Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Do any of you ever use the Yellow Pages (or the phone book at all, for that matter)?

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-22-2014, 02:26 PM:

At my day job (Carquest Auto Parts) we have a "bold" listing in the phone book, and a yellow pages listing under Auto Parts - New, for which we pay $9.50 a month. The renewal is coming up...and I can't remember the last time I looked up a number in a phone book.

I'm probably going to cancel the listing, which will remove us from the Yellow Pages and take away the "bold" listing in the white pages. Our competition in town does not have the bold listing and they are not in the yellow pages either. Am I an idiot for cancelling the listing?

What I'm really asking is....does anyone ever use the phone book anymore?

I figure, if we find that business drops like a rock when the new phone book comes out, we can tough it out for a year and reinstate our listing for the 2016 book.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 07-22-2014, 02:39 PM:

Yes.
Though the last couple of years the type has been so small I can't read it.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-22-2014, 02:50 PM:

10 years ago we were running half page ads in one of the local phone books and a smaller, yet still graphical looking ad in Yellow Pages/AT&T or whatever it was (more expensive) phone book. Today we have very basic listings in both. It hasn't hurt us.

I personally don't bother with phone books anymore. It's easier for me to just type or say the business I'm trying to find in my smart phone. I dial the number from there. Or I pull it up on whatever computer I might be using.

Two phone books get dropped on my front porch every year. I might take a peek inside and then perhaps not open it again until the following year's edition arrives.

Posted by Adam Fraser (Member # 1074) on 07-22-2014, 02:50 PM:

We also pulled our premium listing from the phone book this year for our furniture store.

The only calls that I noticed coming from the phone book were people cross shopping for things like $90 mattresses, which we only make a few dollars on anyway. That $500/yr. will be much better spent on our website.

Our local phone books give you a basic free listing with just a name and phone number in the Yellow pages.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-22-2014, 03:06 PM:

I find the yellow pages to be useful when needing to find a local business that provides a product or service for which I have not previously had a need. I could see looking in the yellow pages for "auto parts" if I needed to buy something quickly and wanted to find the nearest place that sells that part (since online searches still do a poor job of location-specific searches). This would also be useful for people who are new to a specific area.

On the other hand, if I know the name of the person or business that I want to call, Google is faster than looking in the white pages. My primary use for the white pages is to find the number of the electric company to call them to tell them that the power is out.

In short, I would say "yes" to yellow pages ads for businesses that provide the sort of product or service that one might use infrequently and need on short notice. So, that would be a yes for locksmiths and plumbers and a no for grocery stores and clothing stores. Not sure where auto parts would fall, though, but I could see it making sense to be listed, although I might not pay for a bold listing.

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 07-22-2014, 03:20 PM:

A local photographic supplier used to use this argument to reduce the cost of his yellow page advertisements.

"Why should I pay you to be listed in your book, alphabetically with my competitors?"

Perhaps this is an over simplification of what the book represents. Have you ever noticed the number of business names that start with the letter "A"?

Aardvark Carpet Cleaners (actual business)

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 07-22-2014, 04:33 PM:

I'm not sure if it is our yellow pages or 411, but we get lots of calls for people looking for "The Movie Theatre" and want to know what what time [fill in latest blockbuster here]. Most don't even get the concept that we are not showing said blockbuster, and those that do ask us for the number of the theatre that is. Pretty sure AMC and Carmike only list their phone numbers online, and I'm guessing these people don't have online access.

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 07-22-2014, 05:07 PM:

Personally, I ask Mr. Google.

I think Yellow Pages are a thing of the past but I would like to have the white pages. Here in Virginia I can get a copy of the white pages but I have to request it. They limit free copies to one per household.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-22-2014, 05:09 PM:

I'm kind of with Scott about only using a phone book for goods or services I use infrequently. For example, earlier this year I used it to look up a tree trimming business and a paving business.

But one of the problems I've found is it's often difficult to tell which businesses are local - or provide local services. And some of the phone books don't use logical listings. For example, tree trimming referred me to Arborist.

