Every man and their dog has used Yellow Pages at least once, and even in the days of the Internet it's still propping up most people's telephone tables and readily available in homes and offices around the world.

Find out how to profit from good old Yellow Pages.

Sometimes starting with the basics is the best way to build up to an effective marketing strategy.

Every man and their dog has used Yellow Pages at least once, and even in the days of the Internet, it's still propping up most people's telephone tables and readily available in homes and offices around the world.

This report will give you some background into how to think about Yellow Pages ads.  In later reports, I'll show you steps you can follow and put together your own ads if you like.  After you've read this, you'll know how to find clear direction in your marketing, and track the results of your Yellow Pages investment.

You'll realise that the objective is not to be the best advert in your section of the Yellow Pages.  The objective is just to get clients to call you.

Testing Testing
Few of the great and good of marketing have been the most creative or intelligent.  What they did understand is the concept of testing.  Testing reveals what works, and what doesn't work.  With testing, no advertisement is ever a failure - because we always know that it did or did not attract customers.  Only an advert that was not tracked and tested can be classed a failure - we have no idea how it returned on its investment.  And we might make the same mistakes again and again, not realising that our advert is not pulling.

With testing, we can tweak and adjust each subsequent version of an advert or a campaign and see how our changes effect results.  Then we stick with what works.

A downside of Yellow Pages advertising is that once you submit it to the book - it's there for 12 months.  You don't get a chance to pull it and tweak it.  You could test it in advance of publishing, by placing it in a local paper or free-sheet.

Measurement of Success
Before progressing, think about what you would class as a success.  Basically, for small businesses, any ad that pays for itself should be considered a success.  The thought of this might send shivers down the spines of the more ambitious businessperson, but at the very least, you haven't lost anything on your investment.

The more savvy businessperson would realise that the sole objective of a Yellow Pages ad (or any ad for that matter) may not be just a like-for-like cost/return figure.  Consider the Lifetime Value of any customer that is attracted to your Yellow Pages ad.  Depending on your product or service, you may need to focus on bringing your customer back again and again.  So even if your Yellow Pages ad recovers its cost like-for-like, you should realise that the customer it got you will keep returning again and again over several years - if your product or service allows it and is up-to-scratch.

What makes for a successful ad?

The 1-2-3-4-5 of Profitable Yellow Pages
Like most other forms of marketing and advertising, you have to focus on 5 areas to stand the best chance of success (nothing is guaranteed).

1: What Have You Got to Say?
Forget nice pictures showing happy customers.  Forget shiny corporate logos.  Forget a biography of the owner.  You better know what you want to say, say it quick, and say it loud.

In Yellow Pages - perhaps more than any other medium - you have to get your sales message across to potential customers almost instantaneously.  They have hundreds of alternatives, all within a few finger flicks.  You better get their attention.

To narrow down what you are going to say, you have to first know WHO you are saying it to.  And go for them directly.

I usually concentrate on 3 or 4 different types of approach, and pick the one that best suits what my client is offering.

Approach one: Benefit Driven.  If you are just a regular domestic electrician, there perhaps isn't a great deal to differentiate yourself from the other domestic electricians on the same page as you.   You might therefore quickly list the 4 top reasons why a householders property value may increase if you do the re-wiring.  You must outline the benefits to the customer of engaging your service.  People love to read about themselves, so make them happy with the benefits they will receive after hiring you.

Approach two: Differentiation.  This can be key when you are just one of many in a busy market - all providing a similar product or service.  Sticking with the domestic electrician - maybe you offer certified appliance check to customers during each house-call.

Approach three: Big, Bold and Best.  Pay more for your ad and just get the most space on the page.  You then get some time to shout about your services and answer the most common question a potential client would have before hiring you.

Approach four: A Great Offer.  The thing to remember about Yellow Pages is that it is a reactive medium.  That is, people aren't flicking idly through it, when they stumble across a great ad that makes them realise how much they need their hot tub cleaning.  People reading Yellow Pages are READY TO BUY.  They need your service right there and then.  Their washing machine is leaking.  They've slipped a disc.  Their dog needs a haircut.  They need you right now.  So to push them over the edge and into your lap - give them a strong offer that makes them dial your number.  More on this later.

So have a think about what approach is most realistic for you.  If you've got some aspect of your service you can offer which is low-cost to you but of high-value to a customer, follow the offer approach.  If you are somehow different in a very cluttered marketplace, highlight that instead.

2: Who are You Saying It To?
You better know who you are advertising to, because if you don't, you're almost certain to miss them. You want to know who they are because then you will know what they are interested in, and therefore how to attract them.  You should try and be as specific as possible here.

Age: If they are old people, they're likely to be on a budget, so advertising to the price conscious amongst the readership is surely a good idea.
Sex: Are they male or female?  Would a female customer appreciate the fact you'll come out at night to restart their car or open their locked house?
Income: How much can they spend? You need to have an idea of the average income of the customers you want to attract so you can price accordingly.
Location: Where are they? Are they local to you? Do they appreciate premises being within walking distance?

3: How To Write Your Yellow Pages Advert

Now that the approach has been covered, here's the component pieces of a Yellow Pages ad as I would do it for a client.

Headline
The sole purpose of the headline is to get attention.  The following well-worn analogy may make this clear:
The headline of an advertisement is like a flag being held up by a flagman alongside a railway line.  He is using it to try to get the immediate attention of the engineer of an approaching train - so that he can give him an important message.  In advertising - on that flag is printed the headline of an advertisement.

The message on that flag must be persuasive enough to distract the engineer away from shoveling coal or adjusting engine pressure or looking at the scenery.  The message on the flag must offer a 'reward for reading' AND be persuasive enough to get the reader's attention amongst all the other clutter.

So, concentrate on getting across in your headline that their is a reward if the reader will pause and continue into the main body of your advert.

Here's an example from a recent copy of the North London edition of Yellow Pages from the 'Central Heating Services' page.   Assume that you need your central heating repaired, and it is February.

First ad I see says "Glow Worm" in large cuddly letters, with a little picture of a cartoon glow worm.  The next ad says "Expert Installations & Repairs".  The third ad says "Feeling Cold?"  Which one of the three are you most likely to read first? I'd read "Feeling Cold?" first because it's talking to me about my current problem, and it's using intrigue to lead me into the rest of the advert.

Try and make your ad stand out by offering some reward to the reader that none of your competitors are to just get them to read the main body of your ad.  Here are a handful of ads that have been successful for clients in the past.

"6 reasons to buy our hand-made stationary"
"Advice on choosing an air-conditioning unit"
"3 special differences with our laminate flooring"
"Don't lift your telephone until you read about these steam cleaners"

These simple headlines can be adjusted for pretty much any product or service.  Essentially, you just have to remember that someone looking at your advert in the Yellow Pages is already in 'buying mode' - you just need to be persuasive enough to get them to buy from you.

[Read on in Part 2]