Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Answer Upon - Are You Making These Nine Fatal Mistakes in Your Yellow Pages Ads?
After years of success, you may find that your current job is not as satisfying as it once was. Usually, this realization doesn't come overnight. Like termites gnawing a piece of timber, the process may take months for you to notice.Maybe you now know, after what seems to have been an eternity of effort, that you will no longer be CEO of your organization. But instead of seeing the writing on the wall and deciding to make a change, you decide to stay inside your comfort zone rather than succumbing to the voices of discontent within you.Consider my two neighbors. One had been a successful insurance salesman, but his company had been rocked by a scandal, his morale was low and he tired of doing the same old thing. He longed to join a high-tech company, maybe to sell computer software, but he didn't even know the difference between Windows 98 and 98 windows.The other neighbor was the manager of a local bank branch. Within a short period of time, the bank had been through three mergers. With each change, a new sign was erected over the bank, branches were closed and employees were laid off. He didn't have much hope of staying employed in his industry for the next three decades, his remaining working years.Neither was happily employed. However, neither acted on this knowledge because of the "golden shackles" keeping them in place. What were their golden shackles? They had fallen into the financial traps that accompany "success:" mortgages on nice homes, children to put through college and payments for cars that befit their positions.For both of my neighbors, all they had known were these industries. They had been successful and had established themselves in their careers and in their community.If they were still in their 20s, they could change positions
1. Failing to do the necessary pre-placement planning: Typically when do business owners plan their Yellow Pages ads? Actually never, until they get a call from the YP rep, and they hand over their money to the rep and say they blindly trust the Yellow Pages' ad specialists to create the ad. Keep something in mind. The Yellow Pages doesn't care whether or not you make any business from your ad. With this in mind, what is the logic for the YP company to hire expensive ad specialists? Increasing overhead costs? No.
They will create an ad that looks exactly the same as all your competitors', so but your chance of being selected when potential buyers peruse your category is not much. So, what to include in your pre-placement planning?
Some are... What results do you want to achieve from your ad?
What is your Most Wanted Action? (Action you want your prospects to take?
What proportion of your business do you expect to come from YP?
Who is your target market?
What is your biggest primary and secondary benefit?
Do you have an offer both for "Ready to Buy" prospects and for prospects who are looking for more information?
Which directories do you put your ad in?
2. Imitating the competition: Most YP advertisers are like teenagers: In their efforts of looking unique, they look exa
What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question that everyone has been asked at some point in their life. If you were asked as a child, you most likely responded with, “a fireman, astronaut, or cowboy.” After a few years, you realized there were not many companies looking to fill their cowboy position. You figured out that you had to be good at math to be an astronaut, and you were no longer crazy about the whole “fire thing.”Then, along the way, you probably settled for a cubicle and a job that you did not even know existed when you were a kid. You might be a “yes-man.” You might play solitaire when no one is looking. You probably even punch a time clock when you walk in the door. Astronauts don’t have a time clock or a cubicle.The point of this article is not to discuss the finer points of being an astronaut or a cowboy. However, many of us have given up our freedom and our dreams for a job that pays the bills. One compromise led to another, and finally where we are today, is nowhere near where we had envisioned. Millions of Americans have found a way out. No, there is not an overnight solution. You most likely will not become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams in a week. But for those who are willing to work and take a chance, there is another way.An entrepreneur is defined as a person who undertakes and operates a new venture, and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks. Many people believe that being an entrepreneur requires a great deal of money from the beginning. This is a very large misconception. Many people believe that you have to have a new invention or idea to get started. “Everything has already been invented,” is a common attitude. You don’t have to be Bill Gates or Donald Trump to be an entrepreneur. There are multiple opportunities that prese
The good news is that people who look you up in the Yellow Pages are very serious buyers. They need what you sell right now. So, when they contact you, you are in for a very short buying cycle. And that is a great advantage. However, this advantage comes at a price tag and a pretty high level of commitment from your end. The good news is that...
Some 97% of the Yellow Pages Ads Are Duds
Just look up the YP in any category. All the ads look exactly the same. No difference. Not a sausage. You can shift the company names between ads and you see that they all do the same thing the same way. There is no differentiation. They are like teenagers: They so desperately try to be different from everyone else that they end up looking and behaving exactly the same way as everyone else. Hm.
