Best of the Book - Articles

Best of the Book

Best of the Book

Access to the Finest Companies in Your Yellow Pages!

5 Tips For Hot Yellow Pages Ads

By: Mike McDaniel

Yellow Pages advertising is one of the most popular forms of advertising in the country today. Almost every home in America (96.9%) and business has at least one copy of "the book".

Almost three out of five (58%) of all adults say they check the Yellow Pages for a phone number and/or address at least once per week, with 77% using the book monthly.

While the Yellow Pages are an excellent reference tool, they fare less well when considered as an advertising medium. People use the Yellow Pages to look for a familiar name. If your other advertising works, then fining you in the Yellow Pages should be a snap.

Remember, once the book is published, you can't change your ad until the next publish date.

Here BIG Mike's 5 Tips to make a Hot Yellow Pages ad

1 - Sell the benefits

Put a headline on your ad pushing benefits. Explain how the benefits will help your prospect fulfill their needs.

2 - Forget extra cost color

The only thing color has been proven to do in Yellow Pages advertising is increase the price you pay for the ad.

3 - Ask for the order

Writing "Call us now at xxx xxxx" will get more responses than if you simply listed you phone number.

4 - Write like you talk

Inject your personality into everything you write. No-one wants to read boring and stuffy legal-ease. Use short sentences and words. Use simple language Use the word ‘you’.

5 - Avoid Bragging

Don't boast "biggest and best". It turns people off, even if it is true. Being number one won't sell any product for you.

Remember, the Yellow Pages is generally a reference tool. People look for a name they recognize (or can't remember) or for a name given by a friend. Your ad should help them remember. The only other use of the Yellow Pages is to look for an emergency services. That's why you see lots of tow truck ads and no ads from Sears. Design your ad accordingly

recommends http://SmallBusinessAdvertisingArticles.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Articles of the Week

What Color Is Your Yellow Pages Ad?

By: Mike McDaniel

In the beginning, Yellow Pages ads were, well, yellow. With black type. Then, in an effort to jump start sales, the clever people who invented Yellow Pages in 1886, the Reuben H. Donnelly Corporation, figured an inexpensive way to add red to the ads. Red borders, red type. Higher rates.

With the monopoly broken all over the country there are now Yellow Books, Yellow Pages, McLeodUSA Books and a whole bunch of

smaller start ups. Some use new printing techniques making 4-color ads available, in some books. The Yellow Book, the fastest growing independent, does not have any color as a selling point (cheaper). All black, like the old days.

Does color work? Who's to say. The research by the yellow pages people says, yes, worth the money. Competitive media can show

numbers that contradict those claims.

What is boils down to is the same question you have to ask about all of your advertising. Do you have a plan and is this part of it. McDonald's does not have an ad in the Yellow Pages. People just don't let their fingers to the walking to Mickey Dees. Does your business belong in the Yellow Pages?

Everyone with a business telephone is listed in there for free, alphabetically. Maybe that is enough. Research shows the Yellow Pages are used primarily as a reference tool.

The majority of Yellow Pages use is because people have an immediate problem and need to fix it. The fattest part of the book is where the ads are for emergency services, like plumbers.

Let's face it, if you have a plumbing project on the horizon (maybe a new bathroom), you do a lot of looking and talking and get a lot of referrals, you don't go to the yellow pages and throw a dart. On the other hand, if an emergency in your home forces you to shut off the water to save the carpet, the water in the tanks is good for only one flush. You're gonna need help, quick. NOW you go to the yellow pages because:

A: you have no idea what plumber to call and you look at the ads and make a decision. In this case the big colorful ad might suggest expensive service, so you look for someone smaller or close by.

B: you can't remember the name of the plumber Aunt Helen said to call next time and maybe the book will jog a response. Color is again, not a factor, nor is size.

If you are plumber, consider the reason people will look for your ad. Maybe you don't need color or size, but an attention grabbing headline "We will show up on time, smell good and fix your leak or we pay you!" Got your attention? You bet.

Yellow Pages advertising decisions should be based on overall adverting plan and selling your benefits. What can you do for them? Properly done, you don't need size or color to pull it off.

Take your own survey to see which of the three or four books in your community most people use and spend your bucks there. No

need to buy them all. Spend the dough you save on classy graphics for your plumber's truck.

Advertising Expert. Get BIG Mike's free newsletter for small

business at http://tinyurl.com/q27zv Find hundreds small

business articles at http://SmallBusinessAdvertisingArticles.com

Should you put color in your Yellow Page ad? Read the following informative article!

How To Multiply The Response To Your Yellow Pages Ad

By Tom St Louis

If you think that advertising in the Yellow Pages is not right for you, you may be right. But before you write off the Yellow Pages, you should do a bit of research into how many responses your heading receives every year. You might be surprised. You might find a great opportunity that a lot of your competitors are missing out on.

