A friend of mine told me that when he started a tree service business a few years back, he paid for one add in the yellow Pages and his phone is still ringing from that add. I have a website and use Craigslist and Facebook, but since I've moved to Idaho my phone has been dead quiet. What are your thoughts? Have you used the yellow Pages and did it work for you?
When is the last time you personally looked in the yellow pages for anything? Or even a phonebook? We treat phone books around here like junk mail now. File 13.
My boss who's ~65 will be sitting at his computer in his office and holler for the secretary to bring him the phone book to look someone up (also does the same with the dictionary and thesaurus :D). Even with the amount of technology today, there are some that still use the phone book.
I am not one of them, internet all the way.
I bet it's been 10 years since I've even looked at a paper phone book.
Many years ago I placed an add in the local electronic Yellow Pages, which is the same as the paper version, but I don't think it did anything. I would have starved if I had relied on it. In contrast, we get many thousand web hits a week, about half from first time visitors to the site. If even 1% of those hits turn into new customers, it's a good day.
So, in my experience, much more productive are web sites, FB, CL, etc, places where high volume electronic searches can find you. If you have an on line version of the Yellow Pages, then Google would find it.
Early on I talked with YP callers several times. They wanted a couple hundred per month then to list me.
Now I tell callers that my budget for advertising is $15 per month. I haven't yet had anyone with a good comeback for that line. :D
Seriously I think the most effective and least expensive avenue is to optimize the keyword attributes on your web pages to make sure that your website comes up in the top half of the first internet search page for someone searching in your area. Maybe some here can tell you how to do it yourself. I would try some of this for you but since I'm not in your area I wouldn't trust the results.
Something I also did for a while and suggest you might consider is enrolling with Google in their pay per click advertising. It is not that expensive and you can easily control how much you spend.
When I was doing it, that program lets you deposit some money (say $100), then choose how much you are willing to spend each day, for example $1-$2 per day, and they charge you per click for those who click on your ad. You make a little 4 line ad for this program which will appear at the top of the search page each day until the daily budget is exhausted. You can choose your area of advertising by different methods such as your state, etc, AND you can also draw a map to define where the searchers must come from. This keeps people from the rest of the world from clicking on it and costing you 35 or whatever cents. :)
Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on November 01, 2018, 07:42:23 AM....
Seriously I think the most effective and least expensive avenue is to optimize the keyword attributes on your web pages to make sure that your website comes up in the top half of the first internet search page for someone searching in your area.
Something I also did for a while and suggest you might consider is enrolling with Google in their pay per click advertising. It is not that expensive and you can easily control how much you spend.
....
This is the best advice available!
Do a search from someone else's computer ("sawmills in YOUR TOWN & STATE"), if you are not in the first 2 pages of results... your web site is not working for you.
Absolutely internet search. 25 years ago Yellow Pages was the go-to way to search but not in today's world.
I still run a YP ad every year although it's toned down a bunch. Reason is here in Florida many of the older population still reach for it and it still has a positive return for us.
I am not in the sawmill or wood business.
Fewer and fewer do use it, many new houses don't even have land lines to be listed. The first phone book was only one page. Ahoy, Ahoy! Alexander Graham Bell here... no, no my number is 1, you must want 2. Two I say!
Phone books are as scarce as pay phones but they both served well during their time. :o
Superman has no place to change now. :o
In Maine he can change wherever he wants :).
He better do it quick in January. :D :o
Hmmm. I never even thought to mention that I was talking about the electronic version. I hadn't thought of my friends story until last night when I was trying to do a search for my business and the electronic YP came up. Thank you for the input
I searched for a portable sawmill in Idaho and quickly found you. Maybe this time of year folks are more concerned with getting their firewood than having logs sawn into lumber.
Are you listed on Wood-Mizer's Pro Sawyer Network?
