Articles About Getting Clean Credit

Seven Ways to Waste Your Money on Yellow Pages Advertising

Each year there is a Yellow Pages arms race where competitors in each category are encouraged to out spend each other. There is only one winner in this arms race, and it is not you! Too many advertisers waste their money on Yellow Pages advertising without first considering their marketing strategy. Here are seven ways you can waste your money.

1. Attempting to outspend your competitor

As soon as Yellow Pages has convinced you to increase the prominence of your ad, they get your competitors to match or outbid you. This becomes an annual auction, with some categories containing pages of half and full page ads. A buyer can be overwhelmed with choice and may make their decision before they even get to your ad. Priority in listing is given to those who have advertised the longest in a category for a given ad size. You can only get closer to the front by upsizing your ad or if someone else closer to the front ceases advertising.

2. Putting all your eggs in the Yellow Pages basket

An advertising decision is something you should only make after you have developed a marketing strategy. Many businesses rush into advertising in the Yellow Pages, just because that's what everyone else does. You don't become a leader by following the herd. You need to consider your payback for your investment in this marketing channel. Ask your Yellow Pages consultant how many leads a particular size ad generates in your category. Then ask yourself how many of these leads will you convert into sales, and then decide whether this is a good investment.

3. Engaging in destructive Head to Head Competition

When you advertise in the Yellow Pages, not only can potential customers see your ad and your offer, so can your competitors. This can result in price competition that can turn your product or service into a commodity. Yellow Pages make comparison shopping easy for buyers and market research easy for competitors.

4. Spending too much on prominence

When spending on a Yellow Pages ad, you can invest in size and colour. Size is important, but what you put in the ad, your copy, is far more important. It is better to go down a size and spend the money you save on a copywriter. Good copy can generate up to 20 times the response as poor copy. Colour is also important, but not as important as size, so go up a size rather than go to colour, which is expensive for its return. If your category is cluttered with large ads, investing in your copy is essential.

5. Relying on Yellow Pages free design service

Ad design is important. Yellow Pages do offer a free design service, but its worth what you pay. The typical design is done in 15 minutes. As they are designing tens of thousands of ads you can't really expect any special attention- especially as there is no charge for the service! When they design your ad, they will appeal to your vanity rather than to your customers. So they will put "Joe's Plumbing" in the headline. But buyers don't care who Joe is, and are far more interested in why they should use Joe. This requires some marketing analysis of your points of difference and ultimate service benefits, which won't happen in 15 minutes!

6. Putting your ad in the wrong category

If you are a plumber, the decision of where to place your ad is easy. But if your business is in a fairly specialised market such as oil refinery plumbing, there probably isn't a good category for you. In fact, for many B2B businesses Yellow Pages is a poor marketing tool. Ask yourself the question, where would a buyer look to find out about your business- it might not even be in the Yellow Pages.

7. Depending on old technology advertising

Every year internet advertising increases, with less being spent on print advertising. Yellow Pages is now available online and for certain businesses this is a better option, particularly with a link to their website. When being sold paper Yellow Pages ads, you may be offered complimentary online advertising. However, unless your ad is near the front, you will be invisible to buyers who rarely will browse further than three pages. It is also worth paying for a link to your website.

The Yellow Pages consultants are on commission to sell you advertising. They only interested in getting you to spend as much as possible, not on providing the best marketing solution for your business. Advertising is not the same as marketing! Good marketing advice on whether and how you should advertise is money well spent. Not only can this increase sales, but it can save you thousands of dollars in advertising.

Before making a decision on Yellow Pages advertising, you should consider all your marketing channels, and make decisions on how much you invest in each dependent on their ability to attract leads. Having determined how much you will invest in Yellow Pages, do some market analysis and invest in your ad copy. This is particularly important for larger ad sizes. Yellow Pages advertising can be rewarding, but should only be considered as just one part of your overall marketing strategy.

Copyright 2005 Empower Business Solutions

Dr Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized businesses with business planning, business systems and marketing strategy. To find out how you can Multiply Your Profits & Make Your Business Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business Really Is with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business Solutions website at: http://www.empowersolutions.com.au

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

Credit Cards For People With Bad Credit, Poor Credit Or Poor Credit Score
Bad Credit is a term used to describe someone who is considered a "high risk" to lenders and other finance companies such as factors.

