Yellow Pages & Small Business Commandos Blog

This makes me feel better

2007-06-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

If you're having a tough day, just watch this.

Bad Day..It Could Be Worse - Watch more free videos

Goog in the Hood

2007-05-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

Google LatLong: Neighborhood Search Capability

Google's targeting has recently been expanded to include neighborhood search in 50 cities around the US. (Sorry Canada).

In a few years, this will be so standard, that we'll reminisce about our quaint blog posts on the subject.

All politics is local. More importantly, all plumbing is local.

The easier it is for consumers to find local information online or via mobile devices, the greater jeopardy faces traditional media.

This Blog Has Moved

2007-01-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

please update your settings.

This Blog Has Moved

2007-01-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

I've moved this blog to a new blog account.

You can get it at http://commandos.cc/blog

Verizon (oops, I mean Idearc) Strong Book Growth?

2006-12-29T00:12:00.000-08:00

I received the following email today from a contact back east. Can anyone with inside information shed some light on this?

Hi Dick,

When I heard your webcast the other month about the growing internet "yellow" pages I thought for sure the next Verizon book would be thinner than last years. It sure seemed like everyone was piking the end of the yellow pages in the mp3. To my surprise the Verizon book 49% larger...that's right 49% larger than last years.

Last year's yellow pages (Verizon in Lancaster, PA) was 509 pages. This year's yellow pages are 757 pages! Whoa! (The book arrived on my door step today.)

I can't believe how many advertisers upped their full page ads to 2 full pages. I also can't believe how many lawyers grabbed 4 full page ads (instead of 2 pages).

Since you're an industry insider did Verizon run some kind of special to get all these companies to buy bigger ads? Or is Lancaster, PA just 10 years behind the times (I used to live in L.A. and when i moved here a few years ago...it sure felt like I've moved back in time) and don't know any better...that they should be putting all their bucks into internet advertising? Searching for a plumber online locally is a fruitless effort.

Wishing you the best of health.

Vic K

10 Secrets to Turbo-Charge your Yellow Pages Advertising

2006-12-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Pacific Standard Time

Join author, Jeffrey Hauser in a Small Business Commandos exclusive online seminar.

Jeff is the author of "Inside the Yellow Pages", a brand new "tell-all" book that rips open the Yellow Pages publishers' veil of secrecy so that advertisers can have take full advantage of the Yellow Pages benefits.

In this totally free presentation, he will reveal 10 Insider Secrets for the first time ever.

Most Yellow Pages sales reps follow the "strategy du jour" without necessarily putting the advertiser's interest first. (This is a generalization, I'm sure there are some sales reps that put the advertiser's needs first. You can spot those reps, because they're on skateboards because their cars have been repossessed.)

Jeff will reveal . . .

When should you decrease your ad size and put the money into color?
How can you know exactly how well you ad is performing and use that information to negotiate a better rate?
What is the single most important element in a Yellow Pages ad? (blow this, and kiss your customers good-bye.)

Plus, we'll analyze 3 ads sent in by readers and identify the fatal flaws that are costing the business owner big bucks.

There is no charge for this on-line seminar. Register here:
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/479013335

If you want to get the most out of this webinar, buy Jeff's eBook. You'll be glad you did.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=64349&ProductID=3317463

Lessons from The "Real Numbers of Local Search" Webinar

2006-11-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

(clockwise from upper left: Jeremy Owens, Miramar
Automotive; Steve Dennen, comScore; Peter
Krasilovsky, Krasilovsky Consulting; Dick Larkin,
Small Business Commandos)

There were some important lessons in the Real
Numbers of Local Search Webinar that I'd like to share.

Lesson 1: Don't give up your print Yellow Pages
(yet).

When Internet measurement guru, Steve Dennen
recommended that local advertisers not abandon their
print Yellow Pages, you could have knocked me over
with a bucket of linguine.

That is assuming of course, that you were
holding a bucket of linguine, in which case I probably
wouldn't have been standing close enough for you to
hit me with it.
Still, 60% of local
look-ups occur in the print world (for now).

While the shift to Internet is dramatic,
print is still viable in many markets.

Don't wait too long to advertise online,
because all indications show local web search
surpassing print as early as next year and being
totally dominant in three short years.

The lesson here is to advertise where you get
results regardless of the medium. That may be
common sense, but it sure ain't common practice.

Lesson 2: Local Search leads directly to offline
contact.

ComScore found that most people made contact and
purchased from local merchants after searching for
local information online. Does this surprise
anyone?
Restaurants are one of the top
local web
searches, and last time I checked, restaurants
generally require you to show up in order to get food.

However, I recently ate a pizza that
tasted suspiciously like it had been emailed to me.
That's a topic for another newsletter.

Lesson 3: Internet Yellow Pages have the best
customers

This makes me smile because I spent nearly a
decade building Internet Yellow Pages. IYPs have
better customers that the search engines because
they have richer local information (and the person
searching an IYP has already searched Google or
Yahoo and is searching deeper).

Here, real life matched comScore's research.
Jeremy Owens of Miramar Automotive said that the
customers coming from Internet Yellow Pages spend
more than customers coming from other advertising
sources. People searching on an Internet Yellow
Pages are further along the buying cycle.

The downside is that the traffic on IYPs is a
fraction of the major search engines. You gotta do
both to get quantity and quality.

Lesson 4: Local markets vary widely.

ComScore found that there were significant
regional differences in local search traffic. To
advertise effectively, ask your customers where they
search online. The local Yellow Pages publishers'
sites are strongest where they have print directories.

Peter Krasilovsky reminded advertisers to
consider their local newspaper sites. Those sites
often have the highest local traffic and they have
very loyal customer bases.
Missed the Webinar? Listen again, and again, and again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lots of folks asked for the recording, and
this is the only way to get it. Plus, you'll have a
permanent recording of the audio and video of the entire
presentation.

When you order the DVD, I'll throw in an MP3
download of the audio file so that you can listen in
your hot tub. I'll even include the slides for your
viewing and bathing pleasure.

If you order before November 15, you'll save
$20 Sorry, no extensions.
Order the DVD and MP3 and save $20

Internet Yellow Pages experiencing strong growth

2006-10-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article regarding the growth of Internet Yellow Pages sites.

I am often asked about the importance of advertising on the IYPs.

Here are my basic rules for IYP advertising.

1. Make sure you are at the top of the list for your primary search terms in your service area. Internet Yellow Pages are linear in nature, meaning that users start at the top and work their way down. They also tend to be much more structured than typical one box search engines.

If you can't afford to be in the top 3 search results, don't waste your money.

2. Users of IYP sites tend to be further along the buying cycle. So a click or an impression on an IYP is inherently more valuable than that of typical web search.

Pay more, get more.

Here's the article from Clickz

Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) searches grew 46 percent in the past year, which means a 43 percent local search increase across the Web. A two-part series on local search from comScore Networks details local search behavior as well usage of Internet Yellow Pages and directory listings.

In July, 68 million Internet users in the U.S. conducted searches at IYP sites. These searchs represent a 46 percent increase over the same month last year. Yahoo sites grabbed 23.9 percent of directory searches; Verizon SuperPages served 20.1 percent; and Google Sites held 12.5 percent.

Top Eight Internet Yellow Page Searches by Site, July 2006
Site	Total Yellow Pages Searches (%)
Total Internet	100.0
Yahoo Sites	23.9
Verizon SuperPages	20.1
Google Sites	12.5
Yellowpages.com	12.0
Time Warner Network	7.7
Local.com	5.9
InfoSpace Network	5.1
Dexonline.com	4.1
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: comScore, 2006

Across the Web, about 109 million U.S. Internet users conducted local searches in July. That's about 63 percent of the U.S. online population. Local search, including searches conducted on sites serving local interests and also IYP sites, saw a 43 percent increase over July of 2005.

Google sites garnered 29.8 percent of U.S. searches; Yahoo sites served 29.2 percent; Microsoft sites saw 12.3 percent of local searches; and Time Warner properties, including AOL, got 7.1 percent of search traffic.

Forty-one percent of local searches were conducted for users' home area. Of those searches, 59 percent were to locate a restaurant or an entertainment-related establishment such as a theater, theme park or sightseeing attraction. Just over half (52 percent) searched for a phone number or address. Forty-one percent searched for a local service in their home area like a car rental office, dry cleaner, or lawyer.

ComScore data are taken from a global panel of more than 2 million consumers. The research firm obtains explicit permission to confidentially capture the browsing and transaction behavior, including on- and offline purchasing.

Zig vs. Zag

2006-09-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

At the Kelsey Group's Directory Driven Commerce 2006 conference this week in Los Angeles, Seig Fisher, CEO and founder of Valley Yellow Pages articulated his company's strategy to the chagrin of the technorati in the audience.

See, Seig is old school. When I say old school, I mean one-room school house with a stern school marm teaching the three R's using a coal-oil lamp.

Valley Yellow Pages (which is one of the largest independent Yellow Pages publishers in the US) has a unique Internet strategy. They ignore the Internet and focus solely on their print directory business.

When every other publisher has tried at least one internet product set, Valley sticks ink on dead trees.

AT&T, Valley's largest competitor, paid roughly $100 million for the domain name YellowPages.com. Meanwhile, Valley's print books grow year after year and the profits roll in.

While I don't find this strategy particularly exciting or leading edge, it makes money. Loads of money.

The print strategy will probably not carry Seig for the next two decades, but by that time, a company with an Internet strategy will have paid through the nose for the deep market penetration that Valley has achieved.

See, it's all about picking a strategy and sticking to it.

That is one of the toughest business strategies of all.

33 Random Observations About Business

2006-09-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

This has nothing to do with local online advertising or Yellow Pages. However, when I received my friend, Matt Michel's Comanche Newsletter, I felt that this was something worth passing on to you.

Matt has compiled 33 observations on business. There is an awful lot of truth in this list.

Make it a wonderful day.

1. More businesses close from a lack of cash than a lack of profits. Cash is king.

2. Sales covers up a lot of inefficiencies. Strong sales buys time to fix most problems.

3. Most hiring mistakes are mistakes of rushing to fill immediate need. Be slow to hire.

4. Conflict is inevitable. Politics is not. Someone with time for politics does not have enough to do.

5. People usually live up to your expectations. Do you expect a little or a lot?

6. The lowest bidder is usually the bidder with the most oversights.

7. Overnight success takes years to achieve.

8. The more successful you become, the more you will be copied and criticized. No one resents a failure.

9. If you think everyone is out to get you and act like it, they soon will be.

10. People usually charge what they believe they’re worth. Service contractors need more self esteem.

11. Simple is superior.

12. The worst thing a company can do to its customers is fail to survive.

13. The second worst thing a company can do to its customers fail to charge enough to serve customers well.

14. Some people are simply not employable. They’re called small business owners.

15. The workload always expands to fill the office staff’s available hours. Focus on what’s important.

16. Act fast. Think faster… Think first.

17. Don’t fix your weaknesses. Hire people who are strong where you’re weak. Play to your strengths.

18. The only person you can safely make fun of, is yourself.

19. When a willing buyer agrees to a price asked by a willing seller, the price is perfect.

20. Your integrity can never be taken from you. People don’t “lose” their integrity, they give it away.

21. Some things are black and white. Some things are right and wrong. Some people do not care. Avoid them.

22. When someone goes out of his way proclaiming his honesty, wonder why.

23. Salespeople put the company first by putting the customer first.

24. Managers put the customer first by putting employees first. It’s impossible for front line employees to treat customers better than management treats them.

25. Good coaches accept blame for losses, while refusing credit for victories. Credit goes to the team.

26. The purpose of a businesses is to increase owner wealth. Businesses accomplish this by getting and keeping customers.

27. Success begins with the first step. Get moving.

28. Incompetence and indifference are bigger problems than corruption.

29. Mistakes are the tuition of experience from the school of hard knocks. Avoid remedial education.

30. The customer is not always right, but is always the customer. Treat the customer like he’s right, even when he’s wrong.

31. A company’s self inflicted damage usually exceeds the impact of competition.

32. Customers care about their problems, not yours. Focus on theirs and keep yours to yourself.

33. Implementation is everything.

© 2006 Matt Michel

Yellow Pages green with Web envy

2006-09-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Following is an article from the Globe and Mail pointing out that print Yellow Pages are under attack by the likes of Google and Yahoo.

Not exactly a news flash, yet the directory publishers continue to roll along with rate increases.

What does the future hold for the tree killers? Time will tell.

BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Tim Casey had a bit of fun with Marc Tellier on Tuesday. As the Yellow Pages boss waited to make his speech to an investor conference, the analyst took a poll.

"Pick up your handsets," Mr. Casey instructed, "and address the following question: What is your primary source of information for local businesses in your household?" Each member of the audience had a small voting machine and three choices: the Yellow Pages directory, a search engine like Google or Yahoo, or another on-line directory.

Fifteen seconds later, the results were in. The winners: Google and Yahoo.

Not quite fair, Mr. Tellier responded. A bunch of BlackBerry-addicted stiffs from Bay Street aren't exactly representative of the Canadian public. With other crowds, the Yellow Pages business is growing. Like who? Sushi eaters, apparently. " 'Sushi' is a fast-growing heading [for advertising]," Mr. Tellier said. '' 'Tattoo parlours' is one of our fastest-growing headings. Walk by any university campus today and you'll see who's getting tattoos."

