Why Boise Dentists want Baby Boomers Here's some trivia for you:  Which generation makes up 26% of the U.S. population but accounts for well over half of all consumer and discretionary spending?  If you answered "the Baby Boomers" . . . you probably read the title of this article.  Baby Boomers are now between the ages of 46 and 64.  They are the highest earners, with a median average income that is 58% greater than other generations.  80% of Boomers own homes, and they account for 80% of all leisure travel andover 80% of the country's personal financial assets. Have you ever heard of the "80/20" rule?  Look it up.  It applies in advertising as well.   Baby boomers have come a long way.. Full Disclosure--I am a Boomer.  And the odds are pretty good that if you are on this mailing list, you are too.  We are not talking about a "niche" market here--we are talking about the "new customer majority." All this begs the question:  If Baby Boomers have this ridiculous buying power, why does most dentist advertising today target the 18 to 35 crowd?  According to a recent Nielson report, only 5% of advertising dollars currently target 35-64 year olds.  Boomers (not to mention seniors, another huge missed opportunity) are almost completely ignored by most companies. This might be due to outdated thinking about how we "mature" folks spend our money--that we are already set in our ways and can no longer be influenced in our buying decisions.  All of that might have been true for my parents generation, but it is certainly not true for mine.  Research bears this out: 1.  Boomers are not necessarily loyal customers.  We are constantly reassessing our needs. If we find a better deal, we will go for it. 2.  If we like you, we will tell our friends. If you get us through your door and give us a great experience, we will reward you. 3.  We do a good deal of the spending for younger generations too.  Anyone else sent a kid through college recently?             4.  We like to feel young.  5.  We're getting older. Industries aimed at older people will see a major boost as the Baby Boomers age. Oh, and one more thing--though we are not as technologically challenged as our kids think we are, Boomers still prefer the reliability of Boise yellow pages, especially in an emergency.   You can bet that Boomers will not be ignored for long.  A seismic shift in advertising dollars is already underway.  Who are you targeting with your advertising? Thanks for your business,Reed P.S. Baby Boomers can go also go to our Boise ID dentists webpage to find good dentists. Sources: NielsonWire, "Why Marketers Can't Afford to Ignore Boomers," July 19, 2010; McKinsey Quarterly, "Serving Aging Baby Boomers"; ThirdAge, "About Us"; americasbestcompanies.com, "Small Biz Tip: Baby Boomers: Marketing via Print Media," Dec. 9, 2009. Disco picture by x-ray delta one @ flickr.com Picture of the Month!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The worlds largest Snow Person!Built in Bethel, Maine in 2008. The Olympia SnowWoman currently holds the record as being the worlds largest snow person at 122' 1". It didn't melt until July of that year!

Trivia Question ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Who was the last team to beat Boise State at Bronco Stadium? Answer correctly before 12/19 and your name will be entered into a drawing for a $40 gift certificate for Cazba's Greek & Mediterranean restaurant! Send answers to info@impactyp.com.

Free Coupon  in our Book Are you willing to give away something absolutely free with no purchase necessary? If so, we will put that coupon in our "Free Offer" section. Offer available to current customers only. Offer may not be for "Free Estimates", "Free Consultations", etc. All Free Offer Coupons are subject to Impact managerial approval. Call 375-2220 for more details. Offer Expires: 12/31/2012 Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ phone: 208-375-2220 email: info@impactyp.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Boise Businesses should ask each New Caller Here is a bad idea.... When times are tough, it is so tempting to look at the budget and say "Well here's a bunch of money!  Problem solved!"  For each of our Idaho Yellow Pages, we set five percent of our revenue aside for advertising.  We could cut that back, but we know from experience that for each dollar of advertising we cut, we could lose up to ten dollars in revenue as a result.   $1 - $10 = -$9 That kind of math would snap anyone back into their senses. However, not all advertising is created equal.  We shift dollars from non-performing ads to performing ads all the time.  How do we know which ads perform?  CALL TRACKING.  If you do not religiously track your calls, then you are leaving that crucial investment up to guesswork.   The Two Questions Just "tracking your calls" is rarely good enough.  HOW you track them makes all the difference.  Case in point:  I had a customer call a few months ago asking to cancel her contract.   "I track all my calls," she assured me, "and hardly any come from the phone book." "How do you track them?" I asked. "I just ask where they heard about us," she explained. This is probably the most common way people track their calls.  Unfortunately, it is also one of the least effective.  People "hear" about your business in all sorts of places, but when they are ready to buy, they need a phone number to call. I challenged her to track her calls in a different way for one week, asking two specific questions:         Are you looking in the phone book right now? And    What page number are you looking at? Are those self-serving questions on our part?  Sure.  But do they work?  Absolutely!  When you ask a direct question, you get a direct answer.  The first question asks where they got your number.  The second asks which phone book and heading they are looking at.  When I talked to her again a week later, she was no longer a skeptic.  Seventy-five percent of her calls came from her ad in our book. There are lots of good ways to track your advertising, but our customers have found these two questions to be more effective than most.  Give them a try this week-you may be surprised! Thanks for your business, and happy tracking!Reed Funny Stuff

Here's a list of things that supposedly were written for Federal employee performance reviews: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom.....and has started to dig."  (2) "His men would follow him anywhere...but only out of morbid curiosity." (3) "I would not allow this employee to breed."  (4) "This employee is really not so much of a 'has-been', but more of a definite 'won't be'."  (5) "Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pictures of the Week! Impact's new Blue Field! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We thought that we'd dress up our lawn for Halloween. You can see a youtube video of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg5dbUNy9dk It's still blue. You can stop by and see it at 1251 N Cole RD. Here's a guy that tries a little too hard.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Was blocking the punt really worth it? Don't Let this be you!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes it makes more sense to ask for help.

Trivia Question ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Who is the player featured on the cover of the Boise 2010 phone directory?  Answer correctly before 11/10 and your name will be entered into a drawing for two free tickets to the BSU-Utah St game! Send answers to info@impactyp.com

Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ phone: 208-375-2220 email: info@impactyp.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to the Impact Directories Blog!

Impact Directories publishes Yellow Pages phone books in the Boise, Nampa, Meridian, and Mountain Home area. This blog was designed to give the people of Idaho free tips on advertising in the most entertaining way possible. Advertising tips include but are not limited to Yellow Pages, Social Marketing, Ad Design, and Customer Retention. This blog will be updated every month with our email newsletters.

You can learn more about us at www.impactyp.com.