A local businessman is taking on two existing phone books, Dex and Yellow Book, providing local telephone users another source of business and government phone numbers in a slightly different format.
SmartSearch has begun delivering its small yellow directory to Twin Ports area homes and businesses. It contains yellow pages with classified advertising as well as white pages with business listings, a separate government listings section, 28 pages of street maps, community pages and other features. Unlike other phone books, the pages are printed in color on glossy paper.
The publication's appearance might not immediately make it recognizable as a phone book at first glance. It's a spiral-bound, 6-by-9-inch book, which is considerably smaller than the books published by its rivals. The covers are laminated, and the pages are slightly curved on one side for easy handling. It can be recycled, too, said John Hovland, who heads SmartSearch Duluth.
Hovland is a local developer who decided he wanted to publish the book after seeing a similar directory for the Fargo-Moorhead area. He liked the functionality of a smaller directory that is easy to carry in the car or attach to a refrigerator or filing cabinet with a supplied magnet.
He approached Dan Bryant, CEO of SmartSearch Fargo-Moorhead, about a year ago about publishing a Duluth area directory. Bryant said he extensively researched other directories and decided he could charge less for advertising while still making a profit. The Fargo directory is in its third year. SmartSearch also publishes a directory in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.
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Hovland is the majority owner of SmartSearch Duluth. He hired seven sales people who work out of an office at 4961 Rice Lake Road and offered lower advertising rates than competing directories, he said. All work for the directory -- except the printing -- was done locally. It was sent to Fargo, Hovland said, after he was unable to find a Twin Ports printer who could do what he wanted.
This week, SmartSearch began distributing the first of 100,000 copies of the new book. Distribution will be completed in about three weeks. Residents and businesses in Duluth, Superior, Hermantown, Cloquet and Two Harbors will receive the book at no cost, Hovland said. The printing cost is about $3 per book, Bryant said. Advertising revenue pays the costs.
Hovland said he expects SmartSearch to be published annually.
Dex, which publishes the local directory for phone company Qwest, claims its product is best. "We've had the phone book in the Duluth market since Qwest became the phone company there, so we know the area better than anyone," said Jennifer Sherron, Dex Media spokeswoman. "No one else does what we do."
Dex combines yellow pages with business, government and residential white pages. It distributes 177,000 directories a year in the area, Sherron said. She noted that Dex also offers online white page listings at www.Dexonline.com . Yellow Book offers similar listings in its directory and has a Web site at www.yellowbook.com .
Hovland asserted that customers will decide how successful his venture will be. "Our best advertising will be 100,000 books in people's hands," he said.
For more information, call 727-4506.
