Are you marketing to national accounts (who spent $1.8 BILLION dollars on Yellow Pages advertising through the CMRs in 2007) directly and through their CMRs - Certified Marketing Representatives? CMRs and agencies account for 85 percent of the $2.1 billion national yellow pages advertising market.

What is one of the big ideas behind this Wiki?

1. Adding detail to the CMR pages - how to sell them & who to contact
   1. How to approach CMRs
   2. What CMRs expect in Publisher Presentations
2. Interactive Q&A for publishers looking for specific CMR/National Account information

This Wiki is a collaborative pooling of industry knowledge so please feel free to contribute as often and as much as you can. Ultimately the site will only be as good as its contributors with the goal to build pages on each CMR and a Q&A to help you identify specific accounts and their CMR as a precursor to making a presentation and securing more national advertising. You can contribute openly or anonymously..

What is a CMR?

A CMR is a "Certified Marketing Representative" that has been licensed by the Yellow Pages Association to place advertising directly with the publishers of thousands of print and online Yellow Pages directories throughout the United States and Canada, as well as on an international basis. Certification is given only to those select agencies that have met strict qualifying criteria, including special training, examinations, experience, financial strength, and expertise. CMRs range from one-man shops to large stand-alone agencies or divisions of major advertising agencies. The CMR business is highly competitive amongst themselves to secure national advertisers to the extent that they will rarely reveal customer names.

How are CMRs paid?

CMRs are paid as a percent of advertising revenue by the Yellow Pages publishers with the typical fees running from 15-25% of revenue. Many publishers offer incentive programs to a CMR for specific packages such as bundling together print and IYP offerings in a single sale.