How Directory Assistants Can Help Lawyers With Yellow Pages Advertising

Law firms that do not use directory assistants for their Yellow Pages advertising could be wasting valuable time, resources, and money.

Maximizing any form of advertising can be a challenge for any business sector when going it alone. This can be especially true when crafting and negotiating a Yellow Pages ad for lawyers. Directory assistants can relieve some of the stress for busy attorneys who are looking to increase their Yellow Pages presence.

Directory assistants are hired consultants who specialize in print ads in the tried and true Yellow Pages. Attorneys have little time to spend on negotiating the best deal for Yellow Pages ads, so they often look to these directory assistants to help them find the most effective and cost-effective packages they can.

Lawyers have been advertising in the Yellow Pages for over 30 years and are one of the largest categories found in the phone book. With such steep competition, a lawyer must create the most strategic possible ad to see a good return on investment. They must consider size of the ad, content, and categories all while committing to a price established by the Yellow Pages.

This is where directory assistants come into play. They ensure their lawyer clients make smart decisions to maximize ROI with Yellow Pages advertising. According to The Wall Street Journal, phone company's yellow pages are "cash cows" with profits "as fat as the directories themselves." The yellow page sales representative's job is to sell advertising with as much profit as possible, but it is the job of the directory assistants to negotiate the best possible deal for lawyers, keeping the money in their pockets instead.

Marketing legal services is not something taught in law school. Local bar associations are designed to support lawyers in their ventures post schooling and successful testing of the bar. However, marketing is an area that is not often covered in detail and lawyers are left to fend for themselves in the highly competitive field.

Working with these specialized consultants, can help give a new lawyer an edge with a successful, cost-effective Yellow Pages ad. These directory assistants specialize in the print ads of phone directories and can act as one-stop-shop for all of a lawyer's Yellow Pages advertising.

Here are a few ways using directory assistants can help keep a lawyer ahead of the competition in phone directories:

Pricing Structure: Yellow Pages ads are priced with a complex structure, often leaving the client a little confused as to what they are buying at what costs. Directory assistants are well-versed in the pricing structures of all the phone book advertising. These consultants can help guide a lawyer on the best bang for their buck and paint a clear picture of true costs.

Price Negotiations: Many sales reps of Yellow Pages ads earn up to 50% commission on sold ads and control the margins of their sales. Hiring directory assistants who know the structure of profit for these ads means a substantial savings for an attorney.

Contract Interpretation: While most lawyers know better than most on how to read a contract, directory assistants know Yellow Pages advertising contracts in and out. They can point a lawyer to the most pertinent information in the contract, saving them time that could be spent on billable hours.

Category Selection: Finding the best category heading for a lawyer can be a challenge when purchasing a phone directory ad. Identifying categories and heading selections is crucial in making a successful Yellow Pages ad. Directory assistants have the experience in selecting the heading and categories with the most competitive edge that yield the strongest ROI.

Saving a law office billable time is as valuable as the actual dollars saved by purchasing an advertisement. Hiring a directory assistant, who know all the hidden details of Yellow Pages ads, to navigate the complex pricing structures and category selections can help lawyers save precious time and money.