What phone book do you keep?

[New Yellowfin]

As many of you may have noticed, we have many phone directories that are published for our SoWal area. How does a small business owner decide which one(s) to advertise with? To cover all bases, a business would need to sign up for about eight books. There is Embarq (big and small), AT&T (big and small), the "talking" book, the SoWal directory (the one with Gordie Hines' painting on the cover), etc. Then we must decide Destin vs. PCBeach directories. To go with all is too expensive to be practical.

What phone directory do you use and why? Which do you recommend that we advertise with?

Thanks in advance,

[seacrestkristi]

Definitely get in the little 30-A one. :D

[NotDeadYet]

I use the little 30A book all the time. That and the Embarq big books for Ft Walton and Panama City. I throw away all the rest, especially the "talking" phone book which has never, and I do mean literally never, contained a number I was looking for. But I live here and you probably are more interested in reaching tourists, who won't know all that. Maybe you should ask the rental agencies which books they have in their rental units?

[JUL]

As many of you may have noticed, we have many phone directories that are published for our SoWal area. How does a small business owner decide which one(s) to advertise with? To cover all bases, a business would need to sign up for about eight books. There is Embarq (big and small), AT&T (big and small), the "talking" book, the SoWal directory (the one with Gordie Hines' painting on the cover), etc. Then we must decide Destin vs. PCBeach directories. To go with all is too expensive to be practical.

What phone directory do you use and why? Which do you recommend that we advertise with?

Thanks in advance,
I keep a copy of the SoWal one at home in Indiana so when I need to make plans for my stays there I have all the info at hand and don't need to go search and when I am there I always grab it as well...SoWal:D

[scooterbug44]

I just use the little book, the rest are just for cockroach extermination. :biggrin:

[SGB]

We also throw away the talking phone books. We keep and use the Embarq one for FWB/Destin and the BellSouth (it's 2006, so it might be called something else now) one for PC. Usually i use the Embarq book for stuff around SoWal. We keep the smaller versions of each of these in our car (along with a set of reading glasses)! We also use the small 30A one.

[Smiling JOe]

I always first, go to the small 30A phone book, with the Gordie painting. There are now two other small 30A phone books. I keep the Destin and the PC phone books, too, just in case I cannot find a number in the other books. I keep some of the others too, and have a few in the car as well as the house. However, when I need to find a number, these days, I usually go online and google the business. Having a rental biz, I'd be trying to focus on learning what they use in rentals. Do the rental companies have recommendation for a particular phone book? Your question is a really good one. We have too many phone books for such a small area.

[yippie]

I always first, go to the small 30A phone book, with the Gordie painting. There are now two other small 30A phone books. I keep the Destin and the PC phone books, too, just in case I cannot find a number in the other books. I keep some of the others too, and have a few in the car as well as the house. However, when I need to find a number, these days, I usually go online and google the business. Having a rental biz, I'd be trying to focus on learning what they use in rentals. Do the rental companies have recommendation for a particular phone book? Your question is a really good one. We have too many phone books for such a small area.

There are two more little 30-A books? No one seems to be able to locate one for 2007-08 for Embarq and I have never seen another one. Where have you seen it?

[sowalgayboi]

Working in the rental industry I can tell you that we receive probably 20-30 phone books per unit over the course of a year. Our units only get the little 30A book and the Embarq book, everything else goes to the recycling heap.

[Beach Runner]

I hate the big FWB/Destin and PCB phone books. It's too time-consuming to sort through what's close and what's not in their yellow pages.

Love the little 30-A one. But they get stolen by renters. And the last one we got disappeared after the cleaning service came after we were there fall break. :idontno:It's just impossible to keep one around, so we now keep ours in the owners closet.

[sowalgayboi]

I hate the big FWB/Destin and PCB phone books. It's too time-consuming to sort through what's close and what's not in their yellow pages.

Love the little 30-A one. But they get stolen by renters. And the last one we got disappeared after the cleaning service came after we were there fall break. :idontno:It's just impossible to keep one around, so we now keep ours in the owners closet.

Honestly have never had that problem. Try putting a sticker on it that says, "Feel free to take me and we will gladly deduct $15.00 from your deposit." :cool:

[Mermaid]

As many of you may have noticed, we have many phone directories that are published for our SoWal area. How does a small business owner decide which one(s) to advertise with? To cover all bases, a business would need to sign up for about eight books. There is Embarq (big and small), AT&T (big and small), the "talking" book, the SoWal directory (the one with Gordie Hines' painting on the cover), etc. Then we must decide Destin vs. PCBeach directories. To go with all is too expensive to be practical.

What phone directory do you use and why? Which do you recommend that we advertise with?

Thanks in advance,

I'd go with the one that you can pick up free at the WaterColor Publix. Just because they're easily replenishable. If a renter takes our Embarq phone book back home with them, I'd can't get another one straight away, but the directory (Gordie's) I can. Which means that a steady stream of renters sees that phone book.

