This is how it works with everything....
Starting up massive, long-term projects can be extremely difficult. In all honestly, releasing a program or eBook is much simpler than is starting up any kind of continual maintenance style endeavor.
For instance, I run a proxy topsite that takes tons of promotion, more so than my software, AC Mass Submitter. While they are both profitable, my topsite requires a TON of promotion, whereas with the ACMS, all I have to do is be sure my affiliates are paid and the program is running.
The thing to take away from this however, is persistence. If you start something, finish it. I was getting just 20 people a day coming to the topsite at first, but through persistence and self-motivation, I've increased daily traffic by about 18x. That's nearly 350 people a day. When this number grows, everything grows. The only thing that can make it grow though is hard work and dedication.
Article directories may require a lot of work to start up, but once you get over this "Do I really want to go through with this" stage, you'll be banking.
Finish what you start, I say. Keep going!
