yell.com

[cred]

hi,
do any of you guys advertise on yell.com, and how do you do from it? was speaking to the yell rep last week and he says its a must but then again thats what they said about 118-24-7
thanx
ray

[horsefeathers]

only got the free listing with yell - and had no work from it. Of course there is an argument that if i placed a paid ad then I would get more calls.

118247 is crap. I have more calls from 118500 and 118118, and it is free with them. I shall not be renewing my subscription.

regards

wayne

[79commando]

I second the above.

[CaptB]

Same here.

Paid for an advert from 118247 £500.00 for 2 calls so far

118118 Everyone uses.. its easier to remember! and had a few calls and free

Yell.com is free and have had a few calls.

To be honest i think a lot of the bigger players swamp the yell.com with expensive adverts which generally means you`ll struggle. Biggest seller i find on my adverts is POSTCODE most people on the net search and find that i`m the nearest to them. Regardless of where i actually am in the country..

[Raccoon]

I have a question about UK advertising in general.

In the US, this is our breakdown of customers trying to find a locksmith.

Someone locked-out at a gas station or hotel or other parking lot, will typically ask for a phonebook. There is usually the phone company's phonebook which most business and payphones will have.

Each town usually has a third-party phone book which has various distributions, sometimes found at local businesses but personally I find them heavily distributed to homes and local institutions (like schools and large office buildings). Both books are distributed free, and either or both can usually be obtained at the post office or town or county public buildings or utility works.

Failing finding a phone book, a customer on the road with a cellular phone will call Directory Assistance by dialing 411, 1411, or (areacode)-555-1212. This rings them to the same place-- their phone company's Directory Assistance operator.

Most people have a different cellphone provider from their local home telephone provider, each service having their own Directory Assistance. However, these companies all share their databases with eachother free of charge. They all communicate with a central database, adding and removing listings for their own customers (business and residential line service) and it updates every 24 hours-- your new business listing should reach every cellphone Directory Assistance within 72 hours.

Failing the desire to call Directory Assistance, because each call costs $0.50 to $2.00 depending on your phone company, people will call Non-Emergency Police or their local County Sherrif. These departments have their own policies on helping customers with lockouts. More often than not, the Police will refer customers to an area locksmith or to the County Sherrif. The County Sherrif will often aid people with lockouts because they're bored and they are always out patrolling the state highways and biways. Otherwise, they too will refer to a local locksmith.


To get listed in Directory Assistance, and to get a basic Yellow Pages listing in your phone company's phonebook, you simply open a business telephone line service. This costs more than residential service, and only differs in service by getting your business directory listing and appearing as a business on Caller ID. This often gets you into the third-party phone book, but I would still call them directly to get listed (often for free).

If you don't have a "business" telephone service, and wish to operate with your existing residential or cellular service, you will have to call the phone books directly to get listed. Basic listings are often free, but you definitely have to pay for any column or banner advertising. I'm paying $200 in one book and $220 in the other book for a 4 line in-column ad, one with color. Both books charge yearly and publish yearly.

Since I opted to pay less by getting a residential line (I'm paying $5 a month instead of $65), I had to find my phone company's Directory Assistance "Complex Listings" department. They added me as a business to Directory Assistance (411,1411,555-1212) for $19 setup fee per city-area, and $3 a month.

I gave my business cards to the local Police Dispatch and County Sherrif's Dispatch.


So, what is 118247, 118118, and yell.com all about?

[CaptB]

118247 , 118118, etc, I may be wrong on this about the data sharing but they must all share or buy data off each other.

But basically its the same as dialing what used to be 192 but people dial different numbers. I blame the monopoly commission. One number and everything going through it was much easier..

But the different companys have different rates etc... even though some of these companies which have appeared over the last several years are even owned by the same company. They have different tariffs and also means that you have to pay more than once to get advertised with them.

Stick will Yell.com and do the rest of the foot work yourself.. keep the money.

[Airborne]

I agree 118 247 is dogshit. Get on 118118 & 118500

[Mark A]

Cred

I have just the listing that you get on Yell.com from taking out an Ad in the Yellow Pages book.
I get a few jobs a year from this but nothing on the scale that comes from my main Ad. in the book.

Mark.

[cred]

hi ,
i to have had bits and bobs from it but nothing to shout about, got it for 22 months so lets see what happens
cheers
ray

[gareth]

Just confirming what everyone else has said mate. 118247 and yell.com must be just money spinners from the YP's point of view as you can't rely on it for even a few jobs a week! 118118 and a lot of perservence seem to be the only answer. Good luck and all....

[nhughz]

It's different in each area, Yell.com works well for me in my area.

[jb68]

Yell.com was rubbish for me, not one enquiry. I've been with yellow pages for 12 years and its mainly worked for me altho I've noticed in the last 2 years that the competition has quadrupled. Had a call from Tesco yesterday offering the same sort of thing that Homebase and B&Q offer, ie the board with your card on it that they maintain, for £8 a week (£416 per year) Sounds like alot for some business cards, but there's alot of people go through there in a day. Just worry about the kind of work that might come from it. Any oppinions?

[Shrub]

Any work is work and any advertiseing is advertyiseing,

I think once people have paid for the shopping they dont then hang around reading the cards on the wall they rush off to join the rat race on the roads to get home,

The custom will be from the other half standing around waiting for the partner to pay or the staff,

If they have a taxi phone then it may work being put there however,

[jb68]

My problem with it is that I've been in Homebase/B&Q and seen these things half empty & not beeing maintained at all.
Mind you the mrs is in Tesco twice a week so she can keep an eye on it.

[acl]

Shrub,im the same once ive paid for my goods at Sainsburys i cant get home quick enough to eat/drink the stuff!!
Seriously though i know people whove done the Homebase card thing and theyve been in to check it and found the card stand hidden behind a hot tub or a woodenhammock, id say no to this i reckon