So, where is the problem with all those YP ads? The Book of Boredom, Yawn and Drab: Are You Making These Nine Fatal Mistakes in Your Yellow Pages Ads?
Apart from the major downside of the Yellow Pages, that it is nipplepiercingly expensive, it is still a bottomachingly brilliant vehicle to take your marketing message to your target audience. Well, some people think, the YP is on its way out, and I totally agree, but I believe it has a few more years of marching to do until it completely vanishes into thin air or even into a puff of smoke.
The good news is that people who look you up in the Yellow Pages are very serious buyers. They need what you sell right now. So, when they contact you, you are in for a very short buying cycle. And that is a great advantage. However, this advantage comes at a price tag and a pretty high level of commitment from your end. The good news is that...
Some 97% of the Yellow Pages Ads Are Duds
Just look up the YP in any category. All the ads look exactly the same. No difference. Not a sausage. You can shift the company names between ads and you see that they all do the same thing the same way. There is no differentiation. They are like teenagers: They so desperately try to be different from everyone else that they end up looking and behaving exactly the same way as everyone else. Hm.
So, where is the problem with all those YP ads?
First Let's Look at Some YP Stats
The Yellow Pages reach 76% of the population in the average month, 57% in the average week, and 17% daily. Adults refer to the Yellow Pages almost twice per week, or approximately 19 billion times per year.
88% of these references result in contact with a purchase or an intent to purchase.
Because the Yellow Pages is a reference medium, like classified ads in newspapers, providing over 50% of new clients.
52% of potential clients either have no service provider in mind, or have multiple names in mind when they see your Yellow Pages ad. Your ad can clarify one name for them: Yours.
The average business gets $6 in profit for every $1 invested in Yellow Pages advertising. With a good ad you can even beat that. But be aware of average. When the average temperature in a hospital is normal, it can also mean that half of the patients suffer from high fever and the other half are dead. The YP is the same. Some people make huge profits on their ads, and some curse the name of the person who invented the Yellow Pages. The interesting thing is that the idiots volunteer to lose on their ads rather than hiring a Yellow Pages specialist.
The average cost of half page Yellow Pages display ad for one full year is over $15,000, so you had better know what you are doing.
81% of YP readers (potential clients) start at the beginning of the heading when they don't have a business name in mind.
66% of readers believe that a larger display ad indicates a more established, more realizable business. 70% look at the larger ads when they are not sure where to buy.
20% of readers want to see more information. Can you see why you need a website?
81% of readers make contact with the advertising business.
34% will contact a company they had never contacted before. How good are you at handling first contacts? Is your receptionist a minimum-wage bimbo from the bottom of the unemployment scum barrel or a true professional with the necessary communications skills? Also, I sincerely hope that you have something better than a "corporate voice mail labyrinth".
42% of people will contact two or more businesses. Remember the receptionist syndrome. Your receptionist brings you business. I don't care how good of a lawyer, engineer or gravedigger you are. Everything hinges on your receptionist. So, start appreciating and paying her properly. Believe it or not, she carries major "bankrupting power" over your business.
For readers with both small and large directories in their homes, 38% will use the small book, 62% will use the large book, and 8% will reference multiple books. Maybe the lower cost of the small, local book is a good deal after all. There are over 4200 active headings in the yellow pages, and YP can create your own heading for you if needed. So, let's look at...
Ten Typical Yellow Pages Mistakes and They Can Be Avoided
1. Failing to do the necessary pre-placement planning: Typically when do business owners plan their Yellow Pages ads? Actually never, until they get a call from the YP rep, and they hand over their money to the rep and say they blindly trust the Yellow Pages' ad specialists to create the ad. Keep something in mind. The Yellow Pages doesn't care whether or not you make any business from your ad. With this in mind, what is the logic for the YP company to hire expensive ad specialists? Increasing overhead costs? No.
They will create an ad that looks exactly the same as all your competitors', so but your chance of being selected when potential buyers peruse your category is not much. So, what to include in your pre-placement planning?
