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Author Topic: Do any of you ever use the Yellow Pages (or the phone book at all, for that matter)? Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 02:26 PM                        At my day job (Carquest Auto Parts) we have a "bold" listing in the phone book, and a yellow pages listing under Auto Parts - New, for which we pay $9.50 a month. The renewal is coming up...and I can't remember the last time I looked up a number in a phone book. I'm probably going to cancel the listing, which will remove us from the Yellow Pages and take away the "bold" listing in the white pages. Our competition in town does not have the bold listing and they are not in the yellow pages either. Am I an idiot for cancelling the listing? What I'm really asking is....does anyone ever use the phone book anymore? I figure, if we find that business drops like a rock when the new phone book comes out, we can tough it out for a year and reinstate our listing for the 2016 book.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 02:39 PM                        Yes. Though the last couple of years the type has been so small I can't read it.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 07-22-2014 02:50 PM                     10 years ago we were running half page ads in one of the local phone books and a smaller, yet still graphical looking ad in Yellow Pages/AT&T or whatever it was (more expensive) phone book. Today we have very basic listings in both. It hasn't hurt us. I personally don't bother with phone books anymore. It's easier for me to just type or say the business I'm trying to find in my smart phone. I dial the number from there. Or I pull it up on whatever computer I might be using. Two phone books get dropped on my front porch every year. I might take a peek inside and then perhaps not open it again until the following year's edition arrives.  |  IP: Logged Adam Fraser Master Film Handler Posts: 499 From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 07-22-2014 02:50 PM                        We also pulled our premium listing from the phone book this year for our furniture store. The only calls that I noticed coming from the phone book were people cross shopping for things like $90 mattresses, which we only make a few dollars on anyway. That $500/yr. will be much better spent on our website. Our local phone books give you a basic free listing with just a name and phone number in the Yellow pages.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 03:06 PM                        I find the yellow pages to be useful when needing to find a local business that provides a product or service for which I have not previously had a need. I could see looking in the yellow pages for "auto parts" if I needed to buy something quickly and wanted to find the nearest place that sells that part (since online searches still do a poor job of location-specific searches). This would also be useful for people who are new to a specific area. On the other hand, if I know the name of the person or business that I want to call, Google is faster than looking in the white pages. My primary use for the white pages is to find the number of the electric company to call them to tell them that the power is out. In short, I would say "yes" to yellow pages ads for businesses that provide the sort of product or service that one might use infrequently and need on short notice. So, that would be a yes for locksmiths and plumbers and a no for grocery stores and clothing stores. Not sure where auto parts would fall, though, but I could see it making sense to be listed, although I might not pay for a bold listing.  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-22-2014 03:20 PM                     A local photographic supplier used to use this argument to reduce the cost of his yellow page advertisements. "Why should I pay you to be listed in your book, alphabetically with my competitors?" Perhaps this is an over simplification of what the book represents. Have you ever noticed the number of business names that start with the letter "A"? Aardvark Carpet Cleaners (actual business)  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 04:33 PM                        I'm not sure if it is our yellow pages or 411, but we get lots of calls for people looking for "The Movie Theatre" and want to know what what time [fill in latest blockbuster here]. Most don't even get the concept that we are not showing said blockbuster, and those that do ask us for the number of the theatre that is. Pretty sure AMC and Carmike only list their phone numbers online, and I'm guessing these people don't have online access.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 07-22-2014 05:07 PM                     Personally, I ask Mr. Google. I think Yellow Pages are a thing of the past but I would like to have the white pages. Here in Virginia I can get a copy of the white pages but I have to request it. They limit free copies to one per household.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-22-2014 05:09 PM                        I'm kind of with Scott about only using a phone book for goods or services I use infrequently. For example, earlier this year I used it to look up a tree trimming business and a paving business. But one of the problems I've found is it's often difficult to tell which businesses are local - or provide local services. And some of the phone books don't use logical listings. For example, tree trimming referred me to Arborist. As for auto parts, I would say it's probably not worth the money unless you have some kind of specialty which might attract people who have a need beyond standard auto parts. I know where the local auto parts stores are, and if I need a phone number I'm most likely to use Google.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 05:56 PM                        I guess I don't understand the whole frequently/infrequently question. I use Google whether it's the first or 100th time I need a phone number.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 06:17 PM                        Google works best when one knows the name of the business that one wants to call. It does not work so well for providing a list of every vendor in a particular category in a specific geographic area. One who infrequently uses a given product or service is less likely than a frequent user to know the name of the local vendor. If I need a turboencabulator for a 1961 Plymouth on short notice, I can look up "auto parts" in the yellow pages and start calling every business on the list to find out who has one and what it costs. There is no easy way to do this with an online search if one wants to acquire the product locally. In a small town, it might be less of an issue. Googling for "auto parts forsyth montana" tells me that there is a NAPA and a Carquest in the area. Are there any others?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 07:05 PM                        Nope, those are us! I did a check on our local phone directory -- the Napa doesn't have a yellow page listing either, nor a bold listing in the white pages so they must not think it's worth the cost either. One thing in our favor, is that Carquest does purchase a display ad in the yellow pages so we're listed there...we just won't appear in the regular alphabetical listings.  |  IP: Logged Frank Cox Film God Posts: 2234 From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada Registered: Apr 2011 posted 07-22-2014 07:10 PM                        I haven't used a physical phone book in years. Any number that I want to look up I do online. I have this app on my phone to do lookups there, too. I'm not even sure if I have a white pages listing for the theatre any more. I know that I haven't had a yellow pages listing for several years. Everyone manages to find the theatre, though, so it makes no difference at all.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-22-2014 07:14 PM                        Mike, maybe a better way to look at it for me is services which do not lend themselves to having a web site, or which are mobile in nature and may be difficult to locate. The examples I gave above with paving and tree trimming being perfect examples. Companies providing those services often operate over a large area and may not be listed locally even though they service the local area. Using a local phone book helps find those types of services. In the case of the auto parts store, where a phone book might prove useful is when they have ads saying they specialize in something particular. Sometimes this might be easier than wading through search results. For example, if you're looking for parts for vintage cars or European cars, it might be easier to check the phone book to find a business that specializes in these.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2014 07:26 PM                        quote: Justin Hamaker In the case of the auto parts store, where a phone book might prove useful is when they have ads saying they specialize in something particular. Yes, this, too. If there are fifty entries in the yellow pages for "auto parts," I would probably look at the display ads to find out which store would be most likely to find what I need and would then call that store first. But I'm thinking now that the yellow pages ad would be pretty pointless for Mike, since the number of places to get auto parts in Forsyth is limited and Google finds his store just fine. An exception might be if his customers tend to be on the older side and thus less likely to immediately turn to a web search (or even have a computer) to find the store. I'm still not sure about the bold listing. It doesn't tell the reader anything about the business that a regular listing wouldn't, other than that the business with the bold listing spent extra money to have that name printed in bold. One way to test the value of a yellow pages ad would be to print a different phone number that is only used in that ad. Then, count the number of calls to that number (this is easiest to do with 1-800 numbers, since the bills are itemized). Obviously, it wouldn't measure walk-in traffic, but I expect that most yellow pages users would call before visiting, anyway.  |  IP: Logged

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