Yellow page ad

[mikecross23]

Ok folks, I'm trying to get my name out in my area w/ a little creative advertising. Local magazines, flyers, biz cards and just plain running my mouth to everyone. I work on the weekends and I have been staying very busy, but 2 days a week will not cut it. I am more than anxiouse to make the switch to full time tree work but am not bringing in the business to keep me busy 4-5 days a week. Eventually word of mouth will pick up and hopefully keep me busy, but right now I am debating on running a yellow page ad.

I had a meeting w/ a yellow page rep. and the ad I want is $360 a month. That is a little less than an average days pay for me right now but dang that is a lot of money to be committed to for one year.

I would like to hear everyone's opinions on yellow page ads. The obviouse is that I will be competing a lot more to win bids and submitting them to "bargain shoppers." But I wonder how many more calls and jobs I will land and if the ad will MORE than pay for itself. I'm trying to save now by keeping my overhead at practically nothing and working small and $360 a month puts a big damper on my savings account!

I know different locations can mean a lot, but let me hear how the yellow pages have worked for you guys.

Thanks,
-Mike-

 

[TREETX]

check some of this out if you haven't already.

I think yp's get you more commodity based work

I have to admit they are what got me going to the point that I don't need or want them now.

A good relationship with 3-4 LAs is worth 8 full page yp ads...

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5808&highlight=yellow+pages

 

[mikecross23]

Thanks TREETX, I should-a done a search first, huh?

 

[mikecross23]

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
IMHO, do not get the YP ad. Quantity does not equal quality, and a YP ad won't even guarantee quantity. You will end up bidding lots of 'price shopper' work and taking underbid jobs simply to pay for the ad. I agree with Nathan.

True, and Tallahassee has a lot of competition too. Our yellow pages go out to I think the number is 322,000 people and there are 37 other listed tree services. There are 4 half page adds that run $1,700 a pop monthly and about 11 biz card size ads like I want and the rest are just the one or two liners. That's a lot of competition and low balling.

I want name recognition to come out of my advertising. Even if the YP's don't produce now, maybe people will remember me next time? I've been using the same image and though it is simple, people say it is catchy. I've had two calls from folks that swear I worked for them 15 yrs ago, I'm only 24, it wasn't me but apparently the guy did good work so I'll keep taking his calls!

I'm lost, but I do have almost 2 mo's to make my decision.

Thanks for any and all tips, keep 'em coming!
-Mike-


Brian,
Did AS freeze up your TC165 login'? Too many posts, huh?

 

[mikecross23]

One more thing. . .

Basically one day a month is what it would take to pay for the YP ad. That doesn't sound too bad, as long as it will produce at least 3 or 4 days of work a month. I wonder if it will though?

 

[ORclimber]

The Yellow Pages haven't done squat for me. Maybe 2 calls this year. I pay $45 a month for a 3/4" add but I'm switching to one line just so people can look up my #.

$360 is about what I pay for health insurance

 

[TREETX]

It so depends on your goals.

YP was good for me to get started on my own. Got me a lot of the customers that became my Raving Fans (Ken Blanchard book)

Now I do not think it is worth it. It pulls me away from my good referrals just to deal with a price shopper.

It is not as effective now because the ad costs the same reguardless of the economy. When I entered in 2000, there was a dot com millionare on every corner and $5K-$20K residential jobs were common. Not so now.

The bang for your buck isn't there in a bad economy. Better to save up and get a big ad in a good economy.

Good relationships with high end nurseries and LAs are worth a lot more than YPs. People with big money don't deal with the yp IMO. They deal with L architects or get recs from nursery personell selling them Italian pottery at 2k a pot and lawn chairs at $500 a piece. High end people really concerned with quality tend to be richey house wives that don't work.

Talk to the nursery workers. The ones that sell the stuff, not just the manager. Hang out with the personel, you can learn more about ornamentals and they learn about trees. The more they know about trees, the more they are likely to recommend tree work. I have given a few Saturday morning talks to groups of nursery personel to educate them on recommending trees to clients based on site factors, goals, etc. Austin has a variety of soils so this is important.

I get recs from LAs that tell the client,"you need tree work. Call this guy" They call and never bat an eye at what I recommend. I am not bidding against anyone. That removes me from being a commodity and more of a value based sevice.

Having said that, I am fair. I never stab. Fair price for a good service.

They yps are not evil, you just need to have a business plan with a targeted clientele. This is better than being an "I do it all attitude". It will give you a direction to go in and types of advertising you should use.

Plans can evolve, just make one first.

 

[Menchhofer]

Well, I guess I am going to be in the minority here.

I adverstise in 3 different yellow pages and yes it is expensive. And yes, the larger the ad the better also. The more people see your name in different types of advertisements, the more apt they are to call you.

Besides referrrals, the yp seem to be worth it. I always ask customers how the found me and most responses are yp.

I try to make my advertisement stand out from other tree services by displaying the CA logo, and IAA. It works.

