The original Google

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Anyone remember phone books?

Oh, the phone book! The original Google.

Fun fact : The very first phone "book" came out in 1878 – though calling it a book is a bit generous since it was just a single page long, boasting 50 names. No numbers, just names, because back then, you'd simply tell the operator who you wanted to chat with.

It eventually evolved into the giant book you might remember. At it’s peak revenue for the phone book industry reached a record $13.6 billion in 2001.

Today’s it is still around, although a fraction of what it once was. But what is interesting to me is the way they sold it back in the day.

How do you cover every town in America? How do you marketing when your TAM is every business in America?

Well, in order to make the most out of their marketing and sales teams, they tackled it city by city. “A campaign in a box” as they called it.

Marketing campaigns starting 3 months out, billboards, flyers, radio ads, you name it.

Then the local Holiday inn would suddenly get booked out for a month by 20-30 phone book sales reps who would descend upon the city.

Briefcases in hands, wearing suits and going door to door to every single local business. Selling hopes and dreams to all the mom and pop shops on main street in the form of a yellow book.

For that brief period it felt like that the YellowBook was everywhere. Then as quickly as it started it was over. Like a traveling circus, they moved onto the next city. Rinse and repeat.

Years later you saw tech giants run similar plays, like Uber going city to city or Facebook going campus to campus. We even ran a similar play at G2 - going category by category.

There is a pivotal marketing lesson in all of this: the power of focus.

These companies understood that trying to be everywhere for everyone dilutes impact. Instead, they channeled their energies into dominating one market at a time. This strategy not only maximizes resources but also helps you build a more meaningful connection with your audience.

You don’t need to be everywhere for everyone, just for the right people.

Thanks for reading.

Adam

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