Why are you OUT of the Yellow Pages?

I know your practice is “different” than my dental office – I get it.

But, if you’re one of the (tens of?) thousands of dentists who’ve swilled the “yellow pages are dead” Kool-Aid, I gotta tell you, you’re making a HUGE mistake.

(But, that’s OK. Just less competition for my future Wellness Springs Dental® office franchisees to promote their offices in your YP book 😉 BTW, I have no skin in the YP game, I have no interest in whether you’re in or not. But, I do feel like it’s my duty to tell you to reconsider, if you are out. And, if you’re not, this email is even MORE important to you!)

You see, in the vast majority of cases, there is still value in being in print media like the yellow pages.

I know, you’re going to tell me you pulled your ad because the response rates were dropping and you were no longer getting new patients from it.

Thing is, I can call your competition, get the tracking stats on their YP ad, and, low and behold, learn they are getting new patients!

Look…

There are really only two possible reasons why your YP ad likely stopped working:

1)   No one reads/uses the YP ads anymore in your area (not true in my opinion, but an accepted answer by most dentists and one I hear “experts” shouting all the time); OR,

2)   Your ad sucked to begin with, which is why when the competition really kicked in, you couldn’t shout your logo or practice name loud enough to be heard (Which is why it failed – initially, no one cares about you. They will only care about you when they know you care about them.)

In the vast majority of the cases, I’m going with reason 2.

Your ad stunk to high heaven to begin with. So, when the tough got going, you decided it was the media, instead of taking a long hard look at your crummy ad that probably looks just like everyone else’s. You know – stock photos, your practice name at the top, a list of all the stuff you do, etc…

Media placement people (YP companies and their reps) are NOT ad copy people. They are not professional copywriters. They’ve never read a book on ad copy in their life. They’ve never sat in a room for days on end to study the greatest ad copywriters ever. They’ve never invested a single dime of their own money to find out what makes a dental patient in need, tick. What would MAKE them pick up the phone and call your office.

They are, in effect, CLUELESS. But, it’s not their fault. They’re just following orders.

It’s up to YOU to call ‘em on it and get someone in your corner who knows this stuff. (And they are few and far between let me tell you.)

Every week, at my Wellness Springs Dental office, we see new patients from our yellow pages ad. Every week, we see patients from advertising online, too. Oh, and, we generate new patients from direct mail. And, referrals galore.

There is no media, in my world, that’s off limits.

If I can get it to generate a new patient, I can get it to PAY – which means, I can get it to generate an ROI that keeps me in the game.

Bottom line: If you’re ignoring the yellow pages, you are missing out.

Oh, and whatever you do, don’t engage the yellow page geeks to do your SEO. They are NOT internet experts, either. Nor can they can’t write ads! So, be careful WHO you trust with your online marketing.

(I only trust one guy for that. And, his efforts drive 5 to 7 new patients into our offices every week at a cost of well under $50 per new patient. And, when I want to increase that number, all I have to do is email him and it’s just like magic…more start showing up. If you want me to connect you to him, just email me.)

Anyway – if you’re out of the YP ads, reconsider. If your ad is all about you, your name, your logo, the “services” you provide, or, anything OTHER than about what your patient can experience when they call you, it’s all wrong.

My ClearPath Society® Members get proven templates of YP ads at their disposal, included with Membership. And, should they desire a custom ad, or, touches to the ads we’ve created that work, it’s all doable.

Learn more about Membership here.