Phone Book Listing?

Tex Star Detail

Tex Star Detail

Formerly TexasTB
Any pros have an ad, or just their # in the phone book?

I ask this because.......When I do a job, I always ask the client how he heard of me. Many say they look in the phone book or the internet. I am not listed in the phone book, but do have a website, and advertise on yahoo and google local, as well as a few other places.

I recieved a call the other day, a gentleman needed the interior of his pick up detailed. We set up a date, and went from there. It rained on the appointment date, so we rescheduled for today. I finished the job, packed up, and filled out a reciept. While the client was writing a check, I asked how/where he heard of me. He said he looked in the phone book and called all the shops in there. All were either not answering the phone, not working due to the cold weather, or plain out blowing him off. He said he looked on the internet and seen my name and called. :D
It was like a compliment in a way. I mean, it seems like the other shops don't really care or too chicken to work in the cold. Good to know that someone appreciates someone else who wants to work no matter what condition the weather is.:rockon

Do you think an ad in the phone book would be beneficial?:confused:
 
I'm saying this with all advertising "All it can do is help" if someone wants a service they usually always want to call and ask some questions so it wouldent get you any less customers and if it gets you 1 or 2 you have to look at if it is really worth paying the money for it. I would say go for it:rockon people are looking:inspector:
 
If I'm looking for a new service/store/etc., I typically use the yelllow pages. Heck, I think I have three different yellow pages that arrived this year so far. The cost of the ads will vary, but the bigger ads do get costly. A simple listing with business name and number shouldn't be much at all.

Just don't rename yourself AAAA Detailing just to be the first listing. Those names annoy me and I skip right over them. :)
 
I just bit the bullet and talked to a Yellow Pages Rep.

I went and did it......

Today was the deadline to get ads in, so I guess I called at the right time.
I picked up a dollar bill size ad, full color. Regular $5XX.XX a month.:passout:
I picked it up today for $206 a month.:)

I should recieve my proof within 2-3 weeks so I can change up a few things if needs be.....
 
For me, I used to run a display ad in the local yellow pages which worked fairly well. However, I found that the majority of the calls it generated (I track all calls) were strictly looking for the cheapest detailing, same day service, or were telemarketers trying to pimp something. Today, with 96% of all calls coming directly from the internet, I opted to just run basic listings in the book and concentrate the advertising $$$'s elsewhere.

A WORD OF CAUTION -- that discounted rate you received this year will more than double next year!!
 
Yea, I am sure it will double.....lol I wanted to do this one to see how it pans out. If it sucks and generates nothing, then I will be pissed, but if it gets me 1 1/2 jobs a month, then I will be fine, as it would pay for itself.

We'll see how it goes. I have a little while before it comes out.
 
I had no idea that those ads cost that much. Hopefully it will generate some extra business.
 
This year I invested over $6000 in two books. The ads came out about a month and a half ago and I have generated $280 gross to date.

I anticapate a higher return this summer.
 
Our yellow pages came out May 15, 2005. The day it came out our business exploded, really. Every month we did double or better the previous year, and about 1/2-2/3 of phone calls and 1/2 of new bookings are from the yellow page ad. Cost is $111/mo or $1330. I made it back in the first 6 weeks. This year we will bump yellow page advertising to about $200. I think we've hit the threshold, but perhaps I can move it on a bit.
 
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