You can see Mr. Tellier's problem. He runs a great business and has a gold-plated stock valuation to match (that's true even after a 10-per-cent drop in the unit price this year). Yellow Pages enjoys operating profit margins of about 40 per cent with little competition. But most investors don't give a damn whether John's Sushi Emporium just bought a half-page ad. What worries them is, how much longer until the Internet starts to eat Yellow Pages' business?

Mr. Tellier is nothing if not a good salesman -- how could he be otherwise, when he's tapping the equity markets so frequently? So, naturally, he's got answers. Google's great for a lot of things, he'll point out, but it's not as handy as Yellow Pages' own sites if you want to find, say, a plumber in Toronto. Yellow Pages has also been buying specialty Web names, like http://www.doctors.ca, in the hope of turning them into new revenue sources. Other initiatives are in the works.

But for all of that, Yellow Pages still gets more than 90 per cent of revenue from putting ads on dead trees. This summer, Veritas Investment Research sent a summer intern to the library to count pages in the yellow books in five major cities. Their finding: The number of advertising pages fell 8 per cent in 2006. Conclusion: "Unmitigated decline," Veritas analyst Neeraj Monga wrote.

The report stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy on Bay Street, where the coverage of Yellow Pages normally ranges from positive to sycophantic. But even some of the bulls are starting to concede the end is in sight for the company's growth phase. Blackmont Capital's Barbara Gray figures the company will run out of growth by 2010 (nonetheless, she rates the stock a "buy").

If she's right, what does that say for the stock's value? Most analysts think the company will produce between $1.25 and $1.30 in distributable cash a unit in 2007. If we assume Mr. Tellier can squeeze out 5-per-cent growth until the end of the decade, after which the business levels off, and then calculate the present value of that cash flow, Yellow Pages could be modestly undervalued. (In that scenario, the units are probably worth between $16 and $17. Yesterday, they closed at $14.68.)

But that involves a pretty big assumption-- that the business will never decline, but merely stagnate. If you assume even a modest drop in cash flow, starting in 2011, the numbers begin to change quickly, and Yellow Pages starts to look overpriced (Mr. Monga reckons they'd be fairly valued at $13). And that, it seems, is a view that's starting to take hold among investors, if not with Mr. Tellier. "How many other media companies will come here today that have growing franchises?" he boasted at the BMO conference. True, but for how much longer?

RHD's Swanson "Real" degree

2006-09-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

An article on Forbes.com discusses the misleading information in an RHD press release about the CEO's degree.

I think it's unfortunate and regrettable, but I seriously doubt that there was ever any intention to mislead the public or investors. It's not like a degree from St. Cloud State University made a bean's worth of difference in his performance.

Dave Swanson is one of those guys who has risen from an entry-level position to the executive suite by consistently producing top-drawer results for his investors, employees and advertisers.

Give the man his due. Dave Swanson's degree is from the school of hard knocks where he holds masters degrees in integrity, leadership and vision.

Rock on Swanny.

Two Weeks to Networking Event

2006-09-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

The major networking event for the Yellow Pages industry is coming up in two weeks in Los Angeles.

I will tell you that virtually EVERY important contact I have in the Yellow Pages industry (and I have a lot of wonderful contacts) has either started at a Kelsey conference, or it's been renewed there.

People contact me regularly about contacting YP executives. This is where you can sit down and have a beer with them in a relaxed, upbeat setting.

Yellow Pages Advice

2006-08-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a brief article by Adams Hudson, a marketer who services primarily the HVAC and Plumbing industry.

His advice on Yellow Pages ad design is straightforward, helpful and is not usually offered by the sales person who is paid for increasing your budget.

Win $5,000 Local TV Campaign from SpotRunner

2006-08-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Got a note from SpotRunner that they are running a contest to give away a $5,000 local tv campaign.

If you don't know about SpotRunner, you've got to check them out.

They make it so easy (and cheap) to run local cable tv ads.

See, local cable is required by law to run a certain amount of local information or advertising.

SpotRunner negotiates to buys this space on the cheap for the advertiser and make it very affordable.

They have amazingly high production value commercials and because the cable channels don't have to have sales people, they're thrilled to get dang near anything for te space.

Here's their note to me . . .

Spot Runner launched a sweepstakes this week giving local businesses the opportunity to win a complete television advertising campaign, including an ad of their choosing from our library personalized to their business, $5,000 worth of television airtime, a consultation service with one of our media experts and a portable DVD player.

Entering the sweepstakes takes just seconds, easily done on our homepage at www.Spotrunner.com, where you will also find complete details. Final entries are accepted through September 5, 2006.

Achtung! Der Yellow Pages for All

2006-08-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Just like in the US, the German courts have ruled that the trademark "Yellow Pages" and the German translation "der valking finkers" are generic terms and can be used by anyone.

Oh joy!

Now our friends in Germany can enjoy the confusion that we do. Multiple directories sharing a common name and trademark. (Hopefully the Germans will use better sense.)

Well, I have to give their online advertising credit. For GoYellow.de, their commercial featured the amazingly talented Paris Hilton rolling around in her underwear waiting for a delivery boy.

It's hella more interesting than the lame ads we see stateside for online directories.

Deutsche Telekom loses "Yellow Pages" brand

After some two years of consultation, the the German Office of Patents and Trademarks (DPMA) has ruled that "Gelbe Seiten" and "Yellow Pages" does not deserve protection. Rather, as the DPMA told German news weekly Der Spiegel, these terms are merely general descriptions of services that are not protected. In other words, all providers of industry listings can call their registries of addresses "Gelbe Seiten."

This decision is a major setback for Deutsche Telekom: its subsidiary DeTeMedien was attempting to have these common terms registered as trademarks and had filed a large number of claims against competitors who also called their industry listings and Internet directories "Gelbe Seiten." Indeed, Telekom has filed more than a dozen suits for alleged violation of trademarks against just one company, Internet service provider GoYellow Media AG, in the past two years. "This is a real breakthrough," GoYellow's general manager Klaus Harisch stated. According to the upcoming issue of Der Spiegel, this decision does not surprise legal experts.

At the same time, GoYellow is not finished with the courts. While the struggling provider of online industry directories and Internet information services no longer has any unfinished business with Deutsche Telekom, it recently lost a legal dispute concerning its name with power provider Yellow. The ruling is not, however, legally effective because GoYellow has appealed. (Craig Morris) / (jk/c't)

Yahoo! Local Insights

2006-08-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

The conference call with Yahoo! Local started with a few technical bumps, but once we got rolling, Paul discussed several important developments in Yahoo's plans.

It was no surprise to me that he places heavy emphasis on having channel partners to provide full-service to local businesses.

The relatively new "Featured Listings" products on Yahoo! Local offer prime positioning in a limited inventory rotation on either the top of the page of relevant search results ("North" rotation), or on the bottom of the page ("South" rotation).

Commando hint: buy the top, and buy it now. There isn't a more important local network of sites, and these spots won't last long. The prices range from $20 - $300 per month depending on classification and geography.

Also, Yahoo's Enhanced Listings (which sell for $9.95) generally increase user activity by double the unenhanced listings.

Another Commando hint: enhance your listing and load that profile with relevant content and especially photos.

More later . . .

Yahoo! Local Teleseminar

2006-07-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 2 at 11:30 AM Pacific Time

Small Business Commandos is hosting an exclusive tele-seminar on

Insider Secrets to Successful Local Online Marketing.

Paul Levine, General Manager of Yahoo! Local will be on the hot seat answering your questions.

Yahoo! is sponsoring the event and is paying for the first 300 participants. Additional participants are $39 each.

Sign up now before all the seats are filled. In the first 20 minutes after announcing the event, more than 180 of the seats are taken.

Read more at http://ypcommando.com/yahoo.html

Where would you find Barbarians in the Yellow Pages?

2006-07-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

New York buyout firm KKR (the company made famous in the book/film "Barbarians at the Gate" is said to be in negotiations to buy PagesJaunes, the French Yellow Pages.

PagesJaunes, loosely translated means "big honkin' cash flow from old media."

Dang, Yellow Pages is one sexy business.

Verizon Buys Inceptor

2006-07-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Verizon acquired Inceptor, an Efficient Frontier competitor that specializes in bid management software for placing ads on Google and Yahoo.

This marks a significant move for Verizon that they want to expand their capabilities to distribute their advertisers across multiple search properties.

Once again, Verizon is leading the charge in the US in terms of greatly expanding the service offerings of their online product.

Three cheers for Eric Chandler, and the Verizon team for taking action. Print is certainly on its way out, and the Superpages team isn't waiting around to be a casualty.

Verizon Directories, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications, said on Friday that it has acquired the assets of Inceptor, a search engine technology company.

Verizon said the deal would bolster its Internet yellow-pages business, SuperPages.com. Verizon said in December that it would sell or spin off its directories unit as it focuses on its wireless, high-speed data and corporate customers.

Verizon Class-Action Questions

2006-07-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

I received the following message from the owner of an insurance agency in Cincinnati who is outraged at Verizon's decision to pull out of the market.

He's looking to join forces with other disgruntled advertisers.

So who's to blame when a directory publisher abandons a market?

As the Internet continues drawing the local users away from print, there are likely to be more directories dropped in the future.

Original note:
Dick, I found your blog and was quite interested. I run a small business in Cincinnati and am one of many who were swindled by Verizon. I placed a full page ad in the Insurance category of both the Cincinnati and one of the county directory pages. I am currently in litigation with them. Do you know of any others in the same position, or of any class action attempts from the pull out of markets by Verizon?

If you know of anyone who feels similarly burned, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the folks in Cincinnati.

Woo Hoo! New Yellow Pages office opens in Udupi!

2006-06-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

So I got this press release about a new Yellow Pages office opening in Udupi and I'm thinking "Where the hell is Udupi?"

So I read the article, and I still can't figure it out. Could be that I'm a typical American who couldn't find Canada on a map of North America.

Here's a clue . . .

It's in the Vasuki Towers near the taluk office. (WTF?)

I should probably ask the General Manager, Mr. Thirunavukkarasu. OMG!

Try saying that name three times fast.

Yellow Pages office opened in Udupi
Tuesday June 27 2006 12:34 IST

UDUPI: General Manager of BSNL, DK telecom district, Thirunavukkarasu on Monday inaugurated the Udupi office of VPP Yellow Pages, publishers of official DK telecom directory at Vasuki Towers, near taluk office here.

Thirunavukkarasu said that Yellow Pages were a good source of information.

"In addition to its regular directory, BSNL brings out supplementary pages to update the numbers of its new customers. It also brings the directory in CD version," he said. Chairman and managing director of Abideep Group of Industries Vincent Pinto suggested the BSNL to launch the directory on the web site to enable the tourists.

Hispanic Yellow Pages continuing acquisitions

2006-06-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

The acquisitions continue in the Hispanic Yellow Pages market. Personally, I think this is really smart. The hispanic market is so underserved in the US by traditional media, that the companies who deliver high quality services will reap rewards for many years to come.

Here's the news release . . .

Hispanic Yellow Pages of America Inc., a portfolio company of Hispania Capital Partners L.L.C., Chicago, has acquired the Milwaukee Hispanic Yellow Pages and Resource Guide, a Spanish-language yellow pages directory in Wisconsin.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Hispanic Yellow Pages of America is a company formed by Hispania and several prominent Hispanic publishers for the purpose of building and operating Spanish-language yellow pages directories across U.S. Hispanic markets.

The Milwaukee Hispanic yellow pages directory, established 12 years ago, is being renamed Paginas Amarillas de Wisconsin. The directory will continue to serve Wisconsin's booming Hispanic community now estimated at more than 200,00 people and growing faster than any other local ethnic and racial group.

Former Milwaukee Hispanic Yellow Pages owner Luis "Lou" Rodriguez will remain as publisher.

Hispanic Yellow Pages of America now publishes Hispanic yellow page directories in Illinois, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada reaching more than 500,000 Hispanic households. Hispania Capital Partners is a Chicago private equity firm focusing on later-stage companies serving the Hispanic market.

Verizon Cuts Residential Listings from Mini-Book

2006-06-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

Below is an article that appeared in the Curry Coastal Pilot in Oregon. In the "mini-book", Verizon decided not to include residential listings.

The residential listings are already included in the larger overlay directory, just not in the local directory.

Why, pray tell would they do such a thing?

Money. Residential listings are expensive to publish and there is no revenue associated with them. Since Verizon met the FCC requirements to publish listings by putting them in the overlay book, leaving them out of the mini-book is a no brainer . . . kind of.

Trouble is that consumers USE residential listings, and pulling them out of the directory would normally cause a major problem. The usage will slip, but I suspect that it is a calculated risk on Verizon's part.

The Verizon spokesperson says that they have pulled residential listings out of other markets and are not aware of any complaints.

Huh?

They removed half of the directory and nobody noticed?

Or perhaps they noticed and didn't complain.

