Why I Hate Your Yellow Page Ad By A True Psychic

Writen by Jeffrey Hauser

That's right, I am a psychic Yellow Page consultant. As soon as you began reading this article, I peered into your mind and read your thoughts. I had a vision of your current YP ad and it's not a pretty sight. I see a jumble of different type styles, your business name at the top, and no apparent focal point. There are key elements missing that should be in place and…oops, I lost you, Sorry. My mind drifted off by the time I got just midway down the ad. That's because it never grabbed my attention.

By now you think I'm a wise-guy and you would be right. Actually, I'm a very wise guy. Let me explain. To begin with, I've been designing Yellow Page ads for the past 25 years. During that time, I was a YP rep and consultant and, prior to that, had my own advertising agency. I also have a degree in marketing. So I have expertise in YP creation and have advised almost 7000 companies on how to put together the most effective YP ads. If you have a display or in-column ad, regardless of size, color or position, I can tell you it's failing, to varying degrees. It might be in the headline, artwork, body text, placement, book, or heading (category). So, how can I be so certain? Because you are a typical YP business customer.

So it's not so much that I hate your ad, I hate the way you went about designing it. Did you create a terrific, thought-provoking headline? Did you add a consumer-friendly photo? How about including a feature-benefit story in the copy or employ a tracking device? My psychic intuition says not. It would take a book to explain all the various ways to improve your program and make it more profitable.

So that's exactly what I did. I wrote the definitive book on YP advertising. It's called, "Inside the Yellow Pages" and can be where you can learn how to make your Yellow Page ad more likeable. It's a your money at stake and you'll learn a lot. I see I'm getting another image and it's you buying my book and smiling. Now that's real vision…

Jeffrey Hauser's latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages," which can be viewed at http://www.poweradbook.com He was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.