Most people tell me if they wanted a "tree service" they would call almost anybody, but if they are interested in "tree care" they are more apt to call a CA.

True, I do not get every sale from the yp, but I do not always get the referrals either...

 

[DDM]

Eh, Ive been in the YP for almost a yr and i Might get 5 calls a month from them. But
I did pick up one customer that has Spread me to all there friends and that contact alone has paid for the Ad for the next 5 Yrs Atleast. Plus It was well worth being in there for the Ice Storm we had.

 

[Stumper]

I used to advertize in the yellow pages,-years ago in another city. Yes it got me busines, yes I got of time-wasting calls. I've stayed out for about 10 years but I have an ad coming out in the new book.-A couple of customers mentioned misplacing my card and not finding me in the yellow pages. They were loyal enough to track me down but it got me to thinking so I put an in-column ad in . This is a small market so it only costs $16.80 per month.
TREETX is right about the value of nursery recommendations (no L.A.s in my area). Depending upon the market the newspaper can be great or lousy. Here the small town paper works. In the city where I had YPgs before the newspaper stank but there was a want-ad paper that outproduced the YPs 2 or 3 to 1. In a big market with dozens of competitors I doubt the value of big YP ads.-They make sense for a big operation but I suspect that they are counterproductive for a small operation (Just my speculation). Some people deliberatley choose smaller ads hoping for better,more personal service.
Signs on your vehicles will produce more in the long run for the money than you can calculate. BUSINESS CARDS are perhaps the most bang for your buck-that nickel has a way of producing years after you spent it! Good luck!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Having worked with a lot of different people, but not ever having used YP myself, I've picked up a few ideas.

If you are established in the buisness, just maintain the oneliner so people can find you if they lost your card.

Starting out you need a bigger add, Something that stands out, (not crossed chainsaws, they know treeguys have chainsaws) verbiage that will weed out the lowbid shoppers, and gets them to call you "Ask us why spikes ar bad" "Ask us why we don't top trees!" "Helping trees and people exist together." " Caring for trees so they can live out thier lifetimes"

Then find a partime job so you can work 3-4 days a week on trees.

 

[Stephen Wiley]

Unfortunately, one size does NOT fit all. A minority of yp user's will actually have a good experience based upon their geographical location and competition for work.

The majority of associates I know were all given; "the abc (name to the front), 1/2 page ads, etc." sales pitch based upon their research.

FACT: Their research was not performed by YP, hired out. (Someone got a nice $ for falsifying information to YP).

Only one associate has ever received a call for survey purposes; his response was NOT what they had hope to hear.

My advise would be to take one line only, and spend $100 in flyer, brochure with reference to your one line in YP.

Many fly by night tree services, are in debt and out of business due to buying their false bill of sale.

Require a proof of time of good faith by YP. Purchase a business line (separate phone or cell) If the ad does not produce payment of itself within the first three months cancel the ad and the phone service. Pay for only one quarter of ad.
Make this arrangement with YP.

 

[TREETX]

I am not saying the yp are bad. I am just saying it depends on what your plan is. If your plan is to get people calling, it is effective.

My plan is a bit specific and I have work, WHAT KIND of people call is more important. (Ask how I feel about that in a slow winter)

I have never been BIG in the yp. Size matters. Size costs. I used to have my logo and a bit bigger ad. That was pretty good. When I went to the size so small, you couldn't place a logo, I got more shoppers. Some people think smaller ad means cheaper....and you get the cheapA$$es calling. Bartlett has an ad here that is also so small you can't place a logo. They run several crews. Davey has a full page ad and billboards. Both still have several crews running. Just depends on your approach.

My plan has never been to get several crews running and myself in a position where I am telling sales people where to go and what the quarterly earnings reports are. I like climbing and even more, tree care. Old trees - it is like working with orcas. The feeling of something much greater than yourself. Having said that, I must optimize returns by selling myself as a value added, with a high level of service and accountability. The people know they are paying the same or even more, but they are getting a higher level of service. Distancing myself from being a commodity. I love the business end but I think I will save the stress of running multiple crews and the gray hairs that go with it for my 30s.

I miss threads on COMMERCIAL tree care. I have learned volumes here about climbing.

where is Tom?

 

[mikecross23]

Wow! Thanks for all the great responses and experiences ya'll have had. I'm still torn, but leaning more away from the YPs than I was before. I have a month to dig up some more sources and work contacts before I need a decision on the ad. If I can get some more realtors and LAs and lawn jocks in my pocket in that amount of time, then maybe I'll hold off another year on the YPs. If I find I've used all my connections already then I better do it.

More thoughts anyone?

-Mike-

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

print up refferal cards for your clients that give them some money off your next visit for each reffed sales they send you. They give it to the prospective client with their name on it and you send them a coupon. You can print everythong up on your computer.

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

What do you pay for the Visa account Craig, 5%?

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[Stumper]

They(Visa/MC) hit me for 2.9% but with a $35 monthly fee. If I had it to do over... I wouldn't.

 

[rborist1]

:Eye: