Advertising

Advertising

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I have been approached by UFindus.com with quite a hard sell as to why I should advertise within their online director. I have also looked at Yell.com and Thompson and wondered if anyone out there had any experience of these different advertising mediums. basically has it worked for you and do you get the hits which the advertisers would suggest you do
Eleanor Shakeshaft

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By User deleted
24th Aug 2006 19:00

Poor return
My return from this type of advertising has been virtually nil.

Personally I'd recommend the free entry in Yellow Pages and not bother with any others.

I would spend your advertising budget on direct mailings and trying to get referral business from local professionals/banks etc.

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By User deleted
25th Aug 2006 13:03

Advertising
Stay away from Ufindus.

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By gebro
25th Aug 2006 15:38

Stick with Yellow Pages
I agree with Nicola. I was cajoled into advertising in Thomsons two years running and never got a single response, but the paper copy of Yellow Pages does create the odd enquiry. They have always printed my free one-line entry correctly, but the one year I took out a small box-type ad as well they put a completely wrong phone number in. So yes, stick to the one-liner.
If you have a small local directory in your area (we have a great one here called Dentons) you might find that best of all. I do. Everyone seems to keep a copy by their phone.

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By AnonymousUser
28th Aug 2006 10:35

Free Advertising.
If you have to pay, you'd better be reaching your target audience. When you buy into a mass-market product, your advertising money is wasted on a lot of people who don't need/want your services. Don't beleive him when he says a search will pop you up - if they have more than ten people who do what you do, you'll be buried in the mix.

Targeted products (see below) do work, but first exhaust your free advertising resources. Read Jeff Slutsky's books and read books on "guerilla" marketing and "street" marketing for ways to advertise for free (or pennies).

An example of a targeted ad is: you specialize in plumbers and contractors, so you put an ad in "Plumbing and Contractor's Weekly". My targeted ads in trade magazines have netted me business, but only because I'm advertising in ones that my competitors don't know about yet. Try to be the only accountant in the magazine; it means all the calls go your way. Check often to see how many other accountants advertise in the same rag; the more that advertise there, the lower your prices have to be to compete.

Remember, old-fashioned print media is often preferable to internet, as magazines loll about for months, allowing your ad to be seen again and again.

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Dennis Howlett
By dahowlett
26th Aug 2006 04:04

Most advertsing
Directory list advertising is only marginally worth it if you have a name beginning with A - or preferably AAA.

Most advertising is a total waste of money. It's much higher % than 50%. Close to 98%. Basically because people don't read most of the copy that goes out there.

If you have an online presence that is constantly refreshed, you're much more likely to get enquiries than if you have a static websitge. That's why accountants who use cookie cutter web designs are throwing money away.

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By tomtrainer
31st Aug 2006 13:10

Useless
Tried Yell.com and got nothing at all from it. Same with the paper directories.

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By User deleted
01st Sep 2006 08:25

There was a memorable year when
I paid to advertise in the accountants section of YP and asked them to put my free one liner in the tax advisers section. After a few strange phone calls, I realised that tax advisers is right next to taxis in YP and I got LOTS of calls from drunkards missreading their YP and next to nothing for my paid for advert. As I work from home I was also aware of the calls in the middle of the night...
I have given up with YP. I paid for a small ad one year and got nothing. When they tried to get me to renew the next year and I complained it wasn't worth it, they said I didn't have a big enough advert. So why do they charge so much for something they know doesn't work? Also, we live right on the edge of FOUR directories, so I would have to remortgage the house to pay for it.

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