Some are... What results do you want to achieve from your ad?
What is your Most Wanted Action? (Action you want your prospects to take?
What proportion of your business do you expect to come from YP?
Who is your target market?
What is your biggest primary and secondary benefit?
Do you have an offer both for "Ready to Buy" prospects and for prospects who are looking for more information?
Which directories do you put your ad in?
2. Imitating the competition: Most YP advertisers are like teenagers: In their efforts of looking unique, they look exac
The list of laws and regulations covering the storage and retrieval of business documents seems to grow by the day. Document storage and retrieval is covered by the IRS, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, SEC regulations, environmental statutes, criminal statutes covering obstruction of justice, industry-specific statutes like HIPAA, and even professional codes of ethics. Couple this with what good business practices require and businesses are saving more documents and for longer periods.Although we are entering the second decade of the paperless office, the number of hard copies continues to grow. The associated volume of paper document storage is bulging file cabinets and turning empty offices in storage rooms at business of all sizes. Many office managers are left with the option of hiding a couple boxes in every office or seeking an outside solution.While a lack of storage space is the first reason people think to outsource their records storage there are many others:Cost – Consider the cost of retrieving a document. If it takes a low skilled worker 15 minutes to locate the document and make a copy that equates to $2.50 each time a document is touched. If an employee retrieves just 8 documents a day they are spending 25% of their day on this task. Lost Documents – What is the cost for not being able to find a document? It can mean obstruction of justice charges, being unable to defend your company from a lawsuit or lost revenue from un-collectable debt. Security – A record storage center maintains a higher level of security than an unsecured storage closet. Your documents are protected by cameras, security systems and badged employees. You also eliminate the access by low level employees to sensitive information. D
The good news is that people who look you up in the Yellow Pages are very serious buyers. They need what you sell right now. So, when they contact you, you are in for a very short buying cycle. And that is a great advantage. However, this advantage comes at a price tag and a pretty high level of commitment from your end. The good news is that...
Some 97% of the Yellow Pages Ads Are Duds
Just look up the YP in any category. All the ads look exactly the same. No difference. Not a sausage. You can shift the company names between ads and you see that they all do the same thing the same way. There is no differentiation. They are like teenagers: They so desperately try to be different from everyone else that they end up looking and behaving exactly the same way as everyone else. Hm.
So, where is the problem with all those YP ads?
First Let's Look at Some YP Stats
The Yellow Pages reach 76% of the population in the average month, 57% in the average week, and 17% daily. Adults refer to the Yellow Pages almost twice per week, or approximately 19 billion times per year.
88% of these references result in contact with a purchase or an intent to purchase.
Because the Yellow Pages is a reference medium, like classified ads in newspapers, providing over 50% of new clients.
52% of potential clients either have no service provider in mind, or have multiple names in mind when they see your Yellow Pages ad. Your ad can clarify one name for them: Yours.
The average business gets $6 in profit for every $1 invested in Yellow Pages advertising. With a good ad you can even beat that. But be aware of average. When the average temperature in a hospital is normal, it can also mean that half of the patients suffer from high fever and the other half are dead. The YP is the same. Some people make huge profits on their ads, and some curse the name of the person who invented the Yellow Pages. The interesting thing is that the idiots volunteer to lose on their ads rather than hiring a Yellow Pages specialist.
The average cost of half page Yellow Pages display ad for one full year is over $15,000, so you had better know what you are doing.
81% of YP readers (potential clients) start at the beginning of the heading when they don't have a business name in mind.
66% of readers believe that a larger display ad indicates a more established, more realizable business. 70% look at the larger ads when they are not sure where to buy.
20% of readers want to see more information. Can you see why you need a website?
81% of readers make contact with the advertising business.
34% will contact a company they had never contacted before. How good are you at handling first contacts? Is your receptionist a minimum-wage bimbo from the bottom of the unemployment scum barrel or a true professional with the necessary communications skills? Also, I sincerely hope that you have something better than a "corporate voice mail labyrinth".