Either way, cutting expenses is important when you're spinning off the directory business. Got to boost margins and profits to get highest possible price. The sale of the directory unit is likely to be completed before any advertiser backlash is felt (if there would be any backlash).

Hey, need residential listings? Go to WhitePages.com

CHANGES TO VERIZON YELLOW PAGES IRKS, CONFUSES CUSTOMERS

Published: June 14, 2006

Click this picture to view a larger image.

By Ellen Babin

Pilot staff writer

Verizon customers in Brookings-Harbor are finding some changes in the pairs of bright yellow telephone books being delivered to their homes.

The biggest change: no residential phone listings in the smaller book.

Instead, the 140-page Brookings-Harbor area supplemental phone book contains only numbers and ads for local businesses.

The larger phone book, which covers 16 towns within the entire Southern Oregon Coast, contains the residential listings for Brookings-Harbor. And the listings are in smaller type over five columns, rather than the traditional four columns. It also has 222 pages of advertisements from those 16 towns.

The result was numerous calls to the Curry Coastal Pilot from residents confused or angry about the changes.

The reason for the change, according to Verizon spokesman Karen Testa, based in Dallas, Texas, the content of the business' more than 1,400 directories nationwide occur at multiple levels: from the top brass in Dallas, to "regional and local."

Testa is the area public affairs liaison for Verizon's yellow pages in the western and independent markets.

Testa could not be reached by phone, but in an e-mail to the Curry Coastal Pilot this week Testa said:

"Using a basic model, our local marketing and sales teams provide feedback and recommendations specific to their markets so that the local directories meet marketplace needs.

"The removal of the residential white pages is an initiative that affects numerous markets nationwide. We looked at where we have a large ‘core' directory with neighborhood ‘underlay' products that duplicated listings. In the other markets where we have made this change, we are not aware of any negative feedback.

"We do take advantage of demographic information to develop our products, and we do offer our advertisers options to be in both our large and small books. There is no ‘buy one get one free'; however , we do offer advertisers incentives.''

Testa says her firm does value the feedback they receive from our consumers and advertisers and will take it seriously.

Can two thousand contractors all be wrong?

2006-06-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Small Business Commando News

Can two thousand contractors all be wrong?

June 9, 2006

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in this issue

-- Can two thousand contractors all be wrong?

-- Cool Local Online Marketing Tip

-- Answer to Last Redneck Riddle

-- Old family recipe

-- Papa's got a brand new bag

-- Just chalk and a sidewalk

-- Wow, that's really low!

-- Scientific Research

-- My kind of tax man

-- Feedback Hotline

-- This Week's Redneck Riddle

-- Quote of the Week

Some good photos this week. Don't miss 'em.

Can two thousand contractors all be wrong?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Saturday, under the sweltering Los Angeles sun, an angry mob voiced their disgust with the Yellow Pages industry.

I was at the PHCC (Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors) show running a workshop on effective Yellow Pages advertising.

Now, I should probably tell you that my business is primarily ONLINE marketing, not PRINT Yellow Pages.

However, the convention organizers were not sure how much interest there would be in online marketing, so they asked if I would also run a workshop on print Yellow Pages.

Representing the print Yellow Pages industry at a plumbers' convention is like being a George Bush pinata at a Muslim birthday party.

It was not exactly a love-fest in the city of angels.

Throughout the day, I heard swarms of contractors recanting their distrust of print Yellow Pages publishers and cheering the growth of online advertising as a viable alternative.

I realized that the issue the contractors had was not with the Yellow Pages product itself, but with the business practices of the publishers.

One Big Scary Dude couldn't pass the opportunity to unleash on a real live representative of the evil Yellow Pages industry (me).

Big Scary Dude's shaved head glistened with sweat. Tattoos crept from under his company-issued uniform t-shirt, and his massive Popeye forearms sported an impressive array of scars that I imagine were mementos from his undergraduate studies at the University of Leavenworth.

As Big Scary Dude began his ranting, I was glad I was wearing dark slacks, if you catch my drift.

Despite his menacing appearance, Big Scary Dude became quite outgoing and friendly after he finished his tirade. He simply wanted someone to listen to his unpleasant Yellow Pages experience.

Out of professional courtesy, I won't identify the publisher earning Big Scary Dude's wrath. I'll only say that their name rhymes with A Tree and Tree. (But it really could have been any publisher with similar sales practices.)

Big Scary Dude felt that he had been sold a load of dog doo.

(It took some serious editing to make that last line family-friendly).

He felt bamboozled, railroaded and bum rushed into buying a substantial ad program.

"It's (expletive deleted) ink on paper, not rocket surgery." Big Scary Dude said.

"Why can't I get a (expletive deleted) price list that makes any (expletive deleted) sense?"

"What kind of (expletive deleted) company charges more if you want smaller ads?

How can a billion dollar company not know when a phreaking phone book will come out?"

Within a month of the directory's release, Big Scary Dude realized that the ad was a total bust financially. (In all fairness, this might not have been the publisher's fault.)

BSD took his lumps and vowed that it would be his first and last foray in phone book advertising.

The following year's edition of the directory was delayed, and the publisher billed Big Scary Dude for several additional months. He continued receiving bills, but scarcely any customer calls. He was furious, and was told that he would be sued if he didn't pay because it was on the contract he signed.

After getting that off his chest and onto mine, our conversation turned to Internet advertising.

Big Scary Dude lit up with excitement. He raved about the leads he was getting from CraigsList and ads in several local online directories.

I learned that Big Scary Dude had taught himself basic website design. He optimized his site for an array of plumbing and HVAC related terms. He was running pay-per-click campaigns on Google and Yahoo. He had even tested a pay-per-call campaign.

I was in the presence of a master local online marketer.

I told Big Scary Dude about the launch of our online marketing program, and he made me promise that he would be in the first group of advertisers.

Big Scary Dude's disenchantment with traditional print Yellow Pages was echoed by scores of other contractors. Only a few were seriously marketing on the Internet, but you can be sure that those numbers will grow.

If the print Yellow Pages industry expects to survive the online revolution, it will have to rethink its approach toward local advertisers and develop programs to deliver quality leads at a fair and sustainable price.

That's my opinion.

I'd love to hear your comments. Call my feedback hotline and leave me a message.

1-888-334-8891

Cool Local Online Marketing Tip

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If want your website to generate calls for your business . . .

Put your telephone number (with area code) in large numbers above the fold. It's even better to put a photo of an operator to reinforce that someone will answer the phone.

"Above the fold" is a newspaper term that means being visible without having to scroll down the page.

Make it easy for someone to call you, and you'll get more calls.

Web designers often mistakenly put the phone number on the bottom of the page or on a "contact us" page.

Put it on every page near the top.

For more great tips on getting pre-qualified customers from the Internet, send an email to subscribe@QuitYP.com

Your email will only be used for local online marketing tips and will never be shared or used for any other purpose.

Answer to Last Redneck Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buford rode with Festus and Skeeter to Daytona Beach for biker week.

Festus brought 5 Slim-Jims (spicy sausage snacks) and Skeeter brought 3 Slim-Jims.

A few hours into the drive, the boys got hungry and decided to equally share 8 Slim-Jims.

Buford didn’t bring any food, but agreed to pay $8 for his share in the feast.

How should Festus and Skeeter fairly divide the $8?

The winner receives 15 minutes of uninterrupted fame and an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Didn't win? You can still get the CD here.

See the answer and the Redneck Riddles celebrity winner

Old family recipe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uh, let me guess . . .

bubbles and water?

Papa's got a brand new bag

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know what this bag is advertising, but I dang near wrecked my car trying to figure it out.

Just chalk and a sidewalk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just about the coolest piece of sidewalk art that I've seen.

Wow, that's really low!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps the greatest business slogan of all time.

Scientific Research

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I find it really amusing that the Yellow Pages industry touted syndicated research as a valuable tool, and then left it up to the individual publishers to "spin" the results as necessary in self-serving press releases.

Am I the only one scratching my head over this practice?

My kind of tax man

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my tax dude.

Hope he gets paroled before next April.

Feedback Hotline

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you really think? Call my feedback hotline and leave a message.

1-888-334-8891

This Week's Redneck Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buford went to the bait shop and purchased four night crawlers and three crickets for a grand total of 90¢.

Festus purchased three night crawlers and four crickets and paid 85¢.

The bait was priced by the piece rather than by weight.

How much is one night crawler and one cricket?

Email your answer to bait@redneckriddles.com

Every correct answer will receive a gift account allowing them to send five personalized greeting cards (including envelope and first class postage) compliments of www.SendOutCards.cc

One lucky winner will receive 15 minutes of uninterrupted fame and an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Stumped? You can get the CD here.

To improve your random chances of winning, please include your name, company name, and mailing address.

I draw the winner the day before I send the following newsletter, so keep voting until the polls close.

Quote of the Week

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Albert Einstein Quotes:

"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them."

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."

"God does not play dice."

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

Got a good quote? Send it my way, and I'll give you 15 minutes of uninterrupted fame.

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

email: dick@dicklarkin.com

phone: (760) 579-1005

web: http://ypcommando.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward to a Friend
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Digital Dubai

2006-05-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

This might not seem important, but Dubai is one of the most influential countries in the Middle East, and their move toward a digital directory reaffirms the trends toward online world-wide.

Every month for the last decade, five new full yellow pages directories are added to an already crowded market in the US.

It's still profitable to publish print directories. But dang, there is only so many marketing dollars to go around.

What's a local business to do?

Gulfnews: Yellow Pages to go digital next year: "Yellow Pages to go digital lnext year

By Chinmay Chaudhuri, Staff Reporter

Dubai: The yellow pages, the quintessential directory of companies, is a must-have 5,000 pager for every business. Now that big volume directory has received a technological makeover shrunk into a DVD, making it more informative and easier to use.

In December, Dubai-based Spark Advertising, a subsidiary of Crossworld Middle East, will launch the UAE's first commercial directory in a DVD format.

'We have named it Yellow DVD. We are using technology to give the client the best advantage by offering them full screen displays (on PCs) instead of lineage advertisements. That allows the company to squeeze in as much detail about itself as it wants,' said K K Babu, chief executive of Spark Technologies.

The company plans to distribute 500,000 Yellow DVDs free in the UAE in 2007."

Right lizard, wrong accent

2006-05-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

So I got a very nice email from Peter Kent, author of Search Engine Optimization for Dummies who informed me that the Geico gecko's accent is actually an English one rather than Australian. Probably south England, perhaps London.

I love that he took the time to correspond.

It's that kind of attention to detail that marks the difference between a hobbyist and a true professional.

Geico's Magic Phrase that Wins Customers

2006-05-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yellow Pages & Small Business Commando News

Geico's Magic Phrase that Wins Customers

May 23, 2006

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in this issue

-- Geico's Magic Phrase that Wins Customers

-- Hanging with the Plumbers

-- Answer to Last Redneck Riddle

-- Yellow Pages Humor

-- Try, try again

-- Hardy-har-har

-- Puppy Talk

-- Seemed like a good idea at the time

-- Announcements

-- This Week's Redneck Riddle

-- Quote of the Week

You can listen to this newsletter in fabulous surround sound by going to this link. Time: 5 min. 22 sec.

http://ypcommando.com/articles/52306.html

Like this newsletter? Call my testimonial hotline and leave a message. I'll post it on the website and in a few weeks show you how to do it for your business.

1-888-334-8891

Just say your name, company name and any message.

Geico's Magic Phrase that Wins Customers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geico is one of the most successful insurance firms in the US.

A major part of their success comes from their innovative sales model.

Geico's main salesman is a lizard.

When I say lizard, I don't mean a cold-blooded reptile in a coffee-stained golf shirt pressuring you to buy a variable annuity so he can go on a trip to Cabo.

Geico's lizard is an animated Gecko with an Australian accent. Get it? Geico and Gecko? (insurance humor . . . shoot me now, please.)

See, Geico sells auto insurance using inbound telephone sales instead of relying on field sales agents.

It's not that I have anything against insurance agents. In fact, if it weren't for insurance agents, we wouldn't have . . . uh . . . well . . . hmmm . . . let me get back to you on that.

Since they have no outside sales staff, Geico relies on heavy advertising to generate leads for their telesales folk.

View a Geico Ad Here

If the ads don't get customers to call, the company is in deep doo doo. (That's highfalutin marketing lingo they don't teach you in college.)

Geico's TV commercials are cute, but the magic is delivered in the last 5 seconds.

The TV ads end by showing a phone number with the voice-over saying

"15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance."

This simple phrase is a wonderful marketing lesson. Check out the principles

1. Go for the easy sale. The ad doesn't try to sell you insurance. They sell you on making a telephone call. That's an important distinction, and much more likely to result in success because the hurdle is lower.

Yellow Pages ads don't close sales. By that, I mean that no one reading your ad is going to mail in money in anticipation that you'll come out and fix their roof, write their will or adjust the kinks out of their neck.

The optimal goal of your Yellow Pages ads should be to get someone reading the ad to identify themselves and their interest in whatever is being sold to you. To achieve this outcome, give the prospect a reason with a well defined payoff.

Depending on your business, this should usually come in the form of educating the customer to make an informed decision.

When composing an ad for your business, focus on the easy sale.

The easy sale could be a recorded message, a free report, a second opinion, a video inspection or a complimentary diagnosis with a written analysis of the possible solutions.

2. Limit the risk. By stating that it's a 15-minute call, Geico sets the expectation that the caller has limited downside. A side benefit is that the customer will likely set aside enough time to complete the call. "15 minutes" is a qualifier that puts the caller into the right mindset before picking up the phone.

In your business, how can you limit the customer's risk of speaking with you? Free quotes and consultations are so common that they generally don't have any competitive advantage.

If tire-kickers are a concern, tie a small commitment to the easy sale. Notice that Geico doesn't dwell on the fact that it's a free call. They get the consumer mentally committing 15 minutes.

3. Clearly defined payoff. By saying that you could save 15%, Geico gives the viewer a quantifiable benefit. Notice that they don't say "cheapest rates in town" or worse, "call for a quote"

4. Defined audience. Geico sells more than car insurance, but rather than throwing their entire product line at you, they focus the ad on car insurance. Granted, car owners are a very broad audience, but it immediately excludes everyone who might not be in the market for car insurance.

Most Yellow Pages ads include lists of services and features hoping that if you through enough against the wall, some of it is bound to stick. In practice, it's far more effective to have a single focused message

When designing your Yellow Pages ad, you don't need animated lizards bantering about insurance. You just need to give the customer enough reason to call you.

Michael Hepworth gave some fabulous tips in our teleseminar. For a complimentary downloadable mp3 recording of the call, go to the link below. Just leave the credit card fields blank, there's no catch.

Complimentary MP3 of the Street Smart Teleseminar (leave the credit card info blank)

Hanging with the Plumbers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin Shaw, of Kevin Shaw Plumbing booked me to speak at the upcoming Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors show in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 3.

I'll be presenting tactics for dramatically improving Yellow Pages effectiveness as well as a series on marketing your local business online.

Last year, I helped over 200,000 small businesses market themselves on Yahoo, Google and the top Internet Yellow Pages. If you want leads from the Internet, you won't want to miss it.

Answer to Last Redneck Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buford is waiting in the longest line ever to use the port-a-potty at the wrasslin' match.

He is the 11th from either end of the line.

How many people are standing in line?

The winner receives an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Didn't win? You can still get the CD here.

See the answer and the Redneck Riddles celebrity winner

Yellow Pages Humor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say that.

Special thanks to Chuck Masterson for this ballsy ad.

Check out Chuck's site "Yellow Pages into Gold"

Try, try again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before he designed his world-famous "Falling Water" house, Frank Lloyd Wright had a few lesser known masterpieces.

Hardy-har-har

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dang you Spike, give me my teef back.

Puppy Talk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, have you heard the one about the two kittens who walked into a bar?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So many people have asked about the greeting card system that our clients are using to build their word-of-mouth marketing business.

It makes sending hand-written greeting cards as easy as sending an email.

I'll walk you through the system and show you how to systematically build your referral business with greeting cards to your existing customers.

It only costs $1.01 which includes a beautiful card, hand addressed envelope and first class postage.

You gotta email me if you want to try this system.

cards@ypcommando.com

Check out SendOutCards.cc

Seemed like a good idea at the time

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until someone didn't realize it was a garage.

Announcements

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spot Runner is a new Internet-based advertising agency that makes it easy and affordable for local businesses to advertise on TV.

They offer a full-service package, including commercial production, media planning and ad time.

Spot Runner has developed a revolutionary online platform that makes it fast, easy and affordable for local business to advertise on major TV networks, such as CNN, HGTV and ESPN.

Ad production is only $499 and airtime costs as little as $10 per ad in many places. Check 'em out.

This Week's Redneck Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email your answer to slimjim@redneckriddles.com

To improve your random chances of winning, please include your name, company name, and mailing address.

I draw the winner the day before I send the following newsletter, so keep voting until the polls close.

Quote of the Week

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I went to the thirtieth reunion of my preschool. I didn't want to go, because I've put on like a hundred pounds." --Wendy Liebman

Got a good quote? Send it my way, and I'll give you 15 minutes of uninterrupted fame.

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

email: news@ypcommando.com

phone: (760) 579-1005

web: http://ypcommando.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yellow Pages Commercial featuring Locksmiths

2006-05-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Australian Yellow Pages Ad

2006-05-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

This is pretty clever.

Old NYNEX Yellow Pages Commercial

2006-05-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

This just show you why the Yellow Pages industry should stick to classified advertising :-)

Free Teleseimnar - Featuring StreetSmart Marketer Michael Hepworth

2006-04-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

The secret to great marketing is clarity. BUT if that's ALL you have, you'll FAIL MISERABLY

David Ogilvy, the greatest advertising man of the last century said it best,

"You can't BORE someone into buying your products."

It's much easier said than done.

If you find yourself asking why it's so hard to convert browsers into buyers, then you must dial in to this free no "B.S." teleseminar to uncover your hidden marketing magic bullet.

I've spent the last 7 years studying why one ad in a Yellow Pages directory can receive hundreds more calls than its competitors' larger, more expensive ads in the same directory.

In my quest for knowledge, I've interviewed thousands of advertising and marketing professionals.

And if you want the truth, most advertising sales people are just barely good enough to keep from getting fired.

Then I met Michael Hepworth, and I instantly knew that he was light years beyond most marketers.

For the last several years, Michael has been giving me guidance that has helped me become one of the top earning Internet marketing professionals in the country.

After months of persistence, I've finally convinced Michael to share his unique marketing strategies of two of his clients.

These are two average companies that have rocketed to success by following Michael's advice.

Normally, Michael Hepworth's speaking fees run into the thousands of dollars. His last mentoring program sold out in a number of hours.

This free teleseminar is a one-shot opportunity for you to hear from the master himself.

I know you're busy, so we're going to cram a full day seminar into only 50 minutes.

Thursday, April 27 at

* 5:00 PM - Eastern
* 4:00 PM - Central
* 3:00 PM - Mountain
* 2:00 PM - Pacific

This is going to be a "must listen call" as I grill Michael about this bulletproof strategy, reserved until now for his consulting clients.

He will illustrate his results-oriented approach with two real life examples as part of this call and will show you how to do the same for your business.

You don't even have to leave your office and you can have as many people as you want listening in.

The teleseminar is free, but you do have to register, as I need to make sure we have enough lines.

Register now, you will be glad you did.

If you prefer registering by phone, call Melissa at (416) 204 0352 to reserve your space.

Sincerely,
Dick Larkin

Score one for the little guys! Massachusetts Attorney General: Full Article

2006-04-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's about time! The Massachusetts Attorney General finally shut down Yellow Pages Inc., a "reputed" scam operation that tricked thousands of small businesses into paying for bogus Yellow Pages advertising.

Massachusetts Attorney General: Full Article: "AG REILLY REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH YELLOW PAGES, INC., RESOLVING ALLEGATIONS OF CONSUMER DECEPTION
Company Used Promotional Checks to Lure Consumers into Purchasing Ads
April 25, 2006
CONTACT: SARAH NATHAN
(617) 727-2543

BOSTON - A Nevada-based corporation with principal offices in Anaheim, California accused of luring Massachusetts consumers and small business owners into unknowingly purchasing on-line directory listings through the use of promotional checks must put an end to the deceptive practice, Attorney General Tom Reilly announced today.

Under the terms of a multi-state agreement reached with Massachusetts and 27 other states, Nevada-based Yellow Pages, Inc., California-based Electronic Directories Company, LLC, and John Wurth, president of these companies, are prohibited from using promotional checks to bait consumers and small business owners into buying listings in their directories. The checks, according to AG Reilly's settlement, filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, did not clearly explain that, by cashing them, consumers were committing to pay for an annual listings in Yellow Pages publications. Those consumers who cashed these checks were later hit with a bill averaging $179.

'Consumers and small business owners must be wary of live check promotions,' AG Reilly said. 'Promotional checks are almost always used to lure consumers into making a much bigger purchase. In this case, by cashing a check for very little money - $2 or $3 - consumers were unknowingly purchasing advertising with this company.'

According to AG Reilly's settlement, Yellow Pages used checks, described as 'instant cash back offers,' to lure consumers and small business owners into contracting for annual advertising listings in an online directory and printed publication. The face of the checks gave no indication that if cashed, it would commit the consumer to paying for an online directory listing. The information on the"

When Bigger Isn't Better

2006-04-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Dick,

I have little sympathy for an advertiser with an ad that works and who is making money off the ad. I am a lawyer who had a horrible experience with the yellow pages. I had a small add which paid for itself and then some. Based upon that, I decided to go with a bigger ad expecting that the improved position and the bigger ad would mean more calls. I received far fewer calls than I received with the smaller ad. For what I spent on the big ad, I made less than half in fees from the ad on what I spent for the ad.

It was a risk and an expensive education. I took the risk, I live with the consequences. It does not mean that I will do it again.

The ads need to work for the kind of money that is charged for them. Someone making money off an ad has no right to complain. Had I made money off the ad, I can guarantee you that I would have renewed it however expensive it was.

The rep should have pushed me initially for a more effective ad, cut me some breaks on the first ad so that color, pictures, design was better so that I was hooked and reliant upon an ad that was making money. For the money being charged, the ad needs to work. Once the ad failed, they lost my business (despite a valiant effort by the rep). He knew up front that if the ad worked, he would have a loyal customer.

For a small business person, the amount being charged is significant. Also the yellow pages is unforgiving because if you have an ineffective ad, you are stuck with the monthly bill for a year (or in my case 13 months because the next book was delayed). It is way too expensive for me to take that risk again. Both the yellow pages and the reps need to remember that.

Kevin (last name withheld)

How Craigslist Beats the Yellow Pages for Home Improvements: Technology Evangelist

2006-04-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

How Craigslist Beats the Yellow Pages for Home Improvements: Technology Evangelist

Here's an interesting example of how the free CraigsList brings together buyers and sellers in a way that does not add profits to any Yellow Pages publisher.

An extreme example?

Well, it's a matter of time vs. money.

Should a contractor / handyman spend time monitoring craigslist for postings? Perhaps not. However, there is no doubt that consumers are looking for information on the web today more than ever.

Why Do Advertisers Hate the Yellow Pages?

2006-04-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Dick:

Love the newsletter, always something worth reading in it.

Great title on this edition of the YP&SBCN. I often wonder the same thing myself.

The thing I wonder about your HVAC contractor though, is why he hasn't forced the publisher to some sort of accommodation. $127k/yr ain't chump change, especially in the current YP advertising environment. He's got some leverage - can't he demand that the tab be located in some unrelated heading?

The second thing I wonder is, how much time/effort/$$ has he spent evaluating the return on his YP ad, or is he just ticked off at Verizon (it is VIS right? if so tell him to go ahead and cancel hehe) for diminishing the equity of his seniority position with the leader ads and tab (and I happen to agree with him about leader ads - it's a stupid thing for publishers to do). I suspect he would be advertising in the independents regardless of his frustration with the utility publisher, because the bottom line is YP delivers customers, whether it's the incumbent's book or a quality independent.

I get a lot of the same sentiment btw - to a lot of advertisers, Yellow Pages isn't "marketing," it's a necessity. YP spending is a "cost of doing business," not an advertising function. In other words, a lot of advertisers recognize the power of the medium to attract customers, but aren't thrilled about being in the auxilliary position at the bargaining table. In my opinion, this is mostly due to publishers doing a poor job of marketing the medium. It is not at all unreasonable for advertisers to demand that we be able to show them what they're getting for their money.

There are very few "true believers." The last one I had the pleasure of working with was Michelin, which had a great co-op program for their dealers. Still had to convince the dealers (all independents, no company stores for Michelin) that paying to run a mostly Michelin, BFG, or Uniroyal ad - without reference to Cooper, General, Goodyear, or Firestone - was their best choice, even if they did only have to pay for half of it. Sears was the best example of which I am personally aware, crazy big increases year over year, and their advertising department (one contact, yea!) handled the whole program, but I didn't work on that account. Dunno if that's still the case, this was eight years ago when I was still with TMP. Most often, we'd get "We have X dollars for YP, do what you can," rather than "Here are our sales goals for this year. What can you do to help us get there?"

Regards,
Mark Keating
Communications Analyst
Alltel Publishing
mark.keating@alltel.com
330 650-7707
330 650-7321 (fax)

Bad Yellow Pages, Bad!

2006-04-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

I honestly met with my yellow page "Representative" last week.

My experience was horrible. I felt like he was bullying me the whole time he was here (ONE AND HALF HOURS!!!) and that I was being taken to the cleaners.

My company has been in business for 30 years and we have been steadily "advertising" in the yellow pages for last 15.

You think we might catch a little break for being faithful? Of course not, we are in the HVAC business in the California Central Valley, over the last 5 years this business has exploded with lots of Single Man operations coming into the field.

Anyway, many of these single men are taking the BIG ads and paying way too much money,

I spent a little over a $1,000.00 a month last year. This year my "Representative" tells me the price for my same ad this year will be $1,300.00 a month and next year I can barely even say it up to $1,800.00! When does this price gouging stop!

My ad keeps getting pushed further and further down the page because of these no namers.

