Names & Numbers Recognized as Publisher of the Year

At its recent 2013 Annual Convention and Partners Trade Show in St. Augustine, Florida, the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) recognized Names & Numbers, as this year’s Gold Book Publisher of the Year at the Gold Book Awards.  It was the first time the company has been recognized.

The ADP’s Publisher of the Year recognizes a company that has “exemplified overall excellence and achievement.”  Names & Numbers currently publishes 66 phone books throughout the mid-west and northwest areas of the country along with offering a suite of mobile and online Yellow Page products.  Established in 1974, currently Names & Numbers publishes more than 4-million phone books annually and employs approximately 250 people in 11 states.

The Gold Book Awards recognize publishers and suppliers for outstanding achievements in the directory advertising business. “Congratulations to all of our 2013 Gold Book Award winners,” said Cindi Aldrich, the new association president. “These winning companies are applauded for their outstanding directory products and marketing innovations in the directory publishing industry.”  Additional information about the Gold Book awards can be found on the association website at www.adp.org.

We interviewer Founder/CEO Ken Brock back in 2010 (link to full article), and you will note that many of the things Ken said at that time are still true today and part of the reason why his team has been recognized.  He and his team follow a very straight forward approach – put out a very accurate, high quality product that users and advertisers both enjoy using, promote them passionately in the local community, be an integral/active part of the community, and try to walk in the door of every business in the market.  The text type in the books is not microscopic in size to save a few pages.  White pages are included, as well as a robust community information section.  The covers are free of any advertising and feature scenes from local photographers/artists.  That’s the formula for being a successful publisher, and being recognized by the publishing community.

Congratulations to the entire Names and Numbers team for your accomplishments.

Herb Gordon, Former ADM President/CEO Has Died

There are always people who you run across in your personal and business careers that make a lasting impact.  For me, Herb Gordon was one of them.  It saddens me deeply to tell you that Herb Gordon, retired former president and CEO of the Association of Directory Marketing (ADM), passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack on Saturday, May 4, 2013.  Herb is survived by his wife, Annemarie, three sons, nine grandchildren, two sisters, and a large extended family.

Herb led ADM (which merger with what was then the Yellow Pages Association – YPA – more info) for eighteen years, retiring in June 2009, after the merger.  During his tenure, he served on the Boards of ADM, the YPA (now Local Search Association), and Association of Directory Publishers – the only person in the industry to have the unique honor of serving on all three boards.  He served at a time when the industry was just starting to experience unparalleled change.

It was during the time that he was on the YPA board that I got to work directly with Herb.  Simply put, he was a gentleman no matter how passionate a discussion got, he was a masterful politician keeping the peace between publishers and CMRs who were always at each other’s throats, and he was a passionate supporter of the national channel.  I can say I didn’t always agree with him, but I did have a great deal of respect for him no matter his views.

Previously, Herb held senior management positions at Ketchum Communications, including president, Ketchum Yellow Pages, and executive vice president, Ketchum Specialized Services, and was a member of the company’s executive committee and board of directors.

Herb was a well-educated man.  He was a graduate of Tufts University and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.  And he was a patriot, having served as a U.S. Air Force missile officer from 1960 to 1965, working on the country’s first inter-continental ballistic missile unit.

Following his retirement from ADM, Herb continued to write the NMD Flash newsletter.  He enjoyed finding articles of interest for readers and kept up to date with the industry.  In his spare time, Herb played tennis (a lot of tennis as he wasn’t a big fan of golf), cheered on Pittsburgh sports teams, traveled, played bridge, researched WWII history and enjoyed gardening.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2013, 11:00 a.m., at St. Andrew’s United Presbyterian Church, 801 Beaver Street, Sewickley, PA 15143.  Contributions may be made to the Salvation Army, 700 North Bell Avenue, Carnegie, PA 15106; or the American Cancer Society, 320 Bilmar Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205.  Remembrances may be sent to the family at 310 Maple Lane, Sewickley, PA 15143.

Herb was a unique man in with a great enthusiasm and passion for life, and equally as enthusiastic and passionate about the industry.  People like Herb aren’t replaceable.  So he will unquestionably be missed.

