Yellow page ad

[treeguy347]

My jobsite sign is the most productive advertising. I was removing 4 large oaks to make room for a parking lot (beautiful trees, should never have been removed IMHO) I got 6 people (4 of which hired me) from 2 days of working there. I had a little extra built in for a drop in sign for firewood that slides on top for when I need it too, nice to get rid of excess wood right away.

 

[Dan Flinn]

Mikecross,

I started with a 1/2 ad in a sea of tree company ads in the yp's that yielded zero calls. The following year, we got them to ad the "Arborist"heading. That ad generated some calls, but only a few lead to anything.

Do a search for the new property letter thing I spoke of earlier. It really works.

Also, try to get in with property management companies. You know, the ones that manage condo assoc's, rentals, etc. I have two that send me business regurlarly.

Try an extension office. I go get the stuff for soil samples all the time just to show my face and ask questions. They don't refer, but the reccomend arborists.......

Anyway, good luck!

Dan

 

[M.D. Vaden]

When I use Yellow Pages, I go for big ads. The reason is that more information is in the larger ads.

Most green industry pros in our area are of the opinion that a large ad is the best ad.

Little puny ads don't get noticed much. But for the right company, a small listing makes a decent reference point if people go the the book to track you down, having seen or heard your name.

Before I'd sign, I would hold out for at least a week, indicating hesitation to dish out the full expence. Yellow Page reps are known to reduce their prices by as much as 25% to 50%.

If you sign right away, there is no chance to play that hand.

I get far more work via other methods. I no longer say what those methods are, but I am willing to say that the YP did not work for me. But also, it was a small ad.

 

[mikecross23]

Thanks for the reminder M D Vaden. I kind of just said forget about it, then saw your post. I called today and spoke to the yp rep and said I don't want a small ad and I won't pay the full price b/c it just isn't worth it to me. I made an offer of $175 on a $300 ad and she said her co. doesn't allow price breaks. I appologized for wasting her time. Word of mouth is picking up more and more every week and referals have been keeping my weekends busy. I found a coupon book that goes out to 100,000 house holds locally w/ an income guranteed to exceed $50,000. I got a ton of crappy calls from folks, but I also landed a ton of work and the referals from that one ad are still keeping me busy 3 1/2 mo's later. I scheduled it to run again in a month which should slam my schedule! No big yellow page ad for me, just the one liner so folks can find me when needed!

Later folks!
-Mike-

 

[treespec]

YP works for me

I've been a yp sub. for @ least 18 yrs. I've tried other advertising, but all my new customers(85%) found my name from the yp. And $360 is way too much when you're just starting out in the business. I pay $143 in 2 books per month. I cover 2 counties. What really attracts customers, is my isa logo.

 

[TREETX]

The yp rep sent me a packet with a rather large demo add and info on their circulation #'s.

I sent him this email.

thanks for the info packet with the demo ad. I have not been that pleased with the YP's. They were great and worth it when the economy was better. The economy has gone down, the number of calls generated by the YP's has gone down but yet your prices increase.

I would take the size add offered for $225/mo. No more.

I am pleased to have a new rep. To put it in nice terms, Eric Johnson was an ASS.

Thanks

They will want close to $500/mo for the ad. Worth a try? I will keep you posted.

 

[treespec]

YP works for me

$500 is a chunk of change for just one ad per month. That needs to be half. Are you ISA Cert.?

 

[TREETX]

It is expensive here. $143 wouldn't buy you more than a few lines in one book here. No pics or logos.

Yes, I am ISA cert

 

[treespec]

YP works for me

Then try to use ISA's logo w/your chapter, in the ad. Also, if you're paying that kind of $$- you should be able to get a listing under " Arborist" for free. Glad I don't live in TX. P.S. I just bought a new Hobie Mirage Outback kayak-I love it! It's a no-hands-mobility.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

In Portland, Oregon, and suburbs, there used to be one "brand" of phone book.

What makes the matter expensive now, is that there are 2 or 3 books.

One comes out in December, and another the following season or so.

When people go to the YP, and if they have 2 books, there is only a 50% chance of success if a company is only in one book.

For effectiveness, a company needs to be in both books here.

The ads here are also expensive.

In the next 10 to 20 years, I really see the internet replacing the phone book at least in the bigger cities.

In Portland, especially the westside where Intel is, almost 1 out of 2 houses has someone at a computer screen when driving by at 5 to 6pm at night. And many people have computers running continuously now, with an increase of high-speed internet capabilities.

My computer use to locate services is up by 1000% the past 3 years.

That's one of the main reasons I don't usually share where I list my site, or why it's listed at certain places, or how I construct my paragraphs, or why I don't list my site at other places.

Not that I'll get business from do-it-yourself people - but use Google, and don't enter a city, but just enter "pruning advice" and I think we will rank high for a generic search term in an entire nation.

With a city name, like "Portland landscape design", we still do okay. Our goal is to hit the first page for tree work, design and landscaping.

 

[TREETX]

I think the only reason prices are high here is the high million+ circulation.

Have fun with the kayak. One of my best business expenses ever - my Reprarian Zone Tree Inspection Unit

 

[monkeypuzzle]

treespec-- Is that a pedal drive kayak???? I got a Necky that I use for my "riparian zone" adventures. Great little kayak for sneaking around under wax myrtles.

The one and only reason I don't advertise is because I don't want the extra work.

 

[TREETX]

Joker from the YP's emailed. Said that $292/mo was the lowest he could go on the ad but if I went with it, he would include an in column box, reg $140/mo for free. I sent him an email back say that he should keep his in column box and just give me the ad for $185/mo.

We will see.....

 

[M.D. Vaden]

I love the barter method - sometimes.

As long as public education is going to promote credentials and the getting the 3 estimate concept, I'm glad to pass on part of the overhead to other support services.

 

[Yellowdog]

Here's a couple of cents on advertising.

Local newspapers help get your name out. People read classifieds. You will get some customers and if you do good work, you will get referrals. These ads don't cost much.
Yellow Page ads are expensive and I am in three yellow page directories and don't get a lot of calls from it. Thought I had to have it, was wrong. It doesn't hurt to have a small one liner for emergency work and I think a small ad works as good as a big ad IMO.

Seriously consider the Internet. People who have money to hire out tree work have computers and spend time online researching or looking for information. The days of uninformed consumers are coming to a close. IMO

Flyers are good for spot jobs but someone who has major work may ask around, or look in the phone book (that's where the little ad pays off) but at least here, people pick up the local paper. Most of my calls came from local paper but now we are about 50% referrals. Had to fork out money in the beginning for advertising but we have cut back consderably. We are a mom and pop organization and it hurts to fork out dough for ads but sometimes you need to get the name out. We also get a lot of calls for stuff in the industry that we don't do so I am adding services all the time and building a network of other contractors and that is paying off all from little ads.

Just my two cents..