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Bob Landsinger, owner of Vector…A Move Ahead, Inc, a moving and storage company in San Francisco, asks: Q. What do you think about the value and viability of Yellow Pages advertising with our increasingly Web-connected society? A. I believe that for the foreseeable future there will be a place for print advertising venues such as the Yellow Pages. And there will be some businesses that do exceptionally well through Yellow Page ads, and others that don’t. You didn’t mention whether you advertise in the Yellow Pages, so for now I’ll assume you do. Three bigger questions I suggest you ask are:
The first two questions you can answer yourself. Your objective is to determine the value of conventional Yellow Pages advertising to your business. To answer the third question you’ll need to survey some of your top clients. To determine what questions to ask, think of the answers you’re looking for, and invert them into questions. Tell your clients how much you value their opinion, and you’ll be amazed at the valuable information they’ll reveal. Use this information to help guide you to deciding where and how to spend your marketing dollars. Most service companies such as yours get the bulk of their business through referrals by happy clients and “key influencers” – these are people in a position to recommend you. While most people in the work place today, including your buyers, are Internet-savvy, when they need services of the kind you offer they will more than likely e-mail or call a colleague first to get a recommendation for a proven, reliable company. If they don’t get a recommendation, some will head straight for the Yellow Pages, others will go directly to the Internet. I’ve not heard of any statistics, however, that show how many people have switched from searching the Yellow Pages to searching the Web. I also haven’t seen information comparing the kinds of people who are more likely to “let their fingers do the walking” through the Yellow Pages with those who prefer to surf the ‘Net for Yellow Pages-type listings. Your technology clients might be more inclined to search on-line, but I’ll bet even they ask around for a recommendation first! Readers: If you’re reading this and you know of any studies or statistics comparing Yellow Pages usage and Web surfing habits, please send the information to me and I’ll post it here, in Ask the Expert. Cheers! 
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