This Is What I'm Doing, How Can I Make The Most Money From It?

mobilemarketer2012 · 29th Jul 2014, 09:28 AM

I have been building mobile directories for specific areas in my city, typically a group of shops. This normally includes pet stores, salons, bar & grill, etc... I offer a free basic listing and 1 coupon a month for free. In exchange for the free listing I ask them to place QR code posters in their place of business linking to the directory. I upsell them with an offer to build a full mobile site with all the bells and whistles, so far the response has been pretty decent. I am planning on adding rotating banners ads to the home page of the directory. What do you think is the best way to monetize the banners? So far I am thinking about...

1. Sell the banner space to the businesses already in the directory.

2. Sell the banner space to other businesses in the area, i.e. remodelers, dentists, etc..

3. A twist on #2 would be to have banners from other businesses in the area BUT instead of the banner linking to their site or contact form I would link it to my contact form and then sell the leads to remodelers, dentists, lawyers, etc...

4. Put CPA offers on the banners. I know nothing of CPA so I don't know if this is ok with the CPA companies.

Other ideas?

I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks.

ronrule · 29th Jul 2014, 09:36 AM

Why not build out the full sites and then charge for the lead generation?

Search for movers in your city and check out the top results. You'll find that many of them aren't moving companies at all, they're lead-gen sites. You fill out the form, and that website is passing the lead to an actual moving company, who takes it from there. The site is either charging a flat fee to receive all the leads, charging a flat fee per lead, or getting a commission on the closed deals (that part would be up to you). But the point is you can build sites and rank them, own them, and the companies in that space will pay you for the business one way or another.

That takes you out of the "service provider" category where you're doing repetitive work over and over, trying to sell websites, and puts you into the ownership category where you own multiple profitable web properties and "outsource the work".

mobilemarketer2012 · 29th Jul 2014, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by ronrule

Why not build out the full sites and then charge for the lead generation?

Search for movers in your city and check out the top results. You'll find that many of them aren't moving companies at all, they're lead-gen sites. You fill out the form, and that website is passing the lead to an actual moving company, who takes it from there. The site is either charging a flat fee to receive all the leads, charging a flat fee per lead, or getting a commission on the closed deals (that part would be up to you). But the point is you can build sites and rank them, own them, and the companies in that space will pay you for the business one way or another.

That takes you out of the "service provider" category where you're doing repetitive work over and over, trying to sell websites, and puts you into the ownership category where you own multiple profitable web properties and "outsource the work".

Hi Ron;

Thanks for your response. I'm not sure I follow you completely but let me explain my position.

I am no good at SEO or PPC or doing any sort of organic or paid traffic. I am using the free-and paid- sites with the QR codes as my traffic generator. I am not going to try and sell leads to the businesses with listings as I need their traffic already and places like a pizza by the slice shop aren't really looking to pay for lead gen.

HOWEVER, I really like the idea of building my own squeeze pages and linking the ads to them and then selling them to 1 or 2 businesses that would pay nicely for leads, like a mover. Thanks for the insight there.

Take care.

ronrule · 29th Jul 2014, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by mobilemarketer2012

Hi Ron;

Thanks for your response. I'm not sure I follow you completely but let me explain my position.

I am no good at SEO or PPC or doing any sort of organic or paid traffic. I am using the free-and paid- sites with the QR codes as my traffic generator. I am not going to try and sell leads to the businesses with listings as I need their traffic already and places like a pizza by the slice shop aren't really looking to pay for lead gen.

HOWEVER, I really like the idea of building my own squeeze pages and linking the ads to them and then selling them to 1 or 2 businesses that would pay nicely for leads, like a mover. Thanks for the insight there.

Take care.

Ah, yeah selling listings is a lot tougher than it used to be. Google generally has a thing against directory sites (1 because most of them are junk, and 2 because Google wants to have the "answer" themselves, not send the searcher to a directory to find what they need).

Do you have people paying for ad space now? It seems like a tough sell if you're focusing on small areas and these are businesses that rely on foot traffic more than the Internet. Even if your site was successful at driving business, it's hard for them to gauge whether or not that person walking in the door had anything to do with their listing on your site.

