I hate to do it, I really do!

I am not a wasteful person, either. I recycle. I conserve water. I try not to drive too much. Heck, we even have a compost bin.

But every year I get these stupid yellow and white books dropped off on my front door steps. And for some reason, one Yellow pages is not enough. There is the New Yellow pages, the Business Yellow Pages, the San Diego Yellow Pages, the AT&T Yellow Page, and the plethora of white pages to go with them.

For years now I have stored them on my bookshelf and every year when the new ones come, I pull them off, throw them in the recycle bin and make room for the new ones.

I haven’t opened one of these books in over 3 years. And they take up close to a foot of valuable bookshelf space.

So this year, I did what I should have done years before…Thrown them straight in the recycle bin.

Yes, if feels so wasteful and it has been that guilt that has prompted me to put them on my shelf, but not this time.

Story: About a year ago, I had a painter/dry wall repairman in my house asking me what I do. I told him I was an internet marketer and he made that golden comment: “I’ve been planning on putting up a website myself. I spent hundreds of dollars last year with a big Yellow pages ad, but I don’t get much business from it.”

This guy was sent by the insurance company and therefore, was already chosen for me. But this is where over 90% of this guy’s business came from.

He is missing a boat here!

Now, I don’t hate the yellow pages and it is still important for those people who do not live in this wasteful internet existence that many of us seem to reside in. I personally go first to the internet for any type of service inquiry or local direction that I need.

Having a Yellow Pages ad is fine, but if you are ignoring the internet like this guy did, you are missing a bit opportunity!

And having your listings on Yellowpages.com does not count as being listed on the internet, either. (Have you ever found anything on that stupid site?)

  • Pay-Per-Click Ads: Local Ones at that!
  • Search Engine Optimization! (Do you really think that getting ranked for “San Diego Drywall Repair” would be THAT tough?)
  • Banner Ads on local sites
  • What about a simple blog?

Yes, there is an investment here, but I guarantee that the ROI would be MUCH better than placing a big ad in the yellow pages, sending a flier to everyone in town, or even worse (gosh, these people annoy me!): Cold-calling neighbors asking if they need their house painted.

This blog is aimed at those of you with brick-n-mortar stores! Even though your business is physical and real does not mean your marketing has to reside in a fat yellow book or in a letter. The internet caters to you, too!