How much do you spend with Yellow Pages? [Archive]

MK Printing

22-01-2007, 03:07 PM

Hello peeps

I have been doing some work with DJs and entertainers recently and I was astonished at how much they spend with Yellow Pages and the amount of work it generates.

One company I worked with recently (carpet cleaning) said that when they worked out how much it actually cost them to place a large adverts (on the advice of the sales agent) they it would have worked out cheaper to go to each person who booked a job, done the work for free and given them £250!

I know that advertising is expensive especially things like Yellow Pages, but I had no idea how much it actually cost to place adverts there. One guy who is running his own mobile disco, well setting it up, was quoted about £250 a month and the advert is only credit card size.

The other afternoon I looked through my own phone book at the local DJ adverts and thought I would call a couple to see how they answered etc. I called 10 people, 7 didn't answer or went to answer machine, 2 were answered with "hello" and had to go and get someone to take the call, and 1 answered the phone in the company name. When you are paying hundreds of pounds for advertising you think people would answer the phone! If not they simply keep on dialing numbers until someone does answer.

So how much are you paying for Yellow Pages and is it worth it? How many calls does it generate, how many convert, how much does it cost you per lead and how much per sale?

Matt

Danno13

22-01-2007, 03:29 PM

One guy who is running his own mobile disco, well setting it up, was quoted about £250 a month and the advert is only credit card size.

That must have been a full colour ad with design etc. Its not usually anywhere near that expensive. At 45mm add is around £200 inc.VAT for the year.. but varies between books.

At the moment i just have a free line in my local book, but looking at going in other books close by. They do deals on going in books next to each other.. i.e. Gloucester and Swindon - £134 (inc.VAT) a year for a 15mm add that has company name, address, phone numbers and an extra line for whatever you like.

So that only has to bring in a couple of gigs to be in profit, based on £200 a gig and 50% profit.

Vectis

22-01-2007, 04:37 PM

GrahamH

22-01-2007, 05:19 PM

I took out a yellow pages ad this year and it cost me about £340. Saying that i have had quite a lot of enquiries from the ad with about 75% convertion rate to confirmed bookings. So for me its paid for itself, but have to admit i was a little sceptical to start with.

soundtracker

22-01-2007, 05:25 PM

I've gone back to a basic listing after 12 months of "how much "calls!

A1DL

22-01-2007, 05:40 PM

for years we spend circa £20k per annum with YP, however as the paper directories have become less and less effective at generating new business, reduced this to under half that figure in 2006

I would love to know what businesses YP base their own advertising campaign on, claiming that every £1 spent on YP advertising generates £25 of new business. Within the "Discos-Mobile" classification, we have found that statement to be very wide of the mark.

CRAZY K

22-01-2007, 06:32 PM

Big fat zilch.

Free listing? Of course.

YP started losing out to the internet about 3 or 4 years ago. Used to get loads of calls from YP, but when that dropped to hardly any I did away with the paid ads.

I go with that--the net is the way forwards for me--cancelled my YP recently.

Even the time wasters dont ring anymore:D

At least my genuine customers wont have their calls blocked by YP time wasters in future:D

Re the comment below--the reason is simple--majority of Discos are not full time---unless you know differently?

-----------
The other afternoon I looked through my own phone book at the local DJ adverts and thought I would call a couple to see how they answered etc. I called 10 people, 7 didn't answer or went to answer machine, 2 were answered with "hello" and had to go and get someone to take the call, and 1 answered the phone in the company name. When you are paying hundreds of pounds for advertising you think people would answer the phone! If not they simply keep on dialing numbers until someone does answer.
-----------

Is there a sales idea coming from the original post to get more business then? AH JUST SPOTTED IT---Flyers dont work for my business:(

CRAZY K

pulsemobiledisco

22-01-2007, 06:50 PM

After being on 118 247, www.yell.com and in yellow pages last year, it was a very very expensive mistake to make. I only had a few bookings convert and they did not cover the cost of the ads. Most the enquires were 'How much for yer disco mate' followed by 'HOW MUCH' or 'I can get one much cheaper than that'.

The cheeky gits at yell sent me an invoice for my renewal last week, soon found them up to cancel it, it was nearly £600!

Get all my work through my website, now it is SEO'd properly it gets decent placement in the search engines and seems to attract a better class of client than yellow pages did, and who are willing to pay proper money.

Sam

Shaun

22-01-2007, 07:35 PM

I only have a free listing with YP. I can't see me ever paying more than that :)

CRAZY K

22-01-2007, 08:57 PM

:eek: :eek:
I go with that--the net is the way forwards for me--cancelled my YP recently.

