YP marketing

YP ain't what it used to be. They've lost their business model and have scrambled to create "online directories". Problem is, most of these "directories" sit pretty dormant these days. When was the last time you looked for anything on Yellow Pages? I listed with them but never got any business from it. YP is a place for old librarians to retire and file your listing in the "stacks".
 
ward said:
YP ain't what it used to be. They've lost their business model and have scrambled to create "online directories". Problem is, most of these "directories" sit pretty dormant these days. When was the last time you looked for anything on Yellow Pages? I listed with them but never got any business from it. YP is a place for old librarians to retire and file your listing in the "stacks".
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Much better places to advertise these days. YP was good, 30 years ago.
 
1.Go to godaddy or hostgator and buy a domain name. 2. Use one of their website builder apps to build a website. If you can make a Facebook page you can make a website using one of their programs. For a few nights of your time and probably $200 bucks you can have your own website up and running. Then use Google adwords or something to get people to the site.
These guy's that say they can build a site for you want outrageous prices and then when you look at their portfolio of other websites is not that impressive.

I built www.foreetree.com my self. Is not the greatest site, but it gets me calls and plenty of customers have told me they like the site & it costs me like $10 bucks a month to keep it up and running.
 
Getting listed on reviewing sites like Yelp! and Angie's List are recommended (Angie's List requires a customer to submit your business in order to be listed). Google for Business (Google Places or Google Local originally) is also important. It is cheaper and more critical to finding your business online than adwords, although if you get some free adword coupons (usually $100 on offer from major web hosting sites like Bluehost, iPage, HostGator, etc...), by all means use it. Just be sure to pick good adwords using the keyword planning tool Google offers : https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner.

Not all website building tools are created equal so think about what you want potential customers to be able to do once they find you. Remember that more and more people are using smartphones and tablets to look up businesses--if a website builder doesn't provide you the ability to make the site "friendly" on an iPhone or a Galaxy Tab, you may be missing a huge chunk of potential business.
 
Thanks Leon and Druid. I have been doing some research into having a site built. Pretty salty...but the issue of making it distinguish between laptop, tablet and phone is something that keeps recurring so i will def make sure whatever gets built can do that.
Thanks for the insight and advice!
 
I think a website is essential and a Facebook page too, but don't underestimate the value of the Yellow Pages. Look at your cost for a listing. Mine is $400/year for 1.5 inches. It pays to itself in 1 pretty small job. Even if I only get a few thousand dollars worth of work from it, it's still worth it. Cast your net wide when it comes to advertising.
 
Be sure to keep what ever you do online consistent. For me as an example if I use Allmark Tree and crane I should always use it and not use Allmark Services somewhere else. The more times something is put on the web the better it will show up in searches.
 
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