Yellow Pages Power!

Posted by Steve Yankee on October 19th, 2007 in Design Tricks and Techniques, Traffic-Pulling Techniques, Yellow Pages Ad Basics

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I want to clue you in about two things that will help your hard-working ad work even harder. The first is using a second color in your ad. I know it costs you more, but adding a color improves readership by a factor of three times

Here are a couple of ads from competing companies. The single color ad on the left has a good, strong illustration, clean layout, big phone number. But look at the one on the right. Which one gets your attention faster?

(To digress for a moment, I also like that “protection…since 1850″ headline in the right-hand ad; it plays right into the “Security” part of the RASCIL factors, doesn’t it? In fact, take a moment to look at the small print and see how well they’ve followed our formula for a successful ad!

Okay. Back to color.You don’t need a LOT of colors just for the sake of adding colors; you only need enough to set you apart from everyone else. If someone’s running a black type only ad, use black and one color and you’re already ahead of the competition.

And here’s a little known fact for you: yellow pages aren’t really printed on yellow paper. It’s far more economical to print phone directories on white paper stock, and then use yellow ink to print the background color, and black ink to print the ads themselves. For years, having a yellow ad background was your only available choice but lately, most phone books have offered “white reverse” ad backgrounds, where your ad can feature a non-yellow background. This is another inexpensive trick to improving your ad readership.

The second thing that will aid readership is free: do something tricky with your border! Don’t just have the Yellow Pages ad people just run a thin line around the ad and call it done. Have the make it look like a length of rope, if you’re a marina; incorporate your artwork into it; do something that takes it out of the norm. Your ad should be as eye-catching as possible! Since the help is free, ask your sales rep for help in design and even in writing –as long as you remember the sure selling phrases that we’ve already discussed.

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Posted by Steve Yankee on October 18th, 2007 in Design Tricks and Techniques, Traffic-Pulling Techniques, Yellow Pages Ad Basics

Ever notice how it sounds when someone is talking in technical jargon that you don’t understand? It’s like hearing them speak in Swahili -or some other language you don’t know and couldn’t possibly understand. (It always reminds me of when I was a very young child and would watch my Dad reading the newspaper, wondering what all those funny squiggles on the paper meant.)

At any rate, the point here -and it’s a big one regardless of whatever medium you’re using to promote your services or products…

Talk to your audience on their level, not yours.

Above all, remember who your audience is. For instance, people who purchase video services are for the most part non-technical users of video.  I feel a pang of pity for the poor misguided video guys who waste their precious Yellow Pages space with phrases like:

• Betacam SP A/B Roll SMPTE Time Code, or…

• PAL-M, SECAM transferred to NTSC 3.58

What’s better? Phrases people can understand! Words like these:

• Affordable corporate, industrial video.
• We write, shoot, direct, edit and duplicate professional videos
• We specialize in weddings and receptions
• Depositions, Live Seminars
• Video duplication
• We transfer film and slides to DVD

Get the point? Unless you’re a professional supplier to a certain industry, and they’ll be reading your ads and making a decision to do business with you -eschew obfuscation.

Okay. I just threw that in to complicate things. Just a little example. What I mean, of course, is keep it simple. If you don’t, the majority of people won’t understand what you’re talking about. They’ll go elsewhere, looking for someone to whom they can better relate.

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Posted by Steve Yankee on October 17th, 2007 in Design Tricks and Techniques, Traffic-Pulling Techniques, Yellow Pages Ad Basics

According to the experts, a yellow pages ad has a greater chance of profitability if it passes this simple test: place your finger on the ad where your attention is drawn first, then move through all the info in the ad without lifting that finger. If it’s a good ad, your finger will end up on the phone number. And so when creating an ad, that’s the direction you should head for; the bottom line, those magic seven digits that’ll get the reader in contact with you.

So the first thing you’ve got to do is have a headline or introduce your name at the top of the ad to capture the readers’ attention and draw them into the ad. It’s easy when you make a bold statement, or ask a question. Your ad should also identify the single-most important feature of your business –the one that sets you apart from your competition. Are you faster than the rest? Have better equipment? Less expensive? Friendlier? More convenient? Let the reader know your biggest advantage.

Plan your ad using the RASCIL Factors.

People are influenced in their Yellow Pages calling (and buying) decisions by several factors. So your ad should be a blend of great copy points, relevant graphics and information that quickly answers readers’ questions. At the same time, a good ad will reassure prospects that you’re the best source available for the goods and services that they want.

RASCIL is a neat little acronym that will help you design an effective ad. You should include as many of these elements as possible that are relevant to your business without making your ad look cramped, filled with extremely small print. If you run out of room, it’s time to look at either upgrading to a larger-sized ad, or editing your copy to fill the space you’ve been allocated.

RASCIL stands for:

Reliability
Authorization
Security
Completeness of Service
Illustrations
Location

Here are some examples of each:

Reliability
Key phrases you should use in your ad include:

• 35 (or however many) years of experience
• Member of any professional association that will enhance your image of reliability
• “Your Satisfaction 100% Guaranteed” -your guarantees, warranties.

Authorization
Are you an authorized dealer for equipment sales or repair? Let’s hear about it.

Security

• Do you store clients’ furs in fireproof vaults?
• All work done on-premises?
• Are you licensed? Bonded? Certified?

Completeness of Service

• Do you have top quality equipment and technicians?
• Do you offer service on domestic and foreign cars?
• Do you cater small AND large parties?
• Free pickup and delivery
• Free estimates and initial consultation
• Your hours (”Open Monday through Friday, 8:30 - 5:30″ or whatever. Be accessible!)
• All the services you provide
• Your phone number. Large. That IS the point of all this, after all.

Illustration
Use your logo; a silhouette of something associated with your business; maybe the logo of a professional association to which you belong; even credit card logos if you take bank cards. Something to catch the reader’s eye quickly.

Location
Your address! Tricky if you work out of your home, but if you don’t include an address you tend to look pretty fly-by-night… So at the very least, a P.O. Box number. If your address is hard to find and you depend on walk-in business, give them a reference. “One block south of City Hall,” or “Just north of Quincy Street off US-131 South.”

There you have it. If your ad is a RASCIL…you’ve got a good thing going!

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Posted by Steve Yankee on October 17th, 2007 in White Pages

If AT&T has their way,  it’s a definite possibility.

A recent story in The Charlotte, NC News & Observer revealed that AT&T wants to stop delivering white pages directories to customers’ homes in North Carolina, “ending a decades-long practice as it shifts information online.” AT&T is one of the big phone service producers there, and it submitted the proposal to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, noting the decline in the use of white pages directories.

Yellow Pages? Well, that’s a horse of a different color. Still alive and still kicking.  In fact, returns of 500 percent or greater are not uncommon when you’ve got the right ad copy and you’re in the right place.

Read the full story right here. 

And why DO they call it the Tar Heel State, anyway? Long story. 

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