People – March

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.

Cindi Aldrich

The Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) Board has announced that Cindi Aldrich, has been named President-elect of the 115 year-old trade association, effective immediately.

Aldrich will succeed Larry Angove, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association since 1997. Angove will officially retire on June 30 of this year.

Angove will continue in his current position through the conclusion of the 2013 – ADP Annual Convention and Partners Trade Show in St. Augustine, Florida on May 2.  The following day, Aldrich will assume full executive responsibility for the operations of the Association. Angove will continue to assist the leadership transition as President Emeritus until he retires.

President-elect Aldrich may be contacted at cindi.aldrich@adp.org or 248.705 4770.

Jim McCusker & Mark Cairns:

Hibu has announced that Jim McCusker,US president, and Mark Cairns, chief publishing officer, had been “dismissed” after “a thorough investigation into conduct by them that the company considered to be disloyal and against the interests of its employees and other stakeholders”.

Hibu has declined all public comment on reports that McCusker and Cairns were trying to buy out the US business from the struggling publisher.

Tyler Best:

YP.com has recently named Tyler Best as its first Chief Information Officer.

Best was  recently was chief technology officer at Ally Financial. Prior, he was CIO at Vanguard Car Rental.

“Tyler’s leadership is important to ensure we have the infrastructure to support YP’s rapidly growing digital and mobile advertising business that relies on technology as a key enabler of the company,” said YP CEO David Krantz, said in a company issued statement. “As we accelerate our effort in helping local businesses and communities grow, it is critical that we, as a new company, build a solid technology foundation to support our team and everything they do.”

David Hawthorne:

It is with great sadness that SuperMedia reported the passing of David E. Hawthorne, a member of the company’s Board of Directors since 2009, on Friday, January 18, at the age of 62.

Board Chairman Doug Wheat commented that “David was a colleague and friend to many of us.  He was a valued member of the Board of Directors, and we will miss his spirit and insights.”

Hawthorne had served on several committees of the SuperMedia board, including the Compensation Committee and Audit Committee. He had led Hawthorne Management LLC since 2005, a firm that develops, owns, and operates commercial real estate in central Florida. He previously served as a consultant to Friedman’s Inc., assisting the jewelry retailer in investigating operating and financial issues. From 2001 to 2003, Hawthorne was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Lodgian, Inc., an independent hotel owner and operator.

Hawthorne was a consultant for FTI Consulting, Inc. from 2000 to 2001, during which time he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Restructuring Officer of Tower Records, Inc. Hawthorne also served as the acting Chief Executive Officer of Premier Cruise Lines, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alliance Entertainment Corporation, and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Servico Hotels and Resorts, Inc.

 

Mike Fordyce

Mike Fordyce joined JiWire, San Francisco, as chief executive, assuming duties from David Staas, who had served as interim president and chief executive since March; Mr. Staas, who had been senior vice president for marketing, has now been promoted to president. Mr. Fordyce had most recently been senior vice president for business development, publisher products and strategic partnership management at YP.com.

Craig Swanson

We are also sorry to report that Craig Swanson passed away unexpectedly on November 7th at the age of 47.  Craig was senior vice president at KDA Group.  Prior to KDA, he held senior-level positions at Wahlstrom.

2013 Predictions for Small and Midsize Businesses

Instead of a list of my predictions for 2013, most of which will be quickly forgotten, let’s instead look at the business environment facing small and midsize businesses, the lifeblood of print, online, and mobile Yellow Pages in this New Year.

Because there are many components needed to properly analyzing this issue, we are going to do this is a two-part review. In this part one, we will look at some of the macroeconomic drivers impacting the economy and by definition, the advertising decisions of SMB’s.  In part two, we will project some of the likely changes that SMB’s will make in the face of this economic forecast.

Several articles were used in this assessment:  recent reports/articles from the ADP Research Institute (Top Concerns of Business Leaders in the Post 2008 Economy), the WSJ/Vistage Small Business CEO Survey, and other news articles, which we will source as used.

Part one- The Big Picture

So what promise does 2013 hold for SMB’s?  The headlines from many of the sources we looked at have not been overly optimistic.