As for auto parts, I would say it's probably not worth the money unless you have some kind of specialty which might attract people who have a need beyond standard auto parts. I know where the local auto parts stores are, and if I need a phone number I'm most likely to use Google.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-22-2014, 05:56 PM:

I guess I don't understand the whole frequently/infrequently question. I use Google whether it's the first or 100th time I need a phone number.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-22-2014, 06:17 PM:

Google works best when one knows the name of the business that one wants to call. It does not work so well for providing a list of every vendor in a particular category in a specific geographic area. One who infrequently uses a given product or service is less likely than a frequent user to know the name of the local vendor.

If I need a turboencabulator for a 1961 Plymouth on short notice, I can look up "auto parts" in the yellow pages and start calling every business on the list to find out who has one and what it costs. There is no easy way to do this with an online search if one wants to acquire the product locally.

In a small town, it might be less of an issue. Googling for "auto parts forsyth montana" tells me that there is a NAPA and a Carquest in the area. Are there any others?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-22-2014, 07:05 PM:

Nope, those are us!

I did a check on our local phone directory -- the Napa doesn't have a yellow page listing either, nor a bold listing in the white pages so they must not think it's worth the cost either.

One thing in our favor, is that Carquest does purchase a display ad in the yellow pages so we're listed there...we just won't appear in the regular alphabetical listings.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 07-22-2014, 07:10 PM:

I haven't used a physical phone book in years. Any number that I want to look up I do online. I have this app on my phone to do lookups there, too.

I'm not even sure if I have a white pages listing for the theatre any more. I know that I haven't had a yellow pages listing for several years. Everyone manages to find the theatre, though, so it makes no difference at all.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-22-2014, 07:14 PM:

Mike, maybe a better way to look at it for me is services which do not lend themselves to having a web site, or which are mobile in nature and may be difficult to locate. The examples I gave above with paving and tree trimming being perfect examples. Companies providing those services often operate over a large area and may not be listed locally even though they service the local area. Using a local phone book helps find those types of services.

In the case of the auto parts store, where a phone book might prove useful is when they have ads saying they specialize in something particular. Sometimes this might be easier than wading through search results. For example, if you're looking for parts for vintage cars or European cars, it might be easier to check the phone book to find a business that specializes in these.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-22-2014, 07:26 PM:

quote: Justin Hamaker
In the case of the auto parts store, where a phone book might prove useful is when they have ads saying they specialize in something particular.

Yes, this, too. If there are fifty entries in the yellow pages for "auto parts," I would probably look at the display ads to find out which store would be most likely to find what I need and would then call that store first.

But I'm thinking now that the yellow pages ad would be pretty pointless for Mike, since the number of places to get auto parts in Forsyth is limited and Google finds his store just fine. An exception might be if his customers tend to be on the older side and thus less likely to immediately turn to a web search (or even have a computer) to find the store.

I'm still not sure about the bold listing. It doesn't tell the reader anything about the business that a regular listing wouldn't, other than that the business with the bold listing spent extra money to have that name printed in bold.

One way to test the value of a yellow pages ad would be to print a different phone number that is only used in that ad. Then, count the number of calls to that number (this is easiest to do with 1-800 numbers, since the bills are itemized). Obviously, it wouldn't measure walk-in traffic, but I expect that most yellow pages users would call before visiting, anyway.

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 07-22-2014, 10:47 PM:

I was trying to find our local "CABELAS" in our Phone Book. I looked in the Yellow Pages under Sporting Goods,Fishing Supplies,Firearms,etc. and still didn't see them Listed. So I type CABELAS in the GOOGLE Browser and it instantly brings up the Billing's Street Address and Phone. I'm beginning to think the Phone Directory is getting Worthless...

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-23-2014, 12:15 PM:

I pick up the phone book off the door step, hold it above my head, and shout "THE NEW PHONE BOOK IS HERE! THE NEW PHONE BOOK IS HERE!"

Then I throw it in the recycle bin.