Even the time wasters dont ring anymore:D

At least my genuine customers wont have their calls blocked by YP time wasters in future:D

Re the comment below--the reason is simple--majority of Discos are not full time---unless you know differently?

-----------
The other afternoon I looked through my own phone book at the local DJ adverts and thought I would call a couple to see how they answered etc. I called 10 people, 7 didn't answer or went to answer machine, 2 were answered with "hello" and had to go and get someone to take the call, and 1 answered the phone in the company name. When you are paying hundreds of pounds for advertising you think people would answer the phone! If not they simply keep on dialing numbers until someone does answer.
-----------

Is there a sales idea coming from the original post to get more business then? AH JUST SPOTTED IT---Flyers dont work for my business:(

CRAZY K

IT JUST HAPPENED AGAIN

YP customer books a Live band through me and my contacts --then cancels
due to unforseen circumstances---yeah right--cheaper quote

Thank goodness I cancelled the ad--this is such a waste of valuable time.:(

CRAZY K

pulsemobiledisco

22-01-2007, 10:06 PM

I only have a free listing with YP. I can't see me ever paying more than that :)

Not even bothering with a free listing anymore, because the sales rep told me that they have to dislay my address on a free listing and the chepaest custom ad with no address was £150.

electricnite

23-01-2007, 07:40 AM

£598 + vat and as the quote above the words "how much" are becoming a bit to frequent so i will not be re newing ad next year. got my web, my business cards etc etc etc you don't need people ringing thru ads and expecting a disco for £100 -idiots !!!!!!!!!!

Dragonfly

23-01-2007, 08:41 AM

:eek: :eek:

IT JUST HAPPENED AGAIN

YP customer books a Live band through me and my contacts --then cancels
due to unforseen circumstances---yeah right--cheaper quote

Thank goodness I cancelled the ad--this is such a waste of valuable time.:(

CRAZY K

crazy ive had this 3 or 4 times now they book are really interested and impressed by what you tell them send out a booking form etc only to be called back a day later "erm ..... weve decided to cancel the party" "Aunt mable died so we arent doing it anymore" "weve had a change of circumstance"

someone suggested taking deposits over the phone via credit card etc .... not sure if this could work?

very strange situation im in been quoting the same for about 5 months now with no where near the success of last year £20 more on the price ......... had 2 enquiries via email yesterday thought ill just see what happens .... quoted the old price both phoned and booked within 5 mins of the email.....

Its £20????????????????????????????????????????

yp isnt worth it at all im cancelling mine was talked into a large ad this year no bookings yet think if you are a £100 disco and fair play to you then yp is the hunting ground for you.

Vectis

23-01-2007, 08:48 AM

Not even bothering with a free listing anymore, because the sales rep told me that they have to dislay my address on a free listing and the chepaest custom ad with no address was £150.

Tip: They don't check the address if you fill in the free listing form online... ;) A computer program checks its validity but it needn't be yours!!

MK Printing

23-01-2007, 09:42 AM

It seems that Yellow Pages in not a favourite among you here. I understand why, having people calling up just asking for prices is annoying and they tend to be low end customers. I spoke to one DJ recently who said the only reason he has a Yellow Pages advert is so his customers know where to find him! If your customers don't know your number you do not want to be sending them to the one place where all your competitors are listed do you.

There really are so many other ways to market and advertise that don't cost much money and generate better customers. At MK Printing over 90% of our orders are placed by repeat or referred customers, this makes working with them easy and we don't have to do things like price matching. Instead of being the cheapest printer we instead educate our customers on what we do and how to get the best from the products.

When you are the cheapest supplier of anything then you get low cost customers. They are simply interested in price and will go to someone else who can undercut you. This is not a nice way of doing business and you can lose your customers at any time. Instead of being the cheapest you can really learn how to market effectively and use your time more wisely.

To give you an example of marketing and how it works, I am 25 and I started MK Printing in September 2005. For several weeks I read everything on marketing and listened to hundreds of hours of seminars and courses. I then just did what worked. Since I started I have sold more than 100k worth of print, I have 2 designers and I started it all on just £450. This year we are set to grow at a massive rate and become one of the largest printers in Manchester.

My competitors are struggling yet we sell similar products. They do things like price slashing just to generate orders. At MK we realised it isn't how good your product is, it is how you market it that counts. There is no point being the best DJ in the world if no one knows!

I have a free marketing ebook that I have put together if anyone wants to read it. It is 100% free and filled with things you can do to increase turnover and reduce stress. If you want it email me at [email protected] with "marketing ebook" in the subject bar.

