It's about six in the morning, and I've been up for a little while. I'm figuring out what kinds of things have to be done today.
One of the things I've got to do is find a place to duplicate a video. My first stop is the local Yellow Pages. This is something I want to do locally. I don't need the best price in all creation. I don't need the best studio in the world. I just need to get a single videotape copied. Convenience is important.
The Yellow Pages give me a choice of three services. One of them has no address -- just the bold listing and a phone number. That narrows the field to two.
Of the other two, only one has a display listing that tells me that they do what I want. That company without a display listing might do it, but right now I want to find out where I can get something done quickly and easily so I can get this checked off my list.
The ad's really good, and lists a number of things, but it lists a Web site, too. That's where I go next. If I'm lucky, there will be more information on the site.
On the main entry page for the site is a list of things that I can check out. They include: services; facility; rates; monthly specials; and contacts and location. I explore.
In this case, the Web site gives me all the information I need right now. Lots of information goes far in depth beyond what the display ad offers. This is where I can find out driving directions and the current hours. The site gives me detail on lots of the services, as well as the costs for each one.
What's happened is a 21st Century version of how to find local business services.
Like lots of other folks, Iāll start with the Yellow Pages. It's convenient, it's familiar, and it works. Of the three businesses that I saw, only one gave me information in the Yellow Pages. If I were using the Yellow Pages alone, they would be my first call later on in the morning; and the other two would be backups if the first didn't work. As it happens, that business also had a Web site where I could find out the information I really needed to know.
I also started my search in the Yellow Pages because I was doing something in the office at the time and not in front of my computer. If I'd been in front of my computer, I probably would have headed to my local Chamber of Commerce Web site and checked the directory there.
I'm not the only one that does that. A couple of years ago, I conducted a study of how small business managers use the web. Almost two thirds of them used their local Chamber's site regularly as a source of information. The information they looked for there related to choices of local business services.
What does this say if you are a local business? It says that a mix of media is important, because people will come to you in different ways. They might start with the Yellow Pages, the local Chamber of Commerce Directory, or even a search engine search with your town plugged in, along with what they are looking for.
It should also say that your advertising needs to give people information. That's what they're looking for. Your Yellow Page ad should give them information. You Web site should give them more.
And the laws of nature and human nature still apply. In most categories, if you're in the Yellow Pages, you will get far more calls from having a display ad. People think you are for real. You will get far less calls if you don't even have an address. People figure you are "fly-by-night.%
In some categories, that display ad is an absolute necessity. If you don't have one, you don't exist. You have to be present first, and then you have to be informative. The best way to add depth of information is on the Web. True, not everyone has it. But, also true, the people who do are probably the ones most likely to be your good customers.
But wait, as they say, there's more. Supplement your Yellow Page ad and Web site with appropriate advertising and public relations. Consider a regular mail or email program to stay in touch with your customers.
Here's a quick summary. Make sure you give people lots of ways to find you that are appropriate to how they look for your services. Sometimes, the Web will be a primary means. What it is, people probably won't use any other. Other times, folks will use something else to find out about you and the Web to find out something in depth.
Whichever the case, you will want to have lots of information on your site about the things people want to know. What do you do? What benefits do you provide? What do those services cost? Where are you? How do I contact you if I don't want to use e-mail?
Mix media for the best results. The magic is in the mix.
And stay with it. Small businesses have a tendency to cut advertising when things get tight. Be careful how you spend your money, but advertising has a cumulative effect. Stay with it.
Help people find you. Help them do business with you easily. And success will follow.
Created/Revised/Reviewed: 2 February 2002
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