About the only use for phone books I have is if I'm looking through decades-old ones at the library to research old businesses.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-23-2014, 06:31 PM:

I'll tell you the most annoying thing about our local book (the one I'm now a former bold-listing in): Each town, even the tiny ones, used to have its own page(s) with a heading; the Forsyth listings took up about 6 or 7 pages. But now all the towns in this whole corner of the state are bunched together in one heading (Miles City, the biggest town near us) with vowel-less representations of what town we're actually located in listed next to the phone numbers. For example Broadus is shown as BRDS. Forsyth is FRSTH. Lame Deer is LMDR. Obviously this is done to make the book smaller but it makes it harder to find who or what you're looking for.

Oh well, as the kids would say, "what-evah." I'm done with the phone book now. I've spent more time look at the phone book while making this post than I have in the past five years.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-24-2014, 08:21 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
For example Broadus is shown as BRDS. Forsyth is FRSTH. Lame Deer is LMDR.

LAME DEER? There's a town called LAME DEER? HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS.

I am taking a Google Street View tour right now, and later I'll be writing a mystery novel.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-24-2014, 12:29 PM:

In case you need some more ideas for your novel, check this list. Meantime...Google Street View is probably the best way to visit Lame Deer.

Weird town names in Montana

(Disclaimer: I've never heard of about 80% of these places so who knows if they're real or not...but they probably are)

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 07-24-2014, 12:59 PM:

There is a town in Tennessee called "Bucksnort."

There is a state park in Virginia called "Hungry Mother."

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 07-24-2014, 01:40 PM:

Here in Saskatchewan, we have Cadillac, Big Beaver and Climax.

The most unusual place name that I know of is actually in Alberta, though: Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-24-2014, 02:19 PM:

So one of the first things I saw on my Lame Deer tour was a group of random, seemingly wild horses wandering the streets.

Montana is a Coen Bros movie waiting to happen.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 07-24-2014, 03:11 PM:

I don't use the phone book unless.... nope. There is no unless.

I flip through it when it gets chucked at our house, but I couldn't even say that I formally 'read' anything in it except maybe the quirky quips by the phone book mascot.

Then it sits on the dining room table for 4-6 weeks, then on the corner table for years until we have a pile so big I take them all to the recycle bin.

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 07-24-2014, 04:06 PM:

Randy, let's not forget Intercourse, PA.

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 07-24-2014, 05:24 PM:

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 07-24-2014, 05:29 PM:

Not so strange names, but in Alabama we have a town called "Pineapple" and another called "Pine Apple"

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 07-24-2014, 05:34 PM:

quote:
quote: Mike Blakesley
For example Broadus is shown as BRDS. Forsyth is FRSTH. Lame Deer is LMDR.
LAME DEER? There's a town called LAME DEER? HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS.

I am taking a Google Street View tour right now, and later I'll be writing a mystery novel.

LAME DEER is a town that is part of the CHEYENNE INDIAN RESERVATION. I have to go through it every August when the STURGIS RALLY is on. Ironic that the CROW RESERVATION is not that many miles from it. CHEYENNE'S HATE CROWS and most other Tribes do also. They think of them as Turncoats when at the time of The BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN(Custer Massacre)The 7th Calvary employed CROWS as Scouts. Bad Blood even today between the Two...

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 07-25-2014, 11:31 PM:

quote: Frank Cox
Here in Saskatchewan, we have Cadillac, Big Beaver and Climax.

I believe Big Beaver and Split Beaver are in the same Proximity [Confused]

On the Other hand Climax has been
reported frequently as a Fake! [thumbsup]

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 07-27-2014, 09:24 AM:

"look, they printed out some of the internet for me!"

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 07-27-2014, 10:03 AM:

quote:
Do any of you ever use the Yellow Pages (or the phone book at all, for that matter)?

Yes. I'm currently using the Yellow Pages under a POS terminal to raise it up
to a more comfortable level. I'm using the white pages to hold up a bookshelf.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 07-27-2014, 10:20 AM:

Yes! I use the phone book every day!