• Small businesses: “It’s likely to be a year of painful decision-making for small-business owners…”      <WSJ/Vistage>
• Midsize businesses: “..the near meltdown of the US economy in 2008, followed by years of high unemployment and ongoing global unease, continues to affect businesses of all sizes today.  Any notion of a sustainable “recovery” is mixed at best.…” <ADP>
• Overall economy:  “The Federal Reserve predicts the economy to grow at a rate somewhere between 2.1 and 3 percent in 2013. That’s better than the GDP growth rate we experienced in the first half of 2012, but not what we need to turn the economy around….”  <Fox Business Network>

However, once you dig beneath the headlines you can find some optimism amongst SMB’s as we start 2013. For example, the ADP report notes that 52% of business owners and executives perceive the economy has improved within the last four years.   An additional indication of midsize business owner optimism was shown in hiring, were 43% indicated they would be increasing headcount in the next year.

Let’s keep dig down a little deeper to see what these business owners are saying, starting first with small-business owners.

Small Businesses:

The WSJ/Vistage study covered the heads of 926 small firms in a range of industries, all of them with less than $20 million in annual revenue.  The three major challenges facing small business owners today are:

1. increased taxation,
2. the challenge the new healthcare law will bring,
3. and financing.

On taxes, despite all of the discussion about the fiscal cliff and its recent resolution, the reality is many of small business owners claim business profits under their personal income taxes and will be greatly affected by higher tax rates in 2013. In the compromise passed by Congress, for those earning over $400,000 year the tax rate will rise from 39.6% from 35% on personal income.  What that means is that while corporations like Walmart will be paying 35% rates, small business owners could be taxed at the higher 39.6% rate.

In a 2011 study, the Treasury Department found that raising taxes on incomes over half a million will impact roughly 750,000 small businesses organized as “S” corps, partnerships, and other small entities. “S” corporations are businesses in which shareholders report profits and losses on the individual owners income tax returns, so while the owner may not actually be taking home that half a million, the income line will reflect the company results and project them into the higher bracket.  Given that many S corps have by definition multiple owners, it would be fair to take that 750,000 small business number and multiple it by a factor of at least 3 to 4 to come up with the exact number of people affected by these changes.

And how are small businesses expected to react to these tax increases?  About 29% of the small business leaders plan to hire fewer workers.  32% expect that they will have lower investment spending with fewer purchases on things such as vehicles, property, and equipment.   Strategies that other larger businesses might use such as moving their business to the Cayman Islands or other tax havens are not feasible as the legal fees would be too steep.  In addition, some of these businesses might want to think about a change in structure, but would face other tax challenges under a different corporate structure according to accountants.

Regarding the healthcare challenge, small-business owners with more than 50 employees now have just 12 months to prepare for new rules that will be implemented in 2014, or potentially pay a penalty. Most experts believe that businesses that employ just under 50 workers will think long and hard about adding new staff.  For those who must comply with the law, national and state “health exchanges” will be established. Through them, small business owners will figure out their rates insurance plans and pricing.

A tremendous amount of uncertainty still remains on the application of this healthcare law.   For example, for a small business owner which has just under 50 employees, are independent contractors counted in the employee count or not? Owners are also waiting for guidance on the types of plans and need offer to meet the lost minimum requirements.  Only 14% of the business owners said they had a clear understanding of the health-care law, according to The Wall Street Journal /Vistage Small Business CEO survey in December.  With all the confusion, most business owners have discussed freezing hiring and or expansion plans until the requirements are clear.

One of the brighter spots for small business is that it appears that banks are loosening requirements for commercial and industrial loans. According to the monthly Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, big banks (defined as having $10 billion+ in assets) are approving a little more than 10% of small business loan requests. That’s much better than the worst days of the 2008-09 recession, but still far below better times.  Reports show smaller banks are granting about half of the requests for capital that they receive and are increasing the number of SBA-backed loans they make.  Credit unions are doing better, approving slightly more than that.

The still leaves plenty of business owners on the sidelines waiting for capital to be able to make a move. With much-needed capital, businesses could expand their business operations and hence, would be expected to consider increasing their advertising expenditures to ramp up sales.