Why do I have to pay more every year when my ad is not half a powerful as it was say 6 years ago? My company is fortunate enough to have been in the business for 30 years so many consumers already know our name or have heard of us which gives us an edge over the no namers.

Frustrated in California

Competition makes strange bedfellows

2006-04-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

Dick

To your comments about advertiser irritation with YP, I offer 2 observations.

a) some of it is deserved from how advertisers have been treated

b) The structure of YP guarantees that they will always hate YP regardless of the value they receive or how well they are treated.

YP, by its very structure, pits them against their competitors. In the short term, they are in a zero-sum game with their competitors - their competitors gain customers at their expense, or vice versa, they gain customers at their competitors expense.

This is what creates value for the users - they find comparative information about all of the businesses in one place, but it guarantees that the advertiser will always have gripes about the medium.

Other media strive to insure that 2 competitors ads rarely appear next to each other; Yellow Pages guarantees that they will.

YP are a "necessary evil" because YP truly works for the advertisers - it delivers great economic value, but they don't have to like the situation it puts them in relative to their competitors.

Just a perspective.

Dennis Fromholzer
CRM Associates

CallOurLawyers and Bell South

2006-04-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

I paid BellSouth a lot of money to do Internet advertising for me. I finally came to the conclusion that BellSouth was more interested in the money than they were about making me happy. I terminated the contract and told BellSouth to sue me so I could cross complain against them. I'm still waiting for the lawsuit.

I was receiving no business while BellSouth managed my online advertising. I took over my advertising and receive a flood of calls from potential buyers. I asked BellSouth to prove that I was not a victim of click fraud. No documents were ever provided. Other than past due notices, BellSouth has not provided me with documents that prove how much they were spending on the advertising or even what the key words they were using were.

Bottom line: I terminated online and yellowbook advertising with BellSouth!

Burton Fletcher
CallOurLawyers.com

Note from a Cutter

2006-04-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dick,

I am a independent yellow pages consultant AKA "cutter".

I created this concept in 1979 after a short time (5 years) with GTE now Verizon. Yellow pages publishers do what ever they can to squeeze their competition with more books, ridicules discount programs, and expansion of distribution into areas that will do nothing to advance the advertisers call opportunities. What the publishers do to each either effects the customers which teeters on the edge of criminal. In many cases they bully and use un-fair inference to keep advertisers ads in line. Polling the thousands of business owners that we have helped save money, nearly all of them consider yellow pages a "necessary evil".

I hear that time phrase time and again. I think your blog is a great idea.

I canÂt wait for the flurry of stories

Currently I am contact with several Washington state lawmakers. Accordingly the insurance, real-estate, beauticians, plumbing contractors, etc. along with many other businesses who, are required by law, to have a fiduciary responsibility to their customers.

The yellow pages industry collects billions of dollars from the business community yet the only policing or inspection they have is the better business bureau or some toothless consumer protection office in the attorney generals office.

A licensing procedure such as a independent training school, testing, and license fees would improve the quality of the industry, or at least get rid of the rascals who cause the problems that your article has pointed out.

The reason why people hate the yellow pages is how they are marketed, very similar to used cars, old time magazine sale, or siding sales.

Matt P Tonning III
www.westpage.com

Tales from a former YP rep

2006-04-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Dick,

Customers want to put the yellow page guys out of business, because we’re seen as the used car salesmen/women of the advertising business. Every yellow page salesperson comes in promising a better rate than the “other” guys and give away a lot of product to get people in the directory. Then when the calls don’t come in because no one goes to the yellow pages to find a candle shop, the customer is frustrated because they didn’t receive the 100 calls a month that would produce an average sale of $20, and their sales figures don’t reflect the $24,000 dollars in sales that you promised them this ad would produce.

And then the manager of the used car/yellow page company is screaming at his employees that they still need to sell $100,000 to make goal and that everyone needs to sell only $15,000 a week to reach this unrealistic goal. If you don’t reach the goal, then you don’t get any existing customers….you’re going to have to pay for your own gas….you’re not going to make any money…you’ll be written up. Just sell the candle shop the double truck and move on down the road to the car wash. It will work for them. Force the customer to buy more than they need...

Give me a break. So I got a real sales job…insurance. Is your family protected in case something happens to you tomorrow? Could your wife pay the bills, bury you and put food on the table. You need to purchase a million dollars worth of life insurance to leave your family covered in case of an emergency…

Sylvia McDaniel

Incorrect phone number in the yellow pages

2006-04-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my phone started ringing, with people asking for quotes on redi-mix concrete. (We are not in the redi-mix business)

I would politely direct them to the local company. Finally I received a call from a man who got very angry with me when I attempted to redirect him. He said why the @#% do you have a listing under redi-mix in the yellow pages. I said I don’t. He said the @#% you do. I finally got him to tell me where. I found the book and there it was. And my fax #.

Now I am getting unsolicited faxes as well (spam faxes). I called the yellow pages publisher. After being on hold and shuffled around, I was asked, well what category do you want to be in.

When I replied none, the person got rude. (I never paid for any yellow page advertising) I asked where they got the idea that I wanted a listing under redi-mix?

They couldn’t exactly say, but they thought it must have came from the local phone co. I asked to be removed from future printings. They couldn’t promise that it would be cleared up. It just brought back memories of past dealings with the yellow page people, none of which are fond.

Best regards,

KL Teed

Teed Sales LLC

www.teedsales.com

If You Don't Have Your Health...You Don't Have Anything...So Ask Me How I Got My Health Back!

Is the print too small to read?

2006-04-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Type size if new phone book has shrunk

'I guess they've saved a few trees'

Here's a little article about a print yellow pages publisher reducing the font size to save paper.

What's your opinion. Is the print in the phone book too small, about right, or something else?

Are Remote Call Forwarded Lines Misleading? - Hell Yes!

2006-04-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

It is a common Yellow Pages industry practice to allow, and usually encourage advertisers to include local phone numbers in areas where they do not have an office.

In fact, it works so well, that publishers help set up the lines for advertisers.

Do these numbers mislead the public. You bet they do. Heck, that's why they work so well. Even if they are not misleading, consumers prefer dialing a local number (consumers used to have to pay long distance rates for out of area numbers).

Now, an attorney is suing Dex Media (the publisher formerly know as US West and later Qwest) over a rival using call-forward numbers.

If the claim is deemed valid, tens of thousands of advertisers will be put at risk.

My problem is that according to this story, Dex representatives are claiming no knowledge of this practice being misleading.

Just how freaking stupid do the Dex attorneys think the judge and jury are to believe Dex's representative who said that no facts have been established to prove Dex had any knowledge that is somehow deceiving people.

If Dex really has no knowledge about these local numbers misleading the public, I have only one thought.

They are either lying or they are incompetent. I'm not sure which is worse.

Below is the story.

Letting their fingers do some of the walking, attorneys for a personal injury law firm argued this week before the Utah Supreme Court that the state's largest publisher of Yellow Pages helped a competitor of the firm mislead customers.

Personal injury attorney Robert J. DeBry's firm says the QwestDex Yellow Pages' publisher, Dex Media, should not allow DeBry's rival, Siegfried & Jensen, to print ads listing an Ogden number.

An ad printed on the back of the phone book a few years ago listed an Ogden area phone number for Siegfried & Jensen, even though the firm has no office in Ogden.

DeBry claimed the rival firm's ads unfairly took Ogden customers away from his firm and contributed to his decision to close his Ogden offices in fall 2002 and in Orem in June 2003.

Dex Media offers so-called "market expansion lines" that allow businesses to place ads with local-prefix numbers in the Yellow Pages of distant cities without having offices there, argued DeBry attorney Lynn Heward.

Chief Justice Christine M. Durham asked Heward about what the justices should assume about consumers in the case.

"Don't we have to presume some level of reasonable sophistication on the part of consumers?" she asked.
Heward pointed to a survey paid for by the firm that indicated 67 percent of Ogdenites who see a local phone number in the Yellow Pages believe Siegfried & Jensen has a local office. But an attorney representing Dex Media told the justices DeBry's beef is with Siegfried & Jensen, not the phone-book publisher. She also said no facts have been established to prove Dex had any knowledge that is somehow deceiving people.

The court took the case under advisement and will rule later.

Yahoo Makes Unsolicited $21.2 Billion Offer for AT&T Yellow Pages

2006-04-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yellow Pages & Small Business Commando News

Yahoo Makes Unsolicited $21.2 Billion Offer for AT&T Yellow Pages

April 1, 2006

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in this issue

-- Yahoo Makes Unsolicited $21.2 Billion Offer for AT&T Yellow Pages

-- The Definitive Guide to Yellow Pages Advertising

-- Answer to Last Redneck Riddle

-- I can't get the image out of my head

-- New best seller

-- It ain't the Ritz

-- Hey Kim . . .

-- Shopping in San Francisco

-- We've come a long way, baby.

-- Flawed business model

-- This Week's Redneck Riddle

-- Quote of the Week

Greetings!

This news shocked me so much that I had to send this special report.

Yahoo Makes Unsolicited $21.2 Billion Offer for AT&T Yellow Pages

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four days after Google announced a reseller relationship with Verizon SuperPages.com, Yahoo CEO Terry Semel announced this morning that Yahoo had made an unsolicited $21.2 billion bid to acquire all of AT&T’s Yellow Pages and YellowPages.com business.

This marks the largest acquisition of a traditional media company by an online company since AOL’s troubled acquisition of Time Warner in 2000.

Semel was quick to mention that AT&T had not yet accepted the offer, although the Yahoo board was “very confident” that the deal would go through.

Reading a prepared statement, Semel said that Yahoo’s acquisition of AT&T’s advertising products and sales force was a natural extension of the companies’ joint marketing efforts in both local online advertising and in DSL broadband marketing.US.

Semel did not provide details on Yahoo’s plan for AT&T’s print Yellow Pages business, but answering a reporter’s question gave some insight. Semel said that there was quite a bit of life left in the print directory business, and Yahoo fully expected to continue publishing most directories at least through the end of the year.

Regarding advertising methods, a Yahoo representative said that they intended to replace all Yellow Pages display advertising with two-inch square text ads. “That should dramatically reduce the page count of these directories.”

Could a Google / Verizon merger be far off?

Read the official press release . . .

The Definitive Guide to Yellow Pages Advertising

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly one thousand people helped me create the definitive guide to Yellow Pages advertising.

There's never been a side-by-side comparison of 38 full page Yellow Pages ads with a complete analysis of why one ad will generate thousands of times more calls than another ad.

The book also includes bonus material showing a beautiful example of an ad created using research based on 77,000 metered telephone lines. This knowledge is priceless for someone relying on the Yellow Pages to drive customers to his business.

Download an electronic copy of "Ringing Up Profits" BEFORE you advertise in the Yellow Pages

Answer to Last Redneck Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A group of 100 rednecks got into a massive brawl after the Daytona 500 and suffered the following injuries: 70 rednecks lost an eye, 75 lost an ear, 85 lost a finger, and 80 lost a toe.

What is the minimum number of rednecks that must have lost all four body parts?

The winner receives an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Didn't win? You can still get the CD here.

See the answer and the Redneck Riddles celebrity winner

I can't get the image out of my head

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps we should define "dressed up."

New best seller

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is that referring to the teacher or the students?

It ain't the Ritz

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's one from the bad names file.

Hey Kim . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the crowd chants his name, it's a little demoralizing.

Shopping in San Francisco

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take my advice

Avoid the ladies department in this store.

We've come a long way, baby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember your first mobile phone?

I still have mine.

Flawed business model

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Could somebody 'splain this to me?

This Week's Redneck Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buford's been rewiring the lights in his trailer home.

There are two rooms separated by a long hallway, with closed doors in each room.

In one room there are three light switches, in the other room there are three light bulbs.

How can Buford determine which light switch correlates to which light bulb if he can only walk down the hallway once.

No, he can't see from one room to the other and this is not a play on words.

Email your answer to trailer@redneckriddles.com

The winner receives an autographed copy of my latest CD "Commando Secrets LIVE - How to Market Your Local Business Online."

Stumped? You can get the CD here.

To improve your random chances of winning, please include your name, company name, and mailing address.

I draw the winner the day before I send the following newsletter, so keep voting until the polls close.

More Redneck Riddles

Quote of the Week

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm always amazed to hear of air crash victims so badly mutilated that they have to be identified by their dental records. What I can't understand is, if they don't know who you are, how do they know who your dentist is?
--Paul Merton

Got a good quote? Send it my way, and I'll give you the credit.

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

email: news@ypcommando.com

phone: (760) 579-1005

web: http://ypcommando.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward to a Friend
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Chicago Mayor accepts Yellow Pages Directory

2006-03-30T20:54:00.000-08:00

Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley and his staff accept copies of the new AT&T Chicago Yellow Pages directory. AT&T distributed 1.2 million copies of the 2006 directory.

Hizzoner was overhear saying, "Well there are at least three Yellow Pages directories that won't be thrown in the Chicago River this year."

Law.com - Book Shows How to Use Yellow Pages for Firm Advertising

2006-03-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

Law.com - Book Shows How to Use Yellow Pages for Firm Advertising

Here is a review of the late Kerry Randall's second edition on Yellow pages advertising for Lawyers.

The American Bar Association invited me to write the review for the back cover of this book, so I take particular pride in seeing it released.

Kerry Randall, a friend and colleague, passed away from a heart ailment shortly before the book was published.

I like this review because it hones in on the final chapter, which discusses whether or not a lawyer should advertise in the yellow pages.

IF the lawyer decides to advertise in the YP, this book does an excellent job of walking through the process of creating ads that will generate highly qualified leads for the lawyer.

Job Opportunity: VP, Business Development at Voicestar, Inc.

2006-03-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

LinkedIn: VP, Business Development at Voicestar, Inc.

Here's an exciting business development position at VoiceStar, a company that has some exciting new technologies in the call measurement, Pay-per-call, and performance based advertising.

If anyone wants to talk turkey about this company, give me a buzz at 760-579-1005.

Dick Larkin

MediaPost Publications - Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages - 03/21/2006

2006-03-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting snippet from Kelsey Group study in advance of their upcoming conference in San Jose.

There is plenty of life in the print directories, but as more information on local businesses is made immediately available online, the major shift will continue.

I understand that retention of Yellow Pages directories (meaning how many households don't pitch the books out) has dropped substantially in the last few years.

Also, an average of five new directories are launched every single month, which further dissects the market for local ad dollars.

As the recent reports from syndicated YP use come out, it is abundantly clear that usage of directories is split between incumbent telco directories and independent directories.

That spells trouble for the paper directories down the road. Declining usage, declining retention, increasing competitors, and the "Internet Menace."

Oh, My!

MediaPost Publications - Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages - 03/21/2006: "Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages
by Shankar Gupta, Tuesday, Mar 21, 2006 6:00 AM EST
WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING local listings, Baby Boomers and older Gen-Xers still prefer print Yellow Pages to other media, according to data that the Kelsey Group is expected to release next week.

Overall, more than six in 10 consumers--61 percent--of 1,000 adults and 500 teens surveyed last month said they turn to the phone book first when looking for local listings. Just 12.5 percent of that overall group went to search engines first, while 11.8 percent said they turned to directory assistance, and 7 percent reported using online Yellow Pages. But the survey revealed a major divide between younger and older consumers--with just 44 percent of respondents between the ages 18 and 34 favoring print Yellow Pages, compared to 72 percent of respondents between 45 and 54, and 85 percent between 55 and 64. At the same time, only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print Yellow Pages first, while 47 percent said their first choice would be search engines.

'There's a very clear age factor,' said Kelsey Group analyst Neal Polachek. He added that younger Web users' propensity toward online sources heralds a sea change in the way businesses will be prioritizing their local ad spends in the next several years.

Polachek said that as consumers who are most accustomed to using the Web begin to enter their 30s, when they have more disposable income and are making bigger purchases, so too will businesses in their local advertising. 'All of a sudden, you're looking for schools, you own a house, you're looking for mortgages--big purchase decisions. Those people will never have had the built-in habit of picking up the print Yellow Pages.'"

Fingers do the walking Chicago Sun Times

2006-03-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun Times did his annual analysis of the AT&T Yellow Pages which began distribution this week.

Fingers do the walking

So you're digging a pool in the backyard and, darn it, you uncover the ruins of an ancient Mayan temple. What to do? You might phone up Archaeological Research Inc. at 4147 Ravenswood, and ask them to send somebody over with a whisk broom.

You don't have much of a choice -- it's the only company listed under "Archaeologists" in the 2006 AT&T Yellow Pages. The new edition isn't officially out for another couple weeks, but in honor of my Fifth Biennial Review of the Yellow Pages -- time flies, doesn't it? -- they sent me an advance copy.

I suppose the phone book itself is something of an artifact, if not a relic -- you can look up any phone number you need online. But you have to know what you're looking for to find a number online; there isn't the joy of discovery, of wandering through the book's tissuey corn-colored pages.

For instance. Who knew birds were such a problem? But they must be -- nine companies listed under "Bird Barriers, Repellents and Controls," including ABC Advanced Bird Control and Bird-X.

There are also, coincidentally, nine dairies, but only three philosophers.

Oddities abound, like Irene's Unisex at 4425 S. Archer Ave., which is listed under "Bullet-Resistant Equip." Maybe they use a lot of hairspray.

Cantor Fitzgerald is listed 66 times under "Clergy" with 66 different phone numbers. I phoned the first dozen, hoping to find out if it was the investment firm or a rare rabbinic singer with an Irish last name -- but all were disconnected.

The Yellow Pages continue shrinking -- 1,661 pages this year, not counting all the pages of coupons and maps and assorted froufrou. That's down from 1,750 in 2004 and 1,870 in 2002.

But don't blame lawyers -- they're holding their own: 145 pages of lawyers, down from 167 pages four years ago (for some reason, I ignored lawyers two years ago and didn't count them).

Ignoring them must have taken some doing because a good many of the law ads are the graphic version of standing on a chair and shouting. "NO FEE UNTIL WE WIN" Lane & Lane announces confidently. "We Have Collected Millions of $$$'s For Our Clients" says Charles J. Gale.

Lawyers tend to run lists of the types of woes they represent -- "Dog Bites," "Hit & Run" and the like, and some display a certain cunning. "SKI ACCIDENTS," Cirignani Heller & Harman shouts. "Collisions. Lift Injuries. Equipment Failure. Improper Slope Design."

Improper slope design?

The Yellow Pages can never figure out where to stash its prostitutes: nine pages' worth are under "ESCORTS," but some are hanging around street lamps under "MASSAGE" and "ENTERTAINMENT." They go for vague ads -- the service is, after all, illegal, but with names such as "Dorm Girls" and "Satin Seductions," it isn't difficult to figure out what's going on. Allure Female Escorts shows which credit cards it accepts and promises "Discreet Billing," but I can't imagine that working very well in the average household: "What, honey? This $800 charge for 'services'? That was, umm, the chiropractor."

Most businesses limit themselves to a single ad, but for some reason, the Jade Dragon Tattoo parlor on Belmont Avenue has seven full pages of ads -- more than any other establishment. The tattoo business must be booming.

There's a strange bit of graphic business on the front of the new edition that I want to draw attention to, for cultural historians. On the lower right side, there is a faux computer desktop offering "MAPS" "LINKS" "NEWS" and a little tilted arrow, as if you could click on something. The area is plugging yellowpages.com, which I imagine will someday do away with the need for distributing bulky directories.

But not yet. The phone book people claimed that they have been busily updating the book, but I was pleased to see it retain some of its charming anachronisms. Music stores are not listed under "COMPACT DISCS" -- they're listed under "RECORDS." The Berghoff is still at 17 W. Adams in the new book, and I was pleased to find an even more mysterious phantom: a ghost F.W. Woolworth's listed under "VARIETY STORES" at 1134 W. Bryn Mawr. The number rings and rings.

As Local Paid Search Grows, Local Media to Battle Big Search Engines

2006-03-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

As Local Paid Search Grows, Local Media to Battle Big Search Engines

This is a nice recap of the Borrell report on Local Search and what 400 experts predict will occur.

It's interesting to note that real estate and mortgage companies currently dominate local search spending. I might point out that those two categories are not particularly large printed YP advertisers. They tend to advertise in media that has much more flexibility.

A while back, I ran through the economics of a real estate professional advertising in the printed YP.
http://ypcommando.com/articles/laleh1.html

The "verticalization" of Search

2006-03-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

TheStar.com - Sometimes, a man comes in handy

This article from the Toronto Star discusses several new services that provide pre-screened handyman services.

A company that focuses on a single vertical market can provide much more depth and resource information than a traditional Yellow Pages.

Because they offer better information, the consumers use them heavily.

Because the information is unique and valuable, the search engines rank the sites highly, thus driving more qualified search traffic.

More usage from highly qualified consumers makes these sites highly desirable for advertisers. Dollars shift from the print YP into the vertical directory.

The YP industry must improve the quality and depth of information if it is to succeed in the online world. It is no longer acceptable to be a mile wide and an inch deep.

From personal experience with my wife's vacation rental business, the vertical directories focusing on our target market have been incredible investments.

Our dollars in YP and IYP generated very little in the way of response and nothing that converted into a closed sale.

SES New York 2006 Coverage Recap

2006-03-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

SES New York 2006 Coverage Recap

Here is a comprehensive recap of Search Engine Strategies conference that just concluded in NYC.

If you've never been to an SES, it's like drinking from a Firehose of Geek Speak. They pour forth an enormous amount of great information. It's almost worth staying sober. Nah.

Look, search will eventually replace the printed YP as they exist today. Learning how to market your business on the search engines may be the smartest marketing move you ever make.

Better Business Bureau Trademark Violations

2006-03-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

BBB Trademark Violations

The Better business Bureau maintains a page showing violations of its trademark.

Often business advertisers will fraudulently include a BBB logo in their Yellow Pages ad layout. Publishers are fairly diligent about verifying this information, but sometimes the BBB revokes membership after the directory has published.

The contest I ran last year to create the best Yellow Pages ad was won by virtue of a designer who included the logo (with my permission) even though it was not part of the original specifications.

Several voters commented that the BBB logo inspired trust in the advertiser.

Moral of the story. If you are relying on the BBB logo in choosing a vendor, check their BBB status before sealing the deal.

The Local Onliner » Local Onliner View: AT&T/BellSouth RollUp

2006-03-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

The Local Onliner » Local Onliner View: AT&T/BellSouth RollUp

Peter Krasilovsky weighs in with his usual insights into the impac of the AT&T / Bell South roll up.

Is this the end of the YPA? What's Yahoo! to do?

Need a Lawyer?

2006-03-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

Need a lawyer
Here's a cute Yellow Pages commercial.

Non-Yellow Pages Marketing

2006-03-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

I read this book about a million years ago, and was amazed at Joe Girard's success in sales. Recently, I came across a way to automate Joe's "secret" of contacting everyone he knows at least 13 times each year.

www.SendCards.us

AT&T Is Said to Be Near Deal for BellSouth - New York Times

2006-03-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

AT&T Is Said to Be Near Deal for BellSouth - New York Times

AT&T (the RBOC former known as SBC)is set to purchase BellSouth.

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is a question I poised from the floor of the Kelsey conference when the YellowPages.com purchase was announced. Elmer Smith of BellSouth and Denny Payne of SBC congratulated each other on their business acumen.

To the panel on local advertising, I asked this question.

"$100 million for YellowPages.com. Too much, too little or just about right?"

Most panelists danced around the issue, but Suhkinder Singh Cassidy, who was managing Google's local initiative said that she thought that it was the prelude to the two companies merging.

You Go Girl!

Now, the second thing that comes to mind.

How will this impact the local advertisers?

Gee, assuming that this purchase was not made for the directory business's long-term growth prospects (that's sarcasm, in case you missed it), it should be a matter of months before the combined company announces that they are seeking "Strategic Alternatives" for the directory business.

In other words, they're going to sell off their Yellow Pages business and use the cash to pay down debt.

Since Verizon is also selling their directory business, this could become very interesting indeed.

The acquirers will likely be investment bankers who will take a flamethrower to the company's overhead.

This could be good for advertisers, as the directory publisher must become more competitive to survive.

This will very ugly to folks who may be considered expendable when the cuts come.

How I created my Link Directory

2006-03-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

Zeus Internet Marketing Robot

I lot of people have been asking about my link directory. Well, I can tell you that it has been simply incredible at generating organic web traffic to the YP commando web site.

On average, I receive between 250 and 400 unique visitors EVERY SINGLE DAY as a result of the link directory. Those are leads that I don't pay a nickel to receive.

The software engine that created the directory is incredibly powerful, but it does take some time.

Zeus Internet Marketing Robot

The company that created the software just launched a service that will totally create links directories for sites. They charge $399 which is an absolute steal.

If you need free traffic, Use Zeus. If you don't have the time or inclination to do it yourself, $399 is a fabulous investment in building long term sustainable web site traffic.

How long before the GooglePages are delivered to your door?

2006-03-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

globeandmail.com : When the fingers switch to clicking: "e"

This is an interesting article regarding YPG, the Canadian Yellow Pages giant. CEO Marc Tellier has achieved near rock-star status guiding the directory company to higher levels of growth and profitability.

One line in the article quotes my friend Jean-Pascal Lion, YPG's vice-president of electronic directories in an exchange with Google's founder about purchasing YPG.

A search engine purchasing a Yellow Pages directory company makes so much sense, that it WILL happen. My only question is WHO and WHEN.

Certainly Google and Yahoo will need local sales forces to crack the lucrative market of small business marketing. But don't count out Barry Diller, either. His company IAC already owns a pseudo-directory company in Entertainment Publications, the company that produces those thick "buy one - get one free" coupon books. He also owns CitySearch and ASK.com.

But who is a candidate on the print side? Nearly everyone. The print directories throw off so much cash, that the purchase nearly pays for itself over a few years.

Yellow Pages companies know how to sell local advertising. Search engines know how to distribute local ads to increasing numbers of consumers.

The purchase now of a directory company could spark a directory company buying war between Google and Yahoo as they vie to dominate the local market with sales people.

