Newsletter Archive

The Internet 800 Directory - http://www.inter800.com
The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter
This issue is for Friday, August 05, 2005
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Table of Contents
01. Domesticity
02. Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising
03. Tip Of The Week
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*01 Domesticity

A Few Things I've Learned About Domesticity

Try pronouncing domesticity when you're having a fight, even sober.
Which leads to:

Don't try to use it in a sentence when you're having a fight.

For the more mundane selections:
One will always have a junk drawer. It's inevitable. I don't care if one
cleans it out annually, semi-annually or once a month and kneels before
the God of Junk and swears that that drawer will be clean forever, cross
my heart, it will still exist, at approximately the same intervals by
which it was cleaned. Therefore, I now vow to never clean it out again.

I hereby defy the Junk Drawer Gods and leave it up to their minions.

Whoops. That would include my wife, and she'd throw away all of the
things I might need, like rubber bands from the newspapers (a good
rubber band is hard to find), and paper clips (one doesn't know when the
price of steel might go up again), and twistees, (you can never find a
twistee when you need one), and left-over screws and bolts (they've got
to have a reason for existing, or they wouldn't be one left over from
assembling the grill), and cheap pens and short pencils (you never know
when you might have a midget visitor), and strings and twine and rope
remnants (one never suspects a burglar until it's too late) and Frisky
the parakeet's old bell (you might buy a new bird that would truly
appreciate it), and several ice-box magnets ( who knows, you might need
a new refrigerator with doors they stick on) and…. Etc, etc. But I
digress.

One thing that one learns in marital bliss is that "Whatever one does
around the house, there's always one more thing to do."

I don't care if one has put up new curtain rods, cleaned the garage,
mowed the yard, re-plumbed the water heater, laid new carpet in the
upstairs and shingled the roof all in one day, once he lays his
exhausted body down with a glass of iced tea, he will hear, "Honey.
Would you…".

Now. I'm not trying to be sexist here, as I'm sure that it works in
reverse for the woman.

Example:
The man comes home from work, kicks off his dirty boots and hollers for
a beer, while the lady of the house is just pulling clothes from the
dryer. Although more steamed than the appliance, she complacently
responds with the cold brew and asks, "How was your day, sweetie?",
which results in a bombast about stupid bosses, stupid people and the
hot weather. Nonetheless, she goes back to folding the hot sheets, when
she hears, "What's for dinner?". Stifling the obvious response, she
serves up the repast on his favorite TV table.

After listening to his complaints about the bad calls from the referees,
she washes all the dishes and completes the folding.

Then she goes to bed, only to be accosted by a walrus without a mustache
and no oysters.

Domesticity.

It's even hard to spell, much less pronounce.

Steven Jackson - saj@inter800.com
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*02 Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising

This week I came across an article on a survey of toll free numbers use
in television advertising. With so many people forecasting the end of
toll free numbers, I found it worthy of note that in fact the opposite
is true.

----------- Begin Article  -------------
According to a recent study, the use of toll-free phone numbers in
television advertising continues to grow, proving that the telephone
remains prevalent as a response tool despite growth of the Internet over
the past seven years.

The 2005 Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising study concludes
that 35% of all television commercials feature phone numbers, and that
82% of those phone numbers are toll-free. Furthermore, 74% of the
toll-free numbers in television ads use the 800 prefix, making 800
numbers the leading toll-free prefix. Finally, of the 800 numbers 61%
are vanity, such as 800-NEXT-CALL.

A similar study conducted in 1998 concluded that 25% of TV commercials
displayed toll-free numbers, and at that time just 55% were vanity 800
numbers. Overall, the 2005 study proves vanity 800 phone numbers are
increasingly prevalent in today's television ads, up approximately 6%,
and the 800 prefix remains the leader as a direct response tool.
Additionally, in 1998 only 19% of television commercials included an
Internet address, whereas today a URL is included in 51% of television
commercials.

"Over the last seven years advertisers continue to understand that using
a unique and memorable mechanism in television advertisements increases
their response rates when featured in advertising. The two TV studies
over the past seven years prove that 800 toll-free and vanity number
usage in advertising is still strong, and growing, at 28%, up from 25%.
The 2005 study also shows that advertisers continue to provide their
customers with phone numbers so they can make contact with a live
person, notwithstanding the spectacular growth of the Web," says
Mitchell Knisbacher, President of 800response, which commissioned the
2005 Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising study.

Paris Ford(R), located in Paris, TX, was using a numeric toll-free
number in their advertising efforts for one year, but did not receive as
many calls as they hoped. "We were using a toll-free number, but it was
not a vanity. People could not remember our numeric phone number when it
was mentioned in ads, and we were not getting the number of phone calls
we expected," says Jay Jaynes, General Manager of the dealership. After
activating a vanity number, the dealership saw call volume increase by
60% in just four months.

The 2005 study also measures usage of the three alternate toll-free
prefixes in use today, including 866, 877 and 888. These toll-free
prefixes come in far behind the 800 prefix for usage in television
advertising, 6%, 8% and 12% respectively.

"Vanity 800 numbers come with many benefits for marketers - they are
easy to remember for consumers, and they are easy to track and record,
which helps marketing executives measure advertising campaign
effectiveness," Knisbacher goes on to say.

Toll-free 800 numbers are increasingly hard to find, particularly 800
vanity numbers. In the 1980's the inventory of 800 phone numbers became
depleted, hence the introduction of 866, 877 and 888 toll-free
exchanges. Today, vanity 800 numbers - the crown jewels of toll-free -
are available through companies like 800response.

About the Study - 2005 Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising:

A total of 5,524 television commercials from four networks in four major
markets make up the sample size and represent television commercials on
a national scale. Independent contractors taped, reviewed and collected
data required for the analysis. The commercials denote various times of
day and days of week in national and local advertising markets.
Commercials monitored are from a cross-section of over 20 industries,
including auto, lodging, pharmaceutical, and more. For a complete report
of study findings please visit www.800response.com or send your request
to jlandau@800response.com.

------------------ End Article ---------------------------

When advertising with radio and TV it's very important that people be
able to remember either your toll free number or web address. If they
don't commit to memory your contact information, how will they ever get
in touch with you for the sale?

Chuck Arning chuck@inter800.com
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Tip of the Week

Breaking Out of Frames

When you are at a site that uses frames and you want to see a link
without the site's frame structure. You can view the link with no frames
by dragging the link into the address bar of the browser.


If you have any tips or shortcuts that you think the readers of this
Newsletter will find useful, send them to chuck@inter800.com

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