Moving away from Yellow Pages, does anyone use AdWords at all? I have used them in conjunction with landing pages and they work reasonably well. Unlike Yellow Pages you only pay for when people look at your site. It is worth learning about writing headlines to get maximum impact here.

Matt

Dragonfly

23-01-2007, 09:56 AM

i have used adwords and just get more people emailing me to sell things than want my service.

Shaun

23-01-2007, 10:02 AM

By all means start topics Matt, as long as they all don't end up being an avenue for you to advertise your business. If you're serious about wanting to advertise here we recommend purchasing a banner ad.

Corabar Entertainment

23-01-2007, 11:11 AM

Tip: They don't check the address if you fill in the free listing form online... ;) A computer program checks its validity but it needn't be yours!!That's hardly something to advocate, is it? Quite apart from the fact that it is technically fraud, what about the person who lives at that 'valid' address'??? :mad:

Vectis

23-01-2007, 12:43 PM

Don't see how it is fraud to accidentally click the wrong house number when picking off a great long list.... and how many of us home-based jocks have ever had much business from punters turning up on the doorstep? :o I'd place a wager there have been more of us burgled as a result of our addresses being all over publications like YP, Thomson etc...

Happy to remove the original post if I broke any rules... :zip:

CRAZY K

23-01-2007, 12:46 PM

crazy ive had this 3 or 4 times now they book are really interested and impressed by what you tell them send out a booking form etc only to be called back a day later "erm ..... weve decided to cancel the party" "Aunt mable died so we arent doing it anymore" "weve had a change of circumstance"

someone suggested taking deposits over the phone via credit card etc .... not sure if this could work?

very strange situation im in been quoting the same for about 5 months now with no where near the success of last year £20 more on the price ......... had 2 enquiries via email yesterday thought ill just see what happens .... quoted the old price both phoned and booked within 5 mins of the email.....

Its £20????????????????????????????????????????

yp isnt worth it at all im cancelling mine was talked into a large ad this year no bookings yet think if you are a £100 disco and fair play to you then yp is the hunting ground for you.

I think there are " barriers" for pricing--its all to do with why do things cost £0-99 and not £1

Physcology --is that spelt rite?

So I think there is a "price" people will pay and not go beyond it---is all in the mind--99p thats good value :) £1 well im not so sure:(

Maybe the answer is to charge a basic price and offer upgrades and menus.

Rice does that successfully (he tells me)

Like Loud Speakers, DJ who can talk, lights, microphone :D :D

I sometimes offer 4 different prices for different products we offer.

Sounds like people in Derby are short of £20 to me!

CRAZY K

infinity disco uk

23-01-2007, 07:27 PM

Thames Valley Discos

23-01-2007, 07:32 PM

no web sites work well.

pulsemobiledisco

23-01-2007, 07:37 PM

Tip: They don't check the address if you fill in the free listing form online... ;) A computer program checks its validity but it needn't be yours!!

That's hardly something to advocate, is it? Quite apart from the fact that it is technically fraud, what about the person who lives at that 'valid' address'??? :mad:

Don't think I will be doing that. I would not like it if someone done that to my address.

Vectis

23-01-2007, 07:43 PM

while on the advertising theam I am thinking about a web site does this bring in the bookings or is it the same old questions as the yellow pages the same old reaction (the deep breath and I'll get back to you) after you quote the price!!!!!!

I probably see about 50% of business from repeat bookings/word-of-mouth, about 20% from paper advertising and 30% from the website.

Of that 30%, about half comes directly from the site - people find the site via search engines looking for keywords. The other half comes from directory sites such as this.

Dragonfly

23-01-2007, 07:47 PM

while on the advertising theam I am thinking about a web site does this bring in the bookings or is it the same old questions as the yellow pages the same old reaction (the deep breath and I'll get back to you) after you quote the price!!!!!!

im glad im not the only one that gets that having said that i had the dream customer today wanted me to tell her all about what i did how long id been doing it if i knew her venue what was included in the price what music i played if id do requests because the last guy didnt if i had modern music because the last guy only played pre 1990 after about 15 mins we got to price ....."really for all that how do i book?" wonder if shes got 346 brothers and sisters.

she got my num from yp lololol but id say 99% are how much? i will be doing a very small ad next year if anything im thinking the money will be better spent elsewhere .........

got a booking from mdd yesterday btw.

Shaun

23-01-2007, 07:59 PM

got a booking from mdd yesterday btw.

Excellent :approve:

infinity disco uk

23-01-2007, 08:14 PM

no web sites work well.