Boost Yahoo Local Search Results for free

2006-03-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

dentist in fremont, ca - Yahoo! Search Results

Here's a quick and easy tip to boost your local business's ranking in Yahoo.

Get some customers to post reviews about your business.

It's that easy. When you have reviews, you get stars next to your business' name, and you appear higher in the local search results.

It's also important to completely fill out your business profile (also free).

To do this, just search for your business in Yahoo Local and follow the links.

Pick Up the Phone, Your Search Term Is Calling - New York Times

2006-02-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Pick Up the Phone, Your Search Term Is Calling - New York Times

This article in the NY Times clarifies the growing intensity for pay-per-call advertising on the internet.

What I like about PPCall is that it focuses more on the advertiser benefit, which is getting leads from the advertising.

A call more closely represents a real customer than a click.

I think that it's safe to say that Google is taking aim squarely at the groin of the Yellow pages industry.

Now, who do you think is going to go out and sell this to the local merchants?

If the big print publishers become resellers for Google & Co., they will be hastening the demise of their cash cow.

If they DON'T provide the service to advertisers, they have to watch someone else do it.

As Buford would say, "Danged if you do and Danged if you don't."

Web Ads Prompt Calls, Not Clicks

2005-09-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Web Ads Prompt Calls, Not Clicks: "Web Ads Prompt Calls, Not Clicks "

The PR machine at ingenio continues to raise awareness of Pay-per-call as an alternative medium to pay-per-click.

In the article, the attorney who is being interviewed states

"We've gotten about a dozen calls and half turned into cases," Frasier said. "I'm a believer. It fits my needs."

Now think about that for a second. If this attorney has generated 6 clients from pay-per-call advertising, it is a massive home run in terms of return on investment.

Let's say that he paid $30 per call (which would be at the highest end of the range).

He said that he's received about a dozen calls, so he has invested $360 (12 x $30).

I can't know how much each client generates, but let's use $500 which could be for a basic real estate transfer.

Six clients at $500 is $3,000 in revenue from $360 of advertising.

The emergence of pay-per-call will certainly help publishers and distributors monetize the leads generated from online directories.

This is a good thing.

Yellow Pages with distinct flavor (Salsa)

2005-08-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

www.delawareonline.com Â¦ The News Journal Â¦ Yellow pages with distinct flavor:

I thought that the timing of this article was ironic because I just released a report recommending niche directories as advertising vehicles ONLY after the business is properly represented in the main directory.

Publisher Nancy Bastidas shows off her new Directorio Hispano with Wilmington food market owner Victor Rodriguez.

The writer of this article agrees . . .

"The downside is that such directories don't have as many users, Fang said. So while the ads may have more impact on those who read them, overall, there are fewer eyeballs encountering the company's name, he said.

Fang recommends small companies use specialty phone books to supplement their marketing efforts, not to replace them."

Yellow Pages Trivia Challenge

2005-08-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Yellow Pages Trivia Challenge

Take the Yellow Pages trivia challenge and have a chance to win an iPod Mini.

I took the quiz, and am very curious to know what are some of the answers.

It's clearly Yellow Pages propaganda, but it does focus attention on the fact that YP users are highly educated, spend loads of money, and are near the top of the social ladder.

Can Verizon compete as an Independent Yellow pages publisher?

2005-08-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Verizon issued a press release discussing their growth as an independent publisher and touting the strength of their brand.

In one sense, they are absolutely correct in the strength of their brand. Last year, they spent more promoting their brand than any other company in the US. They spent something north of $800 million on brand advertising.

So does that translate into operating a strong independent Yellow Pages publishing arm?

While I can't claim any inside information, my observations tell me that it has been much more difficult than Verizon's letting on.

Yellow Book has a list on its website showing several markets that Verizon has either abandoned or sold to a competitor. Is it a small percentage? Well, when you are one of the largest directory publishers in the world, it is a small percentage.

If you are a small business owner who has invested a major portion of your annual advertising budget in an abandoned market, it is much more meaningful.

I'm not here to throw stones at Verizon. Quite the contrary. I am a long-term shareholder.

However, as an advocate for local advertisers, it is important to be able to systematically evaluate directories before investing in any of them.

Here's the rule. . .

If a directory has great content that is easy to use, the directory will be used by consumers.

If the directory is under-developed (industry-speak for lousy ad sales), it will not be used regardless of the brand on the cover.

The next YP Commando Newsletter will deal with simple methods of selecting a directory for your advertising. Make sure you sign up.

Paris Hilton TV Ad for German YP GoYellow.de

2005-08-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

A year or so ago, one of the business magazines called Yellow Pages the "sexiest business in America."

Appears the Germans think so too.

Special thanks to:
Chris Miller
Owner/Founder
http://www.RichmondYellowPages.com
Phone: (804) 303-4835

Fastest Growing Yellow Pages Headings - Headings that are Losing References

2005-08-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

. : Yellow Pages Commando : . Fastest Growing Yellow Pages Headings - Headings that are Losing References

The Yellow Pages Association released a report regarding the fastest growing headings in terms of references.

I called Larry Small, YPA's Director of Research to get the inside scoop. I recorded the interview and posted it so that you can listen to it on my web site.

As an exclusive bonus, Larry also gave me the list of the headings that have lost the most references.

A TRILLION Pages!

2005-08-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Quebecor World, a leading printer of Yellow Pages directories and Yellow Book announced a long term agreement that effectively encompasses over a TRILLION pages of telephone directories to be printed. It's a $900 million deal.

There is no one on earth who is a bigger supporter of Internet Yellow pages and local search than I am, but this type of deal from two of the most progressive companies in the space sends a very clear signal that printed Yellow Pages directories have many fine years ahead of them. Let me couch that statement. Yellow Book directories have many more years ahead.

I should point out that Yellow Book is my employer, having acquired TransWestern Publishing. I learned of this deal shortly before it hit the wires.

I recall conversations of old time TransWestern employees talking about the days when printers would not return their calls, and shunned their business. Quebecor was one of the rare companies who actively worked with TWP. It's good to see them also succeed.

Google Maps Does It Again

2005-07-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

Google Maps

Google is simply impressive. They have upgraded their maps feature combining a satellite image with indications of road names, directions, etc.

Every Google map has three buttons "Map," "Satellite," and "Hybrid." This makes it very easy to switch between views.

Bravo Google!

MediaPost Publications - Keeping Up With... the Yellow Pages? - 07/19/2005

2005-07-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

MediaPost Publications - Keeping Up With... the Yellow Pages? - 07/19/2005

David Berkowitz, the Son of Search, has interesting insights on the local search guide compiled by the Yellow Pages Association.

From where I sit (VP of Internet at TransWestern Publishing, a division of Yellow Book), there are a few points that deserve attention.

1. Local advertisers don't BUY advertising, they are SOLD advertising that delivers LEADS. Our US sales organization includes well over 6,000 professionals who help local businesses get leads.

Google, Yahoo, and the search engines have shown no desire to invest in the local sales channel. Without SALESPEOPLE, there will be very few SALES.

2. The ultimate product that Yellow Pages publishers deliver is LEADS. Today, about $15 billion is spent in print YP for those leads, and a couple of hundred million is spent in IYPs and local search for those leads. That is shifting, but it is still very early in the game.

3. Advertisers will eventually follow usage, but ONLY if someone will help them do it. The YP sales force is *almost* perfectly positioned to do this. As the tools for selling online leads improve, and the business model improves, the YP publishers will invest more heavily.

TODAY, print YP offers an unparalleled quality and quantity of leads for the price. Local search will begin making serious inroads over the next five years.

Superpages.com Redesign

2005-07-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

MediaPost Publications Home of MediaDailyNews, MEDIA and OMMA Magazines

SuperPages.com, the Internet Yellow Pages arm of Verizon has undergone a much-needed redesign.

It is much cleaner, but I still have issues with their decisions of placing advertisers in certain categories. For example, when I search for a Steak restaurant in Los Angeles, CA, the first 8 listings returned are not steak restaurants in Los Angeles. They are either restaurants in other cities such as Santa Barbara, Lancaster or Chino Hills, or they are caterers or rewards programs.

Verizon would never allow these ads to appear in the wrong category in their print directories (at least I would hope that they wouldn't).

So why would they allow this in their Internet directory?

I am a very big fan of most Internet Yellow Pages directories as excellent vehicles for targeted advertising. However, this bothers me. Verizon has made strides and has improved, but this needs improvement.

Yellow Book USA Acquires TransWestern Publishing

2005-07-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Yellow Book USA Acquires TransWestern Publishing

It's official.

Having been a TransWestern Publishing employee for the past six years, I can attest that Yellow Book has acquired a truly remarkable company.

I believe that Yellow Book's consumer focus combined with TransWestern's production prowess will make for a formidable national independent publisher.

In 1993, a group of TransWestern management headed by Rick Puente purchased the money-losing operation from US West for something on the order of $34 million. The company sold to Yellow Book for $1.58 billion.

I feel deeply honored to have played a part in this American success story, and very, very excited about the future.

Businesses get refunds for ads in Yellow Pages

2005-07-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Advocate: Businesses get refunds for ads in Yellow Pages

Wow, I can't imagine that SBC could have handled this any worse if they tired.

First, they mislead the advertisers by telling them that the small community directories were being replaced with a county-wide directory.

Hey, this kind of thing happens all the time to better serve the needs of shoppers. No biggie. Some advertisers P.O.'s, but what the hey?

Right after the big book hits the streets, SBC announces that they ARE going to keep the little books after all.

Problem it that many of the advertisers wouldn't have wasted their money in the big book, but it was their only option from the telephone company.

Big lawsuit. SBC loses, and the advertisers are due refunds.

Oh, but if the advertisers INCREASED their ads because they TRUSTED what the SBC rep said, then they were screwed out of their refund.

SBC says that they mailed notices to 11,000 advertisers that they may be entitled to a refund.

Gee, when they were selling advertising, they sent representatives to go door-to-door, not mailing solicitations.

Doesn't seem right to me. Just my opinion.

Paris Hilton TV Ad for German YP GoYellow.de

2005-07-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

Paris On Fire Again In New Sexy TV Commercial - News America Now

Tim Manners, editor of Cool News sent me the link to this sexy Paris Hilton TV ad for an IYP in Germany.

I don't speak German, so I had to watch it about a hundred times.

Enjoy. and then subscribe to Cool News

Want the back cover of the Cambodia Yellow pages for about $1,650?

2005-07-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

eBay item 5594068066 (Ends Jul-06-05 19:30:00 PDT) - Advertise on CAMBODIA YELLOW PAGES Back Cover!

Something tells me that the sales manager ought to be looking for a new job.

Lady Liberty Fireworks

2005-07-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

Lady Liberty Fireworks Ken-Zoe.net

Happy Independence Day everyone. If you missed the fireworks, you can enjoy your own at this site. Very cool.

New listings in Yellow Pages are pages of history

2005-06-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Business - StatesmanJournal.com: "New listings in Yellow Pages are pages of history"

Could someone please explain to me why it takes Yellow Pages publishers 10 years to respond to the change in consumer behavior?

Not to pick on Dex, because they are no better or worse than any other publisher, but why is "Teeth Whitening" only now becoming a heading?

Haven't Payday Loans been around for about a decade, too?

Is anybody listening to the consumer? Bah

Insider Pages hits 100k user reviews

2005-06-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

100k Reviews on Insider Pages Press Release

Insider Pages has hit a milestone by amassing 100,ooo user reviews on local businesses. It's an early indicator of the company's acceptance by consumers.

Will it last? Time will tell.

Here's an earlier article I wrote on the concept of social networking sites.

http://ypcommando.com/articles/022805.html

Only one voter picked the winning combination

2005-06-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is kind of cool.

I was analyzing the data from the 711 people who voted in the World's Best Yellow Pages Contest to see trends between genders and such.

It turns out that only ONE person selected the top 3 ads in the order in which they won. Moreover, only 7 others selected all three ads in any other combination.

So who, pray tell is the person who selected all 3 ads in the winning order?

Click here to find out . . .

http://marriottschool.byu.edu/emp/employee.cfm?emp=jer67

Slow News Day

2005-06-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Canada NewsWire Group

Yellow Pages Group in Canada have released their annual additions and deletions of headings in the Yellow Pages, proving once and for all that life as we know it is nearing its end.

Oh well, when the Canadain press runs a story that "Teletypewriters" are no longer a YP heading, but the "Home Theatre Systems" are, it makes me long for more media coverage of Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart and J. Lo.

Please shoot me. Zzzzzzzzzzz.

The "Hidden Value" of Social Networking Site LinkedIn.com

2005-06-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

Krasilovsky Consulting: Tech and Media Strategies

Once again, consultant Peter Krasilovsky has pointed out the real value in an online service.

In this article, Reter K. identifies the value of LinkedIn is in the testimonials section. By gathering a number of high quality testimonials, a LinkedIn member adds credibility and believability.

It's an important part of job seeking and business building.

Internet Yellow Pages Role in Local Search Increases as Advertisers Boost Online Budgets; Yellow Pages Association President Neg Norton Challenges Att

2005-06-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a news release where Neg Norton, head of the YPA discusses how much more effective advertising in Internet Yellow Pages is than local search on sites such as Google and Yahoo.

