Are you helping your advertisers find “NEDICT”s??

Every small business wants to grow.  But how can they do that?  The simple answer is they need to target their advertising towards the “NEDICT”’s.

We once again asked Jacqui Cherven Bickel (yes, she has recently gotten married – Congrats Jacqui) of Genesis Publisher Services, a company that provides sales training and support services to a number of publishers, who these buyers that SMB’s should be directing their advertising programs to? She immediately educated us on the NEDICT factors:

“N” as in New Comers

Now matter how static you may perceive a small town to be, you would amazed at the changes they occur each year in that town.  Just compare the white page listings year to year and you will see the new people that have moved in to town, and unfortunately those that have moved on.

This is great news for an SMB’s – they need to be able to reach those 20-25% of new people in their community that don’t know them, haven’t heard about them, or don’t even know their business exists.  This crop of new comers is needed to replace those clients that every business will lose each year.  Does the businesses advertising message speak to these new people in their market??

New comers could also be those consumers who may be new to the need to the products and services offered by the SMB.  An example may be the first time homeowner.  If they’ve rented a home or an apartment or lived with parents up until the purchase of their first home, they’ve not likely needed the services of say a landscaper, a roofer, an air conditioning contractor or many other businesses.  Now that they have become homeowners, the need for such services will arise.

“E” as in Emergency

The most classical use noted for a print Yellow Pages is when that water pipe has burst, there’s water everywhere and a consumer needs someone NOW!  Let’s face it – emergencies happen.  It is called “life”.  And often they come up when we least expect them.

If a directory can contain upwards of 4,000 potential headings, there is no way a consumer/buyer can be an expert in all of those categories.  That’s way it’s critical that an advertisers program speaks to what they can do in the case of an emergency, or how they will satisfy that wide range of urgent needs that pop up.

“D” as in Dissatisfied

Can you name a bunch of businesses you have dealt with where you weren’t happy with their products or services, and vowed to never again do business with them?  That should an easy list to create.  But what happens when you need that product or service again?  The consumer/buyer needs to find another business to work with, thus, they go into the Yellow Pages without knowing who they’re going to call, only knowing who they AREN’T going to call!

“I” as in Infrequent

How often do you usually need to replace a roof, find an extended care facility for an elderly family member, find a veterinarian that has weekend or holiday office hours, replace a busted garage door, etc.. etc., etc.  For many of us, these are unique, often one-time events.  But when the need arises, where can I find the local SMB’s I need, and even get educated on what questions I should be asking??  Hint:  it’s not in the newspaper, on cable TV, or over the radio.

“C” as in Comparison

Even if I’m pretty happy with the business I have used in the past, human nature is to do at least some comparison shopping just to be sure I am getting the best deal and service available.  What better place to do that than in a Yellow Pages where all of the provider’s of those products or services are group together in that same heading for my easy viewing.  For example, your favorite, local, mom and pop hardware store — Ralphs Hardware, did you know they now have equipment rentals?  And how would I know that unless that put that information in their ad?

“T” as for Transient (as in traveler or tourist)

I’m sure each of you has a story about how sometime during your travels, you forgot something, your eyeglasses broke, you would really like to go to a sushi restaurant, or that you needed an office supplies store.  You don’t know the area, what businesses are there, or even where can I find them?

Another way to think about it – calculate the number of hotels in the area, add up all of the rooms they have, assume a 75% occupancy rate, and an average stay of 2 – 3 days, and the number of travelers you have in your market will astound you.  All of those travelers, will have needs in a place they aren’t familiar with.

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These are just some of the core buying needs that bring consumers to local SMB’s.  Which is why they need to make sure their advertising message speaks to each of them, in a comprehensive Yellow Pages program, in print, online, and mobile.

Are you helping your advertisers (or potential advertiser) be found for each of these buying needs?

 

9th Circuit Strikes Down Seattle Yellow Page Opt-Out Ordinance

Take that Seattle.  In a decision, which has been expected for some time, the 9^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals released a unanimous decision today which holds that under the First Amendment, Yellow Pages directories are “fully protected speech” and not “commercial speech.”  The appeals court determined that print directories are entitled to the same standards under the First Amendment as newspapers, magazines, etc. Needless to say, this is a major win for the industry.

We noted back in August 2011 that Seattle’s effort to force a city run opt-out program and recycling fees on yellow page publishers was both legally questionable and irresponsible especially since the industry had already initiated an opt-out program and website.  To compound matters, the city then sent out 280,000 post cards (or 4 TONS OF PAPER) to inform residents of this effort, none of which is believed to have been recycled.

The Local Search Association, which has fought a long, hard, expensive battle on behalf of its members is “extremely pleased to announce that a full victory has been achieved by our Industry”, and will now move quickly to bring this appeals court decision to the attention of the San Francisco U.S. District Court (which is also within the jurisdiction of the 9^th Circuit) to vacate their opt-out program.

The Association believes the City of Seattle now has only two options:

• The  City could seek a rehearing before the 9^th Circuit U.S. Court      of Appeals.  However, in cases such as this where there is a unanimous decision, a rehearing is rare.