Bad Credit Unsecured Loans: Loans for Those with Bad Credit and No Collateral
Sometimes you may happen to fail to repay the market liabilities in proper time and lose your credit score. This labels you as a bad credit history holder. In this case it proves to be difficult for you to raise funds from the market to meet your financial needs. The lenders feel at risk to lend you money. The condition worsens when you have no collateral to place as a guarantee against the loan amount. For such needs bad credit history unsecured loans have been introduced. You need no assets as security deposit while applying for bad credit history tenant loans.

Loan With Bad Credit - Debt Consolidation Loan to Help Towards Credit Repair
Debt consolidation loan is the type of loan that replaces your multiple debts It is a new loan that arises from the merging of your original loans and has much lower interest rates

Instant Bad Credit Loans - Loans for People with Bad Credit Score
Everyone ruins his or her credit score at some point of time or other. Not that they simply want to ruin it, the circumstances or lack of experience leads to bad credit score. Consider a student who just got his credit card. He will use it to the maximum in the excitement without even giving a though to the repayment, thereby getting a bad credit score. A bad credit score later becomes a hindrance to avail loans. One method to improve your credit score is to take instant bad credit loans.

Bad Credit and Home Equity Loans - What to look for in a Home Equity Loan
While it may seem like common sense to be able to get a loan on the value you've built up in your own home, getting a home equity loan with a poor credit score is usually not easy. Below are some tips on how to get a home equity loan, even with bad credit.

Compare Bad Credit Credit Card Offers: Credit-Card-Surplus.com Adds 2 New Bad Credit Credit Cards, Offering Consumers a Complete List of Bad Credit Of
www.Credit-Card-Surplus.com announces the addition of two new bad credit credit cards to its website, creating more options for those who have less than perfect credit. Consumers that have filed for bankruptcy or have a low credit score qualify for bad credit credit cards. When used properly, these cards enable customers to rebuild their credit and improve their standings among lenders. With the addition of the Total Visa® Card, and the Access Visa® Card, www.Credit-Card-Surplus.com provides a total of 13 bad credit cards for consumers to compare.

Bad Credit Cash Loans: Immediate Funds for People with Bad Credit Score
People with bad credit score are very similar to other people and their financial needs are similar too. For the above written reason bad credit cash loans are designed to meet the emergency needs of these borrowers. These are unsecured loans and used by the borrowers for their personal and small needs. These loans are used for paying medical bills, buying groceries, paying other payments and many more. The lenders do not interfere in the use of these loans.

Bad Credit Personal Loans - How To Get Approved For Bad Credit Personal Loans
Are you looking for a personal loan, but have bad credit? Do you need a loan for a car, debt consolidation, or any other reason whatsoever? If you have bad credit you will find it hard to get a good personal loan. Here is how to get bad credit personal loans without the hassle.

Credit Repair: Repair Bad Credit Card Debt Yourself
Credit repair and eliminating your credit card debt does not mean that you have to hire an expensive credit repair service. In fact, if you want to fix your credit you can do it yourself for free. I cannot promise that it will be easy but despite the glib promises made by professional services those are not easy either.

Bad Credit Mortgage Loans Online - How Your FICO Credit Score Can Affect Your Loan Approval
When applying for a mortgage loan when you have a bad credit history. There are a few things you should know about your FICO score that will help you know what to expect from mortgage lenders.

Bad Credit Remortgage Loan: When Bad Credit Plays Mischief With Your Mortgage
Financial difficulties are married to bad credit. It is a tough marriage but can be peaceful with a little bit of counseling.

Bad Credit Tenant Loans: Designed For the People Who Have Bad Credit Score
Tenant loans are designed keeping in mind about their capabilities. But tenants with bad credits are different and face more problems than tenants with normal credit score. So to give them a much needed respite in times of financial exigencies bad credit tenant loans have been fabricated.

Debt Relief Credit Repair - Using Loans to Repair Bad Credit
If you are dealing with bad credit and you want to repair it, you should first search out a debt consolidation loan But if you have bad credit, what firm will help you acquire a loan to relieve your financial situation

Personal Loans With Bad Credit- Getting Personal Loans With Bad Credit Has Never Been Easier
Are you in need of a personal loan? Are you afraid that because you have bad credit you will struggle to find a lender that will be able to help you? Getting personal loans with bad credit has never been easier because lenders are struggling to find business right now. There are so many foreclosure, repossessions, and bankruptcies with the downturn of the economy that they lenders need to make loans just to make money. This is good for those of us with bad credit and here are your loan options.