Advertising with Yell

[spooner68]

I tend to get a lot of my work through networking, repeat business, regulars and local profile/reputation. Sadly a fair few of my regular small builders are really struggling and are "doing it themselves". This has knocked my turnover down by about 20%.

As well as knocking on doors I am talking to Yell about my advertising. Is it just me or are they really crap? Last year I had a sponsored ad which cost £1400 and netted me about £1750 of new business. I know because I monitor very closely where my business comes from. What do you lot do? Does anyone have similar experiencees with Yell, or better?

Just curious before I spend most of my marketing budget...

 

[kilty55]

hiya spooner,i personally wouldnt give yell a penny of your money,i used them a few years ago and it didnt give me much work at all

a website on the other hand with good feedback and a 1st page rank will bring you much uch more for your monry do you have a website mate

 

[Andy Allen]

im still with them i still get a bit of work from it but i only have a small add which dose pay for it self , however this will be the last year i think spending on a decent web site is more they way to go.

 

[hillhead]

Local reputation with me and tile shops, contacts with repeat work etc.
Work is becoming harder to get, i have an ad with yell too and it's not working for me.
Waste of £400+ for me unless i start getting work from it.
I have an ad in local rag too but again little from it too.
Lucky to be hanging in there at the minute but need more to come in soon.
I pulled more work today so hopefully the pressure will build again.
Hard to know what's best.

 

[Stewart]

Was with yell for a couple of years at a cost of about 4 grand for two different books. Was a complete waste of time and money. All my work came in from my usual sources of reccomendation, tile shop and the architecs and builders I know. Also use the free sites like "Free Index" out of all of those, it's the reccomendation from previous customers that gets me more than enough work to be getting on with.

 

[spooner68]

My website is offline and being re-built at the mo. The hard thing is finding the time to knock up the copy and collate the photo galleries. I swapped a couple of days tiling for the work. The guy has designed, built and runs an awesome online shopping mall and is a contract techy for BT so he seems to know what he's doing. BTW Yell wanted £650 to do a 10 page website.

My main thought is that £2k a year with Yell is a bloody great waste when with a good website with pics and testemonials would open the door better when I approach the type of clients I like to work for. I already have a small portfolio of bespoke kitchen, joinery and orangery manufacturers. Wealthy end clients = decent jobs at decent prices. better get my finger out. Less time on here for a start )

 

[tfs]

most guys I know are choosing not to use that lot anymore. They pay a grand for the featured ads and then when you type tiler in x you see tilers from z popping up. Obviously paying good money is no good when tradesmen from 20 miles away are seen by potential customers before you are. Its a bit of a joke to be honest.

I have a free listing and thats all they will be getting from me.

Website is better in my opinion as long as it is built correctly and works beyond the visual design e.g. optimised, cms etc all play a big part in getting your website noticed.

 

[spooner68]

most guys I know are choosing not to use that lot anymore. They pay a grand for the featured ads and then when you type tiler in x you see tilers from z popping up. Obviously paying good money is no good when tradesmen from 20 miles away are seen by potential customers before you are. Its a bit of a joke to be honest.

I have a free listing and thats all they will be getting from me.

Website is better in my opinion as long as it is built correctly and works beyond the visual design e.g. optimised, cms etc all play a big part in getting your website noticed.

Yeah! the default search result is NOT based on mileage. The button for that filter is titchy and not at all intuitive.

First run of my advertising came out at £3500. I politely told the rep that the business couldnt afford that. 2nd run £2400. Nope. 3rd run just under £2k. Go away and have a little think please. Still waiting for them to come back. My ad in the book (quarter column) brought in about £5k of business. A small but necessary contribution.

 

[tfs]

You are lucky to have done well with it mate but, many more guys have not been so lucky.

 

[lcjohno]

Yell didn't work for me. If you are willing to spend a grand i would invest in website and getting it up google rankings. Had yell for a year and never got anything because there are so many other tilers doing the same. Also if i search for something on line i dont look on yell i just type it in the search engine and i think most people do this.

 

[maniek]

complete waste of money in my opinion,
one exception would be - if u would target old people- perhaps it would be profitable to pay for
one full page in the book using large size font...otherwise as above im afraid
I paid for the package - book, 24/7 , and web listing - and just waiting the contract to finish
I think great website will pay back