Better get myself a web site sorted :o anybody had anything to do with yell.com seems that when you put an add in the yp you get 10 phone calls a week trying to get you on to the web page!!!

Solitaire Events Ltd

23-01-2007, 08:16 PM

no web sites work well.

None at all?:p

Comma anyone?:D

Shaun

23-01-2007, 08:18 PM

None at all?:p

Comma anyone?:D

I was waiting for that :D.

Solitaire Events Ltd

23-01-2007, 08:20 PM

I was waiting for that :D.

Couldn't resist, sorry Paul!;)

Thames Valley Discos

23-01-2007, 08:33 PM

some people are just so picky, but my grammar and spelling never was my good point.

Solitaire Events Ltd

23-01-2007, 08:42 PM

some people are just so picky, but my grammar and spelling never was my good point.

I am picky, yes, but....

A. The sentance was coming over as a negative for websites and
B. There isn't a B:D

Vectis

23-01-2007, 08:50 PM

I am picky, yes, but....

A. The sentance was coming over as a negative for websites and
B. There isn't a B:D

Would that be sentence? :)

Sorry... couldn't resist!

Dragonfly

23-01-2007, 08:51 PM

oooohhhhh i sense a speaker pole moment coming on ......:D :D :D

Thames Valley Discos

23-01-2007, 08:51 PM

Would that be sentence? :)

Sorry... couldn't resist!
lmao pot and kettle:D

Solitaire Events Ltd

23-01-2007, 09:17 PM

Oh well, live by the sword, die by the sword...

(Anyway, I put that mistake in purposely....;))

Thames Valley Discos

23-01-2007, 09:46 PM

and a full stop only has one . not three or four .... lol

MK Printing

24-01-2007, 10:23 AM

Time after time I hear people say that YP just generates calls that get people asking for price. This is why I think it is vital to educate your customer in what you do and why you charge a premium price.

Saying that no websites at all works just isn't true, my website takes several orders a day and I don't even speak to the people ordering. If you get websites right they can make you a massive amount of money. To be fair that is also true with YP adverts, consumer awareness guides, joint ventures and lots of other marketing strategies.

What is the average job ticket on here and does it depend on the area much?

Matt

Vectis

24-01-2007, 10:31 AM

does it depend on the area much?

Oh yes!

I can double my money for the same service just by getting on a ferry and travelling for an extra hour.

Where I live I can charge x and people think it's expensive. Just over the water I can charge x*2 and people think it's good value. :bang:

Yet the house prices and cost of living where I am are no different to the mainland. :bang: :bang:

Corabar Entertainment

24-01-2007, 10:38 AM

Matt - you have misunderstood some of the previous posts.
no web sites work well.should have read "No, web sites work well." - and that was what everyone was joking about

ross@rds

24-01-2007, 10:55 AM

i am free listing waste of money spending 100+ on it when u dont get much bookings back clients are not looking for big sexy ads lol they just want a good dj to make there event a great night. Just had a letter from yp just now asking if i want to place an ad in next years one this years book has just come out lol.

MK Printing

24-01-2007, 10:56 AM

I'll get my coat;)

If you charge twice as much across the water do you tend to spend more on advertising in that area?

Matt

Vectis

24-01-2007, 11:35 AM

If you charge twice as much across the water do you tend to spend more on advertising in that area?

No. I have a good mix of local and mainland work just now. To be honest the additional travelling is a pain especially this time of year when the ferries are on their winter timetable (ie one every 2 hours after midnight). I probably travel overwater (on disco business) about twice a month and that's enough tbh!

Funny situation I know...

theoloyla

24-01-2007, 11:38 AM

I dont advertise in Yellow Pages - I just have the free entry. YP is too big. In the local one there are pages and pages of adverts for discos. Its the same for most professions. It is too confusing. If I use a directory myelf at home I use Thompson which is much more localised and therefore less confusing.
Matt is right though when he says we should target our advertising to make it cost effective. Think about how many gigs you need to do to recoup the cost and how successful it is and also what is the work you wish to attract and where are those propective customers likely to look for your service.

MK Printing

24-01-2007, 12:13 PM

When you speak to any business who are advertising they always say that they are "trying to get their name out there". Most businesses don't target their advertising and therefore there results are poor and it costs much more to do than needs be.

For example if you are selling BMW's then there is little point sending a letter asking if someone wants a test drive to everyone in a certain area. You would get better results if you send to people who earn 50K plus a year and can drive. You can buy these lists of names and addresses from brokers. You can then spend more time and money with your key target market and get a better response.

You can really buy good lists of people in your area. For example you can buy all the names and addresses of girls aged 20 who live in wealthy areas, so you can start advertising to them or their parents for their 21th birthday party. If you see what I mean.