42% of people will contact two or more businesses. Remember the receptionist syndrome. Your receptionist brings you business. I don't care how good of a lawyer, engineer or gravedigger you are. Everything hinges on your receptionist. So, start appreciating and paying her properly. Believe it or not, she carries major "bankrupting power" over your business.
For readers with both small and large directories in their homes, 38% will use the small book, 62% will use the large book, and 8% will reference multiple books. Maybe the lower cost of the small, local book is a good deal after all. There are over 4200 active headings in the yellow pages, and YP can create your own heading for you if needed. So, let's look at...
Ten Typical Yellow Pages Mistakes and They Can Be Avoided
1. Failing to do the necessary pre-placement planning: Typically when do business owners plan their Yellow Pages ads? Actually never, until they get a call from the YP rep, and they hand over their money to the rep and say they blindly trust the Yellow Pages' ad specialists to create the ad. Keep something in mind. The Yellow Pages doesn't care whether or not you make any business from your ad. With this in mind, what is the logic for the YP company to hire expensive ad specialists? Increasing overhead costs? No.
They will create an ad that looks exactly the same as all your competitors', so but your chance of being selected when potential buyers peruse your category is not much. So, what to include in your pre-placement planning?
Some are... What results do you want to achieve from your ad?
What is your Most Wanted Action? (Action you want your prospects to take?
What proportion of your business do you expect to come from YP?
Who is your target market?
What is your biggest primary and secondary benefit?
Do you have an offer both for "Ready to Buy" prospects and for prospects who are looking for more information?
Which directories do you put your ad in?
2. Imitating the competition: Most YP advertisers are like teenagers: In their efforts of looking unique, they look exa
Service sure does come with a smile, but sometimes with a great deal of understanding.Recently, looking for a gift, I settled for a breakable item from a gift ware store in a shopping mall. On leaving the shop and making my way out of the mall I slipped at the top of the escalator and broke the bowl I purchased.Not that the gift was over-expensive, about $50, but it took me quite some time to make the selection and the thought of having to look around and find something else was not very appealing. So, I returned to the shop and asked the assistant for a replacement of the identical article I broke."But you just purchased the same one," she said. So, I told her what happened. "One moment," she replied after listening attentively to my hard-luck story.A couple of minutes later she returned."The manager of the store hopes you didn't hurt yourself and would like to replace the bowl at no charge," she warmly said to me.Imagine my feelings. One minute, down in the dumps, the next riding sky high.What a fine gesture, but even what a finer act of goodwill and customer service. The manager of that store knew I would tell everybody I knew about the incident and the positive response from this quick-thinking and shrewd manager. A gesture worth many hundreds of advertising dollars spent.Sometimes, it takes a great deal of understanding by shopkeepers and sales assistants to sum up the needs of a customer. Selling is more than simply producing an item, wrapping it up and taking the money. Sales staff should be encouraged to talk to customers and understand what they are really looking for, but perhaps can't find without assistance.In my case, the hard-luck story turned into a pot of gold for that store. But in so many other instances, just a friendly exchange sometimes br
88% of these references result in contact with a purchase or an intent to purchase.
Because the Yellow Pages is a reference medium, like classified ads in newspapers, providing over 50% of new clients.
52% of potential clients either have no service provider in mind, or have multiple names in mind when they see your Yellow Pages ad. Your ad can clarify one name for them: Yours.
The average business gets $6 in profit for every $1 invested in Yellow Pages advertising. With a good ad you can even beat that. But be aware of average. When the average temperature in a hospital is normal, it can also mean that half of the patients suffer from high fever and the other half are dead. The YP is the same. Some people make huge profits on their ads, and some curse the name of the person who invented the Yellow Pages. The interesting thing is that the idiots volunteer to lose on their ads rather than hiring a Yellow Pages specialist.
The average cost of half page Yellow Pages display ad for one full year is over $15,000, so you had better know what you are doing.
81% of YP readers (potential clients) start at the beginning of the heading when they don't have a business name in mind.
66% of readers believe that a larger display ad indicates a more established, more realizable business. 70% look at the larger ads when they are not sure where to buy.
20% of readers want to see more information. Can you see why you need a website?
81% of readers make contact with the advertising business.
