Combine Your Yellow Page Ad and Web Site for Maximum Profits

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 by: Dr. Lynella Grant

A Yellow Page Ad isn't Enough Any More

An
unquestioned "must" for any small business has been to run an ad in the
Yellow Page Directory. Since most customers were local, that was enough
to establish itself as "open for business." The annual Yellow Page ad
represents the largest promotional expense for many enterprises.

Yet,
Yellow Page directory use is declining, while expanding segments of the
public don't rely on them at all. Yellow Page advertising costs keep
going up, and the complicated pricing structure is difficult to figure
out.

Worse yet, having a Yellow Page ad doesn't deliver
like it used to. People can find most of the information they want
without ever opening a directory. Your business needs its Yellow Page
strategy to be in tune with the times and your market.

Like
most business owners, you must squeeze maximum value from every
promotional dollar spent. That requires you to move beyond treating a
Yellow Page ad like it's a separate, stand-alone way to promote your
business. It's not. Your Yellow Page advertising needs to work in
tandem with all the rest of the efforts you pursue.

The Internet Expands Your Arena

Every
business needs to put itself in front of the people looking for what it
does - and that's not just through the Yellow Pages any longer. An
increasing percentage of customers, who spend their money close to
home, are Internet savvy. There's a major overlap between Yellow Page
directory users and Internet users. That fact supports integrating your
local and Internet promotional methods so they attract more new
customers.

Yellow Page users are likely to be Internet
users as well. And a business that ignores online activities entirely
may have a tough time getting access to or credibility with those
customers. It is possible to make online and traditional (offline)
methods to attract customers work in tandem - improving the
effectiveness of each alone. So it's no longer an either-or,
all-or-none choice whether to promote the business online or off.

People who subscribe to online services consult the Yellow Pages 23% more often than non-subscribers.

Frequent Yellow Page Users are:

• 18% more likely than average to be Internet subscribers

• 32% more likely to be among the heaviest Internet users

• 18% more likely to make purchases on the Internet

• 27% more likely to spend more than $1,000 on Internet purchases

Source: Simmons

Customer Behavior is Changing

More
and more, people are going to the Internet to find, learn about, or
select products and services. Even local ones. That doesn't mean that
they will buy online, however. People still prefer to spend their money
locally when they can. But, even the smallest business can do a better
job of being found by those who prefer to use both the Internet and the
Yellow Page directory to make their buying decisions. And, it can be
done very inexpensively, too.

Even a 100% local business can pull in more business by getting its low-tech and high-tech advertising to mesh. Visit http://www.yellowpagesage.com
for lots of free practical assistance. As you broaden your visibility
to buyers, your business will be found more often - by the very people
you've been looking for.

What Else has Changed?

• Buyers are less trusting and more willing to shop around

• Customers have more options and ways to find what they want

• Availability of Internet Yellow Pages

• Aging population uses the Yellow Pages differently than young people

• Development of unique niches and specialties

• More choices for a "better deal"

• More directories competing in a geographic area

• More immigrants, or those from other cultures, unaccustomed to Yellow Page use

• Area code proliferation fragments cities

• Larger cities have multiple directories, rather than one large one

• Development of specialized directories - like ethnic, non-English, women, minority, business to business

Become Visible Online - With or Without Your Own Web Site

If
your business already has a Web site, treat it as a way to expand the
reach of your Yellow Page ad and traditional marketing activities.
Jettison the expectation that it should make sales - few do so. But an
information-packed Web site can support your traditional marketing
methods very well.

Even without your own Web site, your small business can establish an online identity that helps buyers to find you.

• Get listed in a variety of Internet Yellow Page (IYP) directories

• Send emails to your "regulars" with special offers and useful information

• Position
  yourself for Local Search - a method whereby customers use search
  engines to locate local businesses by town, state, region, zip code,
  etc.

Expand the exposure of your business
beyond your Yellow Page ad through a Yellow Page strategy that reaches
the whole globe. Your operation, whatever its size, will gain more
credibility and traffic locally when it puts itself in the bigger
picture.

© 2004, Lynella Grant

About the Author

Dr. Lynella Grant is an expert in visual communication, how printed materials send signals that reinforce or negate the verbal message. Decode and repair your unintended impressions. Author, "The Business Card Book" and "Yellow Page Smarts."

http://www.yellowpagesage.com

(719) 395-9450

Off the Page Press P.O. Box 4880 Buena Vista, CO 81211

grant@yellowpagesage.com

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