well, it produces calls, and a better level of customers, on the internet ad's, it's true more are beginning to use it, but they also look at more options before they buy, so you may need to support your web ad's with a professional touch, in order to make it produce, the ready buyers.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I'm in only the Yellow Book, and not Verizon at all. I get twice the main-diplay-ad size, three other smaller display ads, and it costs less than half.
I don't know why yours has no numbers; ours does. It's almost identical to the Verizon YP, and we get enough response to stay busy right now.
I can post the ad if the moderators don't object. Guys?
I don't know why yours has no numbers; ours does. It's almost identical to the Verizon YP, and we get enough response to stay busy right now.
I can post the ad if the moderators don't object. Guys?
jeff43222
Senior Member
- Location
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
I'm totally done using the "official" Yellow Pages in this area. The first year I advertised, the ad wound up costing me more than I grossed from it. This time around, I moved to a different area directory, and I haven't gotten a single call from the ad in the eight months it's been running.
I had a free listing in the Yellow Book, and even that generated a few decent jobs for me.
Since my EC business is part-time now, I have stopped all my paid advertising and am just doing referral work. It's enough to keep me as busy as I want to be.
I had a free listing in the Yellow Book, and even that generated a few decent jobs for me.
Since my EC business is part-time now, I have stopped all my paid advertising and am just doing referral work. It's enough to keep me as busy as I want to be.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
I know that we toss all of the non phone company phone books in the recyle bin as soon as we get them. Even the ones that do have the local residential phone listings as in our are the phone numbers in the non phone company book are a year out of date.
Don
Don
- Location
- Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- Hospital Master Electrician
I don't mind if you post a link to a scan from the yellow pages. I think simply stating the measurements and price paid would accomplish what you're trying to get across though, IMO.LarryFine said:
mdshunk said:
Around here, yellowbook is the knockoff. Qwest Dex being the official. But I suppose it is possible that yellowbook bought out the phone company's book in some areas. I've seen their ads that claim to have been around a while. They've only been here a few years. I assume they bought out the prior knockoff book we had before them.
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