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Replies
I have another business, It's and IT Business, we also do website design and marketing. We manage many Yell accounts for the companies we market. Yell sales don't tell you everything, especially if you don't know the correct questions to ask.
The answer to you question depends on a lot of variables. How much competition you have, how much demand is in your area. How many jobs you need to get from them to get a return on your investment.
For example, if you pay them £180 per month for a Medium Weight Listing in your area, you need that to generate at least £180 of gross profit. So if you get a big landscaping job where you make a couple of grand from it, then you will get a return on your investment easily. However if it only generates you a couple of grass guts a month you might not get your money back.
So, from experience most of the clients I have worked with get a return on their investment, some get a good return, some not so good. I once had a client tell me that they were told not to pay for Yell, I set them up a Yell account and they are now getting half a dozen calls a week. They are a roofing company and they now pay Yell 4K a year, and cover a large demographic. That said their website still brings in more leads than Yell does.
Yell had to change their marketing plan and business model, they are now very focused on website marketing etc. More people search for companies on Google/Bing than search Yell/Thomson Local/Touch Local etc. This is why Yell are now selling websites. They also try to rank highly for local business business searches. The one thing I would say about Yell is you are treated as a number, you wont get any special treatment. You will get a rep, but if you look at the websites they churn out and the sales pitches they give they are all the same.
Free listing will get you next to no business. But you should have one anyway even if its just to put a link to your website. It helps your Google/Bing local listings. Just make sure your business name and address is correct.
Finally
We have had a few clients tried Yell for a year and then stop it, but most keep them because they do get extra business. However, make sure you have a good website and local listing before you shell out on Yell etc.
Just don`t pay for any thing! Complete waste of money. But a free listing is got to be good, but don`t fall for their sales patter.