[Smiling JOe]

I just openend up my telephone book drawers, yes, two drawers, and found the following books. Gordie painting small 30A book, small Embarq book (thought it was abbreviated 30A Book, but it says FT Walton Destin), Big Embarq book (Ft Walton/Destin), Sprint big book (Ft Walton/Destin) from 2006 -- just trashed it, (big)AT&T Real Yellow Pages book (Panama City). AT&T Real Yellow Pages also printed a smaller book,which I also thought was 30A, due to its small size. I must have tossed it, but it may be for PCB rather than 30A.

There is also that other phone book which can be found at Publix (in addition to the 30A book with Gordie's painting). Just way too many!!!!

[Beach Runner]

Honestly have never had that problem. Try putting a sticker on it that says, "Feel free to take me and we will gladly deduct $15.00 from your deposit." :cool:
:lol:

[NoHall]

The crazy part is that I only use a phone book about once every 3 months. I only call clients or good friends, who are already in my phone. The only businesses I call are usually something to do with utilities or services, and the phone number is either on a bill or a business card. The more y'all talk about it, the more I think that I should get rid of all 3 of mine...

[sowalgayboi]

I just openend up my telephone book drawers, yes, two drawers, and found the following books. Gordie painting small 30A book, small Embarq book (thought it was abbreviated 30A Book, but it says FT Walton Destin), Big Embarq book (Ft Walton/Destin), Sprint big book (Ft Walton/Destin) from 2006 -- just trashed it, (big)AT&T Real Yellow Pages book (Panama City). AT&T Real Yellow Pages also printed a smaller book,which I also thought was 30A, due to its small size. I must have tossed it, but it may be for PCB rather than 30A.

There is also that other phone book which can be found at Publix (in addition to the 30A book with Gordie's painting). Just way too many!!!!

I believe they can go in the blue trash bags. ;-)

[yippie]

I just openend up my telephone book drawers, yes, two drawers, and found the following books. Gordie painting small 30A book, small Embarq book (thought it was abbreviated 30A Book, but it says FT Walton Destin), Big Embarq book (Ft Walton/Destin), Sprint big book (Ft Walton/Destin) from 2006 -- just trashed it, (big)AT&T Real Yellow Pages book (Panama City). AT&T Real Yellow Pages also printed a smaller book,which I also thought was 30A, due to its small size. I must have tossed it, but it may be for PCB rather than 30A.

There is also that other phone book which can be found at Publix (in addition to the 30A book with Gordie's painting). Just way too many!!!!

SmilingJoe. The little 30-A book with Gordie on the cover is the same book that is in the Watercolor Publix. One in the same.

[yippie]

Bump this one up. I would like more opinions iff possible. We have to be careful to see what advertising works for small businesses.

Carry on!

[Smiling JOe]

SmilingJoe. The little 30-A book with Gordie on the cover is the same book that is in the Watercolor Publix. One in the same.

Yes, that book is in Publix, but there I recall seeing a second phone book which I've seen only at Publix. It may just be at the Grand Blvd Publix, and not WC. The last copy I saw was light blue and had a sea shell on the front cover. It isn't quite as thick as the big Embarq book for Ft Walton.

[yippie]

I have seen that one too at the Grand Blvd Publix. That is the Destin Telephone Book.

[Beach Runner]

Bump this one up. I would like more opinions iff possible. We have to be careful to see what advertising works for small businesses.

Carry on!
I strongly feel that the little SoWal telephone books benefits the local, small businesses. It helps people who don't live down here full time to find services and establishments that are nearby. When I look at the Ft. Walton/Destin or PCB "big books," I get frustrated because I spend all of my time figuring out what is nearby. And I'm in Walton County at least 25 times a year, so I'd say I'm pretty familiar with the place. I can't imagine being a newbie and trying to find something nearby in the big books -- I mean, they don't know the names of the streets down here, don't know that "Santa Rosa" is the name of most of the area (heck, at first I thought it meant Santa Rosa County!). The little book helps me find, say, the Grayton Beach hardware store or a local carpet cleaning service when I could have never found that in the big books. I also think that the big books tend to make people go to establishments with which they're familiar ... which leads them to Destin or PCB instead of the local businesses.

[New Yellowfin]

Thanks for all of your responses. I also prefer the independent "Gordie" book and will increase my ad in that one. The Embarq little book is my second choice but I may not sign up for it this year as it is very expensive and probably doesn't do me much good anyway.

[sowalgayboi]

Thanks for all of your responses. I also prefer the independent "Gordie" book and will increase my ad in that one. The Embarq little book is my second choice but I may not sign up for it this year as it is very expensive and probably doesn't do me much good anyway.

Just an FYI, please don't use door flyers or refrigerator magnets. These just get thrown away as we don't appreciate them cluttering our rentals. I know you guys haven't done it, but others have.

[reddsings]

Dont keep any books
Use Yahoo yellow pages and google. A real space saver

[Lisa_at_the_beach]

I keep the South Walton Telephone Directory (the little Gordie book...duh) I don't even open the rest of them....the go in the trash. When I need to look up something that isn't in that book...I go to the web.

I can't even keep a supply here at the gallery.....I try...everyone wants two, one for their home here and one for their home elsewhere. I also keep a copy in my car.

It's the ONLY telephone Gordie and I have ever advertised in and will continue to do so.

L