Yellow Pages ads - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

Very few subjects can generate the type of heated discussion amongst business owners that the Yellow Pages manage to do. The discussion's participants  will usually fall into three groups, a large group that loudly denounces the Yellow Pages as being a con-game, just a way to force them to part with a big chunk of cash, a somewhat smaller group that disagrees quite strongly, insisting that they Yellow Pages are the greatest tool ever created for the small to medium sized business' owners, and, finally, a small but growing group who sees the Yellow Pages as a necessary evil, something that must be done to stay in business, but no one really wants to do (sort of like paying taxes).

Which group do you fall into? Obviously not the middle one, or else you wouldn't be reading this site. Well, here the brutal, ugly truth... They are all right. For most businesses, with no one to adequately guide them, the Yellow Pages are just a necessary drain on cash. They need to be "in the book" but don't implement their ads like they should. That results in poor ads that don't get the job done, and a less than wonderful opinion of the Yellow Pages themselves.

The yellow Pages are a tool. Like any other tool there is a right way and a wrong way to use it. Look at it this way, you can use a hammer to drive a screw, and it will work, more or less. If the screw breaks the wood, is it the hammer's fault?

Throughout these pages, you will find many tips, tricks, and suggestions on how to dramatically improve the effectiveness of your Yellow Pages ads. Hopefully then, you will join the second group, the Yellow Pages lovers.