kolonel

Have enjoyed reading through a few threads regarding setting up directory sites, and the input has been great.

As a project, I was actually considering a local directory for the town and surrounding areas (people are more loyal to their local biz) based on all local businesses wanting to get involved, and was looking for ideas to keep it fresh. My first thoughts was to encourage the local businesses to offer coupons, or special deals through the directory only. Does anyone have any feedback regarding that, or foresee any pitfalls or objections ? How to encourage the customer to return visit ? Utilizing social media to grow the popularity of the site ? Would definitely need to implement a mobile friendly site, and would like to see some example of good quality sites.

Have read a few threads for discussion, but would love to hear a few more ideas before i start to put it on paper and establish what i am wanting to do, and get out of it. Obviously a passive income is always good, but what other value add services do others think are viable ?

There are a number of directory plugins, but i would like to see what features i can have implemented easily, and what will need to be added.

Silvio Porcellana

The biggest value a directory - any directory - provides to its subscribers is *more business*.

Your focus should therefore be on bringing qualified traffic to each of the listings you have in your directory. This, coupled with a conversion-optimized mobile website and a solid set of reporting tools will allow you to tell your customers: "look, in the past 2 months 100 people saw your listing, 13 placed a call and 12 sent you a message. I think the $30/month you give me are a good value, no?"

On top of this, you can up-sell and cross-sell additional services such as:
- premium listing (pictures slider, increased number of pages, customized look and layout, even custom domain - basically, a custom mobile websites instead of a "simple" listing)
- premium placement (certain listings are always shown first)
- QR code management
- ...

HTH, cheers!
Silvio

kolonel

Thanks for taking the time out to post some advice Silvio, and i am currently adding to the whiteboard in the study as i go from other threads i am reading. I am seeing a better value add option with offering them a website, but was wondering whether a sub domain is the best option, or their own separately hosted site (which i would do of course).

I have some experience in this area, so it's not an issue to do one or the other, but i would imagine having a sub domain is better for long term SEO ?

I am also considering filling the directory with free, basic listings to make it more appealing for anyone visiting for the first time, with maybe a 1 month free listing option for any new businesses. From there, i can start to value add with options.

Currently, i actually have a licensed version of Directory Press, and intend on adding a few extra plugins (coupons, calendar, events etc.) so as to appeal to the locals even more so.

Money wise, i think $20-30 per month is not out of reach, considering the local paper (circa 8000 people) costs almost $30 a week to place a small business card type ad. Surely as traffic increases on the directory, this would make it even more appealing to those paying 3-4 times as much.

The other thought process i am considering is how to get the URL to the masses. Being a local, i have contacts in local groups, radio etc. and anticipate on approaching it that way, with maybe some localized flyers. Will eventually break down a business model in which to implement all this, as i have often read (and also found many "broken" URLs from others) how others have given up so easily. This will start out as a project, with the hope of some financial reward in the long run.

Any thoughts?

Cobaki

How about your local newspaper? People always see as these prints reliable sources for services they need. If your ad gets approved, a lot of people in your local area will see it. Best of luck!