Target your advertising and monitor the results, it is amazing how much money you can make if you just target your marketing and advertising. Remember that the vast majority of the public do not need your services so advertising to them is simply a waste of money.

Matt

A1DL

24-01-2007, 04:41 PM

Couldn't resist, sorry Paul!;)

have you read "Eats Shoots & Leaves", Daz ?
I must confess to being a punctuation pedant myself :cool:

Corabar Entertainment

24-01-2007, 04:44 PM

have you read "Eats Shoots & Leaves", Daz ?The joke which that title pinched the punchline from is one of my favourites of all time.

PS - Used to know the author's Godfather and met her once or twice before the book came out, but I have to confess that I haven't read the book

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 04:44 PM

have you read "Eats Shoots & Leaves", Daz ?
I must confess to being a punctuation pedant myself :cool:

Where's Pete when you need him? :d:d:d

Solitaire Events Ltd

24-01-2007, 05:21 PM

have you read "Eats Shoots & Leaves", Daz ?
I must confess to being a punctuation pedant myself :cool:

Indeed (though I still get it wrong!)

Latest book to grace the Thomas house is the book of general ignorance from QI. Well worth a read.

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 05:31 PM

So Darren how many moons actually orbit the earth?

Solitaire Events Ltd

24-01-2007, 05:38 PM

So Darren how many moons actually orbit the earth?

2:D

Or is it 7....

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 05:40 PM

2, the Moon & Cruithne

EDIT: Although Wikipedia recons Cruithne actually orbits the Sun (Shame on you Stephen Fry)

Vectis

24-01-2007, 05:44 PM

You sure?

Definition #4 for 'Moon' on dictionary.com is 'any planetary satellite'

That makes it a somewhat higher number than two... :o

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 05:44 PM

You sure?

Definition #4 for 'Moon' on dictionary.com is 'any planetary satellite'

That makes it a somewhat higher number than two... :o

Tell it to Stephen Fry :d

Dragonfly

24-01-2007, 05:46 PM

:offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic:

ooooooohhh look at me being all mod ish lolol

check me out lolol

Jiggles

24-01-2007, 05:52 PM

well there is plentoy of :moon: in the world :D:D

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 06:06 PM

:offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic:

ooooooohhh look at me being all mod ish lolol

check me out lolol

I think it had run it's course, it's open season :d

ross@rds

24-01-2007, 06:09 PM

Dragonfly

24-01-2007, 06:09 PM

ok .... man pushes his car round london when he starts he has over 1000 quid in his pocket when he finishes he has nothing how come?

awww and in comes ross on topic again ...... sorry

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 06:18 PM

ok .... man pushes his car round london when he starts he has over 1000 quid in his pocket when he finishes he has nothing how come?

Go on then

Dragonfly

24-01-2007, 06:19 PM

Go on then

wheres the fun in that lolol

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 06:22 PM

I can ban you, you know :dhttp://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/scorchio/sgrin.gif:d

Dragonfly

24-01-2007, 06:24 PM

I can ban you, you know :dhttp://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/scorchio/sgrin.gif:d

:D :D :D then how would you find out the answer :D :D :D

Jiggles

24-01-2007, 06:25 PM

Tut Tut Bribery :D:D:D:D

Corabar Steve

24-01-2007, 06:34 PM

:D :D :D then how would you find out the answer :D :D :D

Derby's not too far for me to drive with a roll of gaffa & some pliers :dhttp://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/scorchio/sgrin.gif:d
:evelgrin: :evelgrin: :evelgrin: :evelgrin:

Dragonfly

24-01-2007, 06:36 PM

Derby's not too far for me to drive with a roll of gaffa & some pliers :dhttp://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/scorchio/sgrin.gif:d
:evelgrin: :evelgrin: :evelgrin: :evelgrin:

lololol steve thats our secret you promised!!!!!

ross@rds

24-01-2007, 08:10 PM

thought i would change the subject back dave you very getting boring ............. :P lol jj mate ;)

theoloyla

26-01-2007, 11:35 AM

I dont place an ad in the yellow pages as most people in my area would look in the local paper for disco services or any other local service where as the yp has loads of them and its much faster to look up the local paper rather than 5 or 6 pages of disco ads.
My point exactly before this thread got hijacked. Kent is a big county and Yellow Pages is a wide medium and if I need a plumber I am not going to want one 50 miles away on the other side of the county UNLESS it is a special job and he has special skills and I am unlikely to wade through pages and pages of yellow pages plumbers to find him.