I've heard it time & time again from photographers: yellow page listings are a waste of good ol' cash.

BUT....what if you were new in town (like me) and were starting all over in a new place (like me)...would you consider it?

Or should I just get my butt in gear and get my name out so that old reliable (WOM advertising) kicks in?



Another way of asking is, do the yellow pages only send the bargain shoppers your way?

I think it depends on the generation your clients are from.

Myself for example am trying to appeal to younger couples (22-30) and obviously most of them know how to use the internet so I try to do most of my marketing there. I figure most people are like me (from this age group) and when they are looking for info on something the first thing that comes to mind is "google it"

If for example I was pushing for an older clientbase then I would look at the yellow pages because for a lot of people from that generation the yellow pages was the internet.

So I guess it depends who you are trying to attract.

Megan, when was the last time you picked up a Yellow Pages, for anything??

Each year I get a new one, and I walk it from my door step directly to the trash!

I get calls from my yellow pages ad but very few bookings. It's a small one.

LOL ok here is irony... as soon as I posted my above, I actually had to use the yellow pages to find a place that does radiator work in the city... oh boy....

Megan,

The Yellow Pages worked well for me when I was a lot cheaper. Now, I get a few random calls but nothing of real interest. In our area, it costs a lot more than just the ad and then every year they try to get you to increase the ad size by offering a discount for the larger ad but the current ad at full price. I am taking all my yellow page ads out of the books this year.

Good luck in your new area!

Good advice on the age of the market. I'm an internet junkie myself &, like you mentioned, if I want to look it up, I head to the net. But I'm finding that it's not necessarily so in this part of the world. There are MANY areas near that still don't have access to DSL.

But I think you are all right...I'm skipping the yellow pages.

Slightly different opinion here and for other reasons-

1st-many times I am speaking with a parent of the bride or groom who is doing the leg
work on finding a photographer. So the B&G may be young and interent saavy, but not necessarily the parents-

2nd-I live in an area where i believe is not as internet saavy as an urban area. Many still can only get dial up here. Many still can only afford dial up because there aren't multiple high speed options to compete for business top keep the price down. most of my site is both html and flash for this reason

3rd-I have to decide whether to renew my small Yellow pages ad this month and- it costs me $100/month and I am leaning towards it. I remember enough calls coming in that said they found me in the YP to warrant this.....though I can't stand paying for it-

still on the fence-
hope this helps

I did a YP ad two years ago in the regional book and also in a Christian YP book. My reason for doing so was because I get my phone number from RingCentral.com and not from the phone company. Since it isn't from the phone company, I don't get a "free" listing.

I did get one booking. Someone's photographer canceled on them 30 days before the wedding! It was a very good booking! The rest of the calls were... "Do you do passport photos???"... I don't advertise in the YP anymore.

I get a lot of real estate headshots through the yellow pages, which have led to portrait sittings. I get a ton of commercial jobs through the yellow pages, but I also have to answer the phone for a lot of weddings that I can tell don't have the money to afford me. I am keeping my ad because it makes me visible to those clients who do use me and refer me and it seems those headshots come in when I am slow, easy money.

It may be that we are not working the other marketing angles correctly but my wife says most of her new business comes from her yellow page ad. We are trying to work the Senior market now by setting up a "Myspace" site and getting some of our current/former seniors to give up some referrals.

And other people wanting you to advertise in their yellow book...who knew there were so many?! I got a free ad in exchange for doing a few headshots for them. I thought that sounded like a great deal for a newbie like me...but it has only been a headache! I have gotten zero *qualified* leads from it. Get out there and start taking pictures of your friends kids...it is the best way to get WOM started! (and costs less than an ad!)