While advertising is not specifically addressed in any of these articles, one has to believe that the budget for advertising for small businesses will have limited potential for upward adjustment, and more likely will be maintained at current levels at best.

Midsize businesses:

While the concerns and needs of midsize businesses are not dramatically different from smaller businesses, here are the top three concerns of midsize business owners identified in the ADP study:

1. rising cost of healthcare coverage/benefits,
2. slow economic growth,
3. and the volume/level of government regulations that they face.

Of note is that smaller midsized organizations (those with 5 -50 employees) are more than twice as likely to expect improvement over the next 12 months than these larger midsized counterparts (those with 151 to 999 employees), 17% versus 8%. While midsize businesses reported much less improvement within their industries over the past four years (37%) than in the economy as a whole (52%), they are much more optimistic about the outlook for the industry over the next 12 months, with nearly 47% expecting improvement.

A more positive note for the Yellow Pages industry is that when these companies were asked about their own businesses, a similar number (48%) expect their budgets or revenues to increase over the next 12 months.

Despite their concerns regarding the near future of the US economy, another positive note was more than 43% anticipate increasing the number of employees within the coming year. Across all different levels of midsize companies the average number of new hires was about 18.

Within their specific industries, 54% of respondents indicated that there has been an increase in the level of competition within their industry in the last 12 months, especially in the larger midsized companies (those with 151 to 999 employees) according to 61% of respondents.

Conclusions – Part 1:

While there are still a great number of uncertainties ahead for both small and midsize businesses as we begin 2013, what is clear is that these SMB companies will need to actively look for ways to increase their sales, despite such uncertain times. The hope for the industry is that they understand that a comprehensive advertising program in both print, online, and mobile Yellow Pages can be part of those solutions in the coming year.

Look for part two of this article in the next version of YP Talk.

ADP Convention — An Opportunity to Believe to Achieve

The next industry conference coming up is the ADP – Association of Directory Publishers 2012 Annual Convention & Partners Trade Show which will be held March 19-22 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.

This year’s theme is “Believe To Achieve.”  The convention agenda has several notable changes from past years.  For example, A Believe to Achieve Day was created to allow Publisher members to present their salespeople to a good old-fashioned dose of fact-based belief training on the continuing value of our products, including, and especially, print.  Wednesday morning will be spent in publisher-led demonstration sessions examining and dissecting the:

• New Basics for selling in today’s marketplace,
• The New Tools that allow us to overcome today’s challenges,
• The New Objections that today’s advertisers regularly voice, and
• The New Keys to getting in the door of today’s decision-makers.

Following lunch, conference attendees will be exposed to an exceptional opportunity — three hours of direct interaction with the world’s leading expert on Yellow Pages trends and usage, Dr. Dennis Fromholzer.  Fromholtzer’s work has been the basis for most of the value messaging the industry has used over the last 10+ years, and really helps frame how to people shop and use Yellow Page products.  His statistical work helps sales reps to present a compelling case as to why Yellow Pages still provides attractive ROI to advertisers.

To make this a special day of training for salespeople and to keep the cost of their attendance as low as possible, ADP has established a special registration rate just for salespeople attending just the  Believe to Achieve Day on Wednesday, March 21^st of only $100 for the full afternoon with Dennis only or $150 for the full day (which includes the luncheon).

The agenda has highlights Lida Citroën as a Keynote Speaker and Workshop Leader.  Lida Citroën will both open and close the Convention, offering her actionable insights into how

• Passion changes commitment,
• How commitment drives action, and
• How action creates results.

Lida’s background includes 23 years of designing, creating and implementing brand marketing programs and strategies for both public and private companies.

You should note that the discounted early Bird registration ends February 24^th.

A little about this year’s venue — the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas is a four-star property selected for its all-suites concepts. To make your room reservation at the Embassy Suites Frisco, please call either 1-800-EMBASSY or 972-963-9175. Mention you are an ADP convention attendee to receive the great rate of $165 per night (plus 13% tax).

