There is no shortage of Yellow Pages advertising gurus and their various (and often contradictory) "secrets" for success! Some preach that it's your WORDS (aka copy) that are most important. Others claim that all you need are eye-grabbing IMAGES to suck readers into your ad. Some say that cartoon-type ads are rare in the Yellow Pages so therefore; CARTOONS are most likely to attract attention and rake in the calls. Still others believe that your ad should look and read like an EDITORIAL, not an advertisement. With so many different Yellow Pages advertising strategies, what's an advertiser to do?

First, let's come to grips with Yellow Page Reality: While successful Yellow Pages advertising is all about differentiating your business from the numerous competitors appearing right next to you, you must do it in a powerful and meaningful way because just "being different" will NOT make your phones ring! While most of the “secrets” of the recent crop of self-styled Yellow Page ad gurus can be used to differentiate your business, none of them will persuade customers to call you.

Why? Because prospects don’t search the Yellow Pages for ads that stand out; they search them for solutions. Prospects only search the Yellow Pages because they don’t yet know who to call for a particular need or problem. So while almost any company within any business category has an ad offering their services as a “solution,” the prospect is still forced to do business with a company they won’t know.

For most people, this situation produces a little anxiety. Not “fear of public speaking” anxiety, but the anxiety is there, and it’s why most prospects choose to call those specialists with ads that reduce their felt anxiety. Ads that make them feel... "This guy is speaking exactly to my needs, he knows where I'm coming from and he sincerely cares about solving my problem."

So how can you make your ad convey this kind of message to a prospect?

You have to do two things:

1. Specialize in your prospects' specific problem - and say so in your ad!

2. Speak to your prospects' specific, motivating concern in your ad.

Easy strategies to understand, but hard to implement, because to specialize means targeting your ad to only one specialty. If your ad lists 5 or more of your “specialties,” then you’re not a specialist in the eyes of the prospect! This means you have to consciously direct your message (both content and graphics) to what will feel like a small subsection of your business category. Advertising yourself as a specialist and speaking to your target audiences’ motivating concerns will cause your prospects to continue the conversation by giving YOU their business. Anything else tends to fall on deaf ears – no matter how eye-catching the ad is.

Here’s an example: You’re concerned about your water heater; it isn’t working well and has started leaking water into your basement. You take out the Yellow Pages to find a plumber. Who will you call, the general all-around plumber, or the "water heater specialist" who has extensive repair experience and, if replacement is needed, can have your new heater installed that very day? Let’s say this water-heater specialist even includes an incentive for you to call: if you mentioned his ad, and it turned out you needed a new heater, his initial inspection fee would go toward the cost of a brand new heater. Now contrast this with the jack-of-all-trades plumber who lists septic tanks, toilets, water heaters, and ten other “specialties” that he services. Which plumber best speaks to your motivating concern and reduces your anxiety? Which plumber would you be most likely to call?

I’ve personally designed ads every bit as narrowly focused as that, and all of them garnered massive response – better than the client ever expected. In fact, the plumber specializing in water heaters – he’s done so well that he can now afford to place another highly targeted Yellow Page ad: one focusing on drain cleaning!

Granted, it's scary to focus so intently on such a small group of your prospects. Having the courage to do so is much harder than paying some guru for a "cartoon-style ad" or a quick, "off-the-shelf" template Yellow Page ad. But a genuine expert will tell you the truth. While casting the widest net possible may feel more comfortable and safe, safe ads won’t make your phones ring the way you want them to.