Business Directories? Any Luck?

Psikilla said:

How have you found the return on investment from your directory so far compared to the time required to set it up and get content flowing to it?

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macdonjo3 said:

So, for all you people who own business directories, I started one the other day.

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krzysiekz said:

Why months or years? Make a state-wide, niche-specific directory. Dress it up, make it look good and offer it to businesses that fit the description (above) their business listing on there for a measly $5 or $10 per month.

I think you will find that you start to profit immediately, rather than 'later'. Sure, you probably won't be providing them much benefit immediately since your directory is new - but if you can get 100 or 1000 people to sign up over the course of X months, at least you've got money to work with to hire VA's to SEO, etc.

What wordpress theme are you using, if you don't mind sharing? If you do mind, that's fine - I'm also not keen on sharing which one I am using otherwise it will be overused and right now, I have not tested the idea enough to invest money into getting my own themes made with my own functionality (instead of relying on WP like I am now). I have had to work with a programmer to edit a whole lot of stuff because the way the theme I am using came did not work well for me.

I know a theme a lot of people are using is "directory press" but I find that it is quite lacking for the look that I want. It doesn't look very 'nice' if you know what I mean.

EDIT: Similarly to you, I don't know how this will work out yet - but if it DOES work out, according to my calculations (for my country, it varies) and looking at the number of businesses I could call and by estimating a realistic figure that would agree to sign up - I'm looking at approx. $15k/month minus expenses (which really are very few). It could work out worse, or better. In fact, I am sure as the directory becomes more known... people will be more likely to say yes and agree since they will see all other similar businesses investing in it. I am hoping for a 5-10% of people signing up. Given that the price is VERY cheap compared to other forms of advertising, I think they might jump on board.

Another note: I am going to charge for 1 year up front.

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mattbowden said:

Not years, I started something similar three months in I have started selling featured listings

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macdonjo3 said:

So if I call, and I have a blank website, they will be like "oh, no one else is doing this, so I won't either".

I use a theme, can't remember the name. It's not a directory theme but more like a news theme. Perhaps we can chat on Skype: macdonjo

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MagicMike said:

In order to populate your site and add some "credibility" to it right away, you could also call and add a number of local, respected not-for-profits as well for free as a "community service".

With a number of recognizable names in there it could add instant credibility to your site.

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THUNDERELVI said:

I've done something similar with my country with 4-5 specific niches in large populated areas (and expanding as we speak) and it works great and seeing that it got even better than I expected I intend to do this with all the businesses available. I know I'm getting greedy but it really is that simple, I've been doing this for 5 months now and am going to give you a few tips to get started and to succeed and also bypass the "oh, no one else is doing this, so I won't either" problem
Here's what you have to do:

1.Get a domain,hosting and a nice looking theme(I got it from warez sites and later bought it as I had money to invest) that is specific to your niche. Also buy an easy to remember name, don't just go after exact match.

I've done this since I haven't done SEO in my site but used another form of advertising(see below).

2. Call a few businesses and tell them they have a chance to get more customers by adding their business in your directory for FREE... Most will immediately jump in but will also say what's the catch? Well you say to them that only the 1st month will be free so they can see what value my directory has, get at least 20 businesses in your site, trust me it's very easy to convince them, if you've got a chance to meet the owners in person do it, if not call them up.

3. After you have a few businesses listed call up all the others in the area. You now have something to show to them, when they see their competitors are listed they'll not miss the chance

Make them pay directly or after 1 month, your choise...

4. Now how are you going to get traffic? By advertising your directory in:

*Search engines - If you know SEO, then by all means go for it, I didn't spend much time getting my site in #1 in google(did it only with on-site SEO and no backlinks) because in my country there is not any competition at all and not too many people search the internet as well.

*Newspapers - This is what I did, advertise in local newspapers, it costs but your revenue is going to cover up your expenses plus your site will be viewed by hundreds of thousands who read the newspaper every day.

*Facebook - I implemented this recently and had great success, make a fan page/group/events and advertise your directory to FB fans, this is a whole new topic I can write about, but I won't here because this post is already too long lol

*Flyers and postcards - I have a very cheap supplier in my area where I design ~5k flyers for $100 and then pay a few $ to kids to distribute them in high traffic areas, not much targeted but still I get visitors this way.

Some other tips:

*Split test everything, I use tracking tools to track where my traffic is coming from and what advertising method is more profitable
*Start small and then get big, don't be greedy, it's normal to start seeing income after 2-3 months and it's worth it
*Upsells - This is my highest moneymaker to date. As I said internet is not so popular in my country so I offer website/mobile sites design to businesses, creation and maintainence of a FB Fan Page, Professional video creation,etc..
*I only charge $10/month(increased it to $20 to 'cover hosting fees' with the website design upsell later)

Overall without revealing the exact number, I earn ~13k(including advertising,hosting and other fees) and growing each day.

So if you want to step in to this kind business, don't think twice and by all means do it

The figures and results might vary because of country and other factors but still I guarantee you'll have incredible results, try it and let me know.

P.S. It was a long post so sorry for any typos or mistakes in sentences, hope I helped you somehow and have a nice day!

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macdonjo3 said:

True but idk any non-profit restaurants besides soup kitchens for hobos and I beg to differ that those won't give me credibility.

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macdonjo3 said:

Seems like business directories are rare or people just don't like to talk about their success with them.

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krzysiekz said:

I found this also. Could be either reason, but if it was working well then I can see why they wouldn't want to make it too 'open'. You can't have 10's of directories otherwise people will start to see less value in them, so I guess people are just trying to keep a lid on it, maybe.

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