Stuck on Directory Site

[getitdone]

I have found a niche where I could create a directory site that would connect customers with providers. The problem is that I am stuck on how to get started.

I have posted on a couple of forums in the niche and people tell me they wouldn't pay to be listed until the site is developed/sending them leads. But, I can't sne them leads until I get them signed up. My business model would be to charge each listing a fee for each lead sent.

Should I create the site, get people to join for free and then start charging them for listings later?

This is a bit of the chicken and the egg problem...

I hope someone has advice on membership or directory sites in the launch phase.

Thanks!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[kwerner]

Without a doubt, offer it for FREE

...at least at first.

Put yourself in their shoes - would you pay to sign up for some kind of website service that hasn't been developed yet, and is only making you promises?

If I may ask, what industry is it in? Don't worry, no one is going to steal your idea; but if you can offer a bit more information, we could probably offer you more specific help for your situation.

 

[FDJustin]

I agree with Kwerner, under the stipulation that you make it clear from the get go that free is not an eternal affair.

 

[valuegiver]

Just do it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[John Rogers]

Ditto here. You'll need to offer free listings to get things going. Maybe you can monetize it at first with some kind of upgraded listing or banner ads. Put a time limit on the free listings so that when things get rolling you won't have a bunch of customers grandfathered in for free indefinitely.

 

[Nicola]

You could try a system where advertisers pay for leads - rather than for advertising, as long as you provide quality leads that would be attractive to prospective advertisers.

 

[andviv]

Take the leads and email them to them. Put always the same Subject in the email (for example: "New Lead from getitdones_site.com") with the lead information.

In the email, at least for now, simply send them the whole info, and a link to your site.

Make sure your app counts how many are being sent to that company. Give them some free, say 5 leads. In the email mention ("this is the 3rd of your 5 free leads. For more leads, register at our site, www.getitdones_site.com/register)

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Rem]

I would listen to Andviv on that. People like free stuff. People need to see it has value. Then as it picks up and with the right timing you can then let people know that the free period for leads is over. Then begin charging for the leads. Good luck!!!

 

[Nicola]

Just to expand a little.

Set up a fee structure something like this:

Prepay amount - cost per lead

$0 - $1
$50 - $0.75
$100 - $0.50

etc

for $0 down you will be billed every 20 leads sent - and no more will be sent until an outstanding invoice is paid.

For $50 you will be billed every 70 leads (4 free) and you will get a grace period of 30 leads.

For $100 you will be billed every 210 leads (10 free) and you will get a grace period of 75 leads.

This is just a very quick "off the top of my head" idea (and I doubt very much that the prices are realistic!) - but I hope you can see where I am going.

It means that you are not actually charging a "listing" fee - you are charging for the leads in advance. So a business can try you out for free, and when you have proved that you are sending quality leads businesses will be willing to make a down payment.

I would suggest starting off with something really simple - and adding complexities later, or by negotiation (for example if it was limo hire people may want to filter out weddings, or airport trips etc).

I hope this gives you some ideas to work with.

Nicola

 

[Anon3587x]

I've been working on a similar business model.

I planned to make it free until the site had a nice population flow and all the bugs are worked out with advertisements up.

Seeing how that goes it would be easier to fairly set pricing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[getitdone]

Thanks for the comments everyone. This is really helpful.

 

[stlsmoore]

eDirectory provides a very good web 2.0 directory platform. I used them to create my city guide directory Saint Louis City Guide the only thing i don't like is that it's a tad expensive. I don't think I would of been able to produce something as good for the same cost with a programmer building me the site from scratch though.

 

[getitdone]

stlsmoore-

Your site looks great! How is it going? What is your breakout on paid versus free? Have you had trouble getting people to sign up? Is your plan to get them to list for free and then upgrade later?

I would love any insight you have on the process so far.

Thanks!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[kwerner]

Dude, that is a good looking site (stlouisforme.com)! Looks like you need to get some more businesses signed up though. Good luck with it!

 

[NoMoneyDown]

I agree. It's a nice site, but it looks like there is a lot of blank/white space on the right side (at least in my browser). As if there is a column (half the width of the content div) there, but nothing in it.

 

[stlsmoore]

stlsmoore-

Your site looks great! How is it going? What is your breakout on paid versus free? Have you had trouble getting people to sign up? Is your plan to get them to list for free and then upgrade later?

I would love any insight you have on the process so far.

Thanks!

Very slow start, I'll be honest and mention that I haven't put in enough time on actually gaining business. I did partner with a few local businesses for my blog and event postings on my website. My SEO work is abysmal, I tried to target high level keywords like the keyword "Saint Louis" rather than longer tailed keywords like "Saint Louis Massage Company" because I was impatient and wanted to see fast results NOW! To be honest it completely blew out my online marketing budget and bit me in the a$$. Because of this and I'm going to have to close the site for a while until I can rebuild some working capital. I plan on manually doing my SEO when I have the site up and going again instead of outsourcing it.

I'm ramping up some of my affiliate marketing and local SEO service work to help fund it all apart of the journey though!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Anon3587x]

Very slow start, I'll be honest and mention that I haven't put in enough time on actually gaining business. I did partner with a few local businesses

How did you gain those partner ships with the local businesses?

 

[valuegiver]

Branson.com : The Official Branson Website is also using the same software as yours but they have more things to show than your website. Why is that so?

 

[getitdone]

I have found that using Market Samurai to target keywords is a huge help. You really do see results, but you have to start small. Using their long tail keywords gets you a little bit at a time, but once you get on the first page of google for even a keyword with 40 hits a day and you do that over and over for other small keywords you will see results.

PS - I am not an affilate for Market Samurai. I just really think their product works.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[darkjediii]

what industry are you catering to?

 

[stlsmoore]

How did you gain those partner ships with the local businesses?

It was as simple as finding who the owner was and contacting them via email or phone. It wasn't as much of a partnership but rather me being able to use their name on my website to help brand my website better.

Branson.com : The Official Branson Website is also using the same software as yours but they have more things to show than your website. Why is that so?

That's most likely because they had x100 the budget to customize the website the way they wanted. Not like I disliked mine it did the job but there were for sure things I planned on changing to mine once I could fit it into my own budget.

I have found that using Market Samurai to target keywords is a huge help. You really do see results, but you have to start small. Using their long tail keywords gets you a little bit at a time, but once you get on the first page of google for even a keyword with 40 hits a day and you do that over and over for other small keywords you will see results.

Yea Market Samurai is a great product especially since it's a one time buy. I just thought I could be lazy and outsource the work when I should of bootstrapped everything from the beginning.