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Vanity telephone numbers work to generate orders for local florists via 1-800-FLOWERS and local shipping pickups via 1-800-GO FED EX. Some major companies (1-800-WALMART and 1-800-MICROSOFT) rely on them as a corporate number as well.

Recently vanity numbers have been introduced to the paving and pavement maintenance industry, and contractors are starting to take notice.

Vanity "1-800" numbers are those easy-to-remember telephone numbers where the individual digits can spell out a word or phrase related to a specific company (1-800-STAPLES) or industry (1-800-FLOWERS).

"Direct mail is big but this is better," says Mike Musto, president of vanity number 1-800-PAVEMENT and president for 21 years of U.S. Sealcoating and U.S. Paving. "It's the single most-effective marketing tool I've ever used in 20 years."

In fact, Musto says that one study found that vanity 800 numbers are 14 times more effective than numeric 800 numbers.