2009-05-20 16:58:06 -

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ -- (Marketwire) -- 05/20/09 -- Early summer is the peak time to plan outdoor celebrations, and that has party suppliers who advertise in the Yellow Pages in a festive mood. In June the Yellow Pages Association sees a spike in references to the "Party Supplies - Renting" heading as consumers look to book necessities from tables, chairs and tents to frills such as rides, dunk tanks and inflatables(1).



"Everyone talks about June brides," said Wayne Walley, editor of Rental Management magazine. "The warm weather provokes people to hold weddings and high school and college graduation celebrations at home, and party and event equipment rental supplies are needed."



Entrepreneur Jack Barfield is noticing a spike as well -- in his revenues.
Barfield rents dunking booths, inflatable party games and snow cone and cotton candy machines at his Lil' Jack's Moonwalk Rentals in La Porte, Texas -- about 40 miles east of Houston. Despite today's tough economy, his business continues to grow, nearly doubling from 14 to 25 employees in recent months.



"A couple of years ago, my AT&T Real Yellow Pages representative encouraged me to advertise on YP.COM in addition to the Real Yellow Pages," Barfield said. "He also helped upgrade my Web site, with impressive results. In less than two months, we recorded close to 20,000 new visits... a total that took us about four years to reach previously. And our traffic continues to climb, ballooning to nearly 220,000 visits to our home page."



The local exposure has prompted Barfield to work with AT&T Real Yellow Pages to help manage the production of an online video ad on YP.COM that highlights its new indoor party center. He recently subscribed to AT&T's YPConnect service, which provides exposure on the major search engines. It also captures statistics about Web site visitors and more effectively turns those visitors into customers.



"I'm convinced that the more than 200 calls and 100 e-mails I get each day are a direct result of my Yellow Pages print and Internet advertising,"
Barfield said. "And, with my new video and the YPConnect service, I expect those totals to get even higher in the weeks and months ahead."



Larry Small, director of research for the Yellow Pages Association, said:
"Independent party supply rental owners know that the Yellow Pages provides an impressive return on investment. Display ads in the 'Party Supplies - Renting' heading generate $7 in revenues for every $1 spent on Yellow Pages advertising(2)."



According to the Yellow Pages Association, users searching under the "Party Supplies - Renting" heading are most often married women with families of three or more who are overwhelmingly looking for local party supply rental companies(1). After referencing the "Party Supplies - Renting" heading, 92 percent of users contact a business seen in the Yellow Pages(1).



For more information on Yellow Pages headings, visit www.ypassociation.org/ : .

(1) Knowledge Networks/SRI, May 2008
(2) CRM Associates 2008

About The Yellow Pages Association


The Yellow Pages Association (YPA) ( www.ypassociation.org : ) is the largest trade organization of a print and digital media industry valued at more than $31 billion worldwide ($14 billion in the U.S.). Association members include Yellow Pages publishers, certified marketing representatives (CMRs) and associate members (a group of industry stakeholders that include Yellow Pages advertisers, vendors, and suppliers).
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