Nov 26, 2014 12:36 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 26, 2014 12:38 PM by Yous.)
Build Your Own Directory Business
Overview
I really love this method because it requires little work and is pretty much set, forget, and scale. Essentially a directory (online) is just an organized list of things, in our case it will be other businesses. This can technically be done for free but for optimal results and a much more professional look I suggest having a $20-60 investment prepared.
What We Will be Doing
We are going to be purchasing an EMD (exact match domain). Installing a savvy directory theme, ranking on Google, and getting local business clients to pay us for directory spots.
[img]http://static.npaper-wehaa.com/run/npaper?paper=capitolcityvisitor&get=geIm&pgid=454757&w=330&h=445&pid=16499[/img]
Your directory can be plain text or you can have a fancy theme with reviews and images, it's really up to you. Pretty much we will buy a keyword website. Let's say 'Miami restaurants' is the keyword we want to use. We buy that domain, build a directory site, rank it on Google, and charge businesses to be featured on our directory.
I. Getting an EMD & Research
For our example I am going to use a the major city of Miami. I highly suggest not using bigger cities at first as it will most likely require extra investment. So I have my city and now I need to find a category with an EMD available. Let's say after researching I see that miamirestaurants.com is available that is an EMD and perfect for purchasing.
II. Installing A Theme
When I first started off I over thought this step way too much. The theme does not have to be very fancy just a basic directory theme will do. One I have used more recently was called 'Vantage'. The easiest way for me to make websites is through wordpress, but if you have your own favorite method I suggest go with what you are comfortable with.
[img]http://www.wpexplorer.com/wp-content/uploads/vantage-wordpress-theme-business-directory.png[/img]
III. Ranking on Google
This step is fairly simple. Just spend about $10-30 on gigs from www.fiverr.com and www.seoclerks.com for SEO. All you do is find a couple of good gigs on there give them your keyword and website link and that usually is enough to rank for local keywords.
IV. Pitching To Clients
Once you have a first page ranking on Google for your directory website it's time to approach your clients which in our case of 'Miami Restaurants' is potentially every restaurant in Miami, that's a lot of potential $. Your sales pitch should be fairly simple and should sell itself.
You tell your client your website is the 'official' miamirestaurants.com and ranks first page on Google. Tell them that your site gets 1-9999 visitors per day (look in your admin CP of your web host take a screen shot and provide it to your client). Let them know that it is extremely targeted traffic, people that are searching for a place to eat in Miami. Tell them they can have their restaurant featured in the directory for $5-14 per month.
Do some math and explain to your client how cheap it is per customer acquired. For example if you are charging $8 per month, your site gets 120 views per day and you suggest to them what if only two of those 120 went to your restaurant, that would equal about 60 customers a month that's about $0.14 per customer walking through their doors!
With a pitch like that who would say no!
V. Upsells
But of course we don't stop there! We upsell them. With the Vantage theme you can feature listings on categories, so for example you can feature them on top of all restaurants in the Seafood category. You can also feature a listing on the homepage.
Example upsells:
Normal directory listing: $7.50/month
Featured on category: $24.99/month
Featured on homepage: $39.99/month
V. Proper Approach & Scaling
The goal of these sites are to be mini quick and easy $100-400/month sites. After doing your first one all you do is buy your next domain and rinse and repeat the steps above. Imagine if you had 10 of these sites each making $150/month that's $1500 of set and forget money.
I call it set and forget because it really is if you approach it right. You buy your domain, make your site, rank it, contact clients, make them sign for 1 year (with a paypal invoice of a monthly fee), and that's it. You will get use to making these sites and will already have a pre-made template after your first site. So it's quite a set and forget method after finishing the process of one site you can then forget it for 365 days and move onto your next site.
You don't only need to do restaurants, in fact restaurants are one of the lower paying monthly sites. This can be done for:
- Real estate agents
- Lawyers
- Dentists
- Doctors
- Orthodontists
- Auto body shops
- Just about any other business niche!
Restaurant margins are thin so you have to go cheaper. Imagine how much you can charge each lawyer for a standard directory listing. It's all in your hands.
Whats to stop you from running 10, 20, 50, 100 of these sites at a time? Each one earning you AT LEAST $200/month 😝
Remember the golden rule, nothing works if you don't take action.
