Posted by Matham on 4/5/11 3:42pm
Msg #378779

Is $60 a month worth it?

AT&T/YP.com just contacted me to advertise my services, that would put me at the top of search results, and put in a position to have my ad to cross promote my services across 100 other websites?

Is this worth it or are they just blowing smoke just to meet a sale qouta?

Reply by Stamper_WI on 4/5/11 3:45pm
Msg #378780

Someone just called me from google offering to build up my exposure as a realtor. I haven't been a realtor for 7 yrs.
Wonder what he paid for that list?

Reply by Matham on 4/5/11 3:47pm
Msg #378783

You should've told him to get a refund...

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 4/5/11 3:47pm
Msg #378782

No. Here's a better idea:

Donate to the Shoshana Foundation for Indigent Notaries! I promise to put your money to good use!

Reply by ikando on 4/5/11 3:49pm
Msg #378784

It's that time of year. All the directory companies, online and off, are trying to get their ad count up to be able to justify their existence.

Matham, what were they offering for $60/month? I regularly run ads with them because I consistently get calls from people (usually older) who have found me in the paper copy. I run a box ad which highlights me from the UPS

Reply by Matham on 4/5/11 3:51pm
Msg #378787

Well, my ad just went live within the past few days. I am number seven on the list and he was saying that the $60 a month would put me at the top of the list as 90% of traffic they find only click what is at the top.

Reply by ikando on 4/5/11 3:51pm
Msg #378788

Too quick on the upload.

Anyway, advertising is one of those costs that should be considered when pricing your services. As I said, I find it worthwhile because I get calls from both the paper and online listings. You should make your own determination.

Reply by Matham on 4/5/11 3:53pm
Msg #378790

I'm trying to limit the amount of money that I am spending until I get some revenue coming in before I make the leap to paid ads.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 4/5/11 4:04pm
Msg #378793

I think it depends upon who you are advertising to. If you are advertising for loan signings, save your money and spend it here on Notary Rotary for a premium membership. If you are advertising for local notary work, then spending $60 on an internet ad *may* be worth it or again it may not. For me I would absolutely not spend $60 per month on that but then again you can charge a lot more for general notary work than I can here in VA, so it may be cost effective for you (definitely would not be for me).

Reply by Matham on 4/5/11 4:10pm
Msg #378795

Now I just got a call from Local.com....

who wanted $149 per month for lead generation ad campaign covering three websites.

I hung up on them...

Reply by CopperheadVA on 4/5/11 4:11pm
Msg #378797

Re: Now I just got a call from Local.com....

I get calls from an outfit called "Big Local" that wants to sell me some way to get myself or my website listed higher in the rankings. I have their number marked as SPAM on my caller ID, so I just send to VM when them call.

Reply by rengel/CA on 4/5/11 4:20pm
Msg #378799

Google is your friend

Just put in SEO and/or SEO advertising and learn as much as you can about it. You can do more for yourself that way, F R E E and save yourself $720 this year.

My .02

Reply by Linker Mobile Notary Service on 4/5/11 5:18pm
Msg #378802

Re: Google is your friend - I agree 100% n/m

Reply by Matham on 4/5/11 5:35pm
Msg #378806

Re: Google is your friend

If it is free, why is it saying it costs $97? 0_o

Reply by rengel/CA on 4/5/11 5:59pm
Msg #378809

$97 ???

There are plenty of articles you can read to learn about it. You don't need to sign up with anything.

My .02

Reply by BrendaTx on 4/5/11 5:09pm
Msg #378800

I do not think it's worth $60 a month. n/m

Reply by LKT/CA on 4/5/11 7:30pm
Msg #378822

Worth it to be locked in a contract? NO! n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 4/5/11 8:19pm
Msg #378826

IMO definitely not. That $720/yr. is better spent

advertising on the 3 top notary listing sites (they're where companies will go when searching for someone in your area). You can also get a free ad yellow pages.com. I'm getting contacted all the time from these companies that are offering increased exposure on the web. My take on that is that I'm not a retail biz. This is kind of a specialty field, and the listing sites is where it's at, IMO.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 4/6/11 12:13am
Msg #378839

So agree, MW. Big chunk of my advertising pie.

Way out of my marketing budget, but my Business Plan Goals includes retiring, so my direction is different than most.

That said, if I were growing my business today, I would continue my aversion to contracted "exposure," because it always sounds like a great opportunity for someone - usually not me.

To my benefit over the last 10 years as a Mobile Notary, my advertising slice of the Expenditures Pie was kept relatively low by narrowing the cyber-networking to industry-specific sites. Turned out that marketing to the whole world was way over-kill, as well as really expensive.

My goal was cash and carry for everything, so I became very strict with me about getting Debt to ZERO, and building positive accounts instead. Love that outcome.

By entering the target Notary-cyber-sites like Notary Rotary, (remember the precursers, from Internet Chat Rooms of Prodigy, to Cyber-Cafes of Yahoo, AOL, etal?,) I found incredible pearl after pearl of industry-specific wisdom, (and trust my reputation over these years survives scrutiny favorably )

Cyber communities, like this site, are one excellent example of a national networking Break Room with a wealth of specific and valuable knowledge - all of the social drama included - bless our hearts, every one -.

justmyownhumbleopinion

Reply by kathy/ca on 4/6/11 11:04am
Msg #378878

This site, #'s site, what is the 3rd? If its the one I am

thinking of, it doesnt get much anymore, unless maybe you mean the "coffee" site!

Reply by MW/VA on 4/6/11 2:01pm
Msg #378915

Yes. n/m