1. Has the Continuing Decline of the Yellow Pages Hurt Your
Company?
There was a time when advertising in your local Yellow Page Phone Book was practically a
must do type of marketing for local companies that desired to reach local customers. From
local plumbers, gardeners, and attorneys to accountants and restaurants every person knew
that having an ad in the phone book was practically a sure means to have more sales walk
through your front door. And the companies that owned the phone books went out of their
way to sell you as much advertisement space as you wanted, for a price. And that price could
be really high without a doubt. Literally thousands of bucks every month. And to get an ad in
the phone book likewise came with that huge one year commitment. It was absolutely a
decision that could have a substantial financial impact on a small business. But for many
small businesses that would have liked to draw in new consumers the choice to spend those
bucks on phone book ads was an easy one.
Times though have changed dramatically. Because of the web small business owners now
have more possibilities. In fact I have actually talked with a lot of small business owners in
the last year that fully think the days of advertising in the yellow pages are gone. In fact they
say it's become a substantial waste of advertising dollars and they are ditching the phone
book in droves and moving those advertising budgets online. The concept of committing the
few advertising dollars that a small business could have to a one year contract costing
hundreds or thousands of dollars a month is no longer attractive.
So here are the questions I have.
1. If your company has traditionally marketed in your local phone book have you seen a
decline in sales that come from advertising there?
2. Do you believe that phone book marketing is dying or is it already dead?
3. Will you continue to advertise in your neighborhood phone book or do you mean to drop
your marketing when your contract is up?
4. Assuming you are going to drop your yellow page marketing where will you spend those
bucks in the future to advertise your business?
There was a time that local businesses were basically held captive by the yellow page
companies. If they desired to be seen locally they needed to market and the marketing fees
were through the roof. You couldn't really measure your return on investment. But luckily for
local businesses those days are over.
Has the Continuous Fall of the Yellow Pages Hurt Your Company?, Has the Continuous

2. Decline of the Yellow Pages Hurt Your Company?, Has the Continuous Decline of the Yellow
Pages Hurt Your Business?