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Yellow PagesCompare a Yellow Pages Ad
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| Content | There's very little you can say about your business in a tiny little rectangle. And don't even try to update your Yellow Pages content during the year! | Show off your local business to its best advantage. No size, color, or media limitations. Update anytime -- make special offers, let visitors know about new products or services, etc. |
| Visitor attention | Near zero -- eyes scanning Yellow Pages listings | Total -- once your prospective customer is on your site, you have 100% of his/her attention |
| Visitor mindset | Dubious, suspicious -- Yellow Pages is advertising. We've all had experiences with services that were downright dismal. Zero credibility. | Interested, open-to-buy, PREsold -- they found you through Google, feel smart, and read your excellent content, becoming PREsold upon you as an expert who shares. A Web site that provides as much business information as your prospect needs, along with friendly/useful content, allows the prospective client to know and trust you. High credibility. |
| Exposure, traffic | Near-zero -- Yellow Pages ad may generate a few calls per week (per month)? | Substantial -- attract hundreds, even thousands, of targeted visitors per day, on an ongoing, ever-building basis. And, if you do it right (and you will), they will return to your site. Your e-zine also gives you the opportunity to reach your customers on a repeat basis. |
| Measurable | No -- do you have any idea how many exposures you get, or how many people call or visit due to your Yellow Pages ad? How can you measure ROI (Return on Investment)? | Yes -- you will know exactly how many visitors arrive, every day, every hour... and you will know everything about them. You know the Lifetime Value of a new customer (i.e., the amount of profit that a new customer will bring to your business over his/her lifetime of dealing with you). It makes it so easy to compare that against the cost of a Web site. |
| Build customer loyalty | N/A -- not applicable | Your own e-zine -- develop an increasing sense of loyalty with existing customers, as well as repeat business. You can reach them, free, whenever you want to. |
| Competitive advantage | Low -- everyone takes a Yellow Pages ad. That's why you did. Who gets the attention? The companies with the expensive BIG ads. EVERYWHERE. | High -- your Web site, properly done, can both build new local business and pull your competition's customers to you. |
| New revenue streams | No -- Yellow Pages just advertises that you have a business. | Yes -- a site builds content, which builds targeted visitors and establishes you as an authority in your field. This establishes the potential for multiple streams of income that can even surpass total income from your current local business. More on this in Diversify. |
| Open new markets | No -- Yellow Pages is a local medium. | Yes -- the Net is a global medium. More and more, it will replace large paper-bound directories as the way to find local businesses with local clientele. But obviously, it also opens up global potential. |
| Expandable search -- geography | No -- Yellow Pages is a local directory. And it's totally non-interactive. Users either find you... or not. If you did not buy a listing for a particular locale, they won't. | Yes -- suppose the local golf club is looking for a bag-piper in its local town. None? Look in the adjacent town(s). Still none? Look in the nearest mid-size city. Ah... There you are. Better still, a web site allows you to get found in that first town... even if your office is not located there. |
| Expandable search -- keywords | No -- you buy a listing for a single Yellow Pages category. If a user searches in a different-but-related category, s/he won't find you. For example, you sell and service sprinkler systems in your town? Your prospect is looking up "landscapers" -- s/he calls the landscaper who recommends a competitor. | Yes -- your prospect searches for "+landscapers +your-town" and finds you (because you created some content about landscaping), is PREsold by your site's excellent information, and calls YOU. |
| Cost | Expensive -- hundreds of dollars per year, per listing, per geographic area, per category, for each 4" x 2" Yellow Pages ad. | Inexpensive -- a site can cost less than a single 4" x 2" Yellow Pages ad, no limit on keywords (i.e., how prospects find you), geography, size, etc. No complicated packages, just one single yearly fee. |
Net Result?
1,000 Yellow Pages Ads Building Your Local Small Business
Family Business Experts Understands
Family Values and Business Systems
Return from Yellow Pages to
Local Business
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