1. Ease of Use – People do what is easy. Access to the Internet via work, home, any library or most coffee shops have truly made getting online easy. Over 64% of people who are looking for information online, use search engines.
2. Cost Model of Yellow Pages vs. Search Engine – In reviewing these two models we need to compare the traits and cost basis of each media.
Yellow Pages | Search Engine | |
a. Printing Costs | Yes | No |
b. Mailing/Distribution Costs | Yes | No |
c. Sales rep Cost Model | Yes | No |
d. Per click or Per Action Model | No | Yes |
e. Results Tracking/Statistics | No | Yes |
f. Commitment level | 1 year | None |
g. Flexibility of Ad | once/yr. | Anytime |
3. Differentiation vs. Directory – As a business owner, the last thing I would do is give my prospects a detailed list of my competitors, including addresses and phone numbers. But that is exactly what the Yellow Pages do.
4. The Future Big Winner … Local Firms! – – The traditional success model for winning online has been the ability to sell your product or service nationally or internationally. Good news … the search engines have the ability to determine where the search is coming from. What that means to you is you can target all the way down to a city, zip or area code.