34% will contact a company they had never contacted before. How good are you at handling first contacts? Is your receptionist a minimum-wage bimbo from the bottom of the unemployment scum barrel or a true professional with the necessary communications skills? Also, I sincerely hope that you have something better than a "corporate voice mail labyrinth".
42% of people will contact two or more businesses. Remember the receptionist syndrome. Your receptionist brings you business. I don't care how good of a lawyer, engineer or gravedigger you are. Everything hinges on your receptionist. So, start appreciating and paying her properly. Believe it or not, she carries major "bankrupting power" over your business.
For readers with both small and large directories in their homes, 38% will use the small book, 62% will use the large book, and 8% will reference multiple books. Maybe the lower cost of the small, local book is a good deal after all. There are over 4200 active headings in the yellow pages, and YP can create your own heading for you if needed. So, let's look at...
Ten Typical Yellow Pages Mistakes and They Can Be Avoided
1. Failing to do the necessary pre-placement planning: Typically when do business owners plan their Yellow Pages ads? Actually never, until they get a call from the YP rep, and they hand over their money to the rep and say they blindly trust the Yellow Pages' ad specialists to create the ad. Keep something in mind. The Yellow Pages doesn't care whether or not you make any business from your ad. With this in mind, what is the logic for the YP company to hire expensive ad specialists? Increasing overhead costs? No.
They will create an ad that looks exactly the same as all your competitors', so but your chance of being selected when potential buyers peruse your category is not much. So, what to include in your pre-placement planning?
Some are... What results do you want to achieve from your ad?
What is your Most Wanted Action? (Action you want your prospects to take?
What proportion of your business do you expect to come from YP?
Who is your target market?
What is your biggest primary and secondary benefit?
Do you have an offer both for "Ready to Buy" prospects and for prospects who are looking for more information?
Which directories do you put your ad in?
2. Imitating the competition: Most YP advertisers are like teenagers: In their efforts of looking unique, they look exa
During the course of everyday business, many of you encounter unsatisfied customers. How you and your staff handle these situations, will shape your service image and ultimately your bottom line. How can you best handle challenging situations? I have developed and practiced a simple method for just such encounters. If you follow the steps listed below, you will greatly improve the likelihood of achieving positive resolutions to challenging situations.Make a ConnectionShake hands and introduce yourself. An introduction will add a personal aspect to the situation that can alleviate some hostility or anger that might surround the interaction.Acknowledge concern and show understanding.Get engaged in solving the problem.Respond only in a positive manner to negative feedback.Ask for informationClarify the issue.Ask probing questions,gather information and clarify the issue.Show understanding of the problem.What can I do for you?Discover what the customer needs to be satisfied.SuggestOffer a solution not an excuse.Shift from the problem to the process for resolution.Offer a choice between several options.Involve the customer in determining the solution.Explain any limitations if there are any.Check for AgreementOffer the preferred option and ensure customer understanding and support of the agreement.Explain the next course of action.Take Action and DeliverProduce the agreed upon solution.Look for ways to provide a meaningful extra touch and turn a poor memory into a positive one.EvaluateHow could this situation have been avoided?How could it have been handled better?What skills can be trained as a result of this interaction?Reconnec
20% of readers want to see more information. Can you see why you need a website?
81% of readers make contact with the advertising business.
34% will contact a company they had never contacted before. How good are you at handling first contacts? Is your receptionist a minimum-wage bimbo from the bottom of the unemployment scum barrel or a true professional with the necessary communications skills? Also, I sincerely hope that you have something better than a "corporate voice mail labyrinth".
42% of people will contact two or more businesses. Remember the receptionist syndrome. Your receptionist brings you business. I don't care how good of a lawyer, engineer or gravedigger you are. Everything hinges on your receptionist. So, start appreciating and paying her properly. Believe it or not, she carries major "bankrupting power" over your business.
For readers with both small and large directories in their homes, 38% will use the small book, 62% will use the large book, and 8% will reference multiple books. Maybe the lower cost of the small, local book is a good deal after all. There are over 4200 active headings in the yellow pages, and YP can create your own heading for you if needed. So, let's look at...