If it were me, I would calculate what the most amount of money I could reasonably make was and then see if it's still worth it. Meaning if you have X spots times $Y, with a reasonable figure on the costs of the time and effort required to sell those spots and maintain the site, is it enough money that it's worth doing? If the answer is yes, then do all of the above. If it's no, find another niche.

Gryph · 31st Jul 2014, 02:10 AM

If you'll have enough users, it might be interesting to the local stores to be promoted intensively in your app. Try to finf the dirrect advertisers.

SEO Power · 31st Jul 2014, 01:41 PM

No one would agree to No. 3 unless they won't have to pay for the banner ads. No. 2 seems to be the best approach to me. The problem with No. 1 is that businesses already included in the directory would be less willing to pay.

If you really want to collect and sell leads, try to get traffic from other sources, ideally free sources like SEO or cheap paid sources like facebook ads.

29th Jul 2014, 09:28 AM	#1
mobilemarketer2012 Newhere Join Date: 2011 Location: in the cloud Posts: 149 Thanks: 47 Thanked 82 Times in 34 Posts	This Is What I'm Doing, How Can I Make The Most Money From It? Share on: I have been building mobile directories for specific areas in my city, typically a group of shops. This normally includes pet stores, salons, bar & grill, etc... I offer a free basic listing and 1 coupon a month for free. In exchange for the free listing I ask them to place QR code posters in their place of business linking to the directory. I upsell them with an offer to build a full mobile site with all the bells and whistles, so far the response has been pretty decent. I am planning on adding rotating banners ads to the home page of the directory. What do you think is the best way to monetize the banners? So far I am thinking about... 1. Sell the banner space to the businesses already in the directory. 2. Sell the banner space to other businesses in the area, i.e. remodelers, dentists, etc.. 3. A twist on #2 would be to have banners from other businesses in the area BUT instead of the banner linking to their site or contact form I would link it to my contact form and then sell the leads to remodelers, dentists, lawyers, etc... 4. Put CPA offers on the banners. I know nothing of CPA so I don't know if this is ok with the CPA companies. Other ideas? I appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

29th Jul 2014, 09:36 AM	#2
ronrule I'm Batman War Room Member Join Date: 2013 Location: NJ - NH - TN Posts: 1,267 Thanks: 278 Thanked 1,190 Times in 615 Posts	Re: This Is What I'm Doing, How Can I Make The Most Money From It? Share on: Why not build out the full sites and then charge for the lead generation? Search for movers in your city and check out the top results. You'll find that many of them aren't moving companies at all, they're lead-gen sites. You fill out the form, and that website is passing the lead to an actual moving company, who takes it from there. The site is either charging a flat fee to receive all the leads, charging a flat fee per lead, or getting a commission on the closed deals (that part would be up to you). But the point is you can build sites and rank them, own them, and the companies in that space will pay you for the business one way or another. That takes you out of the "service provider" category where you're doing repetitive work over and over, trying to sell websites, and puts you into the ownership category where you own multiple profitable web properties and "outsource the work".
	- Ron Rule http://ronrule.com

31st Jul 2014, 02:10 AM	#5
Gryph Warrior Member Join Date: 2014 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: This Is What I'm Doing, How Can I Make The Most Money From It? Share on: If you'll have enough users, it might be interesting to the local stores to be promoted intensively in your app. Try to finf the dirrect advertisers.

31st Jul 2014, 01:41 PM	#6
SEO Power Senior Warrior Member Join Date: 2014 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,616 Thanks: 16 Thanked 248 Times in 230 Posts	Re: This Is What I'm Doing, How Can I Make The Most Money From It? Share on: No one would agree to No. 3 unless they won't have to pay for the banner ads. No. 2 seems to be the best approach to me. The problem with No. 1 is that businesses already included in the directory would be less willing to pay. If you really want to collect and sell leads, try to get traffic from other sources, ideally free sources like SEO or cheap paid sources like facebook ads.
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