Question for Ming and JohnT, and other interested parties

[notyoueither]

I'll see if I can find out who the competition are.

[Ming]

What JohnT will be able to tell you is the "RATE CARD" rate. We have similiar directories (online and print versions) for all forms of media. But we call those rates the starting point for negotiations. Now some publishing companies like Dow Jones or Crains claim they don't negotiate, but even they can produce a "special" deal to get the business

[JohnT]

True, but if book A is selling an 1/8th-page ad for $5,000, it'll help him to know that book B sells them for $3,500.

[Ming]

With knowledge like that... you can start getting a feel for what their "pain point" will be

And the best time to make a deal is when they are getting ready to do final lay out before it goes to the printer... because that's when they are the most desperate

[Zkribbler]

There's a reason why they call him: Ming the Merciless!!

[pchang]

YellowPages

.com is one of my biggest customers. They were just spun off from SBC as a separate company (I believe this was mainly to dump the expensive pension plan of SBC). They are definitely growing by leaps and bounds.