We sometimes encounter businesses who have a little sticker shock when we present them with a proposal in the thousands for their new website. They know they need a website but they don’t understand how it could possibly cost more than a few hundred dollars. Although they don’t have an issue with spending thousands on a Yellow Pages ad they aren’t convinced that they could see a similar or greater return with a website optimized for search engines. So, in this blog I compare ROI (Return On Investment) for the Yellow Pages versus Search Engines.

The Kelsey Group’s recent (03/06) study of how people look for needed services shows that Yellow Pages still has a strong grip on the market.

All consumers surveyed – print Yellow Pages, 61%; search engines, 12%; directory assistance, 12%; online Yellow Pages, 7%
Annual income over $75,000 – print Yellow Pages, 51%; search engines, 27%; online Yellow Pages, 14%; directory assistance, 6%
Teens – search engines, 47%; print Yellow Pages, 28%; directory assistance, 13%; online Yellow Pages, 9%
http://www.kelseygroup.com/press/pr060320.asp

But what you also see here is that those with a higher income are using search engines 27% of the time compared to 51% for the Yellow Pages. Teens, who are more comfortable with the web having grown up with it, are preferring search engines to the Yellow Pages 2 to 1. I think it’s a safe bet to assume that this trend will continue until the Yellow Pages’ market share is considerably reduced.

So if a company is investing $2000 a year we recommend that they look at what they will pay the Yellow Pages over 3-5 years and then re-allocate 25-50% of those funds to the web in the form of improvements to their website including SEO work (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click advertising). So in our sample case the company is spending $6-10,000 and should reallocate about $2-5,000 to the web depending on your client base. Also, it’s important to remember that a new website is a one-time cost and a quality site should last 3-5 years.

We would be happy to sit down with you to examine how you can more effectively spend your advertising dollars to reap the best possible ROI.

We, Small Box staff, recently organized the first annual Broad Ripple Fall Music Festival. It was no small task to put together the event which featured 100s of Indiana musicians on 20 stages across the greater Broad Ripple area. The event had a non-profit element which means we raised several thousand for local non-profits via a percentage of door proceeds. The event was de-centralized which means that each venue had their own booker and non-profit. The result was that after the hectic work of planning the event I found we had precious little to do on the day of the event. Can’t say I minded that!

The turn out and overall vibe was so positive that I almost want to do it again next year! But I’m hoping that others will step forward to take over the event so that we can act more as advisers. With the Midwest Music Summit possibly never coming back, it was gone for 2007, there is a dearth of quality local music festivals in this town.

If you came out to the Fest, we thank you! If you are interested in helping put it on next year, let us know!