My recent conversation with Steve Pollyea, VP of Marketing for Roto Rooter confirmed this finding. He said that they find that people using IYPs are much farther along the buying cycle and are closer to making a purchase.

Internet Yellow Pages Role in Local Search Increases as Advertisers Boost Online Budgets; Yellow Pages Association President Neg Norton Challenges Attendees of the 2005 American Advertising Federation National Conference

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --(Business Wire)-- June 7, 2005 -- With 84 percent of marketers increasing their Internet advertising budgets in 2005 (1), Yellow Pages Association (YPA(TM)) President Neg Norton challenged attendees today at the American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Conference by pointing out the strong value proposition for Internet Yellow Pages (IYP).

As part of the "Tap into the Enormous Growth of Local Search Engines" panel pointing to findings of a recent comScore study, Norton said that IYP users are ready-to- buy and offer a more attractive demographic when compared to average Internet users.

"IYP searchers are 71 percent more likely than the average Internet user to have an annual household income over $100,000 and are more likely to have a broadband connection," said Norton. "It is important that advertisers realize the potential of IYP when deciding where to allocate their online budgets."

Noting YellowPages.com's recent distribution deal with Switchboard, Norton pointed out that Internet Yellow Pages publishers are continuing to use distribution agreements with other online providers and search engines as a means to extend reach and strengthen their value proposition.

"The Yellow Pages Industry has responded to advertisers' needs by offering local businesses enhanced features such as improved geographic targeting capabilities and simplified packages of guaranteed clicks." said Norton. "Advertisers can easily determine their ROI for online advertising with measurements such as pay-per-click and pay-per-call."

Joining Norton on the AAF panel were representatives from Carat Interactive, Cleveland.com and Yahoo!, Inc.

Yellow pages inspired Coldplay hit!:- - Entertainment News - Webindia123.com

2005-06-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Yellow pages inspired Coldplay hit!:- - Entertainment News - Webindia123.com

What's this world coming to? Rock band Coldplay has a massive hit with their song "Yellow."

OK, I haven't actually heard of either the song or the group, but it's big, baby.

Turns out the inspiration for the song came from a copy of the Yellow Pages sitting next to the lyrisist.

The band plans to follow this hit with their new album titled, "Geo-Targeted Keyword Search Monkey."

Bring Back the Walking Fingers

2005-06-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Comments by Sieg Fischer, President & CEO,
Valley Yellow Pages, during Simba Webinar, April 28, 2005

We need a national usage campaign that is supported by all publishers to promote yellow pages overall.

Bring back the walking fingers Â promote the hell out of it.

It is a nationally recognized logo. Stop the bashing of fellow publishers in front of advertisers and consumers. If we can grow the total pie using a national campaign and syndicated usage research, we can grow 10% and stop the share slide. Everyone would benefit.

===========================
Thanks Sieg,

Consumers seem to consider the "Yellow Pages" to be one large company publishing "those books I keep getting."

The concept has merit, but I don't see the industry majors being willing to do anything that might support a competitor such as the company you've built.

Let me know how that works, will ya?

Too Dang Fat!

2005-06-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm in Coconut Grove, Florida (Miami) for a couple of days, and in the hotel room is a copy of the Verizon Miami Metro Yellow Pages.

Look at the size of this beast!

Here's the side view . . .

Just handling this monster is a project in itself. Having a comprehensive directory is one thing, but this is ridiculous.

I'm working on my report for plumbing contractors, so I checked out the Plumbers section in this directory. There are only 2 (yes, 2 !!!) full page ads for plumbers. Heck, the West Los Angeles directory has 23 full page plumber ads.

What gives? Doesn't Miami have a need for plumbing contractors?

Either the distribution area of the directory is too wide for a plumber to service (I doubt it), or the advertising rates are so far out of whack that the plumbers can't make a go of it.

Maybe the plumbers in Miami don't need to advertise. I'm stumped.

What do YOU think?

Voting is Complete for the World's Best Yellow Pages Ad

2005-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

. : Yellow Pages Commando : . Vote for the World's Best Yellow Pages Ad

The early results are in. The voters overwhelmingly selected two ads over the field of 38 as the two Greatest Yellow Pages Ads.

I'm working on the final report which will include a tremendous amount of insight as to why some ads performed better than others.

When the dust settles, I will select the winner of the iPod.

Work from Home, unwelcome Herbalife Signs

2005-05-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Work from Home, unwelcome Herbalife Signs

If you're like me, you see signs plastered all over creation claiming that you can earn $5,000 / month working at home in the mail order business.

Turns out all those signs are from Herbalife, a multi-level marketing company that makes money by signing up distributors and selling them loads of vitamins to go and peddle.

Just thought you might like to know.

How to get in front of the leaders in the Yellow Pages industry

2005-05-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

DDC2005: Directory Driven Commerce Conference

I'm often called by people who have come up with a new twist on local marketing. Their difficulty usually hits when they realize that somebody needs to actually go out and sell their concept to local advertisers.

"Ah-Ha!" a light bulb goes on.

"If we could get one of the Yellow Pages publishers to bundle our product in with their products, we could both make a fortune."

Well, since the Yellow Pages sales forces do reach more local businesses than any other advertising medium, it might actually make sense.

Cold calling YP publishers rarely will win you an audience. However, an investment in a small booth at one of the Yellow Pages trade events is a very cost effective way to be in front of the decision makers.

I recommend the events put on by the Kelsey Group
as the most effective in reaching this audience. Also, events by the
Yellow Pages Association

and the Association of Directory Publishers

are also very well targeted.

Hey, once in a while, a Yellow Pages publisher actually does promote a new vendor's product, and everyone wins.

Insurance Agent Yellow Pages Advertising Tips by The Yellow Pages Commando

2005-05-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Insurance Agent Yellow Pages Advertising Tips by The Yellow Pages Commando The latest newsletter is hot off the press.

Here's a sneak peek . . .

-- An Insurance Agent is Stalking Me
-- Answer to Last Week's Redneck Riddle™
-- If it can possibly get screwed up . . .
-- I thought that toothpaste tasted fishy
-- Who lives in a pineapple . . .
-- Where's a fake cop when you need one?
-- If you can't go in style . . .
-- Last Chance to Vote
-- Mr. Popularity, we miss you.
-- This Week's Redneck Riddle™
-- Quote of the Week

Niche Directories - Waste of Money or Smart Targeting?

2005-05-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Beacon Journal | 05/17/2005 | Black Pages' price is right

Here's an article about the rise of niche directories, specifically the Black Pages (which serves the black community) and Blue Pages (service the Christian community).

Advertising in affinity directories can be an effective way to get your message to a very specific group of people. Typically, the costs for this type of advertising is quite low.

The downside is that these are NOT comprehensive, all-inclusive directories, and they will not receive anywhere near the use of a complete directory.

Here's my bottom line.

It's smart to market to a targeted audience that you serve, but it's smarter to generate enough business from multiple marketing efforts so that you can grow.

Ok, here's a little bonus . . .

The Ohio.com site requires you to register (I hate registering because I don't want to be spammed). Whenever you don't want to register, go to this website and use an account that they already have set up. www.BugMeNot.com

Sir Thomas Crapper Real or Myth - Plumbing History

2005-05-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

Sir Thomas Crapper Real or Myth - Plumbing History

This past month, I've spent more time thinking about plumbing and toilets than is advisable.

So the question has arisen about the purported creator of the flush toilet. Was it Thomas Crapper? Or is that simply a load of Thomas?

For the real dirt, we had to do some digging.

Here's what we flushed out.

[Dang, I need a vacation.]

Yellow Page Ad Sizing Tool

2005-05-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yellow Page text - Sacramento Directory

Surewest Directories in Sacramento has a truly outstanding tool that visually demonstrates the difference in ad sizes and colors.

Roseville is a 4 column directory. Sacramento and Auburn are both 3 column directories.

http://www.surewest.com/directories/AdDesignCenter/gallery/#

Surewest also displays their rates relative to SBC's. I think it's important to remember that there are many more factors than simply price. You'll want to consider how much usage a directory receives, how much competition there is and several other issues.

If you're wondering what types of ads are available, how much they cost in these directories, and how they will look on a page, give this neat tool a whirl.

Local Search continues growth

2005-05-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

This recent article at Cnet discusses success of some of the players in local search advertising and Internet Yellow Pages.

It's interesting that the advertiser cited pays $2 for every call generated via her ad on InsiderPages.com, an idealab supported Internet Yellow Pages.

What the article missed was that $2 per call isn't a bargain if not enough people call. that's the issue faced by many online directories. Getting enough users to justify selling advertising is a real balancing act.

Heck, even if she only gets a couple of calls per month. It's a bargain for her. She will need to find multiple channels of developing her client base as well.

Search Engine Spam v. Yellow Pages

2005-05-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Web sites that exist only to sell advertising

This article appeared in today's Wall Street Journal, and it addresses the huge rise in the number of web sites that have been created for the sole purpose of luring visitors to click on advertising.

The critical issue is that search engines rely on machines to create their index whereas the Yellow Pages directories are created by physical or telephonic visits to verify the advertiser is in fact who he says he is.

Also, although the Yellow Pages include listings of all business telephone numbers, they only contain additional information on paying advertisers.

Once again, money makes the world go 'round.

Yahoo! Courts Small Business Advertisers With Contest

2005-04-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

ClickZ Internet Advertising News: "Yahoo! Courts Small Business Advertisers With Contest"

In an attempt to bring attention to several of its new tools for small businesses, Yahoo! is running a "Think Big" contest.

If you have an innovative business mindset, go check it out. Winner gets buckets of ads on the Yahoo! network.

Find YP to Introduce Yellow Pages Order Delivery System

2005-04-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

For those not involved in the YP industry, this is a pretty big deal.

All national yellow pages advertisers must currently place their orders through a tightly controlled system operated by the YPA. It works pretty well, but like anything else, competition is good for fostering innovation and driving costs down.

Hey, would any CMRs like to make some comments? You're the ones being affected most.

YPODS to be integrated with eRates and Data system, providing a cost-effective
national order system for Yellow Pages advertising sales.

VERNON, NJ (April 26, 2005) - Find YP, a provider of innovative solutions for the Yellow Pages industry, today announced plans to launch YPODS, its new Yellow Pages Order Delivery System, later this year.

YPODS will be fully integrated with Find YPs eRates and Data system, to provide a single point of access to directory rates, information and ordering for Yellow Pages advertising sales.

Find YP recently previewed the system to independent Yellow Pages publishers at the Association of Directory Publishers Annual Convention & Partners Trade Show, in Austin, Texas, receiving widespread interest and support.

The response to our recent launch of eRates and Data has been tremendous, said Philip Wojcik, president of Find YP. With the integration of YPODS later this year, CMRs and publishers will finally have a powerful and cost-effective option for directory advertising order management.

With a built-in smart ordering interface, the system will handle the layout and formatting of orders for certified marketing representatives (CMRs). YPODS is also being designed to handle national orders, for those companies that already have systems in place, exactly as they are now, so that these companies do not need to change the way they do business.

Find YP anticipates releasing a beta version of YPODS this summer for testing and feedback by the publisher and CMR users, with full release planned for Q4 2005.

The pricing model for YPODS that is being implemented, is a flat rate charge based upon number of directories or clients. The pricing structure is expected to reduce annual expenditures for transmission and receipt of national orders by the CMR and publisher communities by a minimum of 50 percent.

Internet Yellow Pages beat search engines

2005-04-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

An independent survey conducted by comscore indicated that users of Internet Yellow Pages were much farther along the buying process than users of search engines.

In brief, a lead from an IYP is far more likely to convert to a sale than a lead from a search engine. My personal experiences marketing my wife's business certainly hold that to be true.

The problem facing IYPs is that they all need to increase the amount of traffic they receive.

Search engines have traffic, but it's a much lower quality than the IYP.

In all, this reinforces what I've held all along. Search engines are for searching. IYPs are for buying.

Caution sign for Yellow Pages . . . or isolated blip?

2005-04-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

Caution sign for yellow pages: "A new survey shows that more consumers are going to Internet search engines for local shopping information rather than their phone books…"

This survey shows a major drop off in references to the Yellow Pages from October 2003 to February 2005.

The results of this survey are really inconsistent with what we're seeing in the field. We're finding that our advertiser renewal rates are climbing steadily, and YP ads with metered telephone numbers are incredibly strong. It's not scientific, but when business people vote with their dollars, it's a pretty darned good indicator.

It's also important to note that the indications of this survey are inconsistent with various studies by the major publishers and the industry trade associations.

I've been hearing that the sky is falling since 1999, and that the internet would replace the print directories, but that simply hasn't happened.

With the continued improvement in local search and the ever increasing content of local businesses online, it's inevitable that some usage will shift from print to online.

Thirty years ago, the Yellow Pages were filled with retailers such as hardware stores, appliance dealers, and pharmacies. Today, you find very few retailers, but many more service based businesses. Oh, and the print industry is stronger than ever.

I believe that electronic and print directories will coexist for many, many years. They'll evolve, but it's important not to take an isolated study out of context as indicative of an overall direction.