One of the main reasons people start businesses is to make money. For some it’s a blessing to make money doing something they love. I’m not saying that you have to love house cleaning in order to have a successful house cleaning business; however it would be a good idea if you didn’t hate it.

How much money you make depends on how big you want your business to be. It could be a one person operation where you set up at home and service areas close to home, or you could set up a commercial office and hire people to work for you.

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I should probably begin with my own qualifications to discuss this topic. I was a Yellow Page consultant for nearly 25 years and, prior to that, had my own advertising agency. I also have a degree in marketing. I’ve been designing Yellow Page ads for the past three decades. So I have experience in creating ads and have advised almost 7000 companies on how to put together the most effective ones. If you have a display or in-column ad, regardless of size, color or position, I can tell you it most probably needs improvement in essentials areas like the headline, artwork, body text, placement, book, or heading. So, whether you have an ad or are thinking about placing one, please read on.

If you are one of the typical small businesses that currently advertises in your local directory or have decided you are now ready, you will need a consultant. Most of the time you are assigned a representative of the publisher and he or she will guide you through the process. Yes, there is a process of choosing the directory, the type of ad, the size, colors, copy and artwork. Most average companies have little knowledge of marketing and therefore must rely on the expertise of their rep. The problem is regarding their qualifications. There are some basics facts you need to know or ask them before proceeding to trust their suggestions. Here are a few, in no particular order: continue reading »

I was a YP rep and consultant for nearly 25 years and, prior to that, had my own advertising agency. I also have a degree in marketing. I’ve been designing Yellow Page ads for the past three decades. So I have expertise in YP creation and have advised almost 7000 companies on how to put together the most effective YP ads. So I know something about the Yellow Pages. I even wrote a book about my years in sales and what businesses should know about their advertising. So, what is my expert opinion about the old-fashioned paper Yellow Pages?

When I first began selling in the early eighties, we never dreamed there would ever by anything else. Then along came the personal computer and the birth of the CD-Rom. By the 1990’s we were offering a duplicate of the printed pages on a CD. But even then, I figured that the good old paper Yellow Page book was here to stay. There were many reasons: continue reading »

Let’s face it. Not every business person is a marketing expert. Sure, you’re great at plumbing, moving, or appliance sales, but that’s where it ends. After all, you have an accountant, insurance person, financial planner, and perhaps an attorney to guide you in those areas you are not familiar with. So why not admit that you are also uneducated when it comes to promotion and advertising? Now, was that so hard?

Look at your YP budget. It may be 1000’s a month. Therefore, with a $25,000 annual investment at stake, why take chances? It’s not just the money, it’s the future of your business. Let’s review just a few of the problems with YP advertising that you have to deal with: continue reading »

One of the first things our Yellow Page ad design clients like to do is get other opinions on their newly designed Yellow Page ad before committing it to print. They ask employees, friends, their spouse, and even their current customers. They may even seek the opinion of a marketing specialist. Once, a client told me he asked his 14-year old daughter for her input (She hated it). The logic is, “the more feedback I get, the better!” But you don’t want bystanders to like your Yellow Page ad, you want PROSPECTS to be persuaded by it.

The simple truth is that second opinions have LITTLE to NO VALUE UNLESS that opinion is coming from a member of your target audience at 1) the exact moment they are viewing your ad and 2) are in immediate need of your service. These folks are in a very “particular” state of mind. They need a solution to their problem (at that instant) and they’re smack-dab in the middle of a decision-making process. They’re trying to determine “who can best solve my problem?”

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It’s strictly a matter of semantics. Notice the difference between “a” and “your.” It makes all the difference in the world. Let me explain. But first a word about my background.

I was a Yellow Page consultant for almost 25 years. During my tenure, I advised various businesses on planning their programs. It involved recommending headings, sizes, directories, layouts, headlines, and other elements that could ultimately spell success or failure. These people relied on my judgment because I was the expert, They were busy running a business and delegated their insurance, accounting, legal issues, and advertising to the professionals in the appropriate fields. And why not? How could any one owner wear that many hats and do them all well? So we offered our expertise for the betterment of the company.

