A half day seminar for business owners, "Winning the Yellow Pages War," will be presented at 330 S. Whitney Way, Suite 201, Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday, 6/30/09, from 8:30am-noon and from 5:30-9:00pm;
Marketing consultant Vicky Jones says that this is the time of year when the telephone directory sales reps start knocking on doors and locking up advertising contracts for the coming year. ’Winning the Yellow Pages War’ will help business owners ask their reps the right questions and make good decisions regarding directory advertising and listings.
The seminar will cover:
-- Why most yellow pages ads fail
-- What people look for in the yellow pages
-- How to decide if you really need the yellow pages
-- How to avoid the biggest mistakes yellow pages advertisers make
-- How to choose the right directory for your business
-- How to create yellow pages ads that generate more calls
-- How to get ready to talk with your yellow pages rep
The seminar will also provide practical, hands-on exercises to help participants determine the role that directory listings should play in their businesses’ marketing plans, the essential elements of a strong directory ad, and tips for tracking results.
Jones says she developed the seminar because there is much at stake when a business owner considers purchasing a listing in the yellow pages of a telephone directory. For many, it is the biggest advertising investment they will make all year, and once they’ve made the commitment, there’s no turning back. Unlike other media, which allow the advertiser to make changes to an ad or withdraw it if it’s not working, directories are published on an annual cycle, and the advertiser is billed every month for a year, regardless of whether an ad is producing the desired results, business has fallen off, or he/she has run into cash flow problems.
Bob Adams of Adams Media tells the story of a service business owner who had to close his doors because he couldn’t afford the monthly bill for his Yellow Pages advertising. "This may be an extreme case," says Adams, " But Yellow Pages advertising salespeople are among the best in the industry and among the best paid, and they convince many small business people to buy larger Yellow Pages ad space than they should." (Source: BusinessTown.com)
Jones says she has heard similar horror stories from her own clients, but her concern is not only that business owners often buy larger ads than they can afford. "The most expensive kind of directory ads are the ones that don’t work," she says. "Business owners deserve good advice, not only about size, but also about headlines, design, page placement, and content that differentiates their businesses from the competitors whose ads appear alongside theirs. And they need good counsel regarding whether directory advertising is even the best medium for them – advice from someone who isn’t in the yellow pages business."
