[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

After 8 years of being tucked away on about page 96 of the carpet cleaning section, on a left hand page at the bottom I've finally made it.

In the new "slim-line" YP for Manchester South I am the FIRST box advert under the heading of "Carpet & Upholstery Cleaners."

I am on a RIGHT HAND page.

My advert starts HALF WAY  down.

It couldn't get any better.

Actually it could. The advert below mine is the same width but with smaller font and with paler colours. It actually gives the impression that my advert is BIGGER than what it is. And these are the only two box adverts on the first page.

Other competitors include with box adverts:
-2 Servicemaster
-4 Competent Cleaners
-4 Chem-dry

-4 adverts with tiny boxes 1/12 of a page for independents
-10 adverts with very small boxes in yellow


My advert has always done me exceedingly proud.

This will be a test.

"Today South Manchester, tomorrow....the world"

(Good old Yellow Pages)

[Mike Osbourne]

Don't worry Roger, next year you will have it all to yourself.

[derek west]

Don't worry Roger, next year you will have it all to yourself.

in other words, the reverse of your advert will be blank.

good luck roger, hope it works wonders for ya.
derek

[richy27]

here we go again another yellow pages debate.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[ross12345]

total waste of money yellow pages think people are idots if thay go in there

[derek west]

not recieved my yellow pages yet but i did get a yellow pamphlet through the door with yellow pages written on it

nice add roger, should do well with that mate.

roger and clinton do me a  small favour. and pretend your not carpet cleaners.

lets say you wanted your leather suite cleaned or repaired and you use the yellow pages, also you have to consider the fact that most people don't associate leather cleaning with  carpet cleaners. so now look in the yellow pages and tell me what you find. my fingers are crossed.
derek

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Ross, Roger is an in intelligent, articulate man, certainly no fool.

I have gone back in YP this year with a small card type advert, was cheaper because i am a 'new' customer. Main reason for doing it was a couple of old custies who had lost my number had trouble finding me and also because since I sussed out what works i have always got about 5:1.

Cheers

Doug

[daysdeepclean]

If YP offered me a good deal I would probably give it another shot, but it'd have to be a lot cheaper than last year. I've started getting work from it all of a sudden.... Do you think YP is enocouraging custy's to ring???

[Shaun_Ashmore]

T'up in t'north of the country YP still works........

Roger are you going to show us a copy on here?

Shaun

[Jim_77]

total waste of money yellow pages think people are idots if thay go in there

I can't help but spot a little bit of irony in there somewhere

[daysdeepclean]

I thunk that two Jim

[Jim_77]

yaeh

[Mike Osbourne]

It's like any advertising, you work off your own ROI and testing. Other people's experiences may help guide you initially as save a lot of time and money but hey if it's working milk it for all it's worth.

[derek west]

fingers uncrossed and ready to answer the phones (plural)
cheers clinton
worth a shot i thought, out side the box eh! downstairs for dancing!
derek

[Mike Halliday]

"the fact that most people don't associate leather cleaning with  carpet cleaners"

Derek do you know this as fact or is it just your opinion? perhaps people associate leather suites with upholstery cleaners so would look under carpet & upholstery cleaners in the Y/Ps

[derek west]

just my opinion mike. definately not fact.
derek

[Shaun_Ashmore]

How true about not being associated with leather cleaning, after all of the 'fuss' about 18-2 years ago on the forums of having to be trained and having a lucrative market my leather work is falling to lower levels of enquiries albeit I don't push it near enough but my scotchguard sales are getting better and better.

2 lessons here are that

1. If you don't tell people they won't know you do something
2. Don't follow the crowd

2a. Looking for a hard floor course now

Shaun

[Mike Osbourne]

I have a hard time understanding what Roger Koh is on about most of the time. But one thing I totally understand is whilst you will get leather work off the back of your associated cleaning skills, the perception of 'specialist' will yield the biggest return.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

T'up in t'north of the country YP still works........

Roger are you going to show us a copy on here?

Shaun

Would love to Shaun but my scanner doesn't want to play/shuffled off its mortal coil/is pushing up the daisies/is no more....you get the picture. Or rather you don't. (If I ever do get it working or replaced then I will happily do so.)

The point of the original post was not to have an in-depth discussion about the rights and wrongs of YP but just for me to celebrate the fact that I would appear to have pole position in this year's edition.

I could have gone on (and on and on) about how it works for me and my ROR on it, but that wasn't the point.

(At a tangent to that, as I was typing this I got an enquiry from a lady who had particularly liked the advert and wording. As she lived much nearer to Derek and it was a bit of an emergency I have pointed her in his direction even though she wasn't overstruck by the name of his company. Moral: what works for one might not work for somebody else but that doesn't mean to say that both parties cannot both be right at the same time.)



Derek
Like Clinton I found the advert. Just so long as people don't think you do other things with leather. I haven't tried looking in the section for rubber.....or battery-driven gizmos.

Roger

[derek west]

she rang me. but i couldn't help. pointed her in the direction of the plumbers insurance company. but cheers for thinking of me.
as for my trading name, if i could think of one that would appeal to everyone, i'd be a millionaire. and the name does look better when you see the company, they compliment each other.

derek