Whew! You've just opened your new business, your ads are



working, the web site is up, and the signage is done. But, wait! What

about a listing in the phone book? Yes, people still use the phone book,

but they're more apt to call directory assistance from their cell phone

when they're motoring down the road. Are you listed? Better call 411 and

find out, Oh, and better call from your friend's cell phone directory,

too, as they have another service, and don't forget to call Cingular, nope

AT&T bought them out? get the picture? If you aren't listed in every

directory you don't exist to a bunch of consumers who are trying to do

business with you. You need to fix that!Back in the day it was basically

automatic -- there was one phone company and they put your business in the

book. It's not so fast and easy today. In a perfect world they're supposed

to all work together and populate on another's books and databases, but

that's not happening. This whole problem came to light when a close

friend tried to get his home number OFF the phone list of all the

directories since they were all giving his home number out for the Meijer

Thrifty Acres store. He got 20 calls a day for months on end and could not

make them stop. He even put a message on an answering machine that said:

Hi, this is not Meijer's. My friend made dozens of attempts to correct the

situation. He eventually located all the directories with his name in it

and notified them. So, with that in mind, to help you get your company

listed I've compiled a comprehensive list of places to call, email or

submit your business so you can get your business listed in the Phone

Book. AT&T Real Yellow Pages and yellowpages.com. For Real Yellow Pages

call 866-620-6000. The online yellowpages.com is a combined operation of

AT&T, BellSouth and Cingular. Call 800-479-2977 or visit

www.nationalyp.com. YELLOWBOOK USA Call 800-373-2324 or visit:

www.yellowbook.com Verizon print directories and www.superpages.com online

option. Call 800-789-5756 or visit

www.directorystore.comproduct/index.jsp. R.H. Donnelley is one of the

nation's leading Yellow Pages and online local commercial search

companies. The company operates in 28 states. Visit their web site to

check if they handle your state. www.rhd.com Nextel, and other wireless

and online ventures, use the yellow pages service of go2 System of Irvine,

California. Call: 949-553-0800. Yellow Pages Nationwide, Inc. Call

888-935-5698 or visit: http://www.yellowpagesnationwide.com Enlace

Spanish Yellow Pages by Cobalt Publishing LLC, the largest Spanish phone

directory in nation in 22 markets. Call 502-585-0640 or visit:

www.superpaginas.com. Your Community Phone Book, independent telephone

directory publishers in 150 markets in mid-Atlantic and southern U.S. Call

677-3839 or visit:: www.communitybook.com Internet Yellow Pages online

yellow pages. Call 800-300-3209 or visit: www.up.com MobileGates, wireless

yellow pages. Call 714-464-8000. The online Yellow Pages owned by AT&T

projects 1.8 billion searches this year. Get a free listing which

unfortunately has to be renewed manually every year at www.yellowpages.com

Here's an interesting tidbit, nearly 50% of all internet searches are for

business phone numbers or addresses. So if you are not listed in all of

the major search engines you really don't exist. For a comprehensive list

of places to list your business visit:

http://www.locallytype.com/pages/submit.htm This is a terrific resource

for getting your business listed. One more thing. There are many

independent Yellow Pages publishers throughout the country. Be sure to

contact the major phone company in your local area to get listed. They are

usually the most complete and up-to-date resource since they are mandated

by the FCC to maintain that information. You can then go to the website

of your phone company and see who they have contracted with to provide

their yellow pages, and make the connection. For instance, if you live in

Florida, depending on your area, you may have either AT&T, Sprint or

Verizon phone service. All three provide their own yellow pages. If you go

to the phone company website, it will give you all the contact information

for that area. Do it now and get listed.