Bogus advertising schemes

[scratchy]

You know guys WSR is mostly such a happy place I hate to rain on the parade but a few things have come up and I want to give y' all some warning. When I started our business I knew some scammers would be coming around sooner or later and sure enough a few have made it to our door so to speak.

1. Buying ads on calendars for the girls basketball team or whatever. Groups try and raise money by selling ad space and promise a good distribution on the calendars for the businesses that buy in. This is a major flop and you money is taken as a gift to charity nothing else. No calendar, no distribution, no extra jobs as a result.

2. The dreaded phone book cover. The week before the phone book comes out a bunch of losers from another city will start calling you to get you to buy ad space on their phone book cover promising you will be the only one in your line of work and free promotion on the local radio as a bonus. The distribution is giving each victim who has bought ad space 30 covers to give out. They themselves distribute 100. There are at least 3 outfits doing this at the same time so watch out!!! Oh by the way... the radio time doesn't happen either.

3. The religious yellow pages alternative. Yes even the holy will fleece you in the name of the Lord. It pains me to say it Jeff. (I know you are watching from above;) These guys will ask you to prepay BIG $$ before the release of their book which should raise a red flag in you mind. The book is now 5 MONTHS LATE in our town!!! and only now being released. Only GOD KNOWS if they will flop on the distribution too.

4. Southwestern Bell's internet yellow pages. These guys are the Borg. There is a disconnect between them and the real yellow pages. They have not delivered on what I signed a contract for! Can you believe it? I have called the sales guy 5 times to try and get what I am paying for. He is whining that the program crashed and they are using the backup until they get the original up and running again. They don't want to have to make changes twice so I will just have to wait. What an excuse.

There will be more examples. With all the scams who can you trust? The REAL yellow pages works. The decals on you vehicle work. Business cards work. I will let you all know what else is tried and true as it comes up.

[mafsu]

The best return on investment is a firm handshake, and the ability of your customer to see your face as you explain to them what you do and how much you want their business.

[Richard]

i've had various salespeople call me up to say the've heard great things about my business, and have just one space left just for me!!!

But mafsu is rigth, the only way is by meeting people one on one, and distributing your business cards, the rest is a waste of your money.

[J.T.Window]

Two of my best business getters:

1. Good-looking, easy-to-read vehicle signs.
2. Business-card fridge magnets, given out freely.

Also, a long-running ad in the local shopper. The other guy in there puts in some wsr advantages and I cover different ones - between us we're educating John Q. on two different pages.

J.T.Window