• The City of Seattle could seek a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I think a third option would be for the city to apologize to the industry and all of their tax-paying residents for all of this nonsense and start working with the industry on ways to improve recycling rates.  But that probably won’t happen as several of the city leaders that championed this effort clearly have higher political office in mind.

Congratulations to the Local Search Association staff, and especially, Dex One and SuperMedia for fighting the war that needed to be fought….

 

People – October

It has been a while since we updated our regular blog sponsored by Hawthorne Executive Search.   It is all about people in the Yellow Pages industry. If you have news you want to share about someone that is involved in the Yellow Pages industry (including retirees) that we should all know about, drop us a line and tell us how they are doing. Send your submissions to ken@yptalk.com.

Amy Healy & Wesley Young:

Amy Healy has left the Local Search Association to join YP Holdings, LLC as its Vice President, Public Policy & External Affairs.

The Association then announced that Wesley Young has been appointed their new Vice President of Public Policy. From 2007-2012, Young was General Counsel for two financial services companies and served on the Executive Board of AFCC (The American Fair Credit Council) as its Legislative Director, managing all federal and state government affairs for six years. Prior to that, Wesley was with the law firm Baron & Budd, P.C. for 10 years. Wesley received the 2008 Outstanding Minority Attorney Award from the Dallas Bar Association and was named by D Magazine in its list of Best Lawyers Under 40 in 2006. He served as the 2010 Secretary-Treasurer for the Dallas Bar Association and as a Director on the Board from 2007-2008. Wesley was recognized with the TASC President’s Award in 2009 and 2010 and served as President of the Dallas Asian American Bar Association in 2008. Wesley was a member of Panel B2 of the District 6A Grievance Committee of the State Bar of Texas from 2001-2007 and became chair during his last two years of service. He is a past-Chair of the Asian Pacific Interest Section of the State Bar of Texas. He is admitted to practice law by the State Bar of Texas and is a member of the Dallas Bar Association and a fellow of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. Wesley received his B.B.A., cum laude, from Baylor University in 1992 and his J.D. from Baylor Law School in 1995.

Michael Dunn 

SuperMedia’s CIO, Michael Dunn received the Top 10 Breakaway Leaders award from the CIO Leadership Network.   This year’s awards focused on the theme of Business Acceleration and Leadership in the Evolving Global Economy – Predict. Transform. Deliver.

“Michael’s vision, leadership and overall business acumen led the transformation of our architecture from a print centric company to a digital-focused one. His passion has earned the respect of his colleagues, peers and staff,” said Frank Gatto, EVP Operations at SuperMedia. “Michael and his team are always delivering excellence and exceeding expectations in a fast-paced, results-driven environment.”

Each year, a panel of elite CIOs chooses a list of 10 Breakaway Leaders who exemplify leadership, dedication and influence as a CIO. This is the only CIO awards program where winners are determined by the CIO peer community alongside an elite judging panel. Dunn was selected to join elite CIOs from companies such as Alcoa, Lockheed Martin, PepsiCo, and Sysco Corporation.

Jonathan Miller

YP recently announced the appointment of Jonathan Miller to the company’s Board of Directors.  Mr. Miller most recently served as Chief Digital Officer of News Corporation as well as Chairman and CEO of the company’s Digital Media Group. He continues to serve as an advisor to News Corporation.  In those roles, Mr. Miller successfully transformed News Corporation’s digital strategy by integrating the company’s content onto emerging, third-party internet platforms. In addition to leading News Corporation’s overall online strategy, Mr. Miller also oversaw the company’s standalone digital businesses globally and represented the company on Hulu’s Board of Directors.

Dorab Patel & Alex Dionysian

MatchCraft, a leading global provider of local search marketing solutions, announced the promotions of two key members of its leadership team. Cofounder Dorab Patel, PhD, has been appointed Chief Science Officer and Alex Dionysian has been promoted to the role of Chief Technology Officer.

Patel, who cofounded MatchCraft in 1998, has more than 20 years of technology and management experience in the software industry. Dionysian, who joined MatchCraft in 2008 as VP of Engineering, is also a 20-year veteran of the software industry, and is responsible for technology, product design and client deployments at MatchCraft.

“MatchCraft has a staff of highly skilled and dedicated people with a terrific track record of client success,” said Sean Greene, CEO. “We are fortunate to be able to leverage the unmatched experience and technological expertise of Dorab and Alex. Under their direction, we are well positioned to continue to deliver unparalleled products and services to our clients, while advancing our mission in key regions around the world.”

The management moves round out the company’s leadership team, which is led by Greene, who was appointed in September 2011. Since becoming CEO, Greene has been driving the company’s growth strategy and has been instrumental in expanding its presence in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

Scott Pomeroy & Chris Armistead:

Yellow’s (NZ) CEO Scott Pomeroy, who led a restructuring of the company around a reseller partnership with Google, was recently replaced by Chris Armistead, who comes to Yellow from AT&T.

James Tanner:

Earlier this summer James was promoted from Research Specialist to Senior Research Director at Ver-A-Fast Corporation.