Is advertising in the phone book doing you any good?
Starting at the beginning of this year I decided I would no longer be paying for advertising in any type of phone book. Is this a good idea or a really bad one?
Last year I was going through my advertising expenses and found that it was just astronomical and I wasn't getting my moneys worth with some of my advertising means.
I started to really keep strong tracking on where the phone callers, the e-mail information requests and my actual bookings were finding my business to get hold of me.
I was very surprised with some of the advertising means and not surprised with others at all.
The majority of my clients are, be it a wedding, corporate function, or private party either had a referral to me from a past client or had found me on the internet.
Most of my business is weddings and those clients are typically between the ages of nineteen and thirty years old. These clients grew up with computers and the internet. Many had a computer in their bedrooms since they were in the first grade and tend to use the internet for any and every aspect of their lives.
It is my feeling that the majority of people between the age of thirty and fifty are also very internet savvy and use this for their connection to the world. The great thing is now even those in their 50's, 60's and 70's have discovered the World Wide Web and are now using it for their everyday needs.
So when I got a call today from one of the five local phone books in my area asking me about renewing my "paid" advertising with them I had to decline. This is the second time in a few weeks that one of these phone book representatives have asked me to renew with their book. This was the second time I had to get into a debate with some young person over where my clients are finding me.
Spewing out statistics, telling me about my competition and their advertising and their general lack of listening to the customer (myself) has really gotten to me.
I know they are only doing their job, but when a client says "No Thank You" but the sales person continues to get louder and angrier it's just not worth it.
In my area there are five different phone books from five different companies that all make it sound like if your name and number isn't in their book the world will END! They all spew out statistics of customers who use the book and the sales that come from it. They all try to make you feel like a loser if you decide not to pay just to have your business name and phone number in the book.
By the time you add your second phone number and/or a web site listing, it can run you into the hundreds each and every month for each book.
When ever I answer my phone and get an immediate "What do you cost" I know that this person found me in a phone book. After speaking with them for a few moments I will advise them to see my web site for specific details on my pricing but when I give them a general starting figure they either begin swearing at me or just "HANG UP" on me. No thank yous, no I didn't think it would cost that much, no pleasantries - just verbal abuse and a quick slam.
So why was I paying over five hundred bucks a month for someone to call me names or to hang up on me? Good question!
Because a business like ours are led to believe that without advertising in the phone books no one will find your business and hire your service. Their sales people all try to trick you into believing that this is where all your business comes from and without it you will lose.
This tends to only be true if you are a low end; discount DJ who is charging little to nothing for your talents and skills or a newbie just starting out and can’t afford a web presence to begin with. So who is still shopping in the yellow pages…. People who can't afford the internet connection! If they can’t afford an internet connection then they definitely can’t afford a quality professional entertainer.
I love it when they say that it would only take one party a month to pay for this advertising and that's a great deal. What they don't understand is that I also have to do one party a month for other books, one party a month for web site advertising, one party a month for my mortgage and so on and so one and so on..... There just aren’t enough weekends in a month to afford all the advertising and business in general. You have to know where to stop, what works and what doesn't. For me and my business the phone books just don't work.
Think about it. When was the last time you opened a phone book? When the books are delivered to my home I automatically throw it into the recycle bin and forget about it.
I'm in my mid 40's and grew up with the phone book but it’s been years since I looked in one for any type of service.
When I first started my business there just wasn’t an internet and the phone book WAS the only way to advertise.
Today the use of the phone book has almost gone the way of the eight track tape and the cassette. Sure there are a few people in this world who are still only using eight tracks and cassettes but good luck finding them.
Even the largest publisher of phone books that are supplied to phone booths has recently sold off that portion of their business knowing that the numbers of people using phone booths and/or the phone book is disappearing fast.
If that wasn’t enough to show you that the phone book is disappearing, I read an article a few months back that stated a date (I believe it was 2012 or 2015) that there will no longer be any phone books published due to the lack of usage, the demise of the forests and the concern for the planets clean up of waste.
If you haven’t already noticed, all of these phone book publishers are now operating their own on line phone book and will charge you big bucks to place your business name, phone and e-mail in their listings. They know that the printed book will soon be gone like the dinosaur that it is.
Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions Exceptional Disc Jockey Entertainment
http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz