PDA

View Full Version : personal photo in a phone book ad



huggytree
11-03-2009, 07:43 PM
i am trying something different in my phone book advertising.

a personal photo of me w/ a quote under the photo about quality/service.

book just came out last week and ive already gotten calls from it...its one of those small/local books....i paid for a 1/2 page ad. thinking id be up front...nope there are 2 full page ads and 3 - 1/2 page ads...since my company starts with a W im last...buuuuut im getting calls from it and each one said i was their first call.

its a nice clean cut photo of me in a dress/work shirt....i think this idea is a winner...all the calls were from women (im not saying im good looking, just honest/clean cut looking)...i think a photo makes women feel comfortable..like they know me before i arrive.

on the flip side there is another plumber (full page ad) who has his whole crew in a group shot..they look like a biker gang...shirts untucked, over weight, unshaven..im amazed they cant see what i see

i strongly recommend personal photo's on phone book ads
just a suggestion for everyone to try.

handprop
11-03-2009, 07:47 PM
Good job!:)

Patrysha
11-03-2009, 08:30 PM
Way to go!

Now that I think of it, I did notice and remember the name of the nice young plumbers when they opened up a couple of years back.

I haven't needed a plumber (thank god) but I did notice the pictures.

I can see how a picture would make me more likely to call you if I was in the area choosing from a phone book. And I would be looking in our small community pages put out by the newspaper and not the phone pages book...if I was using paper...which isn't likely in my world...but most of my real life friends are still paper based more than I am.

Steve B
11-04-2009, 04:16 AM
Sounds like a winner to me.

Incidentally - toss a phone book to someone and ask them to look something up. More than half the time they start in the back and go forward, so being last is a good thing. An old salesperson showed me this and he was right.

greenoak
11-04-2009, 08:54 AM
thats great!!! you must have a loveable, trustworthy face....
ann

huggytree
11-04-2009, 01:46 PM
i dont know about loveable....trustworthy yes

2 years ago i had my ad by itself on the page behind all the other plumbers..i didnt get many calls

that same phone book did it to me again this year....no calls yet.

last year i was on the same page and got alot of calls from it....

i believe having my company start with a 'W' hurts me.....If i had to do it again I would consider a different name for that reason....my name being the city/county probably helps as much as the W hurts

Paul Elliott
11-06-2009, 11:25 AM
i am trying something different in my phone book advertising.

a personal photo of me w/ a quote under the photo about quality/service.

its a nice clean cut photo of me in a dress/work shirt....i think this idea is a winner...all the calls were from women (im not saying im good looking, just honest/clean cut looking)...i think a photo makes women feel comfortable..like they know me before i arrive.

on the flip side there is another plumber (full page ad) who has his whole crew in a group shot..they look like a biker gang...shirts untucked, over weight, unshaven..im amazed they cant see what i see

i strongly recommend personal photo's on phone book ads
just a suggestion for everyone to try.

Yea, HT! You've just hit on a very important subliminal trick! YOU are your brand. We human beings prefer to deal with other human beings particularly ones we know. If we can see you, we begin to feel as though we know you.

And, yes, you do need to look as though you take your work very seriously, not that you are somber, just serious about your work. As a matter of fact, you a huge smile on your face in your picture ... and your picture needs to be large enough and of good enough quality that you can be recognized when someone who has seen it meets you in person.

I would urge you to put a large picture of yourself on you truck -- all sides. You can call yourself the "Happy Plumber." That transmits a subliminal message directly into the customer's decision making/purchasing psyche. The customer never realizes how
his or her decisions are arriving at the conscious level preformed to use you.

Paul

Paper Shredder Clay
11-09-2009, 04:40 PM
I don't want to dispute what you done, but honestly I haven't picked up a phone book, in probably 4 years. And it's probably been at least two years since I used the online version of a phone book. The last two years, I've just used my iPhone to find a number if I need someone locally. I am sure there are still quite a bit of older people using phone books, or maybe businesses, but I do not think I would pour too much in advertising in a phone book. But definitely put good pictures on your web site.

Paul Elliott
11-09-2009, 11:42 PM
As always, HT, do what works in your market for your target cutomer and for your business. You can only know this by testing EVERYthing!

Paul