My Biggest Marketing Mistake

	calesmith	0
	Apologies again for the long delay between posts...had to resolve a virus issue on our last webhost. And by "resolve" I mean "fire those guys and get someone else." Ah-hem. In any case...for whatever it's worth, the biggest marketing mistake I made in year one of running my spoke was - without a doubt - spending money to put ads for my firm in the local phone books. There are three of them down here in the Keys, and each one costs way too much...especially considering we got exactly zero calls/emails/contacts from any of them. And it wasn't for lack of effort put into designing those attractive little ads. My experience with - surprise - AT&T in particular was rather unpleasant. Their phone book guys are ripe for one of those local news hidden camera exposes. Undisclosed charges, intentional obfuscation, constantly getting passed off to other clueless departments, not to mention a default financing plan - whether you want it or not. Frustrating. Suffice it to say, that's all money I'd rather have plowed into something else in year one. Or on beer and fish tacos. So, for what it's worth, I'd recommend skipping the phone book ads, at least early on. Can't say I'll be doing it again anytime soon.
	Tue, Sep 21 '10 at 5:26PM EDT	Post 1 • IP

	kevino	0
	Couldn't agree more about the yellow ages, although my AT&T seemed to be a decent guy. I did it my first year and got zilch. I think there's a default assumption that a business has to be in the phone book, but it's a legacy concept and I can't see myself picking it up again later. The web aspect of it seemed logical to me, and they touted some impressive numbers, but I got very few hits and no inquiries even via the web. The Google/Bing local listings are far more productive.
	Sat, Oct 2 '10 at 1:27AM EDT	Post 2 • IP

My Biggest Marketing Mistake5