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The Yellow Pages are an advertising medium that shares many of the strengths of other advertising media while, at the same time, avoids some of its competition’s limitations or disadvantages. As such, the Yellow Pages are best used to complement or extend the effects of advertising placed in other media. Like other media, the Yellow Pages permit an advertiser to select a well-defined geographic area, ranging from a neighborhood to an entire metropolitan area.
Once the geography is defined, a Yellow Pages ad has permanence; Yellow Pages are kept as a regular reference. In addition, Yellow Pages support your other advertising by providing a convenient way for consumers to contact sources and obtain information on the products or services they desire at the precise time they are ready to “take action.” Studies on this form of “directive” advertising have shown it works so well that of the people who turn to the Yellow Pages, 83 percent then take action. Also, the Yellow Pages are relatively low in cost in terms of both ad production and placement. The disadvantages of the Yellow Pages include their lack of timeliness (ads can be changed only once per year and, as a result, there is no opportunity for “price advertising”), the potential clutter in some classifications and less creative flexibility than other print media offer.
Yellow Pages ads resemble no other kind of advertising. They’re not aimed at motivating consumers to buy a product. Rather, their goal is to convince consumers to buy a desired product from a particular company. Because companies attract business by showing they’ve got whatever consumers may want, Yellow Pages ads also tend to be full of brand names and information.
The first thing your ad must do is get itself read. Here, your success depends in part on which Yellow Pages directory (or directories) in which you choose to place your ad. The bottom line is to get the greatest amount of exposure. So. compare competing directories on the basis of their usage figures - not their distribution figures, but the number of actual consumer uses per year. If you then divide directories’ uses-per-year figures by their charge for the same size ad, you’ll see which directory provides the highest number of uses per dollar. That’s the directory that delivers the best value for your money.
Another key factor in determining whether your ad will be read is the size of the ad you decide to buy. Obviously, the larger the ad, the more attention it gets. Once you select the heading or headings under which your ad will appear - and they should be headings for the products and services that give you the greatest profitability - open to those headings and see what ad sizes your competitors have. You can then choose ad sizes larger than theirs, on par with theirs or smaller than theirs, depending on budget constraints and the competitive stance you want to take.
Once you’ve decided on directories, headings and ad sizes, concentrate on creating an ad that both attracts attention and stimulates customer response. Experts such as Jeffrey Price, author of Yellow Pages Advertising: How to Get the Greatest Return on Your Investment, say you can achieve those results by including the following in your ad:
Attention-getting artwork. Artwork is the greatest eye-catcher for an ad, after size. You can use visuals from your suppliers or even non-copyrighted artwork you locate in out-of-town or out-of-state Yellow Pages. Stick with illustrations whenever possible, since photographs may reproduce poorly. And keep areas of blank space around your artwork, and throughout your ad as well, so your ad is uncluttered-looking and easy to read.
A headline that says what makes you special. Identify the special or unique characteristic that, for your target customer, puts you ahead of the competition. Write a short, to-the-point headline stating that advantage. If your headline must focus on just one of your products or services, choose the one that is most profitable.
Include the complete information buyers need to make a purchase decision. Your ad must convince buyers that you’re the best source for what they need. So support your headline with information, usually presented in list form, about your:

Reliability (e.g., years in business).

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When it comes time set up a budget for your advertising, I have a simple rule of thumb: whatever it takes.

Okay, maybe I’m being a bit flippant, but after three decades in advertising that’s almost the best I can do. I could give you the standard answer that most marketing textbooks offer. An average business should allocate about between two to five percent of your gross revenue. A startup or new business might have to do double that the first year or two. Let me amend those figures and walk you through a few companies that don’t meet these numbers.

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