The yellow pages have to be one of the biggest bargains out of all the ad mediums I worked with.  An absolute MUST for any local business and it could be great for an online business depending on what it was.  We had a small boxed ad for wholesale accessories in our local yellow pages that cost us $120 a month that brought us in $500-$1,000 a month in sales like clockwork.  Not a huge amount of profit, but for only $150 a month, you can't beat it.  Since our wholesale accessories could be sold worldwide and sprint yellow pages is nationwide, the logic would be to go into the sprint yellow pages of 100 different major cities for $20,000 a month and sell $50,000-$100,000 a month from those ads.  We planned on doing this, but ended up selling the business in 2005 and never had a chance to try it.  Look in the yellow pages and many internet companies are going nationwide using this advertising strategy.

 

I also advertised my website design and business consulting services, locally with a small boxed ad.  I received roughly 10-12 phone calls a week that turned into 3-4 jobs a month, DEFINATELY worth the $120 a month.  And once again, the same logic applies where this could be taken nationwide to increase profits.  

 

We used the Sprint yellow pages.  If you call the main sales rep, you can place ads locally or in any city in the U.S.  Note: You'll have to pay the entire year upfront.