Ten Typical Yellow Pages Mistakes and They Can Be Avoided
1. Failing to do the necessary pre-placement planning: Typically when do business owners plan their Yellow Pages ads? Actually never, until they get a call from the YP rep, and they hand over their money to the rep and say they blindly trust the Yellow Pages' ad specialists to create the ad. Keep something in mind. The Yellow Pages doesn't care whether or not you make any business from your ad. With this in mind, what is the logic for the YP company to hire expensive ad specialists? Increasing overhead costs? No.
They will create an ad that looks exactly the same as all your competitors', so but your chance of being selected when potential buyers peruse your category is not much. So, what to include in your pre-placement planning?
Some are... What results do you want to achieve from your ad?
What is your Most Wanted Action? (Action you want your prospects to take?
What proportion of your business do you expect to come from YP?
Who is your target market?
What is your biggest primary and secondary benefit?
Do you have an offer both for "Ready to Buy" prospects and for prospects who are looking for more information?
Which directories do you put your ad in?
2. Imitating the competition: Most YP advertisers are like teenagers: In their efforts of looking unique, they look exa
People need to know why they are being asked to change, and the earlier they understand the reason, the more time they have to get prepared. In most organizations we “Braille the culture,” as one professional trend spotter, Faith Popcorn, put it. We run our fingertips along trend bumps as they speed by and try to “read” where we’re going. One of the most vital roles of leadership is to anticipate the corporation’s future and its place in the global arena, and then to formulate strategies for surmounting challenges that have not yet manifested.But leaders can’t succeed alone. Employees, too, should be scanning the business environment. Everyone in the organization should have a realistic appreciation of the precursors of organizational transformation – the impact of globalization, market fluctuations, technological innovations, societal and demographic changes in the customer base, new offerings by competitors, new government and regulatory decisions.Here are some ways that organizations are “setting the stage” for change:1) Direct experience More and more leaders are recognizing the need to design a workplace event that enables people to experience for themselves the need for change. When Rubbermaid held a product fair in its headquarters town, it displayed storage bins, kitchen items and other plastic housewares, each with a label that detailed what it cost to make and what it sold for. Sounds like a run-of-the-mill corporate event except for two things: the fair was open only to Rubbermaid employees and the products were not Rubbermaid’s, but its competitors’. Rubbermaid wanted its workers to see for themselves what they were competing against.2) Outside expertise The commercial organizations of Bayer used an “IMS year in review” presentation to in orde
1. Failing to do the necessary pre-placement planning: Typically when do business owners plan their Yellow Pages ads? Actually never, until they get a call from the YP rep, and they hand over their money to the rep and say they blindly trust the Yellow Pages' ad specialists to create the ad. Keep something in mind. The Yellow Pages doesn't care whether or not you make any business from your ad. With this in mind, what is the logic for the YP company to hire expensive ad specialists? Increasing overhead costs? No.
They will create an ad that looks exactly the same as all your competitors', so but your chance of being selected when potential buyers peruse your category is not much. So, what to include in your pre-placement planning?
Some are... What results do you want to achieve from your ad?
What is your Most Wanted Action? (Action you want your prospects to take?
What proportion of your business do you expect to come from YP?
Who is your target market?
What is your biggest primary and secondary benefit?
Do you have an offer both for "Ready to Buy" prospects and for prospects who are looking for more information?
Which directories do you put your ad in?
2. Imitating the competition: Most YP advertisers are like teenagers: In their efforts of looking unique, they look exactly the same. Again, what happens when a business' YP ad comes up for renewal? The ad must be in within ten minutes, so the job gets dumped on a people who have never done advertising in their lives. They look up YP, copy one of the competitors' ads and place them. And retarded business owners all over the world fork out their hard-earned money for some braindead "me too" type ads. Here are the typical ways businesses imitate each other:
The headline is replaced with the company name or logo.
Benefits are replaced with product description. Hint: If you sell drills, advertise amazing holes, not drills. If you are a realtor, advertise quality of life not houses.
Hours of business and location
Company's slogan or mission
"We take all credit cards"
And the normal reaction to all this rubbish is: "So what!?"
