Hey, Where’s The Phone Book?


My wife and I were talking not too long ago.   About phone books.  Do you know what a phone book is?

Probably not.

The reason I enjoy doing what I do … writing my blogs, writing emails, copywriting … is that I have so much content I can pull out of my butt.

So many life experiences to draw from.  Some people call it being old.

So … a long time ago almost before the ark was green … everybody used to receive a phone book.

As least where I live.  Dropped at your door.  Actually multiple phone books.

This happened throughout most of the U.S. and Canada.  I don’t know about the rest of the world.

It was an interesting experience.

Someone … usually young and working for a menial wage … dropped several big heavy plastic bags on your doorstep.   Or inside the front door of your business.

The bags contained your phone books.  The White Pages.  Big, heavy books with phone numbers.  Everybody’s phone number.  And advertising.  A lot of advertising.

But also your Yellow Pages.  Filled with nothing but ads.  Big ads, little ads, medium-size ads. With a listing for pretty much every business in existence in your area at time of publication.

Even then I thought “What a waste of trees!”

If you were looking for a local business … a restaurant, a transmission repair service, a plumber … you picked up the Yellow Pages (about 5 inches thick) and started looking.

Those businesses paid thousands of dollars to be listed in that big fat book.  They didn’t really have a choice if they wanted to survive.  Some listings were small.   Some were a full page.

Funny about that.  Those businesses with huge ads were obviously more successful. They had to be to afford the listing. Thousands of dollars a month.

But were they successful because they could afford the biggest ads?  Or could they afford the biggest ads because they were already successful?

Probably a little bit of both.

I’m not exactly sure when but the marketing equation changed.  On every level.

It happened first on a national scale.  For large companies.   But then it spread to the local level.

Because of technology.

And it continues.

Consumers now have the power.  Smartphones and tablets have changed B2B and B2C marketing forever.

Customers can now use their laptops and mobile devices to get instant information.  And make instant buying decisions from anywhere in the world.  At any time.

But don’t forget about email.

As I say elsewhere on my website, do you realize that 96% of consumers check their email every single day!

You want to know something crazier?  Over 50% of them check it more than 10 times a day!

Now what’s happened as the phone book generation switched … almost overnight … to the online method of marketing products and services?

The need for online content.

All of those online businesses need:

  • articles and stories
  • website reviews
  • blog posts
  • emails (my favorite)
  • social media posts
  • proof-reading books and movie scripts
  • sales pages
  • and more

But, more important for you, the need for writers … of all skill levels … to write that content.

There’s one way to get started quickly making good money and learning the craft.  Gaining valuable experience while earning excellent money.

Being a freelance writer and living the writer’s life.

Go to:

PaidOnlineWritingJobs

I recommend them as a great place to get started, grow your income, improve your writing skills and gain experience.



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