Benjamin Glass, an attorney in Fairfax, Va., uses yellow pages to advertise his own business, and he’s developed expertise in advising other lawyers about their integrated marketing communications strategies. Here are his four tips for using the yellow pages:

1. Look at your competition’s ad — and then say something different. “The biggest mistake businesses make is to run a yellow page ad that looks like their competitor’s,” he says. “We see a lot of this in the legal industry, where the only thing different, page to page, is the name of the firm.”
2. Make an offer for free information. Drive people to call a toll-free message hotline or visit a Web site and get them to trade their personal information for your information. “This way you build a database of warm prospects that you can market to directly with direct mail or outbound telemarketing,” Glass says.
3. Use the space. Contrary to what some believe, Glass says white space does not sell. “People who are interested in your product or service will take the time to read a copy-dense ad,” he notes. What’s more, he says, ad copy can help you establish yourself as an expert. Can white space do that?
4. Use an interesting headline. Don’t use your business name. Instead, come up with something creative and catchy. Remember, you may be competing with pages and pages of competitor ads for your potential customer.

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