Not really my area here, but as yet another one dumps into my p.o.box I would like to give a heads up to anyone that haven’t experienced this before.

You get a nice physical letter in the mailbox asking you to go through your business listing at their directory service. Or they call you and just want to “confirm” that you would like to renew your directory listing. The company name is probably going to be something like “The Yello Page Inc.” or some other generic name sounding like some well known real directory listing.

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What makes the situation extra complicated is that they usually know how to cover their asses. They have clearly stated their terms and prices with small letters on the backside of the letter you just signed and returned. Or they have voice recording and SMS confirmation where you state that you have read and understood the terms. Which if it was true, they would have zero customers.

A snapshot of the last one I got (in Norwegian). If it was signed and returned they would charge me with almost USD 1000 per year.

On the other hand there are serious directory listings that can be valuable for your business, so you just need to know who you are dealing with. If you are contacted by a directory listing service of any kind, make sure they are who you think they are. If their name is as the ex. above “The Yello Page Inc.” they are probably not the good old trustworthy Yellow Pages that you were hearing inside your head when they called.

The best thing regarding listings like this is to not trust anyone that contact you and if they contact you to renew, make sure that you know who you are dealing with.

If you like a listing it’s for the best that you are the one that initiate the contact. And think about what listing would you like to use? What listing is it that you use when you are searching for similar services? Perhaps the official Yellow Pages is a good idea if you’re a carpenter or electrician. For an IT biz I would focus on being visible at google, facebook, linkedin etc.

As a wise man once said: trust no one…