Time to get registered.  Enter here to register.  If you are an industry supplier, to reserve your booth space, click here.  And if you missed it before:  For the complete agenda, click here

If you have any questions contact ADP Headquarters at 800.267.9002 or hq@adp.org.

Updated Industry Opt-out Site Rolled Out

As they have been promising for months now, the Yellow Pages Association (YPA) and the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) today launched an upgraded website at www.yellowpagesoptout.com that allows consumers nationwide to easily manage the delivery of their phone directories (Official press release).  Consumers can now go to a single location to select which phone directories they receive, or to stop directory delivery altogether.

I ran a search for the area where we use to live in North Carolina and the system smartly displayed all of the books we use to get in the area:

When the original site was launched in 2009, the site only provided information on individual publishers that consumers needed to contact individually.  The upgraded and redesigned interface increases consumer convenience and reduces confusion about the options available to manage phone book delivery by eliminating the need to contact multiple publishers.

In the press release Neg Norton, president of YPA notes that “…our industry is taking a giant leap forward today by launching a clearinghouse site for consumers to control the delivery of directories.  The site, supported by directory publishers across the country, illustrates our ongoing commitment to not delivering a directory to someone who doesn’t want one.”

Larry Angove, president and CEO, Association of Directory Publishers added that “…we continue to believe, and research supports, that directories remain an important tool for consumers searching for local information.  That said, we believe it is equally important to provide a simple solution for consumers who only want a certain directory or feel they can do without a directory.”

Those who have been fighting the distribution of these directories have ignored publishers ongoing position that if someone didn’t want a phonebook, they shouldn’t have to get one.  The associations should be congratulated on this unique collaboration effort among large and small publishers across the country that shows a commitment to our promise to reducing unwanted directories.  158 publishers are currently in the site database.

“Consumers continue turning to print Yellow Pages, both to help find local businesses, driving valuable new leads for our advertisers, and also to quickly access community and government information,” said Norton. “We believe print remains a central component of our industry’s growing portfolio, which today includes digital and mobile platforms. We’re constantly working to transform and innovate so that we can continue supporting local businesses and consumers in the most environmentally friendly way.”

Growing call tracking levels support industry research showing that over 75% of U.S. adults use print Yellow Pages to find local businesses each and every year.  Hence, advertisers are still realizing a return on the investment for local directory advertising of at least $14 for every $1 spent.

Without a doubt this updated effort improves the opt-out process drastically. But ultimately some critics will still not be happy. For example, look at this lead paragraph from the San Francisco Examiner:

In a tech-savvy and environmentally aware region like the Bay Area, which is home to online directories such as Yelp and Google Local, the arrival of a new Yellow Pages book can seem like a blast from the past.

Didn’t realize that class warfare was now linked to the distribution of yellow page directories, but hey, we are talking about San Francisco.  It’s just a shame the industry would have to lower any of its standards to appease such a small bunch of snobs. But the Examiner article did at least correctly contain this item:

And yet, for all of the griping by  people who wish they could opt out of receiving a phone book, thousands of small businesses in San Francisco continue to depend on their Yellow Pages advertising, Amy Healy said. <YPA Staff>

“It’s not sexy,” she said. “But it works for them.”

Has, still is, and will continue to be the best advertising media for most small – midsized businesses.  No one will disagree that consumers today find information in all sorts of ways and usually many check multiple sources when searching for information about products or services.  But we also know that consumers are still turning to those print Yellow Pages, and will continue to for years to come.

And of course the city of Seattle still doesn’t get it.  Despite facing a lawsuit from the industry, the Seattle City Council on Monday voted to stick with a 14-cent fee it plans to charge Yellow Pages distributors for every book that goes to Seattle residents.  I guess the industry should be somewhat pleased that the city backed away from a $148 tonnage fee it approved in October to help pay the cost of recycling the advertising books.  But despite today’s op-out site launch announcement, the Council still hasn’t dropped its October action to create a registry for people who want to opt out of receiving Yellow Pages-type phone books.

It will be interesting to see how many people actually ask to opt-out of their directory deliveries.  After most publishers initiated their own opt-out programs, YPA started their initial site, and numerous paper atheists began blogging campaigns to get people to opt-out, publishers have reported a significant drop off in the numbers of people requesting opt-out over the past months to almost a trickle.  Those publishers that have discussed opt-out levels have consistently indicated that less than 5% do.

