Don't forget to review local providers if you have any, and don't go by just the big name. Out here in my neck of rural America the Comcast TV cable that goes past my home, and ends just down the road, is service generations behind urban America. It has limited channel offerings, and no HD. Thus, Directv is my source and after 18 years is getting too expensive. ATT offers telephone only here, and they should hold a gun and wear a mask for what they charge; $83.70 a moth for unlimited nationwide long distance. I am going to be looking into their home wireless which will be $35.00 for the same service. I have local cellphone service, wish I didn't have to have one, and the 3G plan I use is bare bones with the cost less than half of the big boys at $35.00 a month. This includes 500 minutes and 3 unlimited nationwide long distance numbers which I have assigned to my children. My 4G wireless Internet connection comes from them too. A little pricey at $60.00 month for 20GB, but it roars and is reliable. As I have shared before I live in my area's Bermuda Triangle for electronic services so no bundles are available.I just cope with what is available. DA

The internet was young when I had my store so internet vs. yellow pages experience from then wouldn't apply now. Personally, when phone books arrive here, they go directly into the recycle bin. I did order a yellow pages CD from Qwest and installed it but never really used it since you need to update it so often. When I needed a plumber, I looked on the internet. Same with looking for appliances and someone to seal my driveway. I found a van to buy on the internet. When I'm looking for a certain business I look for their website and when they don't have one or I can't find it (and I'm pretty good at searching!) it's a black mark in my book. A basic website at least is as much of a requirement these days as a business card. Don't overlook advertising with the local Chamber of Commerce or local organizations. Restaurants that have advertisements on the menus or placemats can be good. Search for review places that apply to your business to get your name in there with info and even some reviews and opinions. That many more hits with the crawlers. TV & radio are possibilities. We got some good rates through the local cable company if that would work for you. They'd target the channels that we chose and worked with their suggestions too. We used local papers for successful advertising. Word of mouth was of course best and having a storefront in a high traffic area helped. Other ideas: Sometimes the back of taxi cabs can be reasonable, depending on the area. Some still put signs on. Local "free" papers, giveaways, can be good. If you're targeting a bargain hunting clientele there's "saver" type magazines and publications that might be an option. I should say that we got a lot of response from cable. People saying "saw your commercial", but frankly I'm not sure how much we sold from that group. Whether it helped to bring them back for repairs or something, that's possible. I know what you're going through. We had the same problems. Good luck. It's the small businesses that built the country and the ones people run to for local support. Yet, all too often, the ones people neglect when it comes time to spend their dollars!

I find a lot of these companies have terrible customer service. Two previous telephone suppliers I have used must have been the worst ever. First one I had to complain to the telecoms regulator before they fixed the problem with my line, the second I was cut off by mistake but carried on being billed. I could never get speaking to anyone in customer service, just permanently in a queue no matter what time I called. This time it took the telecoms regulator and my solicitor to get it sorted. There a more suppliers than you can shake a stick at that will charge more or less the same for a like for like service. Before choosing one, call their technical support / customer service line. If you don't get speaking to a human within three minutes forget them and move on to the next one on the list. Saving a few coppers each month is no good if you can't get hold of anyone when there is a problem. So if you get good service from your current supplier(s), I'm not saying don't switch, but think long and hard about switching. If someone else is offering the same for considerably less, remember that they must be cutting costs somewhere.

My thoughts are less tech-y than the above: - In your living room and bedrooms, ask yourself not only where you intend to place your TV now ... ask yourself also where you COULD place your TV in the future. If you decide to turn your sofa or your bed around, for example, you might want to move the TV. Placing a second "hook up" now will cost something, but nothing like the cost later and/or might save you from visible wires. - Put long, hard thought into unusual places you might want outlets. For example, I want a shallow shelf at the end of my kitchen peninsula that can house charging phones or tables ... a place to keep them handy, yet off the countertop. Because I use my table for recipes frequently, this will be useful. I also intend to install four outlets on each side of the bed (at table height) for things that I might want to charge next to the bed. - You mentioned three small children. Be sure you're providing a spot for them to have internet access ... internet access that can be supervised. It was hard enough when my now 19 and 22 year old were small, but today parents have to be so vigilant. - I agree with the idea of going with MORE than you anticipate needing. I'm sure whoever built my house back in 1970 thought two outlets in the kitchen was gracious plenty. That person probably didn't own a microwave, and his coffee pot probably went on the stove top. He probably thought that small appliances (i.e., the mixer) are used and put away -- so why would anyone ever need more than two outlets? The upshot is that we end up charging phones in the nearby office, when I'd really like to have them in the kitchen sometimes.