Here we go again. Yet another 'local guide to your town' has plopped through my letterbox this week, full of 'handy information' about Lewes - in other words, a few skimpy articles purporting to tell me stuff which as a resident I already know, plus endless adverts for businesses who already advertise in all the other 'local guides'.
The formula is always the same - full colour, A5, homely design, a cosy foreword from a friendly looking lady and a publisher based in some town at least 50 miles away. This one is mysteriously called the '2008 - 2010 Guide' - pull-ease. They probably sold it as 3 years' worth of advertising for the price of one!
Why oh why do small businesses spend money on these useless publications? I know many of the business folk in this town and I know, like me, they can't afford to waste a penny on 'me too' advertising that won't deliver any kind of business benefit whatsoever. And yet these here-today, gone-tomorrow publishers somehow persuade them to part with their hard-earned cash, based on reinforcing the fear factor (all your competitors will be in it, can you afford not to be? ) and a few dodgy stats about how many homes they're planning to blitz with their junk.
Small businesses - could we all please once and for all stand up to this rubbish and refuse to advertise? Without any ads there wouldn't be any more bogus 'local guides', a few acres of forest would be saved and we'd all have more money to spend on genuine marketing that actually works.
