And now they want your phonebooks…

A lot of discussion is going on over at Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government site on a topic near and dear to those of us in the industry – this fanatical
urge to want ban phonebooks.

Finally, someone presented all of the factors:

:… But is banning the phone book really the best way to save trees? A quick rundown of some key statistics puts two very key holes in the “ban the phone book” theory of  environmental reclamation. First, as it turns out, the Yellow Pages aren’t actually made from five million fresh trees, cut down in their peak to bring the phone book to your door. They’re actually made from mostly recycled material or the byproducts of other paper manufacturing, non-toxic dyes, and inks, and unused directories are “upcycled” into other things. You know that coffee cup that your non-fat soy latte with non-dairy whip comes in every morning, that says it comes from “90% recycled materials?” It’s likely made out of your old phone books.

And although city councils and environmental groups like to pretend  that just because elementary school students and hipsters practically see their laptops as a fifth limb, not everyone uses Google search and Yelp to locate local resources. The Baby Boomer generation, which makes up a huge chunk of American disposable income (and holds nearly 50% of American wealth) uses the Yellow Pages at a staggering rate.  Almost 85% of Boomers picked one up last year to search for a name, address or local resource. And as for that “perpetually connected” generation, Gen Y? Nearly 66% of them used Yellow Pages last year. Nearly 50% of all consumers turn to the Yellow Pages first to get information on businesses in their area. And, of course, that’s leaving out specific statistics on the population that liberals most often forget to consider–lower-income populations. Lower-income populations without continued access to the Internet are the most in need of a resource for directory
assistance…”

In a related item, the Valley Yellow Pages people have also posted a great little YouTube video to further address the many myths that surround the entire green/yellow pages/recycling discussion:  click here.  Every publisher should consider doing a similar clip and making sure their local government officials see it (can we make it required viewing??).

YP Talk has advocated for some time that it is time for this industry to start pushing back, to respond to these egregious accusations/mistruths/flat
out lies, and set the record straight.   Glad to see some progress is finally being made.  But the battle is far from over.  Keep educating your local community on the value that our industry products bring to them.   At the end of day, I doubt you will see any of these environmental zealots looking to help a small business market themselves.  They are too busy looking for the next target to blame.

Valley YP Adds Video To Online Hostess

Valley Yellow Pages has now added video to their online hostess function for the MyYP online directory product.

“Jeannie” has been the MyYP online hostess since 2009, helping users through the ins-and-outs of the site and explaining features of the print directory that many don’t know exist, such as the 50 plus pages of community information in each printed Valley Yellow Pages directory. Valley has now taken the MyYP.com site to a new level by incorporating over 100 new category specific videos. For an example of Jeannie in action, check this video out at: http://www.myyp.com/advertisevideo. Who wouldn’t want someone with a little wit and humor to discuss hot topics like plumbing, roofing, and pizza. Michele Meisch, Marketing Manager at Valley Yellow Pages commented, “…we love the depth and action she brings to our site and users have been asking for more. Now anytime a user searches one of the top 103 most frequently searched categories on MyYP.com, they will see a picture of Jeannie above the category heading. Clicking that image will launch a video featuring her helpful tips.”

Valley did also note in their announcement of this new capability that printed Yellow Pages are widely used on a regular basis – recent studies show that 75% of adults still used their Yellow Pages during the last year, with 54% referring to the directory monthly, and 37% using it weekly. Add on a useful online Yellow Pages site such as MyYP.com and it should be no surprised that the combined usage is still increasing year to year.

“Phone books are still a very important piece of our economy and help generate billions of dollars in business transactions that the economy needs to keep itself going,” said Sieg Fischer, president and CEO of Valley Yellow Pages. “We want to continue to bring buyers and sellers together and work cooperatively with each community where we do business.”