Quote from: Magicman on November 01, 2018, 08:43:14 AM
Phone books are as scarce as pay phones but they both served well during their time. :o
I think the muscle guys tore them all in half..... ;D ;D
Google searches
"portable sawmill idaho". you're in the top few hits
"mobile sawmill idaho" ditto
"portable sawmill plummer idaho". first hit
"logs to lumber idaho". don't see you anywhere
When I try these searches I think of a lot of different words , also I ask customers how they found me or ask others what words they would use, this gives more ideas. I put such keywords into the appropriate place on my website, at a place which search engines search, it's been a while
Quote from: Crossroads on November 01, 2018, 09:02:10 AM
Hmmm. I never even thought to mention that I was talking about the electronic version. I hadn't thought of my friends story until last night when I was trying to do a search for my business and the electronic YP came up. Thank you for the input
Yes yp.com is alive and well and works good if your looking for something local or regional. Will they let you do an ad in just the electronic version?
You could very well be right MM. I am listed in the Woodmizer pro Sawyers page. Thank you and Denise also, for taking the time to run those searches. It's very much appreciated.....
Quote from: KirkD on November 01, 2018, 11:24:18 AM
Quote from: Crossroads on November 01, 2018, 09:02:10 AM
Hmmm. I never even thought to mention that I was talking about the electronic version. I hadn't thought of my friends story until last night when I was trying to do a search for my business and the electronic YP came up. Thank you for the input
Yes yp.com is alive and well and works good if your looking for something local or regional. Will they let you do an ad in just the electronic version?
I believe so
I think the last time I had an ad in the YP it was about 1994 or so. In the 80's it paid, but slowed too much in the 90's.
Get a website and then buy a "shameless link" on this forum. That will get you hits, but also search your site using Google or any other popular search engine and scroll down until you find your site, then click on it. Each time it gets clicked on your site will move up in the list. A few years ago, I actually did that for about 10 minutes every day, clicking on my site, then closing it and searching again over and over again for almost a month. At that point my site was showing up on the first page. Since then I have had all the business I want and have not done it again.
If you are in a business selling a service or product to the public.
Raider Bill's experience may be different because so many of his clients are senior citizens who grew up with the YP.
Maple flats, clicking on the link pretty much only moves it up the list for you unless many many people are clicking on your link too, or as you said, you are linked to a popular site like the Forestry Forum. Most of the search engines return information relative to what it thinks you are interested in. It uses your internet search history to remember these things and return what it "thinks" you would want to see first. It kinda works, because you want to see your site higher in the rankings. You may think your are doing better than you are unless you are searching with a completely clean cache. No cookies, no history, and going signing into google and deleting your search history there to if you happen to have an account (android users have to have one)
Quote from: maple flats on November 01, 2018, 02:00:08 PMscroll down until you find your site, then click on it.
Just don't click on your own Google ads!!! :D :D :D
It worked for me about 10 yrs ago, shortly after I set up my first website. I did not have nor never had a Google ad, likely never will, I'm just trying to get the spam calls from Google and everyone else to stop.
Must be I was just seeing it move up on my computer. I guess I was fooled. On the other hand, an ad in the Forestry Forum truly does help, since so many use the forum it seems to multiply your results. Even for people just doing a search and the answer is on the FF which happens frequently.
On that subject, I have at times run a search for maple related questions only to see a post I made on a maple site as the first answer to the question. That makes me smile but does little to help me research a topic.
When you are setting up you keyword search do not forget common misspelled words
Quote from: hturner12 on November 03, 2018, 07:34:11 PM
When you are setting up you keyword search do not forget common misspelled words
Oh, I'm a pro at miss spelled words lol good point though!
With stupid auto correct and this what I think you want we all are
Phone books make great fire starter. Those thin, crinkly pages wad-up nicely and give much enjoyment as you tear the pages one-by-one to throw on the fire. smiley_clapping
Now that's a terrible waste of valuable toilet tissue. :o
Quote from: Magicman on November 09, 2018, 07:06:30 AM
Now that's a terrible waste of valuable toilet tissue. :o
I would think it would be kinda rough on the hiney
If your business comes up on a internet search, such as yellow pages, you should look at the information and make sure it is correct and current. If not, you can "claim the ad" and update it. If you have been in business many years, things about your business may have changed.
Quote from: Magicman on November 09, 2018, 07:06:30 AM
Now that's a terrible waste of valuable toilet tissue. :o
A few months ago one on my low rent units called for a plugged toilet. Sure enough they were using a telephone book for TP.