[mrminlfc]

hi guys just a quick question my company is Mostran Cleaning Services Ltd based in southampton and am considering paying to move up the list on yell.com as theyve just revamped there site
we are a new company and as yet have a very small amount of work just wondering what sort of cost to work ratio id get for advertising
not sure of cost as they wont discuss over the phone so have a meeting on wednesday
we do all domestic end of tenancy sparkle cleans office one offs
also any other advice on getting name out there would be great have had leaflets printed and am in the process of delivering them (by hand  :
and am about to send out letters to local business centres ect and then follow them up
all advice would be appriciated
cheers
richard

[wpclean]

Your money would be better spent on a decent website, try marcus he is very good and  get you a high ranking.

http://www.tattoo-web-design.co.uk/

[mike roberts]

agree with above... hate YP massive ripoff ... we used to spend £7000 - £8000 a year with them book + online, every year different rep different ideas price constantly increasing

Stopped using them now altogether .. moved focus onto website and are now using a marketing company have a clear view on what we are trying to achieve increasing our range of professional leaflets... stationary etc with them onboard reviewing increasing our rankings... Cost far less results are greater

With YP just seemed like the same approach with no overall 'business / marketing plan'

[Blast Away]

Agree with those opinions so far. Yell is shiite. Spend your money improving your webpages.
I build my own site so there's nothing to splash out on that as I do it the ways I know but the £500 I spent on yell.com and £1100 Yellow Pages last year was a waste of money. There was very little traffic from yell.com to my site and each enquiry is always asked how they found us. Yell.com and YP were hardly ever mentioned. The categories on there are shiite too. Blast Cleaning was the section I was in.

[wwoodee22]

Got to agree with all that has been said.
You seem to have the right idea already, a good web with the right wording will bring in more than yell.
I also found that sign writing on the vans have been a good way of advertising.

Ask all enquiries where they got your details and you'll find your answer over a couple of years where to invest for yourself, all businesses are different.

Once yell have your number they will stalk you foreverrrrrrrrrr

[Kev Martin]

Only one word for Yell and YP

Cr*p

Kevin
Marble Life Ltd

[mike roberts]

so how did it go with good old YP

[Julian]

After spending 10yrs working with yellow pages and them taking thousands of pound a year off me.  I suggest that you write your company name and details on £5 and £10 notes and hand them out in the street, you will get more success ! sorry to be cynical but its true

[Jamie Pearson]

40% of our floor restoration work comes from Yell.com/YP

I have cut back some of the adverts we have but retained the ones relating to the above.

[mike roberts]

40% of our floor restoration work comes from Yell.com/YP

I have cut back some of the adverts we have but retained the ones relating to the above.

How much do you spend need a laugh

[Jamie Pearson]

It works out at less than 2% cost of the turnover it generates.
It is a massive shift from what it once was but still worth the investment for the return.

[mike roberts]

er  less than 2% cost of turnover

WHY o Why would you cut back 


If I spent less than 2% (on marketing) I would be increasing it not cutting back to increase that % of turnover.

[Jamie Pearson]

It is entries for other areas of our business I have cut back to market them in a more effective way this year.

[mrminlfc]

hi guys thanks for the response did have a meeting with yell will cost me £300 for the year to advertise in southampton on there website this will put me up whenever search's for all services i offer
am having a website done by someone recommended who again will put me as high as i can get on google ect for right price
was going to say no to yell but spoke to several people and phoned companies aswell so for 12 months only, felt it was worth a gamble and will closely moniter how it goes would only need to get one regular domestic clean to pay for whole year !!!
many thanks for all responses and please add more comments !
richard
Mostran Cleaning Services Ltd

[mike roberts]

It works out at less than 2% cost of the turnover it generates.
It is a massive shift from what it once was but still worth the investment for the return.

Still find that % amazing ... and it used to be  better 

Do you mind saying which areas of business you advertise via Yell
Would be really appreciated

[mike roberts]

hi guys thanks for the response did have a meeting with yell will cost me £300 for the year to advertise in southampton on there website this will put me up whenever search's for all services i offer
am having a website done by someone recommended who again will put me as high as i can get on google ect for right price
was going to say no to yell but spoke to several people and phoned companies aswell so for 12 months only, felt it was worth a gamble and will closely moniter how it goes would only need to get one regular domestic clean to pay for whole year !!!
many thanks for all responses and please add more comments !
richard
Mostran Cleaning Services Ltd

Yer agree hate YP but for sake of £300 might as well,
Should of said for a small cost maybe worth while as another marketing tool.

Trouble is next yr they will be back wanting £3000... yr after £5000 etc after a while it pees ya off. One rep i told him before meeting my budget, around £7000 he came back with proofs / samples for over £15,000 thats when i lost the plot

[Antony Quinn]

it depends on how much other people are spending in your area - if lots of people have already grabbed the top spots, then it can be expensive for not much return.  Having a presence there can be worthwhile though. 

The most important thing to remember is that when you get an enquiry you ask them where they heard of you, and if they convert you record how much that job was worth and how much that client has been worth over the last year.  That way you can decide for yourself in the future whether it is worth it for your own business or not - as you've seen here lots of people have different opinions about it

[mrminlfc]

hi guys
£300 was just for southampton but alowed me to come under several searches which was my whole aim (domestic,commercial,office,carpet ect) as i said is just a test for this year to see how it goes and will moniter it myself (no dodgey salesmen figures !) they wanted an additional £250 for portsmouth but happily declined as again just a test
my website will be up and running this week so will be intresting to compare vfm of the two although not holding out much hope for yell lol
time will tell 

[mike roberts]

Did they offer u a free number to monitor calls 

Really monitor calls yourself as i am sur eyou will  ... i still get new customers telliing me they saw me in YP... problem is I am not in it

[BDCS]

We haved stopped all paper advertising this year with YP, BT etc and concentrating on websites. Also been told that YP are stopping all paper in 2 yrs anyway.

After 3-4 phone calls they finally got it into their heads this year that we are not doing paid advertising them even on Yell.
Got another phone call a week ago and the chap was talking about Yell, I was just about to repeat what I had said in the other phone calls when he said that he wanted to make sure he had our website address for the link on yell in our free line  . Then he went on to say that we can also have info on yell free too!!!

So I made sure he had all of our services on yell with a link to our websites & info completely free of charge - beats paying for it 

BDCS's missus