Carpet and Floor Cleaning Industry Chat Forum : yellow book does it work??/?

yellow book does it work??/? : Nope... They are folding like...

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:17:40 +0000

Author: Lars
Subject: 5880
Posted: 05/May/2012 at 11:17pm

Nope... They are folding like a lawn chair. Run away

yellow book does it work??/? : One of the biggest mistakes we...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:50:33 +0000

Author: Mrs. Speedy
Subject: 5880
Posted: 26/April/2012 at 9:50am

One of the biggest mistakes we ever made was investing in a fullpage spread on the second page of "Carpet Cleaning." We paid $5,000 for one year at that spot when we first rolled out our business. We would have paid $12,000 but we took over the company that was there so just needed to pay the renewal fee (rolling eyes). We only received four calls that year. No way to get your money back. No the yellowpages is for 24 hour emergency carpet care.

Now we have a free ad, and receive more calls. Go Figure. Still haven't made the 5k back and probably never will.

yellow book does it work??/? : YP CALLS ME EVERY YEAR .....

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:26:35 +0000

Author: Chicago_carpet_king
Subject: 5880
Posted: 03/January/2012 at 10:26am

YP CALLS ME EVERY YEAR .. I was with them for 15 years and gave them a lot of money.. Now every year they call me with this amazing deal .. I always turn it down never made my money back ..maybe 1 year I did .. When I stopped using them was for a reason they said i was getting a exclusive offer for being a 10 year customer and found out they were doing it with every carpet cleaner in my area..lets see I live in the chicago area carpet cleaners in my area atleast a 100 in a 20 mile range times 3500 a year ... I need to be in the advertising business!!!

yellow book does it work??/? : But we can't deny...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:27:14 +0000

Author: anangie
Subject: 5880
Posted: 01/January/2012 at 5:27am

But we can't deny the fact that yellow pages can help a lot in many kinds of business such as the carpet cleaning business and others.

yellow book does it work??/? : swab wrote:3. You are not...

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:09:11 +0000

Author: Soil Lint Green
Subject: 5880
Posted: 20/September/2009 at 10:09pm

swab wrote:

3. You are not targeting the neighborhoods or demographics that you really want for customers.

That is the reason for not doing yellow pages, newspapers, radio and TV. I agree that direct mail works but any tool or method that gets your message in front of your preferred target market works.

We see people on this board all the time trying to learn how to clean. I like you am in the business of marketing a fiber treatment service. I don't have time to clean carpets and take money out of the mouths of families relying on me to keep their breadwinners employed.

The shotgun approach to sales and marketing worked ONCE. Now, both marketing and sales are treated as a science. Anyone entering this business who has neither successful sales experience or a marketing degree is just a target for equipment vendors.

Edited by Soil Lint Green - 20/September/2009 at 10:09pm

yellow book does it work??/? : I know this is late, but I think...

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:06:46 +0000

Author: swab
Subject: 5880
Posted: 09/September/2009 at 11:06pm

I know this is late, but I think its a good topic. I agree with Steam Pro. This is the first year that I will not be listing my company in any phone books at all. There are a reasons I am doing this.

1. Yellow pages are too expensive and you are lucky if you get your money back

2. You are in a book with all of your competitors and most people that call from this are shopping around for price and dont care about value

3. You are not targeting the neighborhoods or demographics that you really want for customers.

Save your money and do direct mail.

yellow book does it work??/? : thanks steampro any other advice?...

Sun, 10 May 2009 05:43:17 +0000

Author: leuj20
Subject: 5880
Posted: 10/May/2009 at 5:43am

thanks steampro any other advice?

yellow book does it work??/? : Advertising in the yellow pages...

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:46:15 +0000

Author: SteamProNYC
Subject: 5880
Posted: 28/April/2009 at 1:46am

Advertising in the yellow pages is a big no no. It barely covers it's cost. If you are interested for branding purposes go for it but expect a very low profit margin. I'll tell you how to use yellowpages.com to make money. Google uses yellowpages.com, yp.com and all those other local online directories with it's Google Local feature. It's free and it produces.

If you already rank well for your small neighborhood on Google Local, try to go for a larger radius. I'm located in Woodside NY. I show up as #1 for Carpet cleaning Woodside in Google Local. I'd get better results with Queens and even better results with New York, NY. I'm working on this and so should you. That's where the money is. It just takes a bit of work.

yellow book does it work??/? : you are right, I've never...

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:26:57 +0000

Author: leuj20
Subject: 5880
Posted: 28/April/2009 at 12:26am

you are right, I've never thought about it that way

yellow book does it work??/? : There's another way to phrase...

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:23:54 +0000

Author: njwoods
Subject: 5880
Posted: 27/April/2009 at 5:23pm

There's another way to phrase that question that should tell you the answer immediately.

Turn that question around on yourself and ask "have you" ever used the yellowbook to find a company that offers particular services? The answer is probably yes. Not that many people rely on the internet for that sort of thing as far as I can tell. Most phone books also have their listings online now.

I would think it's a bad idea not to advertise in the phone book personally.