Overview
I really love this method because it requires little work and is pretty much set, forget, and scale. Essentially a directory (online) is just an organized list of things, in our case it will be other businesses. This can technically be done for free but for optimal results and a much more professional look I suggest having a $20-60 investment prepared.
What We Will be Doing
We are going to be purchasing an EMD (exact match domain). Installing a savvy directory theme, ranking on Google, and getting local business clients to pay us for directory spots.
[img]http://static.npaper-wehaa.com/run/npaper?paper=capitolcityvisitor&get=geIm&pgid=454757&w=330&h=445&pid=16499[/img]
Your directory can be plain text or you can have a fancy theme with reviews and images, it's really up to you. Pretty much we will buy a keyword website. Let's say 'Miami restaurants' is the keyword we want to use. We buy that domain, build a directory site, rank it on Google, and charge businesses to be featured on our directory.
I. Getting an EMD & Research
For our example I am going to use a the major city of Miami. I highly suggest not using bigger cities at first as it will most likely require extra investment. So I have my city and now I need to find a category with an EMD available. Let's say after researching I see that miamirestaurants.com is available that is an EMD and perfect for purchasing.
II. Installing A Theme
When I first started off I over thought this step way too much. The theme does not have to be very fancy just a basic directory theme will do. One I have used more recently was called 'Vantage'. The easiest way for me to make websites is through wordpress, but if you have your own favorite method I suggest go with what you are comfortable with.
[img]http://www.wpexplorer.com/wp-content/uploads/vantage-wordpress-theme-business-directory.png[/img]
III. Ranking on Google
This step is fairly simple. Just spend about $10-30 on gigs from www.fiverr.com and www.seoclerks.com for SEO. All you do is find a couple of good gigs on there give them your keyword and website link and that usually is enough to rank for local keywords.
IV. Pitching To Clients
Once you have a first page ranking on Google for your directory website it's time to approach your clients which in our case of 'Miami Restaurants' is potentially every restaurant in Miami, that's a lot of potential $. Your sales pitch should be fairly simple and should sell itself.
You tell your client your website is the 'official' miamirestaurants.com and ranks first page on Google. Tell them that your site gets 1-9999 visitors per day (look in your admin CP of your web host take a screen shot and provide it to your client). Let them know that it is extremely targeted traffic, people that are searching for a place to eat in Miami. Tell them they can have their restaurant featured in the directory for $5-14 per month.
Do some math and explain to your client how cheap it is per customer acquired. For example if you are charging $8 per month, your site gets 120 views per day and you suggest to them what if only two of those 120 went to your restaurant, that would equal about 60 customers a month that's about $0.14 per customer walking through their doors!
With a pitch like that who would say no!
V. Upsells
But of course we don't stop there! We upsell them. With the Vantage theme you can feature listings on categories, so for example you can feature them on top of all restaurants in the Seafood category. You can also feature a listing on the homepage.
Example upsells:
Normal directory listing: $7.50/month
Featured on category: $24.99/month
Featured on homepage: $39.99/month
V. Proper Approach & Scaling
The goal of these sites are to be mini quick and easy $100-400/month sites. After doing your first one all you do is buy your next domain and rinse and repeat the steps above. Imagine if you had 10 of these sites each making $150/month that's $1500 of set and forget money.
I call it set and forget because it really is if you approach it right. You buy your domain, make your site, rank it, contact clients, make them sign for 1 year (with a paypal invoice of a monthly fee), and that's it. You will get use to making these sites and will already have a pre-made template after your first site. So it's quite a set and forget method after finishing the process of one site you can then forget it for 365 days and move onto your next site.
You don't only need to do restaurants, in fact restaurants are one of the lower paying monthly sites. This can be done for:
- Real estate agents
- Lawyers
- Dentists
- Doctors
- Orthodontists
- Auto body shops
- Just about any other business niche!
Restaurant margins are thin so you have to go cheaper. Imagine how much you can charge each lawyer for a standard directory listing. It's all in your hands.
Whats to stop you from running 10, 20, 50, 100 of these sites at a time? Each one earning you AT LEAST $200/month 😝
Remember the golden rule, nothing works if you don't take action.
![[Image: LVAPEvS.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/LVAPEvS.gif)
![[Image: A4dmJHy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/A4dmJHy.png)