If you DO advertise in the Yellow Pages, there are a few things you need to know. First of all, you should understand the nature of the beast, which may come as a surprise.

The Yellow Pages directories are a “marketing orphan”. They are unloved, unglamorous, unsexy. Most marketing experts know next

to nothing about how to use them. But I’ve seen many very profitable businesses derive virtually all their business from one good ad run in many directories.

But, and this is extremely important, less than 1% of Yellow Pages advertisers know what an effective ad is. The bad rap the Yellow Pages has is not earned. If you know how to use them, the Yellow Pages can be incredible!

Most advertisers have the vague notion that they want a response. That’s logical. “We want the phone to ring!” they say. But the way they go about it leaves a lot to be desired.

Exposed: The #1 Cardinal Sin of Print Advertising

The biggest mistake neophyte advertisers make is to assume that the theme of their ad should be: “Who we are, what we do, and

how to reach us”. The second biggest error is not having a great headline. Here’s a clue: Your name and logo are not a headline. They are the least important things in your ad—until a person wants to call you and knows exactly why. At that moment, and not before, your company name and number become important.

The “name, rank and serial number” approach is wrong for any print ad, but especially the Yellow Pages, which is a “magic moment” medium. There is no other medium where people in need go to find an instant solution, ready to take buying action right away. If you could but understand the mindset of your prospect in their moment of need, you would dominate your heading year after year.

The Ultimate Secret To Acing The Yellow Pages

Now let me share with you a powerful secret that very few people in the marketing business understand. You may not believe it at first, but if you take it to heart, this secret could revolutionize your Yellow Pages response forever—and the rest of your direct response print ads too!

Here’s the secret: the Yellow Pages Is NOT A Visual Medium! (Huh?) Yes, really, no kidding.

But how can that be? Aren’t all ads supposed to look great and employ a lot of “white space”? Sorry to break it to you, but those are two of the big lies that agencies and graphic artists have been perpetuating for years, which have been consistently disproved by measuring response.

The Yellow Pages may be full of colour and pictures and maps and words. And yes, you have to LOOK at the page to read it, but

it is not a visual medium. Let me offer you an analogy to explain:

Imagine going to a fancy restaurant and ordering supper. The waiter brings your order along with a picture of a beautiful meal, which looks even better than the one, you ordered. Which one would you want to eat?

The incorrect assumption everyone makes is that appearance counts for more than substance in the Yellow Pages. Anybody who tells you this does not understand the state of mind of your Yellow Pages prospect in need. The only time a prospect looks at your ad is when they are in dire need and ready to take action. They are not looking for pretty pictures.

With nothing but pretty pictures to choose from, your prospect will have to pick one. But, when there’s one good information ad, and several pretty pictures, the information ad will win, hands down, every time.

How To Double The Response To Your Yellow Pages Ad

You will double your response -- EASILY -- if you turn your ad into an information piece, or “advertorial”. Why? Because the

person who is in distress wants information—all the credible information they can get their hands on. And, even more than that, you will stick out like a sore thumb. Your ad will jump off the page and it will look like an information piece, not a sales pitch. Everyone else is saying, “I’m the best!” and you are giving them precisely the information they crave. Who do you think they’ll want to talk to?

I have seen information ads multiply the response of image ads in the Yellow Pages on numerous occasions. In every case, the

directory rep tried to talk my client out of running the ad. Don’t listen to them! Your directory sales rep is in the space selling business, not in the direct response business.

And one more thing: once you run your ad, try to resist the temptation to plaster the little “Let Your Fingers Do The Walking Stickers” on your vehicles and in your store window. Did you ever stop to think how foolish it is to invite your prospects and customers to go where your competitors are advertising?

About the Author: Ultimate yellow pages ad - Increase your yellow pages response by up 600%, glancing your yellow pages ad and provide you Free report for your ad on yellow pages or yellow pages directory. Tom St. Louis is a marketing strategist, copywriter and president of Zerald Communications of Toronto.

For a free critique of your Yellow Pages or print ad, go to

WWW.UltimateYellowPagesAd.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

If you are serious about marketing your business, the article below is a must read!

The articles below are written by experts in the marketing industry. This is information that people in the industry do not necessarily want you to know as a business owner. This is inside information from experts. If you own a business, I hope you will take the time and read these articles. They will save you a lot of time, and hopefully help you prosper. After you become informed more about the Yellow Page industry, I hope you will contact us, and allow us to show you how we can help you effectively market your business through Best of the Book.

-Jim Louis

If you are interested in submiting an article to Best of the Book, you can do so by emailing it to us @ Jim@BestoftheBook.com