Two independent
businessmen are cutting into part of the giant American
Telephone and Telegraph Co's Yellow Page business.
And the men claim their service can save Olympia area
firms money.
Matt Tonning and Perry Johnston
of WestPage Agency in Spokane have made a business of
advising firms throughout the Pacific Northwest against
advertising heavily in telephone book Yellow Pages.
They lately started doing business in Olympia.
Tonning, a former Yellow Page
salesman with General Telephone Directory Corp., says he
started his own business because he believes big
advertisements in the Yellow Pages aren't always
necessary.
He says studies show that people
using Yellow Pages generally are looking for phone numbers
and addresses, not a fancy sales pitch.
"We go to businesses and
show them why they are buying too much space or need to
change their Yellow Page advertising."
Tonning estimates his firm has
saved businesses about $2 million in Yellow Page ad costs.
For its service, WestPage gets a
percentage of the money it saves a customer in ad costs -
in the Olympia area Tonning charges 15-to-35 per cent.
Tonning says he tries to stay
away from direct competition with AT&T, the largest
corporation in the world. WestPage hasn't started a
new directory in |
competition with AT&T or General
Telephone, he notes. Tonning admits the telephone
companies don't like his firm taking business away from
them. He fears there may be warfare soon with the
big firms.
"The Yellow Page departments
would like it if I was back with General Telephone or back
in the real estate business with my father."
Yellow Page advertising is one of
the biggest and fastest growing revenue sources for
AT&T's Bell System. Last Year, the company made
$3 billion in Yellow Page revenues, up from $2.1 billion
in 1980.
The Yellow Page business is
highly profitable, Dale Vincent, Pacific Northwest Bell
community affairs manager, says. "That is why
so many people want to get involved with them (Yellow
Pages.)."
West Page is a money maker for
Tonning and his partner - although on a much smaller scale
than Yellow Pages are for AT&T.
Tonning says he wouldn't have
left a $45,000 a year job with General Telephone for
another job that makes less money. "I'm making that
plus more."
Vincent says he's not sure
Tonning's Yellow Page venture makes much sense because the
phone company would reduce a firm's ad for no cost.
Tonning counters that as long as
phone books exist, businesses will want WestPage's service
because it provides an independent view of advertising
needs. |
