Yet, Yellow Page directory use is declining, while expanding segments of public don't rely on them at all. Yellow Page advertising costs keep going up, and complicated pricing structure is difficult to figure out.

Worse yet, having a Yellow Page ad doesn't deliver like it used to. People can find most of information they want without ever opening a directory. Your business needs its Yellow Page strategy to be in tune with times and your market.

Like most business owners, you must squeeze maximum value from every promotional dollar spent. That requires you to move beyond treating a Yellow Page ad like it's a separate, stand-alone way to promote your business. It's not. Your Yellow Page advertising needs to work in tandem with all rest of efforts you pursue.

The Internet Expands Your Arena Every business needs to put itself in front of people looking for what it does - and that's not just through Yellow Pages any longer. An increasing percentage of customers, who spend their money close to home, are Internet savvy. There's a major overlap between Yellow Page directory users and Internet users. That fact supports integrating your local and Internet promotional methods so they attract more new customers.

Yellow Page users are likely to be Internet users as well. And a business that ignores online activities entirely may have a tough time getting access to or credibility with those customers. It is possible to make online and traditional (offline) methods to attract customers work in tandem - improving effectiveness of each alone. So it's no longer an either-or, all-or-none choice whether to promote business online or off.

People who subscribe to online services consult Yellow Pages 23% more often than non-subscribers.

Frequent Yellow Page Users are: - 18% more likely than average to be Internet subscribers - 32% more likely to be among heaviest Internet users - 18% more likely to make purchases on Internet - 27% more likely to spend more than $1,000 on Internet purchases Source: Simmons

For those of you who have Home Businesses on Internet, you know by now that you have to develop a steady stream of traffic to your website in order to produce enough sales to grow and substantiate your business. Bottom line…no traffic = no sales. No sales = failed business.

During my two years on Internet, I have tried many forms of advertising that have been less than successful. I am writing this article to all “newbies” out there who flock to these forms of advertising because they are easy and free, and after these advertising methods have produced none of desired results, they leave with a feeling that they have been scammed and that Internet is not virtual marketplace that everyone has raved about.

In reality, Internet is virtual marketplace of future and is producing mind-boggling sales for entrepreneurs who are pursuing effective advertising methods.

The first form of advertising that leaves worst taste in my mouth is called FFA advertising (Free for All). In my opinion, FFA sites prey on “newbies”, promising that they will put their ad on thousands of websites, often supplying newbies with automated software so they can accomplish this with one click of button.

Then their ad is placed on thousands of different FFA sites at one time. What they don’t tell you is that these pages your ad is placed on are never seen by general public, because they aren’t listed in any search engines, directories, or any of mainstream traffic locations.

To add insult to injury, while you’re using automated software to place your ad on a thousand FFA pages, millions of other newbies are doing same thing. There isn’t enough room on these FFA pages for all incoming submissions, so your ad may be on these FFA pages for 30 minutes max, and is then dropped.