Spend it on google ad words.
On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 11:14 AM, Mark Phillips <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't know what business you are in, but if you are looking for certain > types of consumers you might consider Angie's List. I don't know how much > it costs, but I find it much more useful than the yellow pages. BTW, lots > of doctors advertise on Angie's List since it has all the personal > recommendations on that list. You can coupon through Angie's List, so you > will now exactly how many customers the list brings in. You can link the > listing to your web site. > > Kieth has a great idea, but you may meet some resistance. The computer > stores may not want potential liability of "recommending" someone they do > not know. Home Depot use to do exactly what you suggest - they had a board > where handymen and handywomen could advertise their services. The employees > knew a lot of these folks so they were a good source of personal > recommendations. Home Depot took out the board and stopped all the > recommendations from the employees. There was too much potential liability > for Home Depot to recommend a local handyman. > > > Just my 2 cents. > > Mark > > > On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 10:58 AM, Keith Lofstrom <[email protected]>wrote: > >> On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 11:29:58AM -0700, Brian Martin wrote: >> > I'm soliciting opinions here. >> > >> > My annual contract for a yellow pages listing is up for renewal. It's >> > costing me over $400/year for some additional classifications and such. >> > I also get a listing in their on-line yellow pages as part of the >> > package. I don't know that I've ever gotten work from any of it, and >> > I'm inclined to drop it altogether. What do you think? If you are a >> > business owner today, do you still find value in phone book listings? >> >> These listings not only don't bring work, they are used by others to >> call you to sell you stuff. When the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce >> published the Oregon High Tech Directory, I was in there (for free), >> and all I got was calls from office supply stores and temp agencies. >> I had to jump through hoops to get OUT of the directory. >> >> A $400/y listing demonstrates to vendors that you have excess money, >> a problem they would be glad to help you with. >> >> Instead of spending the money that way, consider going to your ten >> favorite customers, and offer a free hour of your time in return >> for 20 minutes of their time, so they can tell you how they found >> you and why they picked you instead of somebody else. Then invest >> in the channels they used, and look for more customers like them. >> >> Wild idea: Imagine finding some 20 pocket wall brochure racks, >> and some other consultants who offer other kinds of computer >> services. Populate the rack with brochures, then go to independent >> computer stores and ask for wall space. The sell? Store owners >> can concentrate on selling stuff, not answering complicated >> questions for free. People coming into the store looking for >> brochures may also buy something. etc. If you do this right, >> it will increase their sales and save them time. Don't pay for >> the space, but offer some quid pro quo (time or money) for the >> pamplets that turn into paying gigs. >> >> You and your colleagues will spend time going to the stores and >> replenishing the racks - but that is your chance to learn about >> opportunities from the store owners. People are more likely to >> trust the people they see a lot. >> >> Keith >> >> -- >> Keith Lofstrom [email protected] Voice (503)-520-1993 >> _______________________________________________ >> PLUG mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug >> > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
