Dennis Yu

What % of small businesses are online-- some statistics

Tricky question, so let me answer it this way:

To measure penetration, we need both the numerator (number of businesses that are using IYP, traditional YP, and BBB)– divided by the denominator ( number of locally-focused businesses).

For the denominator: the traditional number bandied about at tradeshows for local biz in the US (I’m assuming you’re looking at just US for now?) is 16-23 million businesses. However, that’s a highly distorted number, since that includes “hobby” businesses– grandma selling her custom-woven socks and various part-time employment (MLM, eBay sellers, affiliates).

If you go by US census data, there are 6 million firms in the US and 7 million establishments (to account for multiple locations for franchises). Cut that down to the folks who are actually advertising in the yellow pages and you’re about half that.

Now cut out services that aren’t truly local (in my personal opinion), such as insurance or anything affiliate-related. You’re down to under 2 million.

Cut out restaurants and nail salons and you are left with 700,000— primarily professional service firms who have at least $250k in annual gross revenue and have at least 1 full-time employee.

This is the bread and butter of the yellow pages– dentists, car dealerships, restaurants, and attorneys. Net-net, depending on whose numbers you use for a numerator or denominator, you get IYP (Internet Yellow Pages) penetration of between 10 and 20% for claimed listings and traditional YP penetration of about 50%. I asked Greg Sterling and off the top of his head, he said the 50% figure was about right.

I’ve asked folks at the BBB for their stats since the latest I see is a few years old– will update you when I hear back.

Thus, be very wary of the source of any stats you hear– there is incredible bias, depending on the industry role:

  • The YP folks (whether YPA or Yptalk) like to say the yellow pages are not dead, but are actually holding flat at 84% usage by consumers and $30BN in annual revenue.
  • The tree huggers like to say the YP folks are dead in a few years– also an overstatement.
  • Then you have industry pundits who will write favorable reports about your company if you pay them a few thousand dollars (Clickable being the most egregious example).

So if you’re looking to sell software products that are under $50 a month, then you have 20 million potential businesses in the US alone, most of which don’t have websites or even enough money to do any more than sign up for a $10/month hosting package for a cookie-cutter site.

But if you are selling as an agency to local businesses that have $2k a month to spend online, then perhaps you have 500,000 firms to go after– the majority of which have websites and are doing some form of online advertising.

So don’t let statistics get in the way of the point you’re trying to make!  After all, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.
I'm a member of Blitzmetrics Academy and a friend of Dennis to boot. Not only is Dennis highly intelligent and full of great and creative ideas, he's also incredibly generous with both his knowledge and his time. Success couldn't come to a better guy. Thank you for all that you do for the world, Dennis! 🙏

Michael Pacheco

Marketer

Thanks 🙏 for being shining light in this industry. Love what your building for works overseas too network for jobs so innovative. Dennis helped me navigate having bad experiences with marketing agencies and doing dollar a day marketing which has helped my personal brand tremendously. Highly recommend.

Eric Skeldon

Founder at Kingdom Broker

Working with Dennis has been a delightful experience. After meeting him in 2015 I got to collaborate with him on countless occasions. His understanding for state-of-the-art marketing, his implementation, and his leadership put him into the top 0.01% of marketers and mentors.

Jan Koch

Ihr kompetenter Partner für innovative KI-Strategien.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dennis for my podcast in 2021 and since then we have maintained a friendship that grows with each interaction. I have seen Dennis' devotion to his friends and clients firsthand, and our conversations often result in us talking about how we can provide more value to the people around us. He is someone whom I can ask questions on a technical level, and look to on a personal level. If you have any hesitancy about hiring him, get over yourself and do it!

Isaac Mashman

Help scaling personal brands.

Geez, where do I start recommending Dennis? First, he is an absolutely brilliant marketer who understands where marketing is today and where it's going tomorrow. He also has an incredible passion for the International Worker community. The lessons he has taught me from his almost 20 years of experience hiring International Workers have been immense. Most importantly though. Dennis Yu is someone who wants the absolute best for you and is willing to tell you the truth. Dennis sat with me at a point in my business where I was floundering but did not want to admit it. He asked some very straight forward questions to get me to admit my issues, highlighted the issues, and then helped me create a roadmap to success.

Atiba de Souza

International Keynote Speaker | Video Content Superman | Superconnector |

Dennis, which I had the pleasure of working with is one of the most giving, honest and tell you as it is person I ever know. The knowledge this man has is remarkable and he just gives it out freely. He is not pretentious and always entertain anyone big or small in the industry always willing to help. If you ever get a golden opportunity to work with him or mentored by him say YES!. You will notr regret Dennis, which I had the pleasure of working with is one of the most giving, honest and tell you as it is person I ever know. The knowledge this man has is remarkable and he just gives it out freely. He is not pretentious and always entertain anyone big or small in the industry always willing to help. If you ever get a golden opportunity to work with him or mentored by him say YES!. You will not regret

Nixon Lee

The PR Whisperer

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