Are the Yellow Pages a Dinosaur?

As I write my 64th article about the Yellow Pages, it reminds me of how the best things continue to stick around. For example, the YP were started as a pamphlet in Wyoming over 100 years ago. It became an easy way to keep track of a small number of local businesses. Today, they are a household name. They are still the book picked up when someone has a need. There are few service businesses that dont have an ad in the good ole YP.

With the advent of the Internet, most nay-sayers have doomed the YP to the way of the dinosaur. They claim that people prefer the speed of the digital age. They point to more surfers using online newspapers and magazines as their first choice. But there is a fatal flaw in their thinking. You cannot compare ads online.

Say you are looking for a plumber on the net. After you do your local search and get a list, a few have ads, which you may click on one at a time. So how can you compare features and benefits, unless you go to the trouble of creating screen shots of each ad and placing them next to each other? The printed product not only has the line listings of every business in alphabetical order, but also ads that can be torn out and written on, as needed. They can be copied, faxed and even folded up to fit in your pocket and taken with you to the place itself. This is especially helpful if they have a map or directions. Try doing that with your computer screen.

They serve many other useful functions. They offer local attractions, maps, zip codes, and of course the white pages. You may say that is true for the Internet version. But, what if you would like to take them in the car? Fine, you have a cell phone with Internet access, But do you really love that two inch screen and the pages that take forever to load? What if your emergency is a bad circuit breaker that just killed the power to your computer? Where do you go then? Back to the phone? I think not.

No, the printed directory still has its place in society. I should know. I sold them for 25 years and wrote my own book about these amazing pages. Mine is not printed on yellow paper, but it is available on the Internet. While Ive not been around as long as these venerable pages, I feel a certain kinship as they gave me a great living for all that time. And I helped 7000 businesses place their advertising. So, if you are a small mom and pop type business, you could do far worse than placing an ad in the YP. If you dont believe me, read my book and learn why. Youll discover they not the next T-Rex, but theyre very much alive and kicking for a whole other generation.

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the Phoenix." His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages" which can be seen at his website, http://www.poweradbook.com and he is currently the Marketing Director for http://www.thenurseschoice.com a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

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