Guys, I have a carpet and upholstery cleaning service that Ive been doing part time for a couple of years. Well in August I applied for an SBA loan to buy equipment to start full time ( since then Ive added power washing). I went through the company that supplies my carpet cleaning equipment to advertise in the Yellow Pages. They have been using this particular Yellow Pages company for many years so I trusted them. I basically explained where I lived and asked the lady from the Yellow Page ad company what I needed and she talked me into a quarter page add which has produced only 3 calls since November of 99. This advertising has crippled my business, BAD. I'm writing to let you guys know that big ads mean NOTHING! I was duped by a good saleswoman. Please take my advice before placing a large ad. If I can recover the losses (IF) I'll be thankful.
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- Thread starter Kevin
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L
LightningClean
Guest
Kevin,
Let me explain my ideas on yellow page ads. Are they necessary? YES Should you run a quarter page ad? NO! Why? Just a waste of money. Most ads in the yellow pages as just a waste, so run small ads. Why are they good? Because people that get a flyer or meet you going door to door or even see your ad in a newpaper do one thing. They counter referance you with eveything, yellow pages, BBB and the Chamber of Commerce just to name a few. Advertising in any amount should be done small! Meet and Greet/Word of mouth are the best. That yellow page ad aids you when you meet someone and they think to themselves I wonder how long he has been around and they go and referance the yellow pages. Yellow pages are a waste unless they are small.
Another reason small ads in the yellow pages, alot of your customers in this biz are older. Why? Because they cant do this hard of work anymore, so if they go to the yellow pages and see a BIG ad they think this guy must charge a TON to run that ad.
Sorry you got scammed, but they are good and if you dont know you'll pay. Good luck, your in good hands here, at least you have honest help.
Rob
Let me explain my ideas on yellow page ads. Are they necessary? YES Should you run a quarter page ad? NO! Why? Just a waste of money. Most ads in the yellow pages as just a waste, so run small ads. Why are they good? Because people that get a flyer or meet you going door to door or even see your ad in a newpaper do one thing. They counter referance you with eveything, yellow pages, BBB and the Chamber of Commerce just to name a few. Advertising in any amount should be done small! Meet and Greet/Word of mouth are the best. That yellow page ad aids you when you meet someone and they think to themselves I wonder how long he has been around and they go and referance the yellow pages. Yellow pages are a waste unless they are small.
Another reason small ads in the yellow pages, alot of your customers in this biz are older. Why? Because they cant do this hard of work anymore, so if they go to the yellow pages and see a BIG ad they think this guy must charge a TON to run that ad.
Sorry you got scammed, but they are good and if you dont know you'll pay. Good luck, your in good hands here, at least you have honest help.
Rob
Brett Bennett
New Member
Kevin
Yp ads are good if they are designed to get results. Unfortunately you got shafted by your salesperson. Its been my experiance that listening to you r yp rep just costs you money. They really don't know aything about mkting. I use a quarter page ad that has a consumer warning in it. Why it draws attention to my ad beczause it is different. SO i get a large response from it. And after they listen to my consumer awareness line (which tells them what t avoid when chosing a cleaner and what to ask when talking to a cleaner. Because I offered this info free to them they feel obligated to use my company for their cleaning. This is my 2 cents worth and it has worked well for my window & carpet cleaning business. I won't know until july wether it worked for pw. Have a great day
Brett
Yp ads are good if they are designed to get results. Unfortunately you got shafted by your salesperson. Its been my experiance that listening to you r yp rep just costs you money. They really don't know aything about mkting. I use a quarter page ad that has a consumer warning in it. Why it draws attention to my ad beczause it is different. SO i get a large response from it. And after they listen to my consumer awareness line (which tells them what t avoid when chosing a cleaner and what to ask when talking to a cleaner. Because I offered this info free to them they feel obligated to use my company for their cleaning. This is my 2 cents worth and it has worked well for my window & carpet cleaning business. I won't know until july wether it worked for pw. Have a great day
Brett
M
Mike@Everclear
Guest
I do very well with yellow page ads, however, I do not use display ads. Instead, I use that money to advertise in multiple phone books (different areas).
I also use RCF phone numbers. RCF stands for Remote Call Forwarding. I have phone numbers based in other towns, so people think you are a local business, when in reality, I live 15 miles away. The calls get forwarded automatically to my main number. Much better then an 800 number, because it makes the customer believe that you are local, which is very very important to alot of people.
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Mike Hughes
Everclear
Souderton, PA
I also use RCF phone numbers. RCF stands for Remote Call Forwarding. I have phone numbers based in other towns, so people think you are a local business, when in reality, I live 15 miles away. The calls get forwarded automatically to my main number. Much better then an 800 number, because it makes the customer believe that you are local, which is very very important to alot of people.
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Mike Hughes
Everclear
Souderton, PA
Dave Stones
New Member
Kevin,
I have just this year started using yellow pages here in the UK, and so far my advertising with them has exceded my expectations, the add has more than paid for itself so far, and its in among 68 other Carpet Cleaning adds but one tip to use, have only a small Y/P add mine is about 1/12 of a page, and Its printed on a white background.
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Dave Stones
Care-Clean
http://www.careclean.inuk.com
I have just this year started using yellow pages here in the UK, and so far my advertising with them has exceded my expectations, the add has more than paid for itself so far, and its in among 68 other Carpet Cleaning adds but one tip to use, have only a small Y/P add mine is about 1/12 of a page, and Its printed on a white background.
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Dave Stones
Care-Clean
http://www.careclean.inuk.com
JR Wood
New Member
I also have remote call forward and I'm in three phone books with 2 more coming out in
june...so far two ads have paid for themselves this year.At this time I have 5
different phone #,an 800 #,Oh yeah I just got a Cell Phone...but I just use it to call my voice mail and return calls.All have a separate voice mail box so I can keep track of my calls.The trick is wording your ad.I also place one line ads ($5.75 per month)all
over the place.Painting Contractors,Asphalt Maintenance,Gutter Cleaning,Snow Plowing.I find everyone of these ads a valuable part of my biz.
june...so far two ads have paid for themselves this year.At this time I have 5
different phone #,an 800 #,Oh yeah I just got a Cell Phone...but I just use it to call my voice mail and return calls.All have a separate voice mail box so I can keep track of my calls.The trick is wording your ad.I also place one line ads ($5.75 per month)all
over the place.Painting Contractors,Asphalt Maintenance,Gutter Cleaning,Snow Plowing.I find everyone of these ads a valuable part of my biz.
Brett, Could you give us more info as to that consumer line? That is wonderful and creative marketing. I like it !!!DAVE
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(below was written by Brett)
And after they listen to my consumer awareness line (which tells them what t avoid when chosing a cleaner and what to ask when talking to a cleaner. Because I offered this info free to them they feel obligated to use my company for their cleaning
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(below was written by Brett)
And after they listen to my consumer awareness line (which tells them what t avoid when chosing a cleaner and what to ask when talking to a cleaner. Because I offered this info free to them they feel obligated to use my company for their cleaning