3. Failing to place ads under multiple categories: Most YP advertisers try to save money by placing their ads into one category only. The poor creatures spend a small fortune on their ads, but refuse to spend the extra few dollars to make sure they get maximum results.
4. Writing an ad that pleases you, while ignoring the buyer's self-interest: Most ads are "me" based: "Look what I want to sell you". They don't care about what buyers want to buy. Which only proves that so many companies totally don't understand their target markets and what they want. Just think of the hole and drill example. Don't get me wrong. I don't suggest extensive and expensive market research, but there are some cost-effective ways of testing the marketplace.
Just think about it. If you want to jump into the swimming pool, you just have to check it for water and temperature, and you are ready to swim at your heart's content. But you don't need to hire a team of experts to launch a full-blown research project on swimming pools, the science of concrete pouring and fluid dynamics. That's retarded but that what most companies do under the aegis of market research. Hint: How many people do you know who "research" their spouses before marrying them?
Don't waste your time and money researching the market. You will never get the true answers to your research. Instead of research, just keep testing the market. Then you find the true answer. You see Edison didn't research the light bulb. He tested his ideas over and over again, and then it worked out.
Before you place your YP, use some small ads in the local paper, or even better, use Google AdWords. Google can be your most trusted friend when it comes to testing your headlines and call for action.
5. Failing to consider the five main components of the ad.
1) A kick-butt compelling headline: The headline is the ad for the ad. The headline alone can increase or reduce response rate by as much as 2100%. When you write your ad, you have to spend at least 80% of your time on the headline.
2) Attractive benefits: No one cares what kind of cleaning agents you use in your carpet cleaning business. To succeed, you must promote cleanliness. Without this, even if your headline catches their attention, the ad itself fails to keep their interest.
3) A sexy offer: After the benefits, you must offer a very specific offer. Personally I prefer to direct YP reader to the website where a free Special Report or some other free offer waits for them. But they have to put in their names and email addresses. This approach has never failed.
4) Call for action: This is a huge problem. Most ads are lame and don't ask readers to take any kind of action. Make sure you ask for a very specific action. Remember, your ad's job is to generate sales leads and sales. If your ad doesn't generate new business, it is dead, and you have just lost your money.
5) Appropriate contact information: Put in all the appropriate contact points where you can be reached.
6. Failing to position your company as a trusted resource: You have two options here: Either you compete with other advertisers by peddling your stuff, or position yourself as helpful resource and offer relevant information to aid your buyer's decision. Yes, most prospects who look you up in YP are "Ready to Buy" buyers, but it is still a nice and unique touch to offer some relevant information - and I am not talking about brochures or this kind of nonsense. I mean some valuable stuff, like a Special Report or Consumer's Guide. Imagine. Every ad in your section is screaming, "Give me your money". But you say, "We have valuable information for you that can save you time or money. For a free report, "Ten Deadly Mistakes Accountants Make When Handling Their Own Taxes" call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx or visit our website at www.xxxx.com." Now this is an attractive proposition.
With this approach your ad stands out like a trombonist in a heavy metal band. You make your ad different. You create a predisposition towards your company. You position yourself as the expert of the category. It makes you unique for you alone are doing it.
7. Failing to use other lead generation channels: The biggest problem is that you peg your future on one single channel of lead generation. It is like a one-legged table. While standing, it is fine, but when it collapses, then years and years of hard work can go down the toilet.
In order to get a steady stream of qualified sales leads, you need at least four channels of lead generation. One is your YP ad, but you need more, and I suggest that one channel is a properly structured website. I say properly structure bec
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.hubyou.info/article/28461/hubyou-Are-You-Making-These-Nine-Fatal-Mistakes-in-Your-Yellow-Pages-Ads.html">Are You Making These Nine Fatal Mistakes in Your Yellow Pages Ads?</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.hubyou.info/article/28461/hubyou-Are-You-Making-These-Nine-Fatal-Mistakes-in-Your-Yellow-Pages-Ads.html]Are You Making These Nine Fatal Mistakes in Your Yellow Pages Ads?[/url]
Related Articles:
Forget Culture, Change Behaviours
What Do You Do When Change Happens?
Marketing - The Never Ending Story
Bookmark it:
|