Spring Industry Conference Update

Given the amount of nasty winter weather that much of the country has been experiencing, it may seem like a little bit of a reach to say that spring is just around the corner. For some it can’t get here soon enough.  Spring is also the time when several major industry events occur.

Here is a short summary of what’s ahead.  You need to get these on your calendar…

BIA/Kelsey – ILM East

At BIA/Kelsey, they are assuming that indeed the snow will eventually melt in Boston, the site for their ILM East conference which will be held March 21-23.  ILM East is a brand new show and follows their recent Interactive Local Media 2010 conference in Santa Clara which had a reported attendee list reaching nearly 700.

The initial program has recently been released. The focus of the conference is the fast-changing local media and marketing environment. This event features two “SuperForums” on: 1) mobile local media and 2) group buying/deal a day. Each of these forums will also focus on where mobile and group buying are headed, with many of the top leaders in each space.

“Hyperlocal” also gets a different spin at ILM East — rather than focusing on community and content, BIA/Kelsey says they are “ready to talk dollars – real dollars”, specifically how some national companies are approaching local search.  Expected speakers include U-Haul’s Elnora Palms and Progressive Insurance’s Matthew Marko.

Now if you are a member of BIA/Kelsey’s LinkedIn group, you can receive special pricing on ILM East registration. Sign up at www.biakelsey.com/ILMEast2011 with promo code ILMEIN and save $200 on the public registration price. The price increases on Jan. 29, so you need to register fast.

Visit www.biakelsey.com/ILMEast2011 for the full agenda, current list of speakers, and online registration.

YPA – Yellow Page Association

Next up is the Yellow Pages Association annual conference which runs April 16 – 19, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Recently YPA announced that Emily White, the Senior Director of Local at Facebook will be one of the keynote speakers at this year’s event

White joined Facebook in September 2010 leading Facebook’s efforts on the business side to engage with local businesses and users.  Prior to Facebook, Emily was at Google for ten years, joining as Google’s first person on the Sales and Operations side of the AdWords product.  During her time at Google Emily was responsible for a variety of efforts, running Google’s Emerging business teams, leading Asia Pacific, and Latin America Online Sales and Operations, and Google’s North America AdWords Online Sales and Operations team. Emily also managed Google’s Women’s Leadership Community (WLC), an organization focused on attracting, growing, and retaining top female talent.

Emily was recently named as “One to Watch” in Fortune magazine.  Prior to Google, Emily worked in business development for Achex, a person-to-person payment start up.  Emily is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Click here to register now and don’t miss any of the dynamic speakers, great workshops and networking opportunities at this year’s conference!

And just remember, it’s in Vegas baby….

ADP – Association of Directory Publishers:

Last but not least, the Association of Directory Publishers hosts its Annual Convention and Partners Trade Show, April 26-28, in sunny Hollywood, Florida (no issues with snow here). With some very specific industry-specific content and what is expected to be the largest industry trade show, this even has become an annual must for yellow pages’ publishers and industry suppliers.

The theme of this year’s convention, Conquering Misperceptions – Crafting New Realities, with the multiple programming tracks driving the convention agenda. One track will focus on understanding, proving, and marketing the legacy value of print; while the other focuses on concrete ways that publishers may leverage their traditional strengths of rich content and local presence into new customers and revenue sources through new approaches. The creative use of Social Media platforms is just one of the topics of track two; how publishers can utilize the power of mobile applications is another.

The Convention opens with Dr. Dennis Fromholzer as the keynote speaker. Dr. Fromholzer is recognized worldwide as a leading expert in Yellow Pages research and analysis. Utilizing authenticated data, he will explain why the future of Yellow Pages remains positive and how it still delivers great value to advertisers.

This convention also includes several networking functions and will culminate with the industry’s Gold Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony, where the Gold Book Publisher of the Year will be announced.

For more information or to register for the convention, contact the Association’s Headquarters at 800.267.9002 or hq@adp.org.