I talked to someone at DEX, which is the Yellow Pages used by Qwest. She said you first get a phone number. You can use a cell phone for the first year until you get your “real” number. You also can get a number through the local phone company, without an address. If you get a local phone number, the local phone company will call the Yellow Pages ad rep, who will contact you about signing up for a Yellow Pages ad. (If you use a cell phone, you’ll have to call the Yellow Pages yourself.

Many areas have multiple phone books. I know in the Quad Cities there is a “Yellow Book” put out by McLeodUSA. You have to buy an ad separately in those books. Their ads might be cheaper, but are you going to get the same results? I would ask them what their circulation is and what their response rate is (they better know!). Get copies of each phone book for your area and call the ad reps and let them give you their sales pitch. Get a cheap ad from both for the first year and track carefully what your response is for each. Then you can decide the second year which one you want to use, or both.

The lead time on the phone books is about 2 months, so check the date on the front of the phone book. If it says “January,” for example, you would need to get your ad set by about the 1^st of November.

Important note: Don’t put an ad in a book which will be published before you get your license! You could be charged with false advertising and practicing without a license.

Planning for Practice Success